Goodbye AHC?

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L

LX470Pilot

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Threads
34
Messages
186
Location
Pasadena, CA
2000 LX - STOCK
158,000 miles

Shocks leaking fore and aft - need replacement.

AHC shocks and labor = ~$1400

Have previously had issue of over-loaded vehicle, AHC defaulting to LOW.

Seriously considering removing AHC, and replacing with standard shocks.

Done the search, and come up with bits and pieces of info on others experience doing this, but nothing concise...

What do I need to replace with to effect the AHC Hi ride height? Is a diff-drop necessary? How much of the AHC system has to be removed? What am I not thinking about?

Is there a write-up I've missed (sorry!)?

Anyone have a recommendation of a shop around Los Angeles to do this work?


Thanks,
-LX470Pilot
 
We have done 5 AHC removals in the last month.

Can be done, and normal bits will fit back in, the last few we have done with 50-70mm lift, and our slinky long travel suspension, anything over 30mm will need a diff drop.

messy job, draining all thelines, accumulators, shocks, etc.
 
LX470Pilot said:
Have previously had issue of over-loaded vehicle, AHC defaulting to LOW.

Seriously considering removing AHC, and replacing with standard shocks.

What do I need to replace with to effect the AHC Hi ride height? Is a diff-drop necessary? How much of the AHC system has to be removed? What am I not thinking about?

Anyone have a recommendation of a shop around Los Angeles to do this work?

Thanks,
-LX470Pilot
Click to expand...

LX470Pilot, I can recommend SD Trux in San Diego. Its around LA but on the far side :doh:. You can at least get a quote from them. I had them pull my AHC when I lifted it and put the big bumpers on. I wanted room for a second battery under the hood so I had them remove the entire thing. Removing the lines on the frame also allowed me to run standard rock sliders with 3 attach points. I am very happy with their work.

I did not want AHC failing in the low position in a remote location with larger than standard tires. You will need a lift to equal the AHC Hi ride height in which case the diff drop is recommended.
SDTrux01.webp
 
Skyhunter what suspension did you go with? I believe my AHC has totally failed, I knew it would but wanted more time... I've only had the truck about four months
 
I did mine this year as well.....ripped out AHC completely except for two metal lines up in rear frame I could not get to...so cut off the brass ends that went to top of rear shocks so they would not bang around and never looked back....

I went with Ironman springs and shocks...other people chose OME or a mix of Bilsteins, Slee and more. It was well worth the full day of tearing the old out...putting the new back in its place. The Ironman gives me a good ride and 600lbs over stock weight capacity....and it has not settled enough to measure in 6 months.
 
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tjm2 said:
I would also recommend Demello Off Road in Riverside. They just completed our project vehicle and did a great job.
7245.jpg
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Nice ride height. Can you provide any more details as to which brand you went with and the installation or total price for the job?
 
tjm2 said:
I would also recommend Demello Off Road in Riverside. They just completed our project vehicle and did a great job.
7245.jpg
Click to expand...

Truck looks great!
 
chrisxg said:
Skyhunter what suspension did you go with? I believe my AHC has totally failed, I knew it would but wanted more time... I've only had the truck about four months
Click to expand...

chrisxg, per my signature here I went with the Slee Heavy Load 2.5" Lift. I've got heavy bumpers on both ends and a heavy winch. Its the right lift for what I'm carrying. Now I'm toying with the idea of UCAs...
 
Brock said:
I did mine this year as well.....ripped out AHC completely except for two metal lines up in rear frame I could not get to...so cut off the brass ends that went to top of rear shocks so they would not bang around and never looked back....

I went with Ironman springs and shocks...others OME and others a mix of Bilsteins, Slee and more. It was well worth the full day of tearing the old out...putting the new back in its place.
Click to expand...




Brock, can you post some pics and which Ironman lift you bought?
 
SUMMIT CRUISERS said:
Brock, can you post some pics and which Ironman lift you bought?
Click to expand...

The Performance Kit with Gas Shocks for Toyota Landcruiser LX470 Gas
TC_large.jpg

Camel 4x4: 100 Series Gas



Pricing is same as now...but Eli had a sale last December...Free Shipping and 10% off for the month of December. Even though I was not ready to tackle the job then I bought it as the price was outstanding.

My friend owns a shop here in town so we worked on it together all day so my pricing was a little different...but he said it was a $1000 job at least for labor but we took out everything...every hard line, pump, actuators, globes, shocks, springs, etc. The only things I know that are left is a little piece on each side of braided hydraulic line that is inside the frame that had brass fitting on end that went into rear shocks. Used air saw wheel to cut through braided steel to remove so they would not bang around but everything else is gone...everything. Longest job was removing rear shocks......and installing torsion bars.

I would say that if you bought the kit yourself and then paid a shop to do all the labor it would run about $1000-1500 for labor plus the $800 for kit. If you have somewhere with a lift and power tools to do the job yourself....hopefully with someone with solid mechanical experience you can cut out the labor cost for beer and pizza afterwards. It was a full 6-8 hour day for two of us working together.
 
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