Lexie the Comfort Cruiser (1 Viewer)

[DirtDawg]

I figured it was time to start a build thread of sorts as I am starting to actually mod the cruiser up.

A little back story:
Im currently a senior in college, with aspirations of traveling the world. I mountain bike, snowboard, and pretty much just enjoy the outdoors. Ive always been a gear head before I could even drive, something about the mechanized beauty of an engine and vehicle just mesmerizes me. Since my life behind the wheel has been short so far, Ill start from the beginning.

My family has almost always religiously owned Toyotas. Dad loves the reliability and he always says "nothing feels quite like a Toyota". So when I turned 16, my dad handed me the keys to their '00 Sequoia. It had served us well taking us all over the US reliably up to 180k. There was just one problem, it was 2wd. So the search was on to find a Toyota 4x4 that would suit a teenager well.

In comes the first of many - a '99 4Runner. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the sequoia or 4runner, but they were just your basic stock variant. 2 months into ownership, I rear-ended a jeep compass. Part of it was due to teenage stupidity, part due to malfunctioning brakes, but regardless I was devastated when I totaled my dream vehicle.

I knew I wanted another 4R, but this time I wanted to find the right one (rear diff lock, sr5 sport, etc). Luckily for me I stumbled upon a green '99 with 160k and the rear diff locker! I talked to the guy some and headed up to Kansas to pick it up.



Throughout the rest of high school I built it up to suit my needs.



However after high school I ran into a huge problem with my setup.. The 4Runner was way too small to fit my needs. In comes the next toy, a '99 Dodge 2500 4x4.



It had tons of power, space, and was the smallest diesel truck you could purchase at the time. Once again, I slowly built that up with the aspirations of eventually putting some sort of camper on the back. I got about half way done with the build and finally had enough. After replacing 2 injection pumps, the whole fuel system, and many more repairs costing more than the worth of the vehicle, It was time to let go of my bad investment. I knew I should have listened to my father and stuck with a Toyota.



After deciding that I wanted to get back into a Toyota, and more specifically a Land Cruiser, I found Lexie. After scouring the web, local dealers, and every option I had, I was about to settle for a Tundra. I went one evening to look at a rough Tundra and as I drove in the lot, there she was. Apparently they had just gotten it that day and it was not even listed yet. After giving it a thorough once-over, I told them I would be back in the morning. I bought it the next day.

2000 Lexus LX470 with 114,000 on the clock.

 

[DirtDawg]

Now onto the build. Plans are to build up the cruiser to suit all my needs. I needed something that could lug me and my friends to the mountains, snow or shine, that could support me on a lengthy trip, and that could be daily driven. Heres what the plans are so far:

-Dissent Front Bumper
-Dissent Rear Bumper with tire swing out and custom bike rack swing out
-Suspension (still unsure on this)
-Method Race Wheels wrapped with BFGs
-Sliders
-Lighting
-Roof Rack
-Sleeping platform/drawer build

And much much more. So I will update you guys on whats done so far.

First and foremost, weathertechs.


Then I baselined the rig. I'm an amsoil dealer, and I love their products (and the blackstone reports from using said products), so thats what I run.





And then I drove the piss out of it until I could save up and start modding it. Once funds allowed, I began ordering parts. First came wheels and tires. I have always had a weird obsession with method race wheels. I love the look and maybe its my love for trophy trucks that makes me want to run fake beadlocks so bad. I ordered 18x9 methods wrapped in 275/70/18 BFG KO2s.



I drove like this at stock height for a while, no rubbing whatsoever.

Then came the lift. I decided to stick with the AHC system for now, but don't feel like Im keeping it long. I have created a separate thread to document that: 2-2.5" AHC Lift Using King Coils & Shock Spacers



With the funds diminishing, I decided to go ahead and go in on a budget snorkel.

 

[DirtDawg]

One thing that has always bothered me on every vehicle I have owned is the stock lighting. Some are good, some are bad, but the case for most, is that they can always be improved. I have done several headlight builds for friends and family in the past and figured it was time to start one for Lexie. Heres the build out:
-Acura TSX Projectors
-The retrofit source Morimoto HID kit (Phillips Xtreme Vision Bulbs, 35w ballasts, relay set up)
-LED Halo's to eventually be used as turn signal.
-All supporting hardware.











