LX570 Build v37 for 37s

[TeCKis300]

what rear rack are you running?

Homebrewed but here's a thread on how to potentially make your own.

Thread 'Swingaway Hitch Carrier v2'

Oct 18, 2021

Second go at this, to build a swing away hitch carrier for overland camping. This time higher, tighter, and more tailored fit. Primary objective is to carry water and small loose items. What others may use drawers to carry. I can't commit to drawers as I use my 3rd row and need the utility of the full space of the interior. Need to keep my payload for towing a large camper so a classic bumper swingout is not in the cards.

The core of this is a Yakima Backswing swingaway hitch mount. Probably not worth mentioning as it's completely hacked, welded, and re-configured and wouldn't be...

• TeCKis300
• Replies: 82
• Forum: 200-Series Cruisers

• 

I initially read that as 13psi intake pressure from a SC and I was thinking I forgot you put a SC on your rig. And 13psi sounded like a lot
But I think you should do this now

That bug has bitten hard but boost is reserved for the other toy. The LX will continue to serve as the reliable daily and trip vehicle.

Santa came early for the winter project focused on the Metzger getting a heavy round of maintenance and upgrades to keep her happy at 1.3 bar. Replacement Sachs SRE Motorsports clutch, ignitors, spark plugs, and upgraded 997 era GT2RS intercoolers. High end factory parts makes me giddy.

 

[LTX200]

What's Left​

EDIT: Putting this here as I've had success so far with clearance the sway bar. It's working well and I'll certainly come back if it stops working well.

Clearancing Sway Bar for Large Tires

Looking to get this discussion going as to strategies to fit larger and full fat meats. I recently modded the LX570 sway bar to allow full steering lock on 37x12.5s. For context, I'm running +28 offset and on AHC high (about 4" total lift creating down-angle on the LCAs which pulls the tire...

forum.ih8mud.com

View attachment 3792956

PREVIOUS:
Minor rubbing on sway bar at full lock. Left rubbing mark is from 35s. Right is from 37s. Couple possible solutions include adding a bit more camber to push the tire out further. Or cut the curved faces of the sway bar and weld back some reinforcement.

View attachment 3734614

Mud flaps behind the front tire. Need to fabricate something as I don't like the idea of mud, dirt, and debris getting kick both under and over the rocker.

Towing 8k worth of trailer. Still need to modify a new drop bracket to account for the taller height. Will see how it tows.

On the front sway bar, I see in some of your other posts that you experimented with moving the sway bar forward, similar to a KDSS relocation. Would that be an alternative method to cutting the sway bar? TIA

 

[TeCKis300]

On the front sway bar, I see in some of your other posts that you experimented with moving the sway bar forward, similar to a KDSS relocation. Would that be an alternative method to cutting the sway bar? TIA

Maybe.

This was my original strategy. Turned out there were several reasons to use a more aggressive offset (clearance against UCA, frame, and sway bar) at which point moving the front sway bar forward wouldn't be sufficient to eliminate rubbing. It's also going to come down to the specific tire and how aggressive the sidewalls are.

Just over a year later, sway bar is working fine. I still get some rubbing when in AHC high and full lock, but it's minor.

 

[tbisaacs]

Man, I love this build

 

[TeCKis300]

I need to catch this thread up. Lots done in 2025, not the least of which was many great trips in the ever capable and steadfast LX.

Closing out the year with an epic 5 night trip with my family or 4. We usually pull the camper on longer trips, and this was a first for a longer trip only out of the 200. We experienced rain and mud, but mostly perfect 70°F weather. The family loved it all.

Leaving this here

 

[TeCKis300]

Catching up on a few things...

Updated first post with the current build list.

Also never answered the question - "How well does she tow with 37s". Very well thank you. Did a long road trip last year scaling at the heaviest she's ever been. A fat 15,880lbs combined gross vehicle weight on the scale. I'm not condoning this in any way as it's well beyond ratings. Then again, so is the rest of the rig . I've taken careful consideration in modding at every possible step to account and compensate for this.

