LWC Build thread - 2022 GX (1 Viewer)

[LWC]

Hey all! Primary use here is as a family hauler + weekend trips and such. Although I am an engineer by training, lately I have found myself doing more paperwork. As a result, there are probably low yield things on here, but I find turning a wrench to be a bit therapeutic, so there is a benefit for me to take on some random bite size projects. As items are completed, I'll put (COMPLETE) next to them and pictures if I have them .


I would love some feedback on the general plan, but here is what I'm thinking:

1) Electrical Upgrades
a) on board air + tank (COMPLETE / posted)
b) switch pros (COMPLETE / posted)
c) rear inverter
d) classy sounding air horn (e.g. baby shark)
e) KDSS control switch (COMPLETE / forgot to take pictures, but it works well)
f) Crawl Control

2) Suspension
a) Would like to go with the smallest lift to fit the biggest tires *WITHOUT* rubbing. I've been advised by a local vendor this could be 295/70/17.

a) Thinking of Fox 2.5s with DSC up front, 2.0s with LSC in back, tuned by accutune. Not sure if anyone has feedback on their "adventure tune". Accutune recommended 2.0s in the rear for comfort over 2.5s all around.

b) UCAs -- was looking at either Ironman or Dobinsons UCAs. Accutune recommended accutune UCAs (no surprise there), but the heims concerned me a bit. Generally I think I would prefer ball joints and bushings to keep NVH in check.

c) Are spindle gussets or alignment tabs necessary? Do they drive any wheel offset requirements? I did desert off roading in my Tacoma and never needed them, but that was also a much lighter vehicle.

d) Planning on a BMC + pinch weld massage

e) KDSS spacers/end adapters/ pan hard correction.

f) bumpstops....air/hyrdo/super bumps?

3) Tires
a) Have BFG AT KO2 on my Tacoma, they 've been fine, seems like people like falkens? Would prefer good on road manners since 99% of my time is spent on somewhat poorly maintained roads.

4) Other
a) factory hitch + trailer controller
b) Yakima Road shower (COMPLETE)
c) Koan cargo divider and rear shelf (COMPLETE / posted)
d) Console Vault (COMPLETE, also removed)
e) Front and Rear lockers + 456 gears
f) Victory blitz bumper
g) Install 3 car seats across (COMPLETE / posted)

 

[LWC]

Custom mount for an ARB air tank:

I wanted an air tank for my compressor... so I designed a bracket to locate it in the vacant space at the front of the GX 460. Designed the bracket using cardboard and CAD. Bent out of a sheet of aluminum and spray painted to make it more discrete. A few of my measurements were off (cut up amazon boxes are not totally square). If any vendor wants the CAD file, PM me and it's yours if you send me a nice looking bracket . If there is interest, I can draft up a flat pattern for folks to bend up themselves. I used 1/4" sheet aluminum because it's what I happened to have, however, you could use 1/8 sheet steel or aluminum.

 

[LWC]

Switch pros and compressors:

Used the rago fab ARB mounts with a minor change. After initial installation I felt more vibration through the floor than I wanted. I decided to add vibration mounts. I mounted the compressor to the bracket using QTY 6, 3/4" cylindrical vibration isolators (Grainger P/N 2NNZ8). The important specs for the vibration isolators are as follows: 3/4" diameter, 3/4" tall, M6x1 stud, 40 lb compression load, 6 lb shear load). Generally, you get better isolation with softer isolators. The downside of that is that they tend to be weaker.

My thought was that if I pull 2 Gs for a sustained period in my GX I don't really care if the compressor dislodges because I have bigger problems.

Additionally, I took a vibration isolation pad (Grainger P/N 36VZ59) and split it so that it was about 3/16" thick. I used this between where the Rago mount touches the wheel well and also the the side of the car.

Rago Fab -- Here is some free engineering for ya -- My dream version of your mount has 4x .5" clearance holes to mount the compressor using the following mount: McMaster-Carr - https://www.mcmaster.com/6309K61/. In addition, I would recommend adding bushings between the support leg and the wheel well (e.g. McMaster-Carr - https://www.mcmaster.com/9311K53), and enlarging the holes on the side mount to accomodate a bushing as well.


