Builds LX450 "Rex" Build (1 Viewer)

[NeverFinis]

Not much is happening but I am bulletproofing the truck. Others are baselining...I am bulletproofing.

Passenger footwell is no longer is a wiring nest.

Picked up a 5lb Propane tank for the stove.

Restrained the power steering line to the alternator bracket so the hose isn't able to touch the radiator.

Cleaned up the Toyota harness. Not sure why I had stripped the loom here but it needed to be reloomed and protected.

I spent hours looking for a bolt I knew I had....the bolt on the steering shaft stripped and I knew I had another somewhere. Found it after a few hours in the box that had a 105 steering box I had stored away.

Installed a Delta VS front skid and almost no clearance to the 6l90e. I am going to run with it...

Check out how level I got the engine with respect to the skid, despite moving the engine mounts multiple times.

I don't think I have ever posted a complete engine bay picture

 

[COS80]

View attachment 3866396

What washer bottle is that?

 

[NeverFinis]

What washer bottle is that?

Stock Toyota. Just moved to the back with a relocation kit.

 

[COS80]

Which kit? I have the Slee kit and an unknown aftermarket bottle, which is cracked. It's only a matter of time until this is a real problem.

 

[NeverFinis]

Which kit? I have the Slee kit and an unknown aftermarket bottle, which is cracked. It's only a matter of time until this is a real problem.

Delta VS kit

 

[COS80]

Added to the list.

 

[wiynwiyn]

I wonder if you add some washers to the delta skid plate to have more clearance to the tranny pan. Wish there is a squarish/rectangular propane tank. Less protrusion would look nice in my opinion.

 

[NeverFinis]

I wonder if you add some washers to the delta skid plate to have more clearance to the tranny pan. Wish there is a squarish/rectangular propane tank. Less protrusion would look nice in my opinion.

Good thought but the front skid plate attachment is at an angle, and the rear attaches to directly to the main skid plate.

I thought about adding a spacer under the transmission mount, but my driver's exhaust is already too close to the fuel lines.

They aren't a great look but propane tanks are round for strength and must pass a DoT certification for crashworthiness. I do have a Jerry carrier coming which will mount next to the tank.

 

[NeverFinis]

@Bellfab Jerry Can Carrier installed. Repositioned the propane tank.

 

[NeverFinis]

Just got back from a 2 week shake-down run. 2,500 miles on a fresh LS Swap and a mechanical rebuild of almost everything else.

Drove Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, and camped in the Shenandoah National Park and finally Nashville. Dropped in on @OTRAMM on the way back.

Nothing off-road. It was just a test drive to find all the issues.

First, I had to mount the RTT.

Packed, and ready to go.

I was waiting on Whiteline rear HD sway bar to arrive but it was due to be dropped off long after our planned time to leave. 15 minutes after leaving, I get a text that UPS dropped it off. I turned around, went home, installed it, and left again...

The cooking setup worked really well.

OTRAMM. Much Respect.

Our track.

A few people commented on the truck. One wanted to trade his new Pacifica...I had to decline the offer.

Another, while passing us in a traffic jam, yelled he would take mine over a new GX550 that happened to be directly in front of us.

What didn't work or broke?

1. Tank Vent line to the charcoal canister was blocked, causing excessive fuel tank pressure. I am not sure I ever checked it, unlike the fuel supply and return lines.
2. At high speed and after few hours driving, the center diff lock light would come on, followed by the ABS light. Stopping and moving the t-case into 4 Low, and back, would fix the diff lock issue. I don't think the center diff was actually locked and the cycling the center diff lock button didn't resolve it. This happened 3x on the entire trip. The ABS light would only turn off after an engine restart.
3. The exhaust is way too loud. Fine at slow speed, but too loud at 70+ mph.
4. Melted the new front plastic axle vent line due to routing issues.
5. The Dobinson 2.5" dual rate springs (C97-146VT/C97-147VT) aren't enough for the final weight and they also exhibited unsettling driving behavior when the suspension was unloaded while cornering. This was exacerbated due to the RTT. I have to talk to @crikeymike about options.
6. Our BD lights on the bumper never worked after leaving the house...

In most cases, I averaged over 13.6 mpg, and over 14 mpg in some cases. This is fully loaded, with a RTT, driving at 70-75 mph.
Engine temp, which I watched closely, ranged from 188°F to 200°F but occasionally up to 206°F, depending on speed, and outside temperature. The water sensor seemed to get heat soak from the exhaust manifold.

 

[stuntheavy]

Hm, I have similar fuel venting woes. My canister was already long gone when I got the truck. Remind me, which is actually the purge canister line?

 

[NeverFinis]

I have a new charcoal canister and all new soft lines. I installed and wired up a GM vent solenoid as well. I thought maybe I didn't do it right but I then pulled the line from the tank to the evap canister I was still getting fuel tank pressure. That line should be open all the way to the tank, but there is a brand new FUEL CUT OFF VALVE (7738026010) at the end of that line in the tank. It is designed to block the evap line if the vehicle over turns. I wonder if it is an issue, or the line is just blocked. I am guessing the latter.

Before the trip, the GM ECM was showing a code for the evap system, and I should have listened to it, instead of changing the ECM OS not to show it to me.

 

[NeverFinis]

The tank vent hardline is definitely blocked. Working to clean it out. 125 PSI wasn't enough. I also used trimmer line but I wasn't able to push past the blockage.

My low fuel light has been partially lit shortly after installing a new fuel pump bracket. Worked correctly at first, but now is partially lit. Pulled the pump and found the sensor wire with broken insulation. That wouldn't cause an issue, but I think the low fuel sensor is FUBAR, and maybe got damaged when I cut the fuel pump bracket shorter to fit the Aeromotive fuel pump.

