LX570 AHC Globe/Accumulator Replacement

[Heckraiser]

s***, should have bought a set earlier in the year. I'm pretty sure my accumulators are due. I've told myself from the beginning that if I ever need to spend much money on AHC, I'd delete and get a quality offroad suspension. But now that I've got my suspension a little more dialed in with the help of techstream and some parts, I was back to leaning towards keeping AHC and doing the accumulator service. I wish the seller could just advertise what the actual final cost will be. I've been reading in other threads that shipping companies (UPS, FedEx, DHL) are using the current situation as a money-grab and the extra shipping fee might not be 15% or whatever the tariff is. Added hassle of catching the customs bill and paying it on time before the parts are returned, etc. Maybe wait 3 years for a change in government?

 

[LexCruiser200]

PLEASE HELP

I'm kind of at my wits end right now at this damn thing, and I feel like I'm not even to the hard part.

I watched the video, but I'm stuck at the part where you have to remove the bolts from that upper bracket in the middle of the globe guard that go horizontally into the side of the frame.

I do light work myself, but I'm not super mechanically inclined. I've been having a B***ch of a time with the limited amount of working space in that section. I have, on several occasions, considered committing war crimes against the engineers of this area of the truck.

On that upper bracket, I was able to get the lower bolt out, but I'm having trouble getting the top one. As the bolt comes out, there is no room for the tool. I even got a ratcheting box wrench like the video suggested, to get it out, but even that feels like it's scraping up against a line of some sort (maybe the hydraulic line?) which is frustrating, because I feel like the bolt is almost completely free.

What frustrates me even more is that I haven't seen anybody else mention this difficulty, which makes me think that there's something obvious that I'm missing.


My second question is that in the video? I don't think I remember seeing any washers. Was I supposed to buy new washers for the globes?

Any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[tbisaacs]

My second question is that in the video? I don't think I remember seeing any washers. Was I supposed to buy new washers for the globes?

I dont think the newer globes require them. Or at least, when I did mine, they weren't included, and I didn't buy them and it didn't cause any problems.

It's been a gazillion years but I believe I used a swivel socket instead of a ratcheting wrench to get up there. I promise they all come out. Good luck

 

[LexCruiser200]

PLEASE HELP

I'm kind of at my wits end right now at this damn thing, and I feel like I'm not even to the hard part.

I watched the video, but I'm stuck at the part where you have to remove the bolts from that upper bracket in the middle of the globe guard that go horizontally into the side of the frame.

I do light work myself, but I'm not super mechanically inclined. I've been having a B***ch of a time with the limited amount of working space in that section. I have, on several occasions, considered committing war crimes against the engineers of this area of the truck.

On that upper bracket, I was able to get the lower bolt out, but I'm having trouble getting the top one. As the bolt comes out, there is no room for the tool. I even got a ratcheting box wrench like the video suggested, to get it out, but even that feels like it's scraping up against a line of some sort (maybe the hydraulic line?) which is frustrating, because I feel like the bolt is almost completely free.

What frustrates me even more is that I haven't seen anybody else mention this difficulty, which makes me think that there's something obvious that I'm missing.


My second question is that in the video? I don't think I remember seeing any washers. Was I supposed to buy new washers for the globes?

Any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

I forgot to mention that I considered removing the running boards bracket to give myself some more room, but then the top bolt of that bracket doesn't leave any room for a tool head to fit (the extension hits the globe guard, and the bracket shroud prevents my ratchet's head from moving). So I'm stuck there too.

If you can't tell, I'm just all sorts of frustrated. I've wasted two days on this project already (between toddler interruptions, and having to go back-and-forth to the store for different tools)

 

[LexCruiser200]

I dont think the newer globes require them. Or at least, when I did mine, they weren't included, and I didn't buy them and it didn't cause any problems.

It's been a gazillion years but I believe I used a swivel socket instead of a ratcheting wrench to get up there. I promise they all come out. Good luck

Yeah, I was able to get to it with a flex head, but by the time I backed the bolt out to a certain point, it's pinched up against some line/tube/pipe behind it. Maybe I just need to find something lower profile.

