LX470 and weights (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 9, 2020
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Location
Orlando Fl
Hello all!

Long time reader, and thank you all for the help you have provided...truly wonderful knowledge on this site.

I bought a 2002 LX470 in May of this year, 160K miles, zero rust. Florida car all its life. After doing a lot of baselining I got to the AHC system. I did not want to remove it so i decided to rehab it. Started with a flush of the fluid, looked like chocolate milk. Drove that for a while and did another flush, almost looked the same, lots of air. At that point I decided I most likely had bad accumulators. I purchased 4 new Toyota globes and replaced them all, along with another flush. Pressures were still a little high and i had plans to add front and rear bumpers from Dissent (aluminum) and slee rock sliders. So loving the ride quality with the AHC I decided to get new factory AHC springs. I replaced them with new and the ride was absolutely blissful. My pressures now read 6.7 front, 6.8 rear, with 9 graduations on the tank. Shortly after this i noticed a leaking rear shock, so i had that replaced. By the way this is with my 3rd row seats permanently removed. I still probably need to work on the torsion bars to bring the pressure up front within spec. None of the bumpers have been installed yet but the slee sliders are on. I’m at 5700 lbs on the scales with me in it and full tank of gas.
So anticipating the bumpers and winch i purchased the slee 30mm spacers, but then like most of us my plans got upgraded. I now ordered a roofnest falcon, alucab, 270 awning, 3 ARB drawers with side kit and Snomaster fridge. none of these are in yet. I have since also purchased King springs.
So long story coming to the conclusion here (sorry for long winded) i have the choice of installing the king springs on thier own, or the king springs with the 30mm spacers. I know that AHC is a learning game, but in an effort to only do this spring swap once would you guys do the kings with the 30mm spacers or just kings alone. My weights of equiptment are as follows: (PS...will soon have some almost brand new AHC springs for sale)
Roofnest tent 140
awning 60
dissent front bumper and winch 130
dissent rear bumper, maxxtrax and rotopax 130
ARB drawers 230
fridge 50
tools, recover gear and parts 150
dissent skids 50
dissent roof rack 45
slee skids 140
various lights, other 60
rear seat delete -80

So i am roughly at 1100 lbs over stock before my wife and i get in and load up all our luggage and other stuff for a 30 day journey out west. So add another 400lbs.
i plan on leaving all the stuff in the vehicle at all times (minus the wife and luggage) and i still want a good ride (one of the best parts of AHC). I want everything to function well and pressures to be in spec. Any thoughts on my thinking of the kings or the kings with the 30mm spacers?
Thank you all
 
I'd say non-AHC 100 series springs and torsion bars... maybe even larger sway bars to combat all the weight on the roof.
 
Don't forget to subtract the weight of items you remove. For example, a front bumper/support weighs about 35lbs. If you get the full set of SLEE skids, remove 18lbs from your weight since you need to remove the factory transfer case skid/support and so on. You can also calculate the change in unsprung weight (the weight difference between stock wheels and tires and your current set of wheels and tires.
 
I would also reconsider getting 230 lbs of drawers and 140 lbs of skid plates. Will you need them?
 
I lived out west for 20 years, now I live in the east and although there are some locations for off reading, the West is my passion. Im able to take 2-4 trips out there a year and I need some way of keeping everything organized. The drawers seemed logical. As for the skid plates, my LX came with none of the factory plates, they were missing. So I ordered the dissent ones because the aluminum was lighter than steel, i figured i need at least some protection. I do tend to do a lot of rock climbing while I’m in Moab and the surrounding areas.
 
I do like the usefulness of drawers, especially for the heavy recovery tools and gear. But if have 3 drawers, what will the other 2 contain? Does an 80 lb drawer carrying 30-40 lbs of goods make sense? Weight is certainly a factor in off-roadability and reliability. I'm typically more conservative with the trails I choose when I have 250 lbs on the roof and am 500+ miles from home. But everyone is different and that is why I asked.

Re: sway bars.... thicker sway bars would limit travel if the vehicle weighed stock. But you'll have added 1,000 lbs. It's all relative. If the 100 came from the factory at 6,500lbs, it would certainly have larger sway bars. Driving from Orlando to Moab and back is quite a distance and so road safety would seem important? I'd say load it all up and see. Sway bars could be the last consideration.
 
not sure if this does anything for you but I'm running @ 6800 lbs with no passengers in my cruiser and I just have the light / medium duty old man emu springs in the rear and stock suspension, does just fine at all speeds.


For a lighter alternative to the ARB drawers you should consider the SS1 setup by airdowngearup.
 

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