Step 1, fishing wires. I cut a tab off the big grommet and fished two wires through, the switch pros, and a flexible 4 conductor jacketed wire. I don't want to run more wire later, so this covered me for adding the KDSS control and a future trailer controller.

Then up the a-pillar behind the plastic tabs...

and most importantly, avoiding Mr. airbag. I'd really like my side curtain airbag to work should I ever need it!

Then up through the headliner. This was kind of a pain in the butt and took me a few tries to get right. A fish tape is worth its weight in gold. I have one that glows, which ended up being pretty useful when I was hunting for it.

You will have to pull HARD to get the sunglass holder down. Initially I put a loop clamp in to hold the cable. I ended up removing that loop clamp because it caused an interference when I tried to reinstall the bracket. Instead I just zip tied the wire neatly out of the way.

 

[LWC]

Continued....

Installed using the SDHQ switch pros overhead mount. This is pricey for what it is but it does give a VERY clean install. as you can see it does not follow the curves perfectly, but it is quite good. The part looks like it is printed using markforged onyx , so I would expect it to hold up pretty decently over time. We use it quite a bit in my lab and have had very good results with it.

The backside of the console with the switch pro mount. If you remove the white piece of plastic and the PCB underneath there is enough room to route the cable without drilling the hole prescribed by SDHQ.

At this point I had to take a break to assist with a toy extraction from my wife's week old BMW IX.........

For the love of god, who would put a heater vent on the floor board with such large slats? I feel like the maintenance department designed this to produce trouble tickets for either stuck HVAC dampers or mysterious rattles that people cannot localize.

 

[LWC]

Wiring the compressor and switch pros. I attached the switch pros to the bottom for a few reasons: 1) i don't need to access the box, 2) it prevents water ingress on the connectors, 3) provides some room up top behind the compressor if I decide to go with air lockers.

Took me a while to find an ignition switched fuse to tap off of in the box....

I tapped off of that spot. I believe its space 68, a 20amp fuse for the fuel injection system.

Install vibration isolation mounts.... Also, I had a bad experience with Permatex bought through amazon. Not sure if it was a fake product or not, but it would NOT seal. I ended up cleaning it out, and sealing all joints using PTFE gas tape. The difference between it and white tape is that it is a denser version of PTFE. My experience is that it seals gas better, this project supported that. At work I've used loctite thread sealants in the past with very good luck, but for some reason I branched out, tried Permatex, had issues, and ended up using the gas tape in my work bench.

Leak free for 48 hours!!!! (I did not adjust for temperature, but I consider a 4.3 PSI drop after two days pretty darn good).

 

[LWC]

I'll post an updated photo once I clean up and disappear all the pneumatic tubing as well as extended the braided loom up closer to the terminal blocks. I used the Kaon over battery mount to install terminal mounts as well as a circuit breaker. Right now, I don't see myself pulling more than 125 amps at a time, so I have both the compressor and switch pros wired to the terminal block to make it easier to safely disconnect them from power. A few things I did here that are a little different -- I replaced the ARB fittings with ones for 3/8" tubing. I wanted to ensure maximum flow rate between the compressor, the 1 gallon tank in the front, and the Viair manifold. The above board reason for this is to maximize the flexibility of the system to use air tools. In reality, it's so I can humor my inner toddler and run a lowder air horn.

I also have a second orange 1/4" tube running back to the rear bumper. I nominally followed the KDSS lines. and zip tied it up out of the way. If I go air lockers, I'll follow a similar route. Although I have not finished connecting it yet, the plan is to put a 50 PSI regulator in at the end of the line, right before the bumper QD. This will ensure the line is supplied with 150PSI air and will mitigate any pressure drop in the line. Most importantly it will make my air system idiot proof and keep me from accidentally blowing up my Yakima Road shower when I pressurize it.

