Hey guys, new to the forum. Here's my GX (1 Viewer)

[Khnguyen714]

Hey guys/gals, I just picked up my gx470 about 1 month ago. Been lurking this forum and decided to introduce myself. It has 130k miles and in great condition! It has 5100's in the front right now. I will be doing the rear conversion to superflex hd and 5100's in a couple weeks. Wheels and tires will come soon after. Looking forward to meeting you all. Lastly, thank you woody for the warm welcome! Enjoy!

 

[Bluetribal]

What year?
Navigation?
KDSS?

Whats the goal?

Pics are great but we need more!

 

[DRANGED]

Sweet!
Welcome!!

new to some tech specs. 5100's are the recommended bilstien lift up front? what springs are under there ?
Is that a leveling kit up front at this point or a real lift (if there's technically a difference..?)?

 

[Khnguyen714]

What year?
Navigation?
KDSS?

Whats the goal?

Pics are great but we need more!

Hey bluetribal! It's a 2007 with Nav and no kdss. Was hoping to fine one w/o nav but couldn't let this one go because of color and condition. But I do I get aux port because of 2007, so it's not so bad.

As far as goals, I'm completely new to 4x4's and off roading so I'm taking taking time to learn a bunch. Got a good buddy that's been doing for while guiding me though. I'm looking to hit some light trails as soon as I convert the airbag! I'll post more pics soon!

 

[Khnguyen714]

Sweet!
Welcome!!

new to some tech specs. 5100's are the recommended bilstien lift up front? what springs are under there ?
Is that a leveling kit up front at this point or a real lift (if there's technically a difference..?)?

Hey dranged! Not sure if I can adequately answer your questions but from what I understand 5100s are a good starting point for me. I'm using stock springs in front for now. As for the last question, I guess it could be a Leveling kit depending on which notch the snap rings are placed. For me, the gx was slightly front raked, but now the front sits higher than the rear after lift. I actually don't know much lift I got because my dumbass was so excited to work on the truck that I forgot the first step...measure stock height.

 

[Bluetribal]

No need to spend money to go out and get it dirty. I have been wheeling mine for over a year and a half and still have the air bags. I have been collecting parts and parts and finally getting to the point where mine is ready to take on it's true off-road transformation.

 

[DRANGED]

Sounds like you're off to a learned start! Welcome!
I too am relatively new to 4x4, I wheeled AWD a bunch, but this is a totally different platform of capabilities with the GX!

Those are always the first questions I see (and I've started throwing it out too), Nav, KDSS? etc.

(for all to comment on
So what's the hate on NAV, other than it being horrible (especially with modern smartphone by comparison), and no physical climate and radio controls?
Also why the hate on KDSS? I'm all in for mine! (I don't plan to seriously mod this rig, save the really useful stuff like skids, sliders and maybe a leveling kit) great on road handling with the uber fat sway bars (MUCH larger than a 100 series even), plus they basically disconnect in the rough. . . more travel than non-KDSS... Am I missing something, or just too suckled into the marketing?

 

[DRANGED]

Hey dranged! Not sure if I can adequately answer your questions but from what I understand 5100s are a good starting point for me. I'm using stock springs in front for now. As for the last question, I guess it could be a Leveling kit depending on which notch the snap rings are placed. For me, the gx was slightly front raked, but now the front sits higher than the rear after lift. I actually don't know much lift I got because my dumbass was so excited to work on the truck that I forgot the first step...measure stock height.

Copy that! I empathize with enthusiasm!!

So an adjustable shock with stock springs?
I concur the front looks low in stock form , when dropping the rear to low it looks level. I'm interested in the idea of bumping the front up a bit so it looks level with rear suspension in N. I hear a bilstein 5100 (IIRC) does the trick as a leveling kit... i guess it's a longer shock? Its interesting (as I'm new to this platform and have lots to learn) that you can get like 1.5-2" raised height with the stock spring (as you've got).

 

[Khnguyen714]

It is indeed possible to get lift from the stock springs using the 5100's. The snap ring allows you to position the bottom spring seat in 4 places. The higher you place the seat the more compressed the spring is hence giving you a lift up to 2.5" I believe. For you, it would work as a leveling kit.

