Build LX570 Build Thread: Rook

[sedole]

Are those mileage figures accounting for actual distance traveled and amount refilled? Or just the computer read out? My last tank I went 268 miles (accounting for diameter difference) and yielded 16.2mpg mostly hwy miles. Dash readout was 15.7 or 15.8 iirc. Since I've got bigger tires I'd imagine you might do slightly better. Caveat: K02s run small and I've heard K03s run very true to size. My 35 actual diameter might be pretty close to your 34.

When I hand calculate I get 16-17mpg hwy with the 35s and static lift pretty consistently if I stay around 70-75. Stop and go more around 12-13.

 

[Goodberger]

Are those mileage figures accounting for actual distance traveled and amount refilled? Or just the computer read out? My last tank I went 268 miles (accounting for diameter difference) and yielded 16.2mpg mostly hwy miles. Dash readout was 15.7 or 15.8 iirc. Since I've got bigger tires I'd imagine you might do slightly better. Caveat: K02s run small and I've heard K03s run very true to size. My 35 actual diameter might be pretty close to your 34.

When I hand calculate I get 16-17mpg hwy with the 35s and static lift pretty consistently if I stay around 70-75. Stop and go more around 12-13.

Doing actual calculations accounting for both in town and hwy for a total trip of 1672 miles, we averaged 15.8 mpg. Though it could’ve easily averaged into 16 overall without the 80-90mph stint we had through Texas. Really saw that one hit hard at a whopping 13.2 mpg hwy. Basically sitting at 2200 rpm for several hours

 

[Polecat]

View attachment 3906757
L- SLAMMED.
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Okay, time for the post service update!
It doesn’t even feel or drive like the same vehicle. The AHC being serviced has proven to be immediately worth it. I still don’t think it’s as comfortable as my LR4, but I blame the E rated tires for that. Shifting has become much smoother, and the engine just sounds cleaner. No longer do I have a harsh 2-3 shift. Ended up replacing the washer fluid pump and have that serviceable in all areas again.

34” tires, 285/75/17 K03
I’ve done a sensor lift on both front and rear, though the rear sits taller than I’d like and I might undo the lift, but I haven’t done a trail shakedown yet so gonna leave it until science is involved.
Man leaving discount tire was a riot, honestly laughable at how bad the rub was. The ride height, comfort, and weight of these tires is entirely noticeable. I went from ~15mpg mixed daily commute to currently 12.5, though there has been a lot of stop and go traffic. Killer on this big rig. The wife loves how it rides now and is excited to be in it compared to the bumpiness it had before. Admittedly I’m slightly disappointed in the noise the K03’s put off, I’m hoping that because the tires are so new with less than 200 miles on them they will get quieter as the sharpness of lug edges goes down. Noise starts at about 20-25mph. Goes into a rhythmic at about 55 and never really becomes LOUD, but running 70-80 it’s there. Speed variance has changed a bit, I find 60mph roads I sit at about 57 if I’m pacing. As speed goes up so does the inaccuracy. But nothing major.

View attachment 3906760
Back of front wheel well
Had to cut a small portion of the side steps off. You can just tell that it’s rubbing fender liner just above, haven’t had to time to heat gun massage it out. I actually stripped and broke a bolt on the drive side, and the rub was so bad that it pushed a clip out underneath the driver door. Popped it back in and started cutting, no real damage.



View attachment 3906761
Front of front wheel well.
Removed the 2 bolts and the flap? That exist up there. So far that’s been a pretty bad rub, the flaps were wearing down. Even with the flaps gone, there is still a good bit of rub on that liner at 80-100% full lock.

In reverse start at 75% lock you can tell the lugs are catching the front of the wheel well and dragging just a bit. In time I’ll get it, for now I just park in easier access places. Nothing major through any of that though.


Up next: headlight lens replacement. Not sure when it will happen but it’s definitely my least favorite part of the car currently those smokers lung yellow cracked lens have gotta go. Will improve the car quite a bit. But for now, it’s time to enjoy it, learn a bit more, and do some trail shakedowns!