PIG

What this breaks down to (including factory ratings):

• Scaled weight, fully wet, 4 passengers, iKamper RTT, ARB awning, and 8k Airstream 27FB
• Steer Axle: 3,220 lbs (Front GAWR 3,595lbs)
• Rear Axle: 5,820 lbs (Rear GAWR 4,300lbs)
• LX Gross: 9,040 lbs (GVWR 7,385lbs)
• LX Net: 6,390 (Factory curb 5,995lbs)
• Payload: ~2,650 lbs (Rated 1,411 lbs)
• Trailer axles: 6,840 lbs (Trailer GAWR 7,600 lbs)
• Tongue: ~1,280 lbs (Rated 850 lbs)
• Trailer Gross: ~8,120 lbs (LX570 rated 8,500 lbs, *2009)
• GCWR: 15,880 lbs (GCWR 14,920)

Stability wise, zero qualms and she's a breeze to drive with one finger long distances. I do air up the 37s to 45 PSI front and 48 PSI rear for load capacity and sidewall stability. Putting it to work, AHC still rides like butter.

Power, solid and great on flat roads. Gearing wise, if visiting the mountains and dealing with steep grades, I can use more gear. I'm about 7% down relative to factory gearing and there's a hole in my powerband around 30-35mph. I can't make enough ponies (~190hp) in second gear at about 2500-3000rpm to accelerate at this weight level. And the ECU won't let me downshift to first (even if it's still within safe RPM range). If I come way down to 10MPH, it'll downshift to first and I can work through that power hole, getting into second at a higher RPM to accelerate again.

Brakes are still good and strong. Credit to Hawk LTS pads and I can't recommend them enough.

Engine braking is also compromised at this weight level and I would like more gearing also for this reason . I'm reminded of this after another trip in the mountains this past weekend.

I'm looking hard at 4.88s, which should put me at about a 3% gearing advantage relative to stock and address both issues. That said, I'm surprise how well everything works and honestly for anyone towing less weight, it's wouldn't be an issue with how much grunt the 5.7L has.

Blending in...

 

[Oakleyguy]

remind me, what springs did you upgrade to?

 

[TeCKis300]

remind me, what springs did you upgrade to?

Factory AHC springs. With spacers to augment for sensor lift and load

Post in thread 'Towing with a 200-series Toyota Land Cruiser'

Dec 19, 2025

When yall are building out your LX how does configuring rear springs work with the AHC? From reading the last few days of discussions it sounds like the AHC compensates a lot more than I had expected.

Factory, LX570 is rated for 1,385 lbs of payload. In my use, I found a healthy AHC system with fresh globes had margin to go up to 2000lbs payload before it would not be able to maintain ride height, falling back on the coil springs more.

The trick is to pre-load the coil springs so the hydraulic system has more compensation margin.

Stock rear spring rates are around 120 lbs/in...

• TeCKis300

• 

 

[linuxgod]

Catching up on a few things...

Updated first post with the current build list.

Also never answered the question - "How well does she tow with 37s". Very well thank you. Did a long road trip last year scaling at the heaviest she's ever been. A fat 15,880lbs combined gross vehicle weight on the scale. I'm not condoning this in any way as it's well beyond ratings. Then again, so is the rest of the rig . I've taken careful consideration in modding at every possible step to account and compensate for this.

PIG
View attachment 4131183

What this breaks down to (including factory ratings):

• Scaled weight, fully wet, 4 passengers, iKamper RTT, ARB awning, and 8k Airstream 27FB
• Steer Axle: 3,220 lbs (Front GAWR 3,595lbs)
• Rear Axle: 5,820 lbs (Rear GAWR 4,300lbs)
• LX Gross: 9,040 lbs (GVWR 7,385lbs)
• LX Net: 6,390 (Factory curb 5,995lbs)
• Payload: ~2,650 lbs (Rated 1,411 lbs)
• Trailer axles: 6,840 lbs (Trailer GAWR 7,600 lbs)
• Tongue: ~1,280 lbs (Rated 850 lbs)
• Trailer Gross: ~8,120 lbs (LX570 rated 8,500 lbs, *2009)
• GCWR: 15,880 lbs (GCWR 14,920)

Stability wise, zero qualms and she's a breeze to drive with one finger long distances. I do air up the 37s to 45 PSI front and 48 PSI rear for load capacity and sidewall stability. Putting it to work, AHC still rides like butter.

