Giving Lexus a taste (1 Viewer)

[asu4runner]

Hey guys. I’m usually in the 40 section, or 1st gen runners. I met a gentleman the other week that was selling his 470 and we struck a deal. It’s been loved, hard, but is a great truck. I drive it the 2 hour ride home and we got acquainted. I was very surprised at how well they rode for their age. Got her home and started cleaning it out. Made my first fix on the drive home, the hood shimmy was terrifying, I pulled over and adjusted the rubber hood bumpers out a few turns, good as new. The wiper were not working. I pulled the cowl and the linkage is broken at the motor. Will get linkage ordered tomorrow. Front suspension is a little clunky, driveline has a “thud” on acceleration, driver headlamp glass is broken, bezel under grill is broken, sunroof will tilt but not slide, front seat leather is destroyed, wheels are rusted pretty good, shift indicator lamp for D is blown, AHC is inop but deleted (mostly?). Anyways, ill either make this one a sweet DD or straight axle it and destroy it. Will see which way the wind blows.

 

[asu4runner]

Here is where the linkage was broken. I tried finding the part to simply fix the ball socket but it doesn’t seem Toyota sells it separately. Looks like 230 bucks for linkage online.

 

[excessive]

nice find! it looks like it was well cared for and has a lot of miles/years left in it!

 

[jLB]

From the interior, I’m guessing that it’s a 2000 model year?

 

[saucebox]

Hey, no need to call it destruction...send it!

 

[asu4runner]

From the interior, I’m guessing that it’s a 2000 model year?

Correct, 2000 with no navigation.

 

[asu4runner]

nice find! it looks like it was well cared for and has a lot of miles/years left in it!

317k miles and counting lol .

 

[asu4runner]

The rear garnish above the plate was held in place with a paper binder lol. So I pulled it off. Both small plastic studs were broken and the old adhesive was crusted over. I removed it and found some surface putting so I sanded it down to metal and put a thin coat of glaze in the rough area. Going to town today to have a can of cashmere beige metallic mixed up. I will base it and clear it before I put on a new piece of trim (ordered last night).

 

[asu4runner]

Got some paint and clear on the rusty spot under that garnish piece. The new piece will arrive this week. There’s obviously some spots were the paint was pitted but it will be covered so I’m ok with it. Fixed the windshield wiper, the new linkage came in yesterday. Still need a few clips for the cowl cover (on the way). Also did a trivial cleaning on the springs that open/close the cup holder cover because it didn’t work. Years of coffee gunked everything up.

 

[AHdon]

Love the Dead fish decal!

 

[asu4runner]

Few things came in the mail yesterday. I had a burned out cluster gauge bulb (geez that was way more involved than I expected it to be), the rear trim piece was awesome. I did not expect it to come with adhesive on the back from the factory. I also got a new passenger side marker lamp which does work, evidently there are two versions and one had a larger bulb socket than the other. New air filter And new clips for the cowl cover.

 

[asu4runner]

Notice the difference in the marker lamps here, my old one is the smaller socket. I believe I have accidentally purchased a 100 lamp, and the lx lamp was a different PN.

 

[asu4runner]

ill be the first to admit that i do not like IFS, i enjoy solid old log truck riding axles and leaf springs, because im a cave man. anyways, i decided to have a full blown anxiety attack and completely redo the front of my truck. after getting the front wheels off, it was apparent that it needed brakes and calipers, and sway bar links, and control arm bushings.. and of course a steering rack which i already knew. so i started flinging parts off in the drive way. driver side is down and i almost have the steering rack out. what a complete PITA job it is to sway a steering rack on these trucks. seems like it was an afterthought and the engineers were like "oh hey this bus needs steering." maybe im just spoiled from doing repairs and maintenance on my 1980s toyota trucks and my 40, where everything is a pretty simple job. im also paranoid at the weight of this thing, so if youre wondering why i have 4 jack stands and a floor jack still under the front, well, lets just say i buy my jacks at harbor freight so a little extra insurance is never a bad thing.

i havnt decided if i want to buy new control arms or buy bushings and balljoints yet, should probably make up my mind today and get some parts ordered.

 

[OwnerCS]

You are getting off to a good start.

It reminds me of mine when I started with a stock LX in January of 2020.

