Lifting options for GX460 with air suspensions remain in place

[Badao]

Hi all, thanks for the add. I joined the GX club about 2 months ago since than I have upgraded to ARB skid plates and a set of falken wildpeak AT3W 265/65/18 tires on F-Sport wheels at stock height. I just came back from Silverton, CO, and did engineer pass, cinnamon pass, and along some other passes in the area. Other than I scarped the front skid plates a few times, the GX is awesome. A little more ground clearance in the front or bring it to level would be enough for I do. The GX is 2013 with 82k miles on it, the air bags still functions well, and I do like the auto leveling features so I am thinking to keep it till it fails. I did some research online and only found useful information for GX470, and haven't seen anyone done it on GX460. I am curious if it is doable to lifting gx460 with the air suspension remain in place. Here are two options I have in mind:

1. Replace the shocks all around with bilstein, reuse the springs in the front and bring it to level, the rear remains the same height.

2. Replace the shocks and lift both the front and the rear about 1-1.5''. Can I trick the airbag like people did it on GX470 or do I need a pair of air big spacers?

I know I will be sacrifice the adjustable suspension but I don't really notice the different anyway and I am sure the new shocks will ride better than the OEM ones. Thanks for the help!

 

[Leftee]

Hi all, thanks for the add. I joined the GX club about 2 months ago since than I have upgraded to ARB skid plates and a set of falken wildpeak AT3W 265/65/18 tires on F-Sport wheels at stock height. I just came back from Silverton, CO, and did engineer pass, cinnamon pass, and along some other passes in the area. Other than I scarped the front skid plates a few times, the GX is awesome. A little more ground clearance in the front or bring it to level would be enough for I do. The GX is 2013 with 82k miles on it, the air bags still functions well, and I do like the auto leveling features so I am thinking to keep it till it fails. I did some research online and only found useful information for GX470, and haven't seen anyone done it on GX460. I am curious if it is doable to lifting gx460 with the air suspension remain in place. Here are two options I have in mind:

1. Replace the shocks all around with bilstein, reuse the springs in the front and bring it to level, the rear remains the same height.

2. Replace the shocks and lift both the front and the rear about 1-1.5''. Can I trick the airbag like people did it on GX470 or do I need a pair of air big spacers?

I know I will be sacrifice the adjustable suspension but I don't really notice the different anyway and I am sure the new shocks will ride better than the OEM ones. Thanks for the help!

View attachment 3450486

I was in the same boat with my 08 sport. I wanted the benefits of the air springs and didn’t want/need a big lift with the KDSS so I went with the Eibach Pro-truck struts/shocks and set the front at the +1.7” setting with the stock springs. It came out basically level (-1/2” front) and rides amazingly well.

 

[Badao]

I was in the same boat with my 08 sport. I wanted the benefits of the air springs and didn’t want/need a big lift with the KDSS so I went with the Eibach Pro-truck struts/shocks and set the front at the +1.7” setting with the stock springs. It came out basically level (-1/2” front) and rides amazingly well.

Did you have to do the airbag trick? The pro-truck is similar to Bilstein 5100, and people from other group have reported that at 1.75'' setting, the rear springs needs 3/4'' spacer for non airbag model. Do you know the actual lift at 1.75'' setting? Maybe the rear height is different between two models. I just took some measurement from the center of the wheel cap to the bottom of the fender. By adding 1.75'' I will be pretty much level but 1/2'' rake in the front would be awesome too.

DF: 20 PF:20.125
DR: 22 PR: 22

 

[Rednexus]

Just FYI, most folks who do replace the air suspension on the GX really don't miss it. I'm in that boat myself - I thought it was a great feature, but a good aftermarket suspension with a coil conversion performs so much better than stock I haven't wanted the airbags back at all in over 2 years after lifting. I haul and tow with my GX all of the time as well.

Most mid-grade lifts will include threaded front coilovers allowing for height adjustment. For the rear you can also get an adjustable coil spring conversion kit (such as the Ironman kit) that allows for an inch of up-and-down adjustment. I have mine set at 1" rake unloaded and it drops to maybe 0.5" rake loaded or towing with a WDH.

 

[Badao]

Just FYI, most folks who do replace the air suspension on the GX really don't miss it. I'm in that boat myself - I thought it was a great feature, but a good aftermarket suspension with a coil conversion performs so much better than stock I haven't wanted the airbags back at all in over 2 years after lifting. I haul and tow with my GX all of the time as well.

Most mid-grade lifts will include threaded front coilovers allowing for height adjustment. For the rear you can also get an adjustable coil spring conversion kit (such as the Ironman kit) that allows for an inch of up-and-down adjustment. I have mine set at 1" rake unloaded and it drops to maybe 0.5" rake loaded or towing with a WDH.

I am just being cheap if it still works and I can accomplish what I intended to do without spending extra I’m all for it lol. I’m sure at some point in the future I will swap them with springs.

 

[Rednexus]

I am just being cheap if it still works and I can accomplish what I intended to do without spending extra I’m all for it lol. I’m sure at some point in the future I will swap them with springs.

It might actually be cheaper to get a kit that includeds shocks and springs as opposed to doing it piecemeal to keep the rear airbags.

LEXUS GX460 PRO-TRUCK-LIFT

TBD

eibach.com

 

[SDTrojan]

@Badao , what did you end up doing on your rig? I am in the same boat.
I'd like a ~1" front lift (probably Bilstein 6112) since my front struts are leaking, and keep the rear air suspension for now.

 

[Badao]

@Badao , what did you end up doing on your rig? I am in the same boat.
I'd like a ~1" front lift (probably Bilstein 6112) since my front struts are leaking, and keep the rear air suspension for now.

I went with Dobinson IMS at all four corners and upgraded to airbag man raised airbags. You could lift the front first and trick the air suspension sensors with spacers to set the rear.

 

[SDTrojan]

I went with Dobinson IMS at all four corners and upgraded to airbag man raised airbags. You could lift the front first and trick the air suspension sensors with spacers to set the rear.

Thanks for the reply!
That setup sounds amazing! How are you liking it?

 

[Badao]

Thanks for the reply!
That setup sounds amazing! How are you liking it?

I love it. It took me to a lot of places already. But I do wish to have more ground clearance sometime. With 1” of lift and spring settles you probably get less than 1” at the end. Also upgrade the UCAs while you at it if you have extra money to spend. The alignment shop I used couldn’t get the caster back to spec and all of the aftermarket shocks come with extended travel as aftermarket UCAs will increase down travel.

 

[backcountryjeff]

I went with Dobinson IMS at all four corners and upgraded to airbag man raised airbags. You could lift the front first and trick the air suspension sensors with spacers to set the rear.

Did you do the raised air bag install yourself or have a shop do it? If you did it yourself was it pretty straight forward?

 

[Badao]

Did you do the raised air bag install yourself or have a shop do it? If you did it yourself was it pretty straight forward?

It’s mostly straight forward. The hardest part was to drill a hole on the frame and bolt the airbag.

 

[backcountryjeff]

It’s mostly straight forward. The hardest part was to drill a hole on the frame and bolt the airbag.

Great.

How much height did you end up lifting the front and rear?

Did you have to do anything with the headlights for leveling? (The spacer trick maybe??)

 

[Badao]

Great.

How much height did you end up lifting the front and rear?

Did you have to do anything with the headlights for leveling? (The spacer trick maybe??)

Front is slightly under 2” and the rear I used 6mm aluminum spacers. It’s almost level with a tad higher in the rear. I didn’t have to adjust the headlight as I didn’t notice any difference.