Mission possible. (Salvaging a totaled GX)

[greenscobie86]

Update: I've become somewhat annoyed with constantly noticing my peeling wheels and narrow stance, so I finally bit the bullet and got some OEM Toyota TRD wheels. Pretty excited to mount/install them! Was really considering other options, but since I'm re using my Michelins for now this was a no brainer option for the money.

 

[greenscobie86]

Got the wheels mounted/balanced/installed. Absolutely love the look/feel of the GX now. The ride is just as good as before but the wider stance makes the truck feel more sure footed. A huge improvement in the looks department as well obviously.

While I had the truck in the air I chose to survey my Corroseal/Fluidfilm work. Happy to report that it survived an NYC winter brilliantly. Thick layer of Fluid film everywhere, and the Corroseal application encapsulated the rust pretty well. I'm a happy camper.

 

[IwantPrado]

Got the wheels mounted/balanced/installed. Absolutely love the look/feel of the GX now. The ride is just as good as before but the wider stance makes the truck feel more sure footed. A huge improvement in the looks department as well obviously.

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While I had the truck in the air I chose to survey my Corroseal/Fluidfilm work. Happy to report that it survived an NYC winter brilliantly. Thick layer of Fluid film everywhere, and the Corroseal application encapsulated the rust pretty well. I'm a happy camper.

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That looks great! Especially appreciate your feedback on corroseal and fluid film! Thanks for sharing!

 

[greenscobie86]

Thanks @IwantPrado I'll try to keep everyone updated on how the coatings fare in the future.

Did a thing... Apparently the right front caliper was essentially seized this whole time, wore through the pad and caused a slightly noticeable vibration in the steering wheel I chose to ignore for the past 5k miles. Picked up a Powerstop pad/rotor kit from RockAuto, splurged for the "treated/coated" rotor option to avoid more rust in the future, we'll see how it fares. The calipers is where this whole ordeal gets fun. Apparently eBay OEM refurb calipers are VERY hit and miss, the seals blew out when bleeding both calipers! I was furious, especially after spending about 1 hour priming/painting/clearing the calipers. Argh... Buy it nice or buy it twice I suppose, which is what I ended up doing with 2 new calipers from Autozone. No photos of those but the gray powder coating on them is actually quite nice and matches the TRD wheels perfectly. Gotta make lemonade out of lemons. Truck stops wonderfully now, and the rattles from the missing caliper hardware are eradicated, those were really starting to get on my nerves!

Some photos of the paint process and the condition of the old calipers/rotors/pads. They didn't end up making it onto the truck but some eye candy nonetheless...


Primed + painted with silver paint.

Gold metalcast paint before clearing

Note the missing anti rattle hardware on the old rusty caliper. :-/

Looked good, right until the seals blew out during bleeding. Double :-/

And with Autozone calipers after the bleeding fiasco. Still looks good but not as "bling" as the above. Looking at it more and more, I think its better this way.

 

[ArBrnSnpr]

I vote for the "after" brake pictures.
In my opinion, unless you're putting on a Stoptech or Wilwood or Brembo big brake kit, there's no need to draw attention to factory calipers with flashy colors. Some nice black or grey suits the GX perfectly.

 

[greenscobie86]

Time goes on and the GX keeps on ticking. Not really much to report aside from a rear subwoofer surround that finally tore, so I used the SimplySpeakers repair kit to bring it back to life. The back brake pads also "ended" so I chose to put on some Akebonos and coated Powerstop rotors.

The time to do the TB/WP 90k service is approaching... I'm beginning to gather parts. If anyone has a good spot to grab a kit I would greatly appreciate it, as the eBay kits seem kinda pricey.

Also finally adjusted the headlights after realizing just how low they were pointing while on a stargazing trip to PA.

Before:
(Note how how low the pass side cutoff is compared to the driver side)

After:

 

[GrizzlyClint]

The time to do the TB/WP 90k service is approaching... I'm beginning to gather parts. If anyone has a good spot to grab a kit I would greatly appreciate it, as the eBay kits seem kinda pricey.

Amazon product ASIN B008EEYWKI

 

[greenscobie86]

Thanks for the part link @MrTorgue ^^^

Yet another oil change in the books.

As requested here is another update on the Corroseal/Fluid Film treatment. So far so good! After many miles spent cruising the salty roads of upstate NY there seems to be no new issues or signs of coating failure anywhere. I re-touched spots with a can of FF and left everything else as is. Once spring rolls around I will probably pressure wash the whole thing, and remove the spare tire in order to coat the rear frame sections.

That's all for now... Next post will likely be a timing belt swap retrospective

 

[greenscobie86]

Final update on this truck...
Another Fluid Film/Corroseal update: The Fluid film has held up just ok with no reapplication since last year. A bit of new rust starting on my previously worked over areas. Looks worse than it is honestly. Judge for yourselves.

Took the truck on vacation over the summer and did some beach driving up in North Carolina, tons of fun.
I sold it a couple of weekends ago, it has served me extremely well and the new owner is going to take care of it and cherish it the same way I have in the past few years.

Final snap of the truck as I waved good bye to it.