I’m curious if you have and longish term opinions on these wheels. I think they’re at or near the top of my list, but I haven’t seen much about them. Not to mention the difficulty of making a decision based on how something looks on my phone screen…

 

[Goodberger]

I’m curious if you have and longish term opinions on these wheels. I think they’re at or near the top of my list, but I haven’t seen much about them. Not to mention the difficulty of making a decision based on how something looks on my phone screen…

So far I have really enjoyed them! Ignoring tires. I’ve been very pleased with these. I bought them on a 30% discount. Getting a set of 5 for only ~1100+ shipping was amazing. I don’t think they are light. Especially with 285/75r17 K03. But the offset gives me the perfect amount of poke imo. For me these wheels give a more classic/steelie vibe without looking like the rotiform wheels that look like a spare lol. Very pleased that I went with the matte gray and not the satin black! I do have black hub caps that I still want to swap in just to see how the contrast looks, but I think it won’t work until I black the chrome out.

Wheels are such a personal touch, at the end of the day, forget what other people say about your car and ‘clout’. If you like something, do it!

Note: I know that trailer pic is not an ideal setup, it was for 15 min just to get A->B.

 

[jwlgrnmo]

looking good! I dig the wheel choice!

Did you replace your accumulators during your AHC service? Or just the fluid?

 

[Goodberger]

looking good! I dig the wheel choice!

Did you replace your accumulators during your AHC service? Or just the fluid?

Rear shocks, accumulators and fluid flush

 

[Goodberger]

It has been a while since I provided an update on my LX. Figured now was as good as any!
TLDR: I installed the E&E rear bumper. I swapped the lens on my headlights and installed new low/high beams & painted the housing. And just recently put DBA 4000 rear rotors. DBA XP pads f/r. And installed Slee SS brake lines.

This post has been a long time coming.

To start, I removed my headlights from the car, threw them in the oven, and swapped in new clear lenses to replace the cloudy and cracked OEM ones. This process took me about 2 days and was honestly somewhat of a PITA. But not for the reasons you would think. Painting the housings and removing the old butyl rubber were the hardest parts. Putting the housings in the oven/removing them from the car were actually the easy parts. For my headlights, I installed the DDM Tuning 4300K HID kit. In the process, I bought a pair of extended dust caps, drilled holes in them to run the wiring kit to the bulbs, and screwed up my fitting of the dust grommet. For High beams, I put vLED LED bulbs. For anyone wondering, these do not really fit. I had to take a file a lightly trim the housing larger to accommodate the size of these bulbs so they would slot in and stay. Painting is where my issues began. I did a primer coat and 2 base layer coats. In the process of them drying, a leaf fell into the wet paint. Sand and start again. That was 2 am. By the next morning, I was ready for a new layer of primer and paint. The primer went well. The new base layer of paint got too hot during the day, and it basically dried the surface and cracked the paint all over. Sand again. In the process of sanding again, I rubbed too hard and got a thin piece that stripped the chrome all the way to the base plastic. Trying to smooth this out for a somewhat clean finish really did not go very well. It is done, but noticeable when you really start looking. Remember when I said I screwed up my grommet holes in the dust cover? It has been about 3 months since I did this project, and dust is getting into the inside of the new lenses. It is slowly starting to make my light output worse, and sometime in the next 6 months or so, I will have to remove the lights from the car again and try to clean them out. I will also NEED to order new dust covers so that I can properly drill better holes for a cleaner fit. Frustrating and only myself to blame. What should have been one of the simpler parts of the job got conflated with the fact that, in the middle of the project, my wife and I found out she is pregnant! Amazing news, and a complete blessing. Still a project that will need some TLC to get to a more acceptable long-term standard.

Then, about 2 months ago, I installed the E&E low-profile rear bumper! Got it on a good sale price that was hard to say no to. The installation of this bumper went fairly smooth! Relatively clean lines all the way across and no real issues here. I thought I stripped a bolt on the passenger side, but we were able to get it off and replace it. Now that it is cold in AL, I am finding that the passenger side has a bit of squeak when driving. I do not think this is the bumper, but actually the AHC pump/reservoir mounted behind the bumper skin on that side. It is likely *just* loose enough that it is moving slightly and causing the squeak.

