iwashmycar's Nori '22GX thread

[iwashmycar]

Been on many forums with many vehicles and I never think I want a "build thread" but then ten+ years fly by and I always kind of wish I had done it. So this will be my place to keep track of my 2022!

This past summer of '25 I got the GX itch and started browsing far and wide for one. For me it had to be Nori Green. Ended up finding a decent looking one on Carmax's website and decided to drop the $800 to have it shipped to the Columbus OH store from N.E. PA. Turned out to be quite a nice one showing roughly 35k miles for ~$54k......decided to go for it.

I think someone may have even already taught her how to offroad a little, as it seems she took a heck of a driving trip out west....
5/9/2023 - 9800 miles - they did the 10K service in PA
6/26/2023 - 16100 miles - did the 15K service in Denver, CO and added the "Severe / Special Operating Conditions" items.
10/30/2023 - 21500 miles - 20K service back in PA...then back to the usual ~1000mi/month.
Quite the 5.5 months someone must have had in their 'brand new' GX. Hopefully good times. Hopefully Ill do the same some day.

The 2007 FJ she replaced will be missed - was a great 14 years, but it has been about 6 months now and I enjoy driving the GX every time I do. I mostly miss the badassness that the FJ brough to the table vs the soccer mom SUV - Ill slowly work on changing that part as we go.

So to start fresh, here is the obligatory "new" clean picture. Baselined.
Buffed, Ceramic coated, Fluid Filmed: Trans, Transfer case, and diff oils changed. Rotated the 5 tires. Threw on the Prado crossbars too.

The list of things to improve / do right away was small.
Throttle input never felt great. Brakes suck compared to what Im used to. Wanted to get a dash cam up and going.

I had one of these 9-Drive throttle controllers in the FJ and it did help quite a bit. This will work until I can get the OTT tune.
I hid it behind the leather knee bolster as it can be removed easily and I have found with the FJ, once I set it, I forget it.
(EDIT: took this back out, after OTT tune)

Then I did a front and rear FitCamX. Works well so far.
I took a few pictures along the way in reference to accessing the rear.
FitCamX pictures

 

[iwashmycar]

I always liked having a trusty air compressor ready to go, so I took the ancient MV50 I had in the FJ's engine bay and rigged up a mount in the GX.

So I found a black polypropylene cutting board and started fitting it as a mount.

Cardboard mockup, once I relocated the “Air Injection Control Driver”

Various spacers to level it out

Heated up some well nuts and smushed them into the plastic from the backside. Bolted mount in place

Then bolted down the MV50 on rubber grommets to the board

Stock cover still covers - Might also be a good place to use a tray and add electrics later down the road

 

[iwashmycar]

The Blackline steering wheel was kind of cool with the matte wood, but I didnt love it. I really disliked the shiny wood ones I test drove as it was summer time and I just felt like my hand wanted to sweat.

Also just heat on the sides kind of sucks - Benchmarking the beautiful leather full-heat wheel we have in our X5, this custom one popped up on another Lexus forum decently inexpensive. Decided to go for it.

It feels nice in the hand, and the 360 heat is not super quick, but overall very nice on the coldest days.
Install was a breeze once I figured out the button part just pops off.

For future reference
1. Disconnect the battery for a little while.
2. Pop off the little access panels on each side of the wheel - one is around the cruise stalk.
3. With a flat-head push the little metal 'levers' to pop the air bag and cover out.
4. Unplug the air bag and set it aside.
5. Unplug the connectors gently from the clock spring
6. 19mm loosen the center retaining nut - leave the nut ON but loose while you break the wheel from spline shaft. Once loose, take off nut, mark wheel centerline to shaft as best you can.
7. On work bench, unscrew the screws holding the electrics in place, cruise stalk, ect. The whole button assembly and grey trim just pulls out attached with pegs into rubber catches. I also had to transfer over the land departure vibrator from old to new - its just screwed to the center bottom part of the wheel.
8. Install opposite of reverse.

 

[iwashmycar]

Time to try and get the brakes up to par.

 

[r2m]

Congrats on finally getting a guild thread going!
PM one of the moderators and see if they can get you the gray "BUILD" oval for your build thread.

 

[iwashmycar]

Time to try and get the brakes up to par.

