Hi friends! Popping in here to update my LX450 diary for anyone interested hah.
After my husband finished the head gasket, we got some White Knuckle sliders and I took over with the interior and build. We came upon a little of free cash and wanted to put it into making the truck more comfortable so I really went at it:
We hit an overhanging branch a few years ago choosing a bad line on a drop and there was a leak in the windshield which crept into the floor and started rotting the jute so I figured it was time for a new carpet. I pulled off all the panels and stripped the entire interior and lined it with sound dampener. This was a JOB. I think the whole thing, cleaning and stripping took about a week.
Then my husband and I installed a brand new used sunroof. I had to paint it to match our interior and it was a B**** to put in but it works!!! We are now part of the lucky few 80 series owners who have a fully functional sun roof!
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Here's what it looked like before the carpet went in (so clean and so fresh!)
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Once I was done with the interior, we decided to bite the bullet on some high ticket items - a new rack and a RTT. We decided to go with Front Runner Slimline II because everyone seemed to rave about it and I really liked all the accessories. We bought the truck for $4k in 2017. Just the RTT+rack was more than what it cost us to buy the truck!
This is where our troubles began....
My husband is 6'8" so he insisted we needed the absolute largest RTT we could get, and I found a used James Baround XXL Evade on fb marketplace. Then I found a used JB awning to go with it. Guys, mounting this thing on the FR Slimline with the awning was a HUGE PITA. Dealing with how to manage this set up has been more challenging than replacing the head gasket I swear to god.
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The mounting brackets FR sold us weren't tall enough to reach the tent from the little lip that goes around the rack, and the tent weights like 400 lbs so it was impossible to get it right. We finally ended up getting Front Runner to install it for a hefty price and the whole build resulted in a 1" gap between the rack and the tent - the whole set up is SO LOUD and top heavy that we lost like a quarter of our gas mileage and all the work I did insulating the interior seems like a total waste. I am now in the process of figuring out how to reduce wind noise (solution TBD) and deciding if we should invest in a different RTT. I guess this is what they mean to be careful what you wish for!
On a more successful note, I am really pleased by the way the back is built out - I sourced two short ARB drawers, a fridge and a kitchen slide-out system all on fb marketplace and honestly, I really like this set up. It offers SO MUCH table space when you telescope the kitchen out and the drawers are short enough that you can put a massive battery behind them and access it by folding the seat down. It's GREAT. we still have our row of seats, plenty of room for additional miscellaneous gear and a neat spot for everything and I think we paid less than $500 for the whole set up.
I made a heavy plywood base for it that I mounted on the brackets for the seats and then bolted everything to that.
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Anyway, we've been running this set up for a year and a half now and I am REALLY starting to hate the wind noise and the weight of that RTT. We just cannot go up hills as well as we used to and it takes a while for it to get up to speed. The whole thing sits about an inch above the rack which is just high enough to howl at speed and not high enough to store a hi-lift. Which I have no idea where to mount because I dont want to add even MORE weight with a swing-out bumper. This last weekend we went out to Monache and 3 of our friends had flats or got stuck which now makes me nervous about how we don't carry any real recovery gear.
Ugh. If anyone wants to buy the RTT off us, please hit me up. OR if you have any ideas of where to take things from here, please weigh in.
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Sticking with our well-loved 33s for now! Next up - seat re-upholstery! I will be trying to DIY this (wish me luuuuuuck)