Since I purchased the car at 176k miles, my brakes have been atrocious to say the least. Started with front rotors/pads. Then swapped my master cylinder. And still I was experiencing heavy brake fade and honestly several scary driving interactions that would have been horrendous to say the least. Safe distance and the acknowledgement that the brakes were bad are the only real reason accidents were avoided. Seriously, it felt like my pedal could go through the floor, and I could be gaining speed. Well, this past weekend, that got resolved. I had DBA 4000 rear rotors installed as the old ones were warped. They provided that grab-release-grab feeling, mainly at low speeds, where coming to a smooth stop was near impossible, as you either were speeding up from lack of contact, or jerking the whole car as you tried to stop. On top of the rotors, I swapped in DBA XP pads front and rear. I likely could have gotten away with just rear pads, but I felt better with a matching compound front and rear. And to top it off, I installed the SLEE SS brake line kit, as next year I am planning on trying to do the LX Long travel setup, and extended lines in the rear are a necessity to get the flex we all crave! To say that this is one of the best and safest things I have done to the car would be an understatement. It actually feels like I have a brake pedal again. It is firm and grabs immediately, while also allowing me to finally perform smooth, controlled stops in all scenarios. The first drive, I lightly brake checked myself twice just from not being used to that sensitive of a pedal.

Between upgrading the headlights and the brakes, this car feels a million times safer to drive! There is still a lot to be desired in terms of things I want to do!

2026 goals/plans
-Long travel plans. Mainly to gain comfort, but also sexy flexiness for trails, as the ride quality on max sensor lift leaves a lot to be desired. Currently, I am thinking 30mm front top hat spacer with minimal sensor lift and a diff drop kit to help CV angles. Front sway bar delete. I would say it is likely I will swap the front struts while I am at it, just for nitpick service. If I am already in there doing it, might as well buy once, cry once. (I have read the 'Long Travel' thread. I am aware that 20mm is the recommended max, but that is almost always paired with a max sensor lift. It would seem to me the car would benefit from less sensor lift and more mechanical lift to add additional droop to the system and keep pressures down. There is a linked video where someone tries a 24mm + 10mm spacer and can fit it, though I am not sure of the long-term implications of that.) 40mm rear coil spacer paired with the E&E rear shock mount. Diff rebreather extension. And a panhard bracket mount to accommodate all the added height.

-Rear A/C blowing warm. Learned this just needs a rear Evap Temp Sensor. It should be an easy afternoon fix that I can do myself. During the system test, it was actually saying it is overpressured at 2.4 compared to what should be 2.1? I do not know these values well or the metric measured, just relaying what was told to me.

-Sliders. TKO most likely!

-Rear shelf. Victory 4x4?

-Hamilton or Grom CarPlay. Or adding one of the Ram mounts on top of the dash to better utilize my 11" iPad Pro that I have been using in a CD holder mount. Location for that is great visually, but I cannot reach my hazards or see most of the air conditioning controls when it is in use. Having cellular data means it is a fully functioning device that can use GPS however I like. My only downside to this is that the '09 has no Bluetooth audio, so I am still running an AUX cable via USB-C to the device. However, when I need to charge, I have to swap music to a different device. Nitpicking, but it's annoying while trying to focus on the road. The Ram mount would only solve part of these issues. I have not heard great things about any of the Aux -> BT devices on the market; they all have a drawback somewhere.

-Dash cam.

-OTT tune



Loving this car! Enjoying the process of what is to come. As it stands, the vehicle is at 199,1xx miles. I will hit the barely broken-in phase of 200k before the end of the year!!! If anyone wants any type of specific pictures from what I have done, just let me know, and I will work to get them for you.

 

[jwlgrnmo]

Nice! Would you mind sharing pictures of the headlight job? I plan to do the same but was leaning toward the polishing route+PPF because I was uncertain on the quality of the lens replacements out there.

I thought about the Hamilton and Grom. Ultimately went with a Dash Mount from Leather and Dirt and used the best quality (at the time) amazon apple carpaly/android auto screen I could find that can be mounted on a 17mm ball.

I just routed all the cable through the center mount speaker grill since you have to drill into it with the leather and dirt rail mount. Clean enough for me and out of the way and it uses Aux and 12v. Good sound quality and keeps all the oem functions. Only think is no track skipping with the steering wheel so I bought a Bluetooth media controller and just mounted it by the volume knob so I don't have to reach every time I want to skip a track or skip/rewind a podcast. I recommend it since it was way cheaper and easily reversible. You can do this with the iPad since you own it already and purchase a USB splitter that allows you to charge and use the aux. So you retain the better sound quality and can charge.