 

[jLB]

ill be the first to admit that i do not like IFS, i enjoy solid old log truck riding axles and leaf springs, because im a cave man. anyways, i decided to have a full blown anxiety attack and completely redo the front of my truck. after getting the front wheels off, it was apparent that it needed brakes and calipers, and sway bar links, and control arm bushings.. and of course a steering rack which i already knew. so i started flinging parts off in the drive way. driver side is down and i almost have the steering rack out. what a complete PITA job it is to sway a steering rack on these trucks. seems like it was an afterthought and the engineers were like "oh hey this bus needs steering." maybe im just spoiled from doing repairs and maintenance on my 1980s toyota trucks and my 40, where everything is a pretty simple job. im also paranoid at the weight of this thing, so if youre wondering why i have 4 jack stands and a floor jack still under the front, well, lets just say i buy my jacks at harbor freight so a little extra insurance is never a bad thing.

i havnt decided if i want to buy new control arms or buy bushings and balljoints yet, should probably make up my mind today and get some parts ordered.

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In 1994, when I bought my first 80 series, I remember being told that I “didn’t have a real Land Cruiser, because it was too luxurious/expensive, with coils & leather”.

When my father purchased a 1998 LX470, I remember thinking “It isn’t a real Land Cruiser, because of the Lexus badge, and IFS”. Then I took back-to-back road trips. One weekend in my 80 series, the next weekend in my father’s (borrowed) LX.

~24 years later, I have 3 100 series in my driveway, 2 of them with Lexus badges.

 

[sr5pickup]

I’m with you on the not liking ifs. Just for the simple fact of how much space is opened up underneath vs ifs. The ifs brackets take up a lot of room and hinders visibility quite a bit. If you do your own maintenance and you’re under your rig a lot you know what I mean.

ill be the first to admit that i do not like IFS, i enjoy solid old log truck riding axles and leaf springs, because im a cave man. anyways, i decided to have a full blown anxiety attack and completely redo the front of my truck. after getting the front wheels off, it was apparent that it needed brakes and calipers, and sway bar links, and control arm bushings.. and of course a steering rack which i already knew. so i started flinging parts off in the drive way. driver side is down and i almost have the steering rack out. what a complete PITA job it is to sway a steering rack on these trucks. seems like it was an afterthought and the engineers were like "oh hey this bus needs steering." maybe im just spoiled from doing repairs and maintenance on my 1980s toyota trucks and my 40, where everything is a pretty simple job. im also paranoid at the weight of this thing, so if youre wondering why i have 4 jack stands and a floor jack still under the front, well, lets just say i buy my jacks at harbor freight so a little extra insurance is never a bad thing.

i havnt decided if i want to buy new control arms or buy bushings and balljoints yet, should probably make up my mind today and get some parts ordered.

 

[UZJ100LC]

the steering rack out. what a complete PITA job it is to sway a steering rack on these trucks. seems like it was an afterthought and the engineers were like "oh hey this bus needs steering."

I haven't done this job myself but i remember there being a guide on here that says if you loosen one side engine mount and lift the engine on that side about an inch or so the job gets a lot easier.

 

[saucebox]

I haven't done this job myself but i remember there being a guide on here that says if you loosen one side engine mount and lift the engine on that side about an inch or so the job gets a lot easier.

That's the right way. Taking the oil filter housing off means you need an O-ring to replace it and a few dark prayers to avoid leaks.

 

[asu4runner]

I haven't done this job myself but i remember there being a guide on here that says if you loosen one side engine mount and lift the engine on that side about an inch or so the job gets a lot easier.

i saw this also in some threads. my reasoning for removing the filter cooler was, i saw orange rtv around the mating surface which meant someone had been in before and well, if they used rtv instead of buying a 3 dollar oring from toyota i dont trust them lol. i got the new oring and decided to rework whatever the heck they did.

 

[saucebox]

i saw this also in some threads. my reasoning for removing the filter cooler was, i saw orange rtv around the mating surface which meant someone had been in before and well, if they used rtv instead of buying a 3 dollar oring from toyota i dont trust them lol. i got the new oring and decided to rework whatever the heck they did.

Woulda done the same...did it that way with my first rack replacement (as they say, OEM or bust on that one)