GX460 & GXOR B.S. thread (6 Viewers)

[r2m]

Finally got some!
View attachment 3830306

We've had our Weathertech's (same style and color) for over 5 years and have been great!
We keep the factory Lexus carpet mats on top, which will also hook into the floor hooks on top of the Weathertechs.
This way, we still have carpet for our feet, but if we get into some mud, snow or whatever, just peel off the Lexus carpet mat and there's the WeatherTech to catch all the nasty stuff!

 

[Green4Gulf]

We've had our Weathertech's (same style and color) for over 5 years and have been great!
We keep the factory Lexus carpet mats on top, which will also hook into the floor hooks on top of the Weathertechs.
This way, we still have carpet for our feet, but if we get into some mud, snow or whatever, just peel off the Lexus carpet mat and there's the WeatherTech to catch all the nasty stuff!

I bought my 2018 Honda Civic new and immediately purchased Weathertech mats. They have been great for the past seven years, and I still have the brand-new factory floor mats sitting on a shelf. I don't know why I waited so long, but having some mud catchers feels good. Now I'm back on the fence between a tune, Method Bead Grips, or a front bumper and winch. These are all very different price points, so I'm weighing the pros and cons. I'm still sitting on stock suspension, but I want to ensure I buy the correct setup for the weight. Also, I might go with Airbagman airbags instead of springs. I need to get a second job.

 

[r2m]

I bought my 2018 Honda Civic new and immediately purchased Weathertech mats. They have been great for the past seven years, and I still have the brand-new factory floor mats sitting on a shelf. I don't know why I waited so long, but having some mud catchers feels good. Now I'm back on the fence between a tune, Method Bead Grips, or a front bumper and winch. These are all very different price points, so I'm weighing the pros and cons. I'm still sitting on stock suspension, but I want to ensure I buy the correct setup for the weight. Also, I might go with Airbagman airbags instead of springs. I need to get a second job.

Not sure if this will help with some of your decisions, but:

• What shape are your tires? If you're due for some new tires, if so, I'd do the wheels and tires first. Suggestion, go with a narrow, 17" wheel. And considering you don't have a lift yet, consider a 31" or 32" inch equivalent tire, then you can fit the spare in the factory location, under the rear.
• Before the front bumper and winch, if you don't already have it, I HIGHLY suggest getting skid plates for the under carriage and rock sliders. They will save you far more often than a front bumper and winch will on the trail.
• Then get the front bumper and winch!
• Do the suspension when your new 31"/32" tires wear down (unless you can sell them) so when you lift your rig if you want to go with 33"s, you're all ready.
• Regarding spring rate for your vehicle and how it's set up, work with a good Toyota only off road shop, a good off road chain of shops like 4 Wheel Parts or Off Road Warehouse.
  • A point to note about talking to anyone at a chain off road shop, whoever you speak with, get a quick resume of exactly what types of vehicles they have built and how many. With a Toyota specific off road shop, the person you talk to will be very experienced and knowledgeable, because you'll probably speaking with the owner.
  • With a chain store, you don't know if the person you're speaking with is an absolute newbie and drives a Prius, trying to sell you high end, what you don't need or want products or if you're getting one of their truly experienced employees with years of experience building and running rigs, preferably Toyota's.
  • So qualify the person you're speaking with, then tell them what you have and what you want to do.

 

[Green4Gulf]

Not sure if this will help with some of your decisions, but:

