Builds Homer's 2003 GX470 Build 8.2 4.56 2.5 34s
- Thread starter HomersCanyonero
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Add some leather conditioner once a year and it will do wonders. I applied some griots conditioner and the leather and seats went from a hard and shiny surface to soft and pliable. Massive difference and it smells nice
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- #223
Lseat.com sells them in pairs for front or rear. I don’t remember seeing individual pieces for sale at LSeat.com
There are other vendors that sell individual pieces like only the front bottom by itself, but the prices were kinda high compared to Lseat.com.
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- #224
I might have to give this a try on the new leather seat covers
Those are a great size.
Yeah I'd meant the vertical sides of containers. You can loos.so much space with thick walled or tapered sides (like tuff totes and Rubbermaid stuff)...
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- #226
Ah, got it. You were referring to the shape of the storage bins themselves
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- #227
Wow, labor to install the front leather seat covers is pricey. One shop quoted $350 for both and another quoted $475.
I thought it was going to be around $200! Yikes. I’ll keep looking.
I thought it was going to be around $200! Yikes. I’ll keep looking.
DIY!
I thought seat fabric removal was daunting then a buddy walked me through pulling seat fabric off my Subaru seats when we added seat heaters. I just replaced them with zip ties instead of the hog ties that holds them on factory. It's not so.bad (well with Subaru seats at.least
And with those roo seats,.I took them.to the car wash and power washed them..they dried looking great!!
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- #229
The pros are asking me to leave the car there all day, so this is not a two hour diy job. I found a place that quoted me $250 cash. I’m gonna visit them on Tuesday morning.
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- #230
While I fret over my shocks…I added these bolt on straps where the 3rd row seat attaches. I can now run a strap across the bins.
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- #232
Oh darn, wasted $16Can you just.clip the hook into the clasp that holds the seat's bar?
Interested in shock.report..
- Thread starter
- #233
The Bilstein 6112 shocks can be rebuilt, but weren’t designed to be rebuilt. These shocks use the same parts (seals, etc) as other shocks so the rebuild parts are available. @helocat also said this in a post about USA made shocks having interchangeable internals.
In order to rebuild, a new port has to be installed to inject nitrogen to refill. The shock did not come with a refill port, so it has to be added.
This rebuild process takes several weeks due to backlog at an independent repair/service station. Moreover, the cost to do this custom rebuild costs just as much as the current cost for a new 6112 coil over kit.
So, it’s better to just order a new 6112 coil over kit. Also, the standard kit with 600 lbs/in spring is still available but the one with
In terms of costs related to the 6112s:
1. Coilover kit cost $732
2. Cost assemble spring, shock, top hat $100
3. Cost to install $200
4. Shipping/tax where applicable $73
So, looking at $1100 for this option. Keep old one that’s not leaking as spare
Other option is to ditch Bilstein and go with another brand front/rear. This option costs more for sure, but how can I get better reliability without requiring rebuilds which are expensive and take weeks if not months to rebuild.
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- Thread starter
- #234
Update on leaking Bilstein 6112 shocks and my replacement leather seats from LSeat.com...the auto upholstery shop that quoted me $250 over the phone turned into $450 when I went in person. Even though he had no work that day...he wouldn't lower the price to match my 2nd lowest quote at $375.
So, I went to the shop that quoted me $375 in person and they are super busy. He cannot do it right now.
I then went to another auto upholstery shop that would do it for $400 total and he let me make an appointment for Monday morning at 8 am. Very nice guy in a nicer area than the other places. I should have done a video me driving around some shady parts of LA looking for a low cost auto upholstery!
So, the moral of the story...do more stuff DIY to save money! Replacing your front seat's leather is going to cost you around $800 total if you have a shop do it professionally. You can save half if you can do it yourself. Prices are going up for labor.
Now back to my leaking front driver shock. After crunching the numbers...for my specific situation with digressive extended length ICON 56550 shocks in the rear...my lowest cost alternative is just to replace the leaking front Bilstein 6112s. I'm also taking this opportunity to increase the spring rate on the front coils from the standard 600 lbf/in to650 700 lbf/in (by the way I just realized that spring rates are measured in "pounds of force per inch" = lbf/in).
So, I'll keep my current coilovers as spare. And if I don't like the heavier coil...I could always swap back in the 600 lbf/in coils. The 600 lbf/in feel very smooth driving in the city and even offroading. So, we'll see how the650 700 lbf/in coils change the ride.