Edit: A nice plus is that the Smart Screen also double as a dash cam! Nice little extra security. Come with a rear one as well but I haven't cared to install it. I may do it when I do a deep cleaning of the interior.

 

[Goodberger]

@jwlgrnmo
This is a progressive photo set of the project. Showing my lens before, after they’ve been removed with the chrome housing, the black housing paired with the new lens, and how it looks on the car!

 

[Goodberger]

The hardest parts about the headlight refresh was cleaning the old butyl rubber out, to create a clean space for the new lens to go back in. Leaving the old rubber in, will create a difficultly when trying to get fitment correct and could lead to panel gaps between the headlight and the body. Also, don’t be like me and leave 2-3 fingerprints on the inside

 

[jwlgrnmo]

wow what a huge difference! Was there a big difference in light output?

would you mind sharing which lens you ordered @Goodberger ? Great work. I think I may do this rather than polish.

 

[Goodberger]

wow what a huge difference! Was there a big difference in light output?

would you mind sharing which lens you ordered @Goodberger ? Great work. I think I may do this rather than polish.

Pardon Our Interruption...

I believe the exact ones I ordered are out of stock. Key things to look for: does it say ‘pair’ and your exact model year. They are slightly different depending between models. These are nothing fancy. One of the differences as you remove the old ones is that OEM has a black ring around the outside where these are clear 100%. Mine still had all the mounting holes needed, no issues with fitment. Tbh I just chose the one with cheapest shipping!

These dust cap covers are what I used. Yes they say a different vehicle, yes they work. These are needed if you go to a larger non halogen bulb and want to keep the swivel feature. Would highly recommend not using halogen in the projector.

Cannot state enough, light output is so much better it’s unreal. There are people who have added in a second projector housing where the reflector high beams are, I didn’t find that necessary. I just went with DDM Tuning HID 4300k low beam off of Grinchy’s recommendation. I’d maybe go to a 5000+k if I had to do it again, but I did the 35W configuration.

I used VLED 5k 5000LM high beams. Their body is too big for the housing and I had to spend a PITA amount of time to get them to fit. But omg high beams are great now.

Morimoto XB blinker bulbs, honestly they’re overkill with how bright they are, on the flip side, it seems like on the brightest day at noon, people know you’re trying to signal.

And I swapped the daylight running bulbs in the high beam housing to amber because I thought it would look cool.

I believe you can find all of these bulb # in the ‘Headlight Retrofit’ thread here in Mud.

 

[Goodberger]

 

[UT08LX570]

The hardest parts about the headlight refresh was cleaning the old butyl rubber out, to create a clean space for the new lens to go back in. Leaving the old rubber in, will create a difficultly when trying to get fitment correct and could lead to panel gaps between the headlight and the body. Also, don’t be like me and leave 2-3 fingerprints on the inside

Love the thread so far! Diggin those wheels, more than my black rhinos.

As someone who has run a custom headlight business for over 9 years, you should absolutely leave all the butyl in the channel when opening headlights. If needed, heat up again and smooth with flathead and then add another bead of butyl rope before new lens goes on. It will squish all the excess out once heated and lens goes on, then just pull it off when it cools. As long as all the tabs are clicked around the edge and screws are in, no panel gaps would be possible because lenses would be fully seated. Plus that makes tge swap easier as well!

 

[Goodberger]

Love the thread so far! Diggin those wheels, more than my black rhinos.

As someone who has run a custom headlight business for over 9 years, you should absolutely leave all the butyl in the channel when opening headlights. If needed, heat up again and smooth with flathead and then add another bead of butyl rope before new lens goes on. It will squish all the excess out once heated and lens goes on, then just pull it off when it cools. As long as all the tabs are clicked around the edge and screws are in, no panel gaps would be possible because lenses would be fully seated. Plus that makes tge swap easier as well!

Yeah, there is a lot I have to learn. There is a lot I need to learn about the headlight install. One of my highbeams keeps ‘falling’ loose in the socket while heavy off roading. And I’m likely to redo my install as I’m just not very happy with how it turned out this time around, but it should only get better!

 

[Goodberger]