• What shape are your tires? If you're due for some new tires, if so, I'd do the wheels and tires first. Suggestion, go with a narrow, 17" wheel. And considering you don't have a lift yet, consider a 31" or 32" inch equivalent tire, then you can fit the spare in the factory location, under the rear.
• Before the front bumper and winch, if you don't already have it, I HIGHLY suggest getting skid plates for the under carriage and rock sliders. They will save you far more often than a front bumper and winch will on the trail.
• Then get the front bumper and winch!
• Do the suspension when your new 31"/32" tires wear down (unless you can sell them) so when you lift your rig if you want to go with 33"s, you're all ready.
• Regarding spring rate for your vehicle and how it's set up, work with a good Toyota only off road shop, a good off road chain of shops like 4 Wheel Parts or Off Road Warehouse.
  • A point to note about talking to anyone at a chain off road shop, whoever you speak with, get a quick resume of exactly what types of vehicles they have built and how many. With a Toyota specific off road shop, the person you talk to will be very experienced and knowledgeable, because you'll probably speaking with the owner.
  • With a chain store, you don't know if the person you're speaking with is an absolute newbie and drives a Prius, trying to sell you high end, what you don't need or want products or if you're getting one of their truly experienced employees with years of experience building and running rigs, preferably Toyota's.
  • So qualify the person you're speaking with, then tell them what you have and what you want to do.

I’m not due for tires for awhile, but I will be going up to 33” tires when I wear down my KO2s. I have several very reputable shops in my area that deal with GXs; Stellar Built, Dissent Off-road, Pure 4x4, to name a few. I already have RCI rock sliders and will be getting the Budbuilt skids. I will be installing this stuff myself unless I absolutely can’t. Lots of good advice!

 

[Hiluxforever]

Ordered a set of treaty oak recovery points. Better safe than sorry.

 

[r2m]

Ordered a set of treaty oak recovery points. Better safe than sorry.

Do you already have the recover gear for those recovery points??
I always keep several soft shackles, a static line and a kinetic line in my rig. I already have D ring shackles on both front and rear bumpers.
I also have one of these on both my rig and my wife's truck: https://www.amazon.com/AUTOBOTS-Rec...8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

 

[Hiluxforever]

I will see if I do. I do have 2 rated hard shackles and a strap to use as a girdle. Both trucks have complete recovery kits.

 

[r2m]

I will see if I do. I do have 2 rated hard shackles and a strap to use as a girdle. Both trucks have complete recovery kits.

I swear by soft shackles now. Easy to use, easy to store in almost anyplace in your rig. And they don't rattle.
I also have a couple winch snatch rings I keep on board.

 

[Hiluxforever]

I swear by soft shackles now. Easy to use, easy to store in almost anyplace in your rig. And they don't rattle.
I also have a couple winch snatch rings I keep on board.

Recovery points are specifically NOT compatible with soft shackles so i will use steel shackles then soft shackle to them.

 

[r2m]

Recovery points are specifically NOT compatible with soft shackles so i will use steel shackles then soft shackle to them.

Absolutely agree, with any bumper or recovery point, one would need to have D rings and then soft shackles as you can see on my front bumper.

 

[xychromosome]

The victory bumper I got has recovery points with 'rounded' edges, would they still require a D ring?

 

[Banandalorian]

The victory bumper I got has recovery points with 'rounded' edges, would they still require a D ring?

The Victory hooks are radiused so you should be able to use a soft shackle by itself. I still keep a few d rings in my big bag of recovery crap that I bring wheeling but I pulled my neighbor out of the snow just using soft shackles the other week and it was fine.

 

[BobTheBrogrammer]

The victory bumper I got has recovery points with 'rounded' edges, would they still require a D ring?

My CBI has rounded edges on the recovery points and they claim that its safe for soft shackles. Ive used them a couple of times with no issues as-well. Im sure the victory is the same.

 

[Rednexus]

FYI the points can pretty easily be radiused with a grinder or even a dremel (albeit slower). Having just started using soft shackles, I'm probably going to make sure all of my recovery points can use them and just carry a single D ring or too around. They are drastically better than messing with a D ring and much safer as well.

 

[r2m]

FYI the points can pretty easily be radiused with a grinder or even a dremel (albeit slower). Having just started using soft shackles, I'm probably going to make sure all of my recovery points can use them and just carry a single D ring or too around. They are drastically better than messing with a D ring and much safer as well.