The Bilstein 6112 kit with the stiffer spring rate is 47-284142. The kit with the standard spring rate is 46-227187. I ordered the kit assembled with a KYB top hat for the GX470. That was extra, but I hope to be able to follow my own DIY advice and install them in my driveway. I just need to watch YouTube videos on how to take the coilover off without disassembling it.
I originally ordered the 6112s assembled on the 4th circlip. I then found this chart and didn't want to be 2.6" high in the front, so I switched my order to be on the 3rd circlip. I did get about 2 3/8" of lift on mine on the 3rd circlip/notch from the bottom, so for me...the chart was correct. Just know that these are approximate lift heights and not guaranteed measurements. This chart only applies to the heavy load (700 lbf/in) coilovers not the standard load (600 lbf/in) coilovers. The standard coilovers have different lift numbers than those listed here.
So, I went to the shop that quoted me $375 in person and they are super busy. He cannot do it right now.
I then went to another auto upholstery shop that would do it for $400 total and he let me make an appointment for Monday morning at 8 am. Very nice guy in a nicer area than the other places. I should have done a video me driving around some shady parts of LA looking for a low cost auto upholstery!
So, the moral of the story...do more stuff DIY to save money! Replacing your front seat's leather is going to cost you around $800 total if you have a shop do it professionally. You can save half if you can do it yourself. Prices are going up for labor.
Now back to my leaking front driver shock. After crunching the numbers...for my specific situation with digressive extended length ICON 56550 shocks in the rear...my lowest cost alternative is just to replace the leaking front Bilstein 6112s. I'm also taking this opportunity to increase the spring rate on the front coils from the standard 600 lbf/in to
So, I'll keep my current coilovers as spare. And if I don't like the heavier coil...I could always swap back in the 600 lbf/in coils. The 600 lbf/in feel very smooth driving in the city and even offroading. So, we'll see how the
The Bilstein 6112 kit with the stiffer spring rate is 47-284142. The kit with the standard spring rate is 46-227187. I ordered the kit assembled with a KYB top hat for the GX470. That was extra, but I hope to be able to follow my own DIY advice and install them in my driveway. I just need to watch YouTube videos on how to take the coilover off without disassembling it.
I originally ordered the 6112s assembled on the 4th circlip. I then found this chart and didn't want to be 2.6" high in the front, so I switched my order to be on the 3rd circlip. I did get about 2 3/8" of lift on mine on the 3rd circlip/notch from the bottom, so for me...the chart was correct. Just know that these are approximate lift heights and not guaranteed measurements. This chart only applies to the heavy load (700 lbf/in) coilovers not the standard load (600 lbf/in) coilovers. The standard coilovers have different lift numbers than those listed here.
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- Thread starter
- #235
LSeat.com leather front seat kit installed. They fit a tad loose compared to oem. Color is not a perfect match, but close enough.
@HomersCanyonero
@HomersCanyonero
Ive been following your build for a few weeks now. I am currently running your same 6112 setup upfront (except I have JBA UCAs).
I finally got it on the road yesterday after finishing up the install, rode amazing. More lift that I originally anticipated. But felt the bumpy in the rear still as I am all stock.
I would like to also duplicate your setup in the rear as it seems to have worked great for you.
My question is, are you still running stock bump stops? I live here in CO and some roads aren't the best. I don't want to destroy the ICON shock over a massive pot hole.
Wasn't sure if you covered this or not, last I saw you were thinking about making custom bump stop extenders.
Thanks for posting your build, and if you dont mind.. I will keep stealing your ideas
Regards
- Thread starter
- #237
No problem. Im here to share my journey.@HomersCanyonero
@HomersCanyonero
Ive been following your build for a few weeks now. I am currently running your same 6112 setup upfront (except I have JBA UCAs).
I finally got it on the road yesterday after finishing up the install, rode amazing. More lift that I originally anticipated. But felt the bumpy in the rear still as I am all stock.
I would like to also duplicate your setup in the rear as it seems to have worked great for you.
My question is, are you still running stock bump stops? I live here in CO and some roads aren't the best. I don't want to destroy the ICON shock over a massive pot hole.
Wasn't sure if you covered this or not, last I saw you were thinking about making custom bump stop extenders.
Thanks for posting your build, and if you dont mind.. I will keep stealing your ideas
Regards
I never got around to cutting/drilling the aluminum blocks that I purchased to extend the rear oem bump stops.
