LX470 Family Adventure Rig

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Bluetooth install continued

I had a difficult time deciding where to mount the screen but decided to mount it just below the hazard and CDL switches for now. I may move it later after living with it for a while. It is on a pivoting base so I can still easily use the CDL even though it looks like it is blocked in the pictures.

Here is the view of the drivers seat. Everything can easily be seen at a glance and is within easy reach.

I routed the 30 pin/usb/headphone jack out through the ashtray for now. I will eventually mount a factory style flush mount aux input pane for the usb and headphone input and route only the 30pin close to the iPhone mount.

Song titles show up while playing music through bluetooth.


Album artwork shows when playing music through the 30 pin connector.

I have the controls mounted to the steering wheel but will probably mount it to the dash later.

The noise canceling dual microphone is just above the rear view mirror.


Music sounds great over bluetooth and my wife said she could hear me loud and clear when I called her. I am extremely happy. Now I need to get all of my speakers up to par so I can crank the music past halfway without hearing all of the crackling.
 
Drawer build

We have had the LX for a while now and I am sick of living out of totes when we are camping. We have basically narrowed our gear down to two action packers. One is the kitchen kit and the other is tools, parts, rope, and anything else that may come in handy but not used as often as the kitchen gear. They are handy for being able to quickly load up or unload for trips but we usually have to unload everything to get to them. So we held out for a while so we could get a good feel for what kind or storage system would work best for our needs. I would really like to have two separate drawers but I do not want to raise the fridge much higher as it is already difficult for my wife to reach into at it's current height. I am keeping each side a separate unit so I can go back and change the fridge side configuration later if needed. The passenger side drawer is as large as I can make while still being able to fit my little dog's crate on top.
Let me start off by saying I am scared to death of woodwork. It is not one of my better skills.
I am using 3/4 inch maple plywood, Tribond III wood glue, 1 5/8 inch wood screws, and 30 inch drawer slides. The drawer slides are rated at 220 pounds. They are full extension with ball bearings and actually separate for easy drawer removal and installation, unlike a lot of the other heavy duty slides I have seen at over double the cost. Since I am not a woodworker and normally avoid it at all cost I did not already have a set of sawhorses so my 5 year old helped me throw together a simple set of sawhorses this morning. The have so far been a huge help and I do not know why I have gone so many years without any. It is nice to be able to work while standing rather than from the ground.


Last week I took a lot of measurements and laid out what I wanted on paper. Once everything looked good on paper I made a cardboard mockup which I am glad for. After seeing the mock up in place I made a few changes to come up with the final plan. I found a cool app that allowed me to enter all my cut measurements and it then gives you the layout to maximize your cuts from each piece of wood. It was a huge time saver.

Using this, I made all of my cuts at once very quickly. The stack on the left is the carcass and the one on the right is the drawer.

My original drawing and measurements. I am less an artist than a woodworker. :)

Here are the 30 inch drawer slides I am using. They are pretty heavy so hopefully that is a good indicator of their quality.


This is where I stopped for the night. Hopefully I will get some work done in the evenings this week. Cheers:beer:

 
Basically because I don't have much orginality with figuring out what and how I am going to do stuff with/to my truck. I think I may copy this from you too! Finally got the lights in, and that will be my evening working between running kids to practice and scouts and stuff. Lookng forward to seeing how this looks!
 
aaronrules said:
Basically because I don't have much orginality with figuring out what and how I am going to do stuff with/to my truck. I think I may copy this from you too! Finally got the lights in, and that will be my evening working between running kids to practice and scouts and stuff. Lookng forward to seeing how this looks!
Click to expand...
Thank you! Copy away, that is what I do. Lets see some pictures of the lights installed.
:beer:
 
I have been working all week and had to go in today but I got a little more progress done on the drawer today. I almost feel like I know what I am doing. If this turns out alright, I may have to redo my fridge slide and add a small drawer underneath of it...



Thanks for continuing to follow and as always, I work for comments.
 