Power, solid and great on flat roads. Gearing wise, if visiting the mountains and dealing with steep grades, I can use more gear. I'm about 7% down relative to factory gearing and there's a hole in my powerband around 30-35mph. I can't make enough ponies (~190hp) in second gear at about 2500-3000rpm to accelerate at this weight level. And the ECU won't let me downshift to first (even if it's still within safe RPM range). If I come way down to 10MPH, it'll downshift to first and I can work through that power hole, getting into second at a higher RPM to accelerate again.

Brakes are still good and strong. Credit to Hawk LTS pads and I can't recommend them enough.

Engine braking is also compromised at this weight level and I would like more gearing also for this reason . I'm reminded of this after another trip in the mountains this past weekend.

I'm looking hard at 4.88s, which should put me at about a 3% gearing advantage relative to stock and address both issues. That said, I'm surprise how well everything works and honestly for anyone towing less weight, it's wouldn't be an issue with how much grunt the 5.7L has.

Blending in...
View attachment 4131208

Downside of 4.88s is that you really have to manage the gear you’re in to keep the TC locked up on any sort of hills with a trailer. At least I do on 35s when towing. And when I get down into 4th on the highway running 70-75 the engine is a solid 4k RPMs which means I’m getting 5.5 or maybe 6mpg if I’m really lucky. Maybe I need to fit 37s, and if i can hold 75 in 5th gear locked up it does well, but there are definitely times when i have to run in 4th and I really wish i was on 4.30s.

 

[clrussell]

Downside of 4.88s is that you really have to manage the gear you’re in to keep the TC locked up on any sort of hills with a trailer. At least I do on 35s when towing. And when I get down into 4th on the highway running 70-75 the engine is a solid 4k RPMs which means I’m getting 5.5 or maybe 6mpg if I’m really lucky. Maybe I need to fit 37s, and if i can hold 75 in 5th gear locked up it does well, but there are definitely times when i have to run in 4th and I really wish i was on 4.30s.

I can’t say I have ever noticed this. But also maybe I want towing heavy enough.
I’m a pretty heavy 200 on 35s and 4.88. Zero complaints. Sometimes I want to supercharge it though.

 

[linuxgod]

I can’t say I have ever noticed this. But also maybe I want towing heavy enough.
I’m a pretty heavy 200 on 35s and 4.88. Zero complaints. Sometimes I want to supercharge it though.

I have no complaints without towing. I had no trouble holding 6th gear in Utah at speeds approaching 3 digits. But with a 6000# trailer i regular find myself needing 4th on hills and I kinda hate 4th gear now

 

[clrussell]

I have no complaints without towing. I had no trouble holding 6th gear in Utah at speeds approaching 3 digits. But with a 6000# trailer i regular find myself needing 4th on hills and I kinda hate 4th gear now

I have not towed 6k through the mountains. Only my 2k camp trailer

 

[TeCKis300]

Downside of 4.88s is that you really have to manage the gear you’re in to keep the TC locked up on any sort of hills with a trailer. At least I do on 35s when towing. And when I get down into 4th on the highway running 70-75 the engine is a solid 4k RPMs which means I’m getting 5.5 or maybe 6mpg if I’m really lucky. Maybe I need to fit 37s, and if i can hold 75 in 5th gear locked up it does well, but there are definitely times when i have to run in 4th and I really wish i was on 4.30s.

Good point and is something I'll have to watch for. I'm usually in 4th on the freeway cruising and with being undergeared, it works out to be a nice 4.5 gear relative to stock. When I'm climbing torque converter is definitely unlocking and I'm into 3rd, or even 2nd depending on grade. Problem is when it's over 8% grade at elevation, where I need 1st gear, I can't get into it.

Figure I'll go ahead and get the locker for the front axle while I'm at it.

The analysis paralysis is whether I go into 4.88s? Or back to 3.9s... with portals. Not sure how that will tow with all the added leverage and axle wrap loads?

 

[grinchy]

I’m not a ‘tow’ user but I do like my 4.88s with 35s. Gas mileage is poor but that could be my aero some weight and a v8 too.
It drives ‘on top’ of the gear, no lugging ever. I don’t like lugging.
The one downside is I have to run 35” tires or larger.