As I'm undoing all of these bolts, I also worry about how the heck I'm gonna get them back up there since my hands barely even fit up in there to line everything up. Thanks for the suggestion though, I appreciate it.

 

[lx200inAR]

Yeah, I was able to get to it with a flex head, but by the time I backed the bolt out to a certain point, it's pinched up against some line/tube/pipe behind it. Maybe I just need to find something lower profile.

As I'm undoing all of these bolts, I also worry about how the heck I'm gonna get them back up there since my hands barely even fit up in there to line everything up. Thanks for the suggestion though, I appreciate it.

It’s been a while since I did this job, but can’t you also remove the bolts that hold the guards to the brackets? I vaguely remember thinking that a lot of the instructions had you removing more than what was necessary. It’s been so long since I’ve had the guards, I probably shouldn’t even post.

 

[LexCruiser200]

It’s been a while since I did this job, but can’t you also remove the bolts that hold the guards to the brackets? I vaguely remember thinking that a lot of the instructions had you removing more than what was necessary. It’s been so long since I’ve had the guards, I probably shouldn’t even post.

Thankfully, I was able to get them out with the ratcheting combo wrench, I was just worried that what I was using was going to get stuck in between (since the one that I have doesn't have a way for you to switch and tighten it back up, you have to pull the combo wrench off turn it around for it to go the other way).

If you don't mind me asking, how do you protect your globes with out the guards? Or did you convert to a conventional spring suspension?

 

[lx200inAR]

Thankfully, I was able to get them out with the ratcheting combo wrench, I was just worried that what I was using was going to get stuck in between (since the one that I have doesn't have a way for you to switch and tighten it back up, you have to pull the combo wrench off turn it around for it to go the other way).

If you don't mind me asking, how do you protect your globes with out the guards? Or did you convert to a conventional spring suspension?

Nothing as exciting as that, I have SLEE slider steps.

 

[LexCruiser200]

Thanks for the assistance everyone! In every challenge is a learning opportunity and I certainly learned a few things and picked up some new tools. After drilling the hole last night, I tried the pry bars I had and none fit so I ordered a new tapered pry bar. It was delivered today and I finally got the DF globe off! I got the other two globes off no problems and bled everything as directed. Below is the offending globe.

View attachment 3304816

Hey jdo,

I'm in a similar type of bind. What type of pry bar did you go with? Also, how did you go about unscrewing it? Did you just slide the prybar all the way in and push against it in a counter-clockwise direction? I'm sorry for the stupid question. I've just never done this before, and I'm terrified of f-ing it up even worse. Thanks!

 

[radman]

After helping 2 other houstonites with globe swaps, I just completed this on my own rig. While waiting for the parts to arrive, I pulled off my slee protection plates and flushed my fluid. swapping globes took 1hr including normal amount of distractions from kids. For anyone looking at this last page and hoping to avoid scanning the previous 34 pages, here's the rundown:
0) top off AHC fluid
1) attach 1/4" hose to bleed nipple and release all the pressure. rig will drop. leave bleeder open
2) using 13/16" socket and breaker bar, unscrew globe. fluid may still gush and spill when you unscrew.
3) screw in new globe and towque to 111ft/lbs
4) close bleeder screw
5) start rig and let ahc pump level out the rig. leave car on and close all doors
6) crack open bleeder screw (yes, while rig is on) and close after a few seconds. ahc pump will kick in as you're bleeding to replace all the fluid you just drained out. repeat until fluid comes out without air bubbles. only open 1/4 turn and fluid will slowly come out. opening more will let fluid out faster, but you'll see bubles in the hose because air is entering from around the bleeder screw.
7) shut off rig and top off fluid.
8) repeat.