As for the the Nav, I didn't care really for it. I just really wanted to be able to update to a new head unit to play music through coordless Bluetooth. And I actually don't really know much about the kdss however I do have plans to do a lot of mods and read that kdss MAY get in the way. Plus, it's ridiculously hard to find a gx with kdss lol!

 

[NMBruce]

nice color

 

[DRANGED]

It is indeed possible to get lift from the stock springs using the 5100's. The snap ring allows you to position the bottom spring seat in 4 places. The higher you place the seat the more compressed the spring is hence giving you a lift up to 2.5" I believe. For you, it would work as a leveling kit.

As for the the Nav, I didn't care really for it. I just really wanted to be able to update to a new head unit to play music through coordless Bluetooth. And I actually don't really know much about the kdss however I do have plans to do a lot of mods and read that kdss MAY get in the way. Plus, it's ridiculously hard to find a gx with kdss lol!

Ah, roger. Yeah I'm new to 4x4 (as i said) too and have only had my GX a year (come 10 days )

Yeah the nav is terrible and I need to research more about swapping a head unit when nav exists... the backup cam is nice with hooking up a trailer, so there's that

And yeah, I'm noticing (as a couple/few friends of mine have started looking at GXs, what with all my vomiting of their awesomeness) that sport models aka KDSS are not that common.... but can see how it may be a hindrance if maaad mods are in the planz.

Thanks again, props, good luck, and pix pix pix

 

[HomersCanyonero]

By the way, it would be cool if more people would put information about their setup in their signature. This was common in the 80s forum, so it's easy to see what people have without having to search.

I've been offroading on a couple of easy to moderate trails in Big Bear, Borrego Springs, and Joshua Tree. I have the OEM rear airbags and OEM rear springs. I'm just using a spacer under the rear air bags to level the rear with the front 6112 coilovers that lifted about 2.5" in the front.

The things that I would worry offroading with a stock gx470 is the clearance of the running boards and highway tires that it comes in stock form. So, I would remove the running boards and put bigger tires. I would go offroading on easy trails just to try it out.

I always worry about damaging the rocker panel, so I immediatelly think of a 2" lift, 33" tires, and rock sliders. This has served me well on the gx470 and I haven't really hit anything bad in the easy/moderate trails that I've been on, but sometimes you come close to hiting the side of a canyon or landing on a high rock.

Anyways, as others have mentioned, the GX470 is offroad capable as it is. Don't make the mistake of spending all your time and money getting it offroad ready and you never get out.

 

[GXO]

I would, but my sig would be two pages long.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

You need a link in your signature to a 20 page spreadsheet! Lol

 

[lgrt]

Good looking truck.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

@Khnguyen714 any updates on your mods? post pictures...recenlty, i'm not getting any rubbing on my BFG KOs 285/70/17s on full turns. I did a couple of tight u-turns today and I backed out of a parking spot at full turn and no rubbing. I'm not sure what happened...maybe settled some more, but I'm not hearing or feeling any rubbing.

TC UCAs have been on for about 5k miles. Anyways...no BMC required!

 

[D21FJ60]

x2 bump for mods

 

[Khnguyen714]

Hey guys, just wanted to give an update on how the GX looks now. I'm not gonna lie, I recently got new wheels and tires over the weekend so I wanted to show them off .

This is how she currently sits. Sun hasn't been out for a couple of days, but I will definitely take more pictures with better lighting. So the wheels are SCS Stealth 6's and tires are ST Maxx 285/70. After mounting the tires, I ran into huge rubbing on the outside of front fender, and parts of the plastic on the running boards. So bad that I couldn't even turn enough to back out of the tire shop. Luckily, shop owner was gracious enough to help me trim away and I ended up cutting into the fender, no biggie. Once I got on the freeway I can hear rubbing cutting in and out on the outside of the driver side fender. So looks like I'll have to do some more cutting, lol.... Anyways, more pictures coming soon!

 

[Cannon88]

Looks great! Good combo.

 

[GXMac]

I really like that color- looks almost olive when overcast like that.