Clean build. That drawer is much deeper than others I've seen. Any particular reason?
 
boombapslappy said:
Clean build. That drawer is much deeper than others I've seen. Any particular reason?
Click to expand...
Thanks. I am hoping that one drawer will be enough so I don't have to put one under the fridge. I wanted to get as much capacity as possible and still be able to fit my dog crate on top.

gearguywb said:
I think his goal was to be able to put the Action Packer boxes inside.
Click to expand...
I don't think the actual action packers will fit but I will definitely be able to fit everything out of the action packers.
 
Bretthn said:
Thank you! Copy away, that is what I do. Lets see some pictures of the lights installed. :beer:
Click to expand...

Not going to hijack your build thread. I started a thread of my own with some crappy iPhone pics of the drivers side I got done tonight. Man I love those little LED pods!
 
I decided to use satin black polyurethane for the finish. I will probably end up with carpet on top, on the drawer front, and inside the drawer eventually but this will seal the wood and offer some extra protection against moisture I hope....

First coat applied. Looks like it will need at least two more.
 
I finally got my drawer installed. I ended up only needing 2 coats of polyurethane for a good thick protective layer. I let that cure for 2 weeks while I was in Vietnam and Thailand. I have been to China quite a bit but this was my first experience in southern Asia. They have some nice vehicles. In Thailand you either have a killer truck or a scooter. I saw very few cars. I am going to figure out how to sneak a Hilux or world edition Ford Ranger in my luggage on my next trip! With that being said, the Lexus is now up for sale...:) Kidding.
So tonight was has been the first night that I haven't fallen asleep on the couch the minute I got home from work. (It is tough making a 13 hour time zone change twice in two weeks)
I got the drawer installed this evening and it turned out great. It still needs a handle and latch. There are some really nice looking options out there but I think I will stick with a length of 550 cord for the handle and a slide pin latch. Why overcomplicate things?
I also need to put in some dividers.
End of rambling and onto the pictures.





 
It was a beautiful day today but I worked for most of it and didn't have any time for an adventure so I got the oil changed, replaced the air filter, and lubed the driveshafts.


While I was under there I checked out the cv joints for leaks because I have been getting a slight clunk while turning. I saw no tears or leaks in the cv boots but I did notice that the steering rack has developed a slight leak. I will keep an eye on the power steering fluid but I guess I still have quite a while before changing it out will be necessary.


I also mounted a Life Hammer today.
 
Here are a few random pictures that I never got around to posting until now.
Some snow this winter. The Cooper ST Maxx tires handled it with ease.

Some sliders Marten built for his GX being modeled on my LX. I will hopefully have a pair this year.


One of the original "Shell" gas stations.

Camping and mountain biking at Lake Norman State Park.

The Scholl Bus which we came across when we were moving my sister-in-law to Wingate for the semester. Yes, it is a popup camper grafted to the roof of the bus. They also have smoker grill on a swing out on the front bumper. Check out their page, they have a great story. http://theschollbus.com
 
I had not thought of it for the 100 but I had it on my list of small mods that never got done to my Jeep. Thanks to Spressomon for sending me the link and reminding me of it. Cheap mod and only takes about 5 minutes to install.
I also needed a good reason to show off a great beer find. Bells Expedition Stout. :beer:


Just drill and 11/16 inch hole in the post filter side of you air filter box and install the supplied rubber grommet.
Reinstall the air filter lid and press fit the gauge into the grommet.


Done. I just installed a new filter. I am curious to see how quickly the gauge will start to read more restriction.
 
Brett,

That cargo net looks awesome. Where did you find it?
 
The boots on mine look exactly like yours. The bushing on cylinder in the middle are pretty shot too. The whole assembly will wiggle with movement with the steering wheel. No power steering fluid missing though! Back burner for sure.


...via IH8MUD app
 
Aaron, I bought bushings from Superpro, and while it seems absurd that I had to source a part all the way from Australia, the parts were good. Mine were worn, but I was happy to replace them.

Brett, I ordered the Raingler cargo net for the 80, will let you know how it fits on a 100...
 
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