They are awesome. I put them on finally, and got to bed them today as aggressively as I could in 20 degree weather. Then took a trip to the store like any good GX owner on a Sunday.

Initial bite is much improved and you can just tell they are happier to stop this heavy ass truck compared to before. To be fair the rear pads were down to like 1/8", and fronts maybe 1/4". I can only figure they will get even better as the pads break in further.

I did stop to make a bracket for the brake line....the Wilwood connection point is right in the middle compared to the OEM calipers that are slightly angled and up. I did not want to bend the lines, so you can see the brake line mount is off the spindle by about 3/4". Seems to work well. Solid.

Out back I had some high temp primer grey laying around - I was hoping for a better match, but maybe after it gets old and dirty it will.

 

[r2m]

They are awesome. I put them on finally, and got to bed them today as aggressively as I could in 20 degree weather.

I guess... No issues with overheating???

 

[iwashmycar]

OTT was tuning about as close as he gets to me a couple weeks back. Go figure the day comes, and we had a decent amount of snow all day. They had closed down the highway so Waze took me all through Ohio's Amish country. GX did well in the snow - I had never driven it in snow before. These OE Michelins leave more braking grip to be desired.

I think most of this was frozen horse poo

Anywho, I posted my impressions of the tune on the Taco board, but figured id update here too.

They charge more for the GX. I think Tacomas are like 5 or 550. This was $650. I still think it should be cheaper if only because the Tacomas ect are cheaper....Its definitely a Lexus tax in that they "have to pay for all the licenses", and when they cost more per (maybe because they sell less), they charge more I guess....

That said, I got the pretty normal "mild" throttle settings, so that part is perfect. Does what the pedal commander simply couldnt. With the pedal controller it was quicker to throttle, but often times too jumpy. Now it really is how it should be.

Biggest improvement is shifting and power. It used to feel like it "fell off" in like gear 3 or 4 (like accelerating up to 50+ mph) and I would have to maybe give it a little more throttle, or make it downshift to keep accelerating....I am talking normal acceleration - not hammer down / merging.

Now it just keeps pulling...almost like its got a little turbo (in terms of throttle not power lol) (our X5 m50 just ALWAYS has that spooling torque for additional throttle on demand as comparison).

Shifting is both quicker and quieter, and when you do hammer down it really seems to just smoothly pull, shift, and go.
To me, it was worth the money as these "issues" always bugged me even when test driving GX's and I knew I could remedy them with a few more dollars.

The dude Shaun who runs the Ohio/Indiana area was very nice too and that is good for future updates, changes, ect.

 

[iwashmycar]

And Facebook Marketplace score.

Some guy had a post up for a GX460 rear gate table for $100. Figured why not / might use that now and then.

Turns out it was Ohana Rig Supply, and was a one of the molle+table, another panel, and the dash mount system. I dont think I am fond of the dash thing, but I threw the rear door parts on. Pretty slick stuff, but I cannot believe what they cost new.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

OTT was tuning about as close as he gets to me a couple weeks back. Go figure the day comes, and we had a decent amount of snow all day. They had closed down the highway so Waze took me all through Ohio's Amish country. GX did well in the snow - I had never driven it in snow before. These OE Michelins leave more braking grip to be desired.

I think most of this was frozen horse poo

Anywho, I posted my impressions of the tune on the Taco board, but figured id update here too.

They charge more for the GX. I think Tacomas are like 5 or 550. This was $650. I still think it should be cheaper if only because the Tacomas ect are cheaper....Its definitely a Lexus tax in that they "have to pay for all the licenses", and when they cost more per (maybe because they sell less), they charge more I guess....

That said, I got the pretty normal "mild" throttle settings, so that part is perfect. Does what the pedal commander simply couldnt. With the pedal controller it was quicker to throttle, but often times too jumpy. Now it really is how it should be.

Biggest improvement is shifting and power. It used to feel like it "fell off" in like gear 3 or 4 (like accelerating up to 50+ mph) and I would have to maybe give it a little more throttle, or make it downshift to keep accelerating....I am talking normal acceleration - not hammer down / merging.

Now it just keeps pulling...almost like its got a little turbo (in terms of throttle not power lol) (our X5 m50 just ALWAYS has that spooling torque for additional throttle on demand as comparison).