If you decide to radius the I.D.'s of the recovery points, after getting the general shape with, as Rednexus mentions above, it is imperative that you finsh with polishing that inside radius. If you leave it after grinding it, the surface will be like metal sandpaper on soft shackles. Get it as smooth as possible, similar to an aluminum winch fairlead for synthetic winch lines.

For me, I'd still hang a couple of steel D rings on your recovery points. If nothing else, it's an out of the way place to keep them till you need them and don't rattle or take up any space inside your rig.

 

[Cold Iron]

I went to closed system winching with soft shackles ~3 years ago as well. When I upgraded to the Northstar Trail Boss with winches fore and aft

Never wanted to go deeper into anything I was stuck in so a rear winch makes the most sense to me. I sold the PTO winch on my FJ55 in the 70's because it just added weight to the front. And didn't do any good when buried in the middle of a beaver pond. The buggy is my serious off road vehicle and can go places the GX can't. Although the GX is EXTERMELY capable. But I know when to use the R thing, and it is my daily driver.

A complete closed system isn't cheap especially if you stay away from the Cheap Chinese stuff

Those stickers might be free but you can buy a whole lot of Beans, Bullets and Beer with what they really cost. Worth it to me I've seen some pretty sketchy things in my day and I may have even participated in a few of them

Not anymore, I figure I've used up my allotment of dumb luck by now

 

[Banandalorian]

^ I have an Agency 6 closed system winch hook on the GX and just keep a couple soft shackles in the car just in case. The Agency 6 stuff is a little cheaper than Factor 55 but still made in the US and of very high quality.

 

[MeefZah]

I appreciate the theory behind closed system winching, but I don't really think anybody's system is truly "closed". You've always got connection points, and until very recently with the advent of soft shackles, those connection points were metal. The thing I never understood about the Factor 55 and similar thimbles / flat links was that you were removing a hook from the end of a winch line, but you replaced it with two potential failure points, the thimble and the bow shackle going into the thimble. Then you start adding other stuff in the mix, like snatch blocks with another bow shackle, and it seems like you're never really achieving the goal of a true closed system. In my mind, having a hook on the end of the rope almost makes more sense because it becomes infinitely more functional and in most cases you can use just the hook to recover from - meaning you just have one potential point of failure in the system.

I do need to invest in a couple soft shackles though as they do seem significantly safer than the bow shackles. Until like 2 days ago, I didn't even realize that winch rings were a thing, I just happened to stumble across those recently and they seem like a safer and easier to store alternative to snatch blocks.

 

[Banandalorian]

^ I mean a lot of the reason I got the Agency 6 closed hook was because it's bronze and matches my wheels but not worrying about the hook shifting around and falling off or pulling against a latch is nice too, I guess.

Rule #1: Always look cool
Rule #3: Safety

 

[r2m]

I appreciate the theory behind closed system winching, but I don't really think anybody's system is truly "closed". You've always got connection points, and until very recently with the advent of soft shackles, those connection points were metal. The thing I never understood about the Factor 55 and similar thimbles / flat links was that you were removing a hook from the end of a winch line, but you replaced it with two potential failure points, the thimble and the bow shackle going into the thimble. Then you start adding other stuff in the mix, like snatch blocks with another bow shackle, and it seems like you're never really achieving the goal of a true closed system. In my mind, having a hook on the end of the rope almost makes more sense because it becomes infinitely more functional and in most cases you can use just the hook to recover from - meaning you just have one potential point of failure in the system.

I do need to invest in a couple soft shackles though as they do seem significantly safer than the bow shackles. Until like 2 days ago, I didn't even realize that winch rings were a thing, I just happened to stumble across those recently and they seem like a safer and easier to store alternative to snatch blocks.

Another nice thing about soft shackles is they can go around things like a wheel spoke or axle (had to do this once to pull someone else) so you don't have to have another strap or compromise your winch line wrapping something that has a sharp edge. I soft shackle is a whole lot cheaper to replace than a soft winch line.