I plan on switching to a Denso 4Runner V8 pump eventually, and I ordered a new unmolested fuel pump bracket, as well as the low level fuel sensor (comes with the fuel gauge level sensor). I might run the Aeromotive pump until it fails, and keep the 4Runner V8 and its new unmolested bracket on standby.

Before the road trip, I swapped boosters and installed a Seiken Booster. I am not sure if that did it, or another ABS flush, but the brakes are immensely better.

 

[NeverFinis]

I forgot to mention my story on paying a shop to bleed my brakes. I was running out of time before the big road trip and I wanted to make sure the brakes were as good as they could be. Everything on the brake system is new, except the M/C, which only had a few thousands miles on it. It was installed shortly before the LX450 was parked many years ago.

Brought the LX450 to a local Toyota restoration shop, which I was unaware of until then. They were kind enough to fit it into their schedule.

They reported back that the firewall was weak, and flexing, and the M/C was leaking.

Brakes were never bleed, and they didn't know how to bleed the ABS as they work on mostly pre-ABS Toyotas.

They charged me 2 hours of labor, and my brakes were unchanged. They did recommend a new booster and M/C. I ordered, and installed, the Seiken Booster and a new Advics Toyota M/C.

But the firewall flexing had me perplexed. I then realized I must have forgotten a bolt when I reassembled the interior! There was no way Toyota was just relying on the four booster bolts.

Yep, a 5th upper bolt that attaches the brake bracket higher up on the firewall. Bolt now installed.

My brake lights were now no longer working after getting the truck back

Looks like they bent the brake switch.

They also bent the brake booster pushrod

Honestly, not sure how they did that.

There was also a new indentation in the new carpet from the brake pedal arm.

I am sure their stomping must have impacted the M/C and I didn't see any leaks at the back of it after I pulled it. The back seal was dry. There was fluid on the booster though, but it might have been from spilled brake fluid from when I was bleeding the brakes over and over again.

They must have been really stomping on the brake pedal during their testing. My GPS tracker reported multiple hard brake events outside their shop. I mean, they were able to trigger a hard braking event, so the brakes weren't that bad...

No shade on them. I just forgot a bolt....

 

[wiynwiyn]

Glad you found the solution. The guy that stomped your brake pedal that hard must had a very bad day, maybe he was envious of your beautiful ride or got into fight with his nagging wife.

 

[NeverFinis]

I have been working on getting the evap line cleared.

I previously used a string trimmer line, but I then remembered I still have the old 1FZ-FE accelerator cable. Fray the end going in, and attach the other end to a drill.

It did make some progress but not much more than the trimmer string. I also kept the evap line filled with Lacquer Thinner, which is a decent solvent for varnish.

Eventually I changed to the other end by the fuel tank.

I circled the line by the fuel tank as it is hard to see.

I was only able to poke a few inches in at the tank end, but at one point colored liquid started to drip out. You can see it on the muffler in the above picture.

I think some of the lacquer thinner did work its way past some of the clogs, slowly dissolving the varnish. The lacquer thinner at the top end always looked clear to me.

A few more pokes resulted more colored liquid flowing out. Now, fluid flows easily from the top to the bottom of the evap line. I am currently letting lacquer thinner sit in the line to dissolve any remaining varnish deposits. I will probably rinse and repeat multiple times to clear out the evap line completely.

Side note, while working on the fuel system, I noticed I had SAE 30R7 rated fuel line on the evap and fuel return lines. SAE 30R7 is not really rated for E85. I will be replacing the lines with SAE 30R9 soon.

I am using PTFE on the high pressure lines, which is good for E85.

E85 is a decent solvent for varnish so it might pay to run it once in a while to clean the lines of varnish.

BTW SAE 30R10 is for in-tank use. It is rated for submersible use. Don't use SAE 30R7 or SAE 30R9 to connect your in-tank fuel pump.

 

[NeverFinis]

I figured out why my low fuel light was always on...LED.

I switched most of my cluster lights to LED a while back, but if you switch the Low Fuel Light, it might be always dimly lit. Switching back to an incandescent bulb fixes it. One probably needs to add an inline resistor to use an LED in that spot but just easier to go back to an incandescent bulb Credit

Worked on my factory lockers...

I tested both front and rear lockers and they do lock but the rear locker light will continue to blink despite being locked.

Discovered heat damage on the rear locker harness. The vent tube melted and I need to test the harness.

The slee rear locker guard is a pain in the ass when you are trying to test the rear locker...just saying..

 

[COS80]

I might have to undo all my LEDs installed by the PO. They're just too bright.

 

[NeverFinis]

I might have to undo all my LEDs installed by the PO. They're just too bright.

Your comment made me realize why I couldn't really see my climate control panel on the recent trip. I used the dimmer to set the cluster lights to the correct brightness, which makes the climate control panel very dim. The latter is still using incandescent bulbs but their brightness is also controlled by the same dimmer.

I do have leds for the climate control panel. Not as easy to switch out like the cluster lights.

 

[COS80]

Your comment made me realize why I couldn't really see my climate control panel on the recent trip. I used the dimmer to set the cluster lights to the correct brightness, which makes the climate control panel very dim. The latter is still using incandescent bulbs but their brightness is also controlled by the same dimmer.

I do have leds for the climate control panel. Not as easy to switch out like the cluster lights.

Exactly my problem with them!

That and the turn signals are obnoxiously bright, because they can't be dimmed.