Shifting is both quicker and quieter, and when you do hammer down it really seems to just smoothly pull, shift, and go.
To me, it was worth the money as these "issues" always bugged me even when test driving GX's and I knew I could remedy them with a few more dollars.

The dude Shaun who runs the Ohio/Indiana area was very nice too and that is good for future updates, changes, ect.

I thoroughly enjoy the aggressive 89 tune I got from YotaWerx. The throttle response, passing, and cruise control performance is good.

 

[iwashmycar]

I thoroughly enjoy the aggressive 89 tune I got from YotaWerx. The throttle response, passing, and cruise control performance is good.

I forgot about the cruise, but I only used it once so far.

On the way there I had a tailwind once the snow cleared up some - It still would aggressively double downshift, like if I got too close with the radar-cruise.....as well as the usual not-so-great at holding hills.

On the way home I had a big headwind, so that did not help a ton, BUT it did hold hills better, and when I did mess up and it slowed behind a car, it wouldnt hammer down as clunky feeling as it had. Shifts quicker and cleaner.

Looking forward to testing it further.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

I forgot about the cruise, but I only used it once so far.

On the way there I had a tailwind once the snow cleared up some - It still would aggressively double downshift, like if I got too close with the radar-cruise.....as well as the usual not-so-great at holding hills.

On the way home I had a big headwind, so that did not help a ton, BUT it did hold hills better, and when I did mess up and it slowed behind a car, it wouldnt hammer down as clunky feeling as it had. Shifts quicker and cleaner.

Looking forward to testing it further.

I live in the mountains and I'm digging how it performs.

 

[iwashmycar]

Marketplace strikes again.

While I was planning on KO3's (probably 275/65r18) when the Defenders wore down........couldnt help myself. 4k mile takeoffs from a new 4Runner. 265/70r18s

Ill get em on tomorrow and see what needs clearanced if anything. I know the spare either plain wont work or maybe I can ratchet strap it ect. These SL tires feel quite compliant from just throwing them around.

 

[Ohio Nori]

Marketplace strikes again.

While I was planning on KO3's (probably 275/65r18) when the Defenders wore down........couldnt help myself. 4k mile takeoffs from a new 4Runner. 265/70r18s

Ill get em on tomorrow and see what needs clearanced if anything. I know the spare either plain wont work or maybe I can ratchet strap it ect. These SL tires feel quite compliant from just throwing them around.

I have these on my Nori. They rub at full lock on driver side remote reservoir. Otherwise no issue.

 

[iwashmycar]

I have these on my Nori. They rub at full lock on driver side remote reservoir. Otherwise no issue.

That’s great to hear. You fit the spare under?

 

[Ohio Nori]

That’s great to hear. You fit the spare under?

Didn’t try. I have a 265/65 under.

 

[r2m]

Didn’t try. I have a 265/65 under.

Humm. that's a half inch difference in diameter. If you should ever have to bolt that spare on, I'd suggest not going more than a few miles on it, considering you're driving a vehicle that's always in all wheel drive. All wheel drive vehicle don't like mixing and matching tire diameters.
Maybe carry a can of inflate and fix too.

 

[iwashmycar]

LEG DAY!
They’re on and glorious. I’m going to have to massage some plastic and tackle the spare but they were rubless on the short drive home.

I did change out "the screws" for some domed phillips in advance

 

[r2m]

Have you tried lock-to-lock going in and out of driveways yet?
Also, if you haven't done your alignment yet, have the push the caster forward. That'll gain you wee bit of room in the back of your fenders.

 

[iwashmycar]

Have you tried lock-to-lock going in and out of driveways yet?
Also, if you haven't done your alignment yet, have the push the caster forward. That'll gain you wee bit of room in the back of your fenders.

Haven hit anything too flexy so far....I dont have many steep ones around here lol (its all new)

I took off the front little diverter flaps and drove it a little more today. Still zero rub. So just gonna send it until it does.

They did check the alignment when they put the tires on, and its at like 3.1 and 3.3 degrees caster which is pretty decent, so I left it alone.


Spare....no way in hell. I deflated it, strapped it, ect. It can be my trunk passenger for the time being. Gave it a decent bath, and strapped it in.