 

[NKP Garage]

After helping 2 other houstonites with globe swaps, I just completed this on my own rig. While waiting for the parts to arrive, I pulled off my slee protection plates and flushed my fluid. swapping globes took 1hr including normal amount of distractions from kids. For anyone looking at this last page and hoping to avoid scanning the previous 34 pages, here's the rundown:
0) top off AHC fluid
1) attach 1/4" hose to bleed nipple and release all the pressure. rig will drop. leave bleeder open
2) using 13/16" socket and breaker bar, unscrew globe. fluid may still gush and spill when you unscrew.
3) screw in new globe and towque to 111ft/lbs
4) close bleeder screw
5) start rig and let ahc pump level out the rig. leave car on and close all doors
6) crack open bleeder screw (yes, while rig is on) and close after a few seconds. ahc pump will kick in as you're bleeding to replace all the fluid you just drained out. repeat until fluid comes out without air bubbles. only open 1/4 turn and fluid will slowly come out. opening more will let fluid out faster, but you'll see bubles in the hose because air is entering from around the bleeder screw.
7) shut off rig and top off fluid.
8) repeat.

Nice work!

 

[Heckraiser]

Puppy pads, great idea!

 

[electro992]

For anyone wanting to test their globes using the procedure in the FSM, you can see the marks on the reservoir without removing anything. Go in from underneath near the spare tire and place a light behind the reservoir to illuminate it. The marks can then be seen using a mirror through the access door in the wheel well. Unfortunately for me, my globes are shot with only 3 marks difference between low and high.

 

[electro992]

Knocked out the globe replacement over the weekend. A 13/16” socket with the lead-in chamfer ground off worked great to remove my rusty globes. On the first bleed cycle I did not get any air and was halfway in to the second before I started seeing air. It took 3 cans of fluid (7.5 liters) before air stopped coming out. With the new globes I have an estimated 10+ gradations of difference between low and high mode. With my old globes I only had 3. The ride is substantially improved. I think because the change happened slowly, I didn’t realize how rough and bouncy it had gotten over time.

 

[32cls6speedmt]

@electro992 thank you for the update. What year and what mileage.

 

[electro992]

@electro992 thank you for the update. What year and what mileage.

2010 with 176k. Based on the way the ride changed, I would guess the globes had been shot for quite a while.

 

[skymast]

'11 LX570 w/ 170K Miles.

I 'attempted' to change the globes today. Did my research and tried to follow the directions but things went south when I could not get ANY of the globes off. I had breaker bar but zero luck. Assuming they have been on there since the beginning of time. Rather than leaving it, I decided to refill it and get it back on the road. Fluid back in, started the bleed process, DF, PF, DR, PR. From What I could tell (note, first time bleeder here), I had fluid coming out on all corners and no air. Cycled through Low, High, Low but my ride height is all over place. As a result, the system is having trouble locking in on L, N, H.

Is this a sign that I need to re-bleed the system or that I may have overfilled or underfilled the reservoir? I say the last part because I can't see the min / max line, even with a flashlight, so I had to eyeball it based on fluid I took out.

Appreciate your assistance on diagnosing this. Thank you.

 

[nwfl4runner]

got any rust? Those globes are not on there that tight, but you do need a good socket. If you have your light behind the pump you’ll see the level. For bleeding you crack the valve open slowly - if it’s a white mist you opened it too far. Tighten it up until you can see the pink fluid and any air. Bleed a corner and cycle, rinse and repeat and you’ll be fine

 

[skymast]

got any rust? Those globes are not on there that tight, but you do need a good socket. If you have your light behind the pump you’ll see the level. For bleeding you crack the valve open slowly - if it’s a white mist you opened it too far. Tighten it up until you can see the pink fluid and any air. Bleed a corner and cycle, rinse and repeat and you’ll be fine

Minimal Rust. I understand what you are saying about not being tight but I'm in the stronger category and they were a no go!
I did not know rinse and repeat for each corner! Thx.

 

[nwfl4runner]

Minimal Rust. I understand what you are saying about not being tight but I'm in the stronger category and they were a no go!
I did not know rinse and repeat for each corner! Thx.

If they aren't budging, try tossing an impact on and going back and forth (tighten/untighten) a few times. Not crazy, but just trying to shock it both directions.