I was going to use the "wifey", but realized that I wanted access to the fuse box without pulling the compressor. I used the flat-ish part of the wifey mount, drilled a hole in it and fastened my Vaiar manifold to the bracket. With this setup, I can use a hex driver and a wrench to quickly remove the manifold for access to the fuse box. You could accomplish something very similar with a bent piece of sheet metal.

I ended up using terminal blocks for all switch pros connections. I know that, at a theoretical level, I've introduced 4 additional failure points per connection, however, I also made everything stupidly easy to troubleshoot and have secured the wires from moving around while I drive.

I want to figure out something cleaner for the grounds, so I'm very open to suggestions. Switch pros and the ARB both specified direct connections to the battery, but it is a bit ugly.

I did wire my KDSS switch directly to the battery as well. I believe this is safe based on the following rationale: Nothing connected to the wire running into the cab of the truck is grounded, nor is it attached with any kind of metal to metal connection to the chassis. As a result, if the alternator loses ground, it won't use the KDSS switch/harness as a return to the battery. If this is bollocks, let me know .

 

[LWC]

KAON rear shelf and cargo barrier:

1) it's an awesome product. I liked that it was adjustable enough so that I could recline the 2nd row seats as well as slide them back all the way. This gave me maximum clearance for rear facing car seats.

2) It fits a lot of stuff up top. I used 6l packing cubes (12" x 7"x4") and they fit perfectly. I have 4 packing cubes -- one for my on board air accessories, one for emergency snacks and water, one for emergency supplies, one as a first aid kit. In addition, I have a diaper changing mat, a smaller trauma kit, a couple of hats and a sweater. The nice thing is that there is a lip which keeps things from falling out the back, and the barrier keeps things from going forward. into the passenger compartment.

3) The way it is designed gives me some confidence that it will prevent cargo from coming forward in a crash and crushing my kids. It is important to note that these barriers are NOT tested or rated for crashes, however, the way this one interfaces with the head rests and rear grab handles is pretty robust. I think it would take about 4 sheared fasteners for a total failure to occur. We generally do not load our car so that anything would be directly launched into the cargo barrier. I guess the idea here is more to restrain a stroller or gear from coming into the passenger compartment during a roll over.


Car seats:

We have 3 rear facing CLEK foonf seats in the GX. It's snug but they can all be installed with the seat belts. I'm kinda short (5'9), and can have my drivers seat in a comfortable position even with a rear facing seat. Our son is now forward facing and his car seat connects with the latch anchors. Both daughters are still rear facing and their seats are installed with a seat belt.

 

[r2m]

Great job on your work!
Some thoughts:

1. For the air bag suspension you mentioned, I've read good things about Timbren here on the forum (or was it the 100 series forum when I had that?): Timbren Suspension vs Airbags - https://timbren.com/n-136-timbren-suspension-vs-airbags.html
2. Regarding tires, I LOVE BFG. That's all I put on my vehicles. They have the the longest wear and about the best all around tire for road trips and most any off roading in most any weather conditions. I had BFG M/T's but their snow and ice abilities are not that great. The K/O2's are much better. Plus the M/T's get loud after they wear down to about 50%.
3. Also, going with a 295/70/17 is a pretty wide tire. Depending upon the offset of your rims you may get rubbing on your frame or controls arms. You may want to go with a narrower 255/75R17 at only 10" wide vs. a 295/70R17 at 11.6" wide. Just something to consider. I went from a 275/75R17, width 10.8" to a 315/70R17, width 12.4". I never had rubbing issues with the 275/75R17's. I had to do a bunch of pinch weld pounding and have an alignment move the caster forward. Now I only have minimal rubbing at lock-to-lock. But I think I'll be going back to the smaller size when these get tired.

 

[WVU fan]

I have the Kaon barrier as well. It is such a well made product and so easy/quick to remove when needing to fold down the rears.

 

[LWC]

Going to put a pin in a lift for a month or two.... there is a rumor that Bilstein is going to release an adjustable version of the 8112 and 8100. Does anyone have insight into this or how the current 8112/8100s perform? I'm pretty tempted to go this route since it seems to offer the best of on-road and off-road performance.