I decided to paint the housings black to be different and I love the grey/black color combo. Still trying to figure out what to do about the corner lenses. Here they are on the cruiser:

 

[JonD]

sub'd

 

[DirtDawg]

And thats about it so far. Currently trying to replenish the modification fund, and just enjoying the great outdoors with my cruiser. Heres some photos from a recent Colorado/New Mexico mountain biking trip.

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

Looks like a nice rig.

 

[DirtDawg]

So I need some of you guy's thoughts. I have been chasing a front end issue down for a while now, and almost have it completely eliminated, but not sure what to do next. Heres how it started: Back in may, drove to Kansas City, developed a bad front end vibration (steering wheel shake & front end shake). Ok no big deal, go the tires balanced, still some steering wheel shake. Find loose wheel bearings, repack & replace. Still some steering wheel shake..

So being that I was running on 8 y/o LTXs, I figured it was just the old tires, looks like an excuse to upgrade! Ordered 4 method NV wheels wrapped in KO2s, shipped already mounted from 4WheelParts. I finally get the new shoes in and get them mounted.... Still some steering wheel shake.

Figuring they were maybe out of balance, I headed to Hibdon to get them thrown on the road force balancer. I pick up the truck and the vibration is a ton better, buuut its still there. Head back to hibdon again asking if they could throw them on the machine to check. I got this response: "Our road force balancer is down right now". Apparently they just normally balanced my tires without telling me and still charging me...

Drove with the bad vibration for a month or two then when I upgraded my suspension, I had it aligned, rotated, and balanced again. The truck drove alot better, now I was only getting the vibrations on certain stretches of roads. Been like that since.

Vibrations only happen 60mph + sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not, depending on the road surface. Only in the steering wheel. Ive replaced: wheel bearings, rack bearings, tires, and upgraded my AHC suspension as above^. Ive inspected steering linkage, no play. Ball joints don't seem to have any play... Is a road force balance really the solution to my problem?

I also feel like I have quite a bit of bump steer even for our vehicles. I understand the characteristics of AWD/FWD vehicles, but I feel like I'm having excessive bump steer for our standards. Maybe I have a rack issue thats leading to this vib? Maybe that part-time kit is in my future..

AHC is also not faring well despite my efforts. I find that if I go from comfort to sport, the vibrations are reduced, but I was just thinking more resistance. But maybe that plays a role?

Just trying to brainstorm up some ideas here, most that know me on this forum know I don't ask for help too much... but I could use some now.

 

[DirtDawg]

Posting to update on my above post.

This weekend I ended up lowering the suspension to 20.5" front / 21.5" rear. This solved my bump steer issues and the LX rides/handles much better. I had the tires road force balanced as well and this almost entirely solved my vibration issue. I still get a bad vibration on certain surfaces, but it is not often, and it's usually gotta be decently rough. At this point I am contributing this vibration to my blown lower hydraulic shock bushings. So once I eventually get a fresh suspension in this thing I will see if the problem persists.

I will say this about the BFG KO2s: I ran the regular KOs on several different vehicles and they were the best dang tire I've ever ran. I ran a set of KO2s on my dodge and didn't have any issues with them for ~20k before I sold it. So far I have had to balance these 3 times on the cruiser. They are also starting to show signs of "cracking" as mentioned in this thread: BFG KO2 Cracking at 10k . Needless to say, my time with BFGs is done and I will be going with a different company when these wear out/blow out. It's sad to see such a well known tire go down in quality terms, but I guess that's the world we live in.

If the new suspension doesn't fix the vibrations, or the cracking continues to get worse, I am going to contact BFG and see what they have to say. I paid a lot for these tires, I would at least like to get some use out of them.

 

[Greenbean]

Man I love your dedication to the headlights. Great lighting is such an overlooked tool and necessity!

The tint looks good. The wheels and tint on that color are a great package.

 

[DirtDawg]

Man I love your dedication to the headlights. Great lighting is such an overlooked tool and necessity!

The tint looks good. The wheels and tint on that color are a great package.

Thanks man! After owning several vehicles with less than adequate lighting, I started to do projector retrofits. Now I think it is one of the best mods you can do to any vehicle. Yes they're expensive, but the light output is worth it.

Just for thread reference my tint is 20% 3M black ceramic on all rear windows, 35% bronze Viper ceramic on the front (discontinued), and 60% ceramic on the entire windshield.

 

[yotasavg]

Nice thread so far. Great job on the headlights.