Rather than spending coin trying to extend the rear oem bump stops, I recommend that you go with the timbren active bumpstops.
The rationale is that these timbren ones soften the bump depending how hard you hit them.
The stock oem ones seem to have less flex and the material appears to be more rigid. Mine are still holding up.
Now in terms of protecting the rear shock ICON 56550 extended travel (17/28.5) so that it stays within its range of 17” compressed, Im at that margin based on my unscientific calculations and measurements.
There’s 3 components that help you from compressing your shocks to their minimum range: (1) bump stops, (2) Toyota coil isolators, (3) coils.
I guess the only way to know if my rear shocks are protected is to jump the gx470 off-road and see if the rear shocks survive.
The other option is to not get extended rear shocks and stay with standard travel ones in the range of 15” to 24.5”.
Now since you are still stock in the rear, you don’t have this issue. The stock oem rears are not long travel and you have airbags. My guess is that your stock oem shocks range from 15” to 24” (just a wild guess).
If your rear shocks are original and old, I would recommend that you change your rear shocks only with digressive valving rear shocks to match the front ones. try that out before doing the coil conversion. See if it improves the bounciness in the rear.
I honestly think that I need to Disconnect the rear sway bars when off-roading to really get the maximum benefits of the extended rear travel components (shocks/coils).
@HomersCanyonero
@HomersCanyonero
Ive been following your build for a few weeks now. I am currently running your same 6112 setup upfront (except I have JBA UCAs).
I finally got it on the road yesterday after finishing up the install, rode amazing. More lift that I originally anticipated. But felt the bumpy in the rear still as I am all stock.
I would like to also duplicate your setup in the rear as it seems to have worked great for you.
My question is, are you still running stock bump stops? I live here in CO and some roads aren't the best. I don't want to destroy the ICON shock over a massive pot hole.
Wasn't sure if you covered this or not, last I saw you were thinking about making custom bump stop extenders.
Thanks for posting your build, and if you dont mind.. I will keep stealing your ideas
Regards
I have the same setup and went through this exact progression but that was due to parts being backordered and installing things as I got them. With tricked airbags and stock shocks the rear ride was terrible compared to now. I no longer hit the bumps stops over every speedbump but it was bouncy and felt hash. With the Icons and stock bumpstops the ride improved and it was no longer bouncing since the damping was there but it was still hash. If you swap to the Icons and progressive dobinsons things are night and day. Its smooth and comfortable and the ride is so so much better.
To your question, I bottomed and hit the rear bump stops many times with the the stop bumps and long travel Icons and have had no issues at all with the shocks. I ended up buying wheelers bumpstops are about half the cost of the timbrens and are 75% as good from what I've read. I used the metaltech spacers, and drilled a hole in the center of each to mount the wheelers bumps (like in the link below). They work great and they add even more comfort when you bottom out. Its a softer squish as opposed to hitting a wall.
Builds - Homer's 2003 GX470 Build 8.2 4.56 2.5 34s
Planning a trip to some trails in Big Bear, CA, so I'm finally going to add a gas can to the Gobi ladder. I was trying to figure out how to get a Scepter jerry can (20L), but the used ones are expensive and look like crap. I don't plan on going to Canada anytime soon, so going with a 3 gallon...
forum.ih8mud.com
Be prepared to trim the gas tank skid if you disconnect the rear sway bar or you'll need longer bump stops for sure. If you still have the stock gas tank skid it will most likely self clearance the tin foil but the noise it makes does not sound good.
GX470 Long Travel Rear Suspension Options
forum.ih8mud.com
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- #240
Good information on the alternate bumpstops with extensions. Also, good field report on not bottoming out the extended travel icons.Be prepared to trim the gas tank skid if you disconnect the rear sway bar or you'll need longer bump stops for sure. If you still have the stock gas tank skid it will most likely self clearance the tin foil but the noise it makes does not sound good.
GX470 Long Travel Rear Suspension Options
I wasn’t aware or forgot about the stock oem gas tank skid plate issue if you disconnect the rear sway bars. I’m going to hold on disconnecting them.
Also, I don’t recall hitting my oem bump stops that often in any setup. This is why I haven’t done anything to the stock oem bump stops.
In essence, the rear sway bar, the rear bump stops, and the Toyota coil isolators all work against more travel. They limit the travel of the rear suspension. So, it seems some of these components are working against each other. Hmmmm.