 

[tshandonay]

My 2 cents on the vibration is a potential drive shaft issue. Pull them one at a time and attempt to recreate the vibration. I believe the center diff will need to be locked for it to move with either removed.

I didn't read all your troubleshooting word for word so maybe you tried this already?

 

[DirtDawg]

My 2 cents on the vibration is a potential drive shaft issue. Pull them one at a time and attempt to recreate the vibration. I believe the center diff will need to be locked for it to move with either removed.

I didn't read all your troubleshooting word for word so maybe you tried this already?

Pulled the front shaft a while back to check another issue and it made no difference. Plus the driveshaft creates more of a under the feet vibe than a vibe that only shows itself in the steering wheel.

At this point, I'm honestly leaning towards my suspension. I've already had the tires balanced several times, including a road force balance where they all read 0.0. If the issue comes back up I'll swap them to a friends cruiser and see if it replicates on his. The only other thing I could think of is my rack, but it feels tight and doesn't display any other symptoms.

Here's the update on the vibe: it now only occurs on certain road surfaces, and only in the two softest modes on my suspension. I need to pay a few bills and find some time then I'll get around to ordering a full Tough Dog kit from @reevesci .

 

[Desert100]

I've gone down the exact same path with a new set of Duratracs, which now have maybe 7,000 miles on them. Vibration at the steering wheel, substantially reduced after two road force balancings but still there, right at 70mph. The most recent step was my local Toyota dealer suggesting it might be a driveshaft issue.

The thing is, I have a second set of wheels (which happen to be Lexus) that have studded snow tires on them, and last winter after I put them on I didn't see any of this vibration at all.

My plan is, now we're in November, to remount the Lexus wheels with the snow tires and check for vibration. If there is none then it has to be the Duratracs or the Toyota wheels. To further isolate the problem I guess I could then get the Duratracs swapped onto the Lexus wheels, and try driving on those.

It's annoying because the Duratracs were, like your tires, expensive and in every other respect have been great.

 

[DirtDawg]

I've gone down the exact same path with a new set of Duratracs, which now have maybe 7,000 miles on them. Vibration at the steering wheel, substantially reduced after two road force balancings but still there, right at 70mph. The most recent step was my local Toyota dealer suggesting it might be a driveshaft issue.

The thing is, I have a second set of wheels (which happen to be Lexus) that have studded snow tires on them, and last winter after I put them on I didn't see any of this vibration at all.

My plan is, now we're in November, to remount the Lexus wheels with the snow tires and check for vibration. If there is none then it has to be the Duratracs or the Toyota wheels. To further isolate the problem I guess I could then get the Duratracs swapped onto the Lexus wheels, and try driving on those.

It's annoying because the Duratracs were, like your tires, expensive and in every other respect have been great.

Your vibes happen consistently at 70mph right?

Plus the vibes still happen despite switching tires front to back. I doubt I really got 4 bad tires.

 

[Desert100]

Vibration becomes noticeable via the steering wheel at about 67mph, maxes out at 70mph, disappears above 73mph.

I've had the tires rotated, but didn't keep track of which ended up where. My Toyota dealership here in Albuquerque has been fabulous on other issues, and just re-did the road force balancing for free. I've been waiting to re-try the snow tires and confirm there's no vibration with them before really zeroing in on where the residual problem is here.

 

[DirtDawg]

Vibration becomes noticeable via the steering wheel at about 67mph, maxes out at 70mph, disappears above 73mph.

I've had the tires rotated, but didn't keep track of which ended up where. My Toyota dealership here in Albuquerque has been fabulous on other issues, and just re-did the road force balancing for free. I've been waiting to re-try the snow tires and confirm there's no vibration with them before really zeroing in on where the residual problem is here.

See that's where mines different. No discernible speed at which it happens. Just matters the road surface. And when I put my suspension into firm mode, it disappears entirely. And it happened with my old tires, but those were also 8+ years old and were garbage.

 

[Matserelli]

Dodge?!?!? Leave this forum! lol jk

 

[DirtDawg]

Dodge?!?!? Leave this forum! lol jk

Despite it being a hunk of crap, it was probably one of the nicest out on the road. Though that's not saying much because most dodges are beat up...

In the end I ended up spending what I payed for the damn thing in repairs and mods. I loved the Cummins, but after going through a couple injection pumps, it gets a little spendy.

 

[Matserelli]

I'm just messing around! Honestly, I think you did a great job on that truck. That 4Runner though, I love it, awesome!