Build My LX470 Revival

[STFU]

I recently picked up this 2004 LX470 in a trade and thought I’d see if I could bring it back to useable condition. I figured I would share my progress here.
It has 319k miles on it, was a 2 owner vehicle before me. Original owner kept it until just last year and had it religiously maintained at a local dealer.
I took it in knowing it had an AHC failure, but it ran well and the rust didn’t look too bad at first quick glance… I was wrong about that.

The exterior of the body is clean and looks great, the interior is also in excellent shape. No rips in the seats, carpet nice, dash all works.

The bottom side was a different story, once I got it up on the lift and started poking at it.
AHC lines are all rusty, frame rails had been repaired between the axle and rear crossmember. Exhaust was in rough shape, fuel tank leaking at the seam.

I didn’t take a lot of pics of the rusty underside, but spent several days with a needle scaler and grinder under there chipping away and exposing holes on both sides from about lower control arm mounts back.

 

[STFU]

The pass side was so bad I ended up cutting everything off from the wheel arch in the frame back and replacing it with new 2x4” 1/4” wall box tubing.

The drivers side wasn’t as bad and I was able to spice in a section of the same 2x4 box for the last 24” of frame. I also entirely cut off the rear cross member and made a new one.

 

[excessive]

that is some legit rust repair work. good on you for saving another one from the scrapyard

 

[STFU]

Several other sections were cut out and replaced with new steel.

Then everything was cleaned again and painted with Eastwood’s rust encapsulator black frame paint.

I ended up finding a good deal in the classified section here for a complete Ironman foam cell suspension kit with all new rear control arms, SPC front uppers and a diff drop bracket.

I cleaned up and painted the rear axle while I had it out.

 

[STFU]

The gas tank was replaced with an aftermarket piece for about $350, quality looks decent. Nice coating on it. Had to buy a new filler hose neck to mount in the tank, but the rest of the parts transfered over using the new orings/gaskets that came with the tank. I replaced both straps at this time as well. I skipped the factory skid plate as mine was rotted beyond use and a replacement was pretty pricey. Might build my own at a later date.

I also installed a new exhaust system from the cats back. Found a full stainless kit from northeastern for a reasonable price. It fit very well.

The rear track bar was so rusty it didn’t make sense to reuse even with new bushings. There isn’t much on the market for adjustable ones and an OEM was pretty pricey. I’m cheap and already pretty deep in this project, so I got a stick of heavy wall DOM tube and some weld in inserts with adjustable bushing ends and made my own.

 

[STFU]

next the front end, ripped out all of the AHC components including wire harnesses, lines, pump/reservoir, accumulators and valves. That was a messy project.
Needle scaled the rest of the frame and front end and painted. Replaced the lower control arms and bushings with dooreman parts and Delphi bushings. I know, I know, should have used OEM parts, but this has to be an improvement over the original 319k chassis components.
The Ironman kit came with the control arm strengthening brackets so I felt a little better about the doorman parts. They appeared to be decent quality and similar metal thickness.
All new sway bar bushings and links front and rear at this time as well. Not many pics, but you all know what front suspension looks like.

At this point I got it on the ground again and took it for a test drive and promptly ripped the old brittle boots on both of the cv shafts. Back on the lift and all apart again to replace both cv shaft assemblies. I went with Napa parts that I got on sale for $280 for the pair. I’ll take my chances with them (mixed reviews on here).
Here it is out of the shop on its new legs.

Once I was satisfied it was mechanically functional again I dropped it off for a proper alignment and some new sneakers. Went with some Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs in a 275/70r18. I’m quite pleased with them.

Overall, pretty pleased with the outcome. It runs and drives excellent. Suspension feels good. It sits about an inch too high in the back (2” higher than the front). I threw about 400#s worth of bags of wood pellets in the back to bring it down and hopefully help settle the springs. Maybe it will settle out where it should be after some miles. Might have to swap them for some softer OME coils.
Completed the AHC delete with removing the controls switch and dropping in a factory storage pocket in its place in the console. Then unplugged the ECU for the system to get rid of the lights on the dash.
I still have to deal with the trac system lights that won’t go away but that doesn’t seem to affect how it drives.

 

[STFU]

I still need to replace the inner rocker panels. Found some rust holes when I pulled the factory steps off. But will put some miles on it before I decide if it’s worth moving forward with more cutting and welding. I did pick up some white knuckle rock sliders that I plan to install soon. They were a FB market place find and are actually for a GX470 so they don’t fit as is, I plan to cut the mounting legs off and make my own. I got them for a fraction of the price of a new set, so it’s worth the extra work cutting and welding to reuse them.

Also discovered the other day that the AC doesn’t work. It seems the compressor is seized and won’t spin by hand. The clutch doesn’t try to engage when switched on. I suspect the system has several problems, mostly likely stemming from a leak. That should be fun to deal with…

 

[choyota]

Nicely done! I wish I knew had to weld/fabricate. If I ever get divorced, I'll have some time to learn that skill.

 

[STFU]

Nicely done! I wish I knew had to weld/fabricate. If I ever get divorced, I'll have some time to learn that skill.

Your friends will love it!

 

[excessive]

amazing work. Few people are willing / able to tackle rust repair like that. Keep up the great work

 

[Cooltech1050]

Nice Job! Very Impressive man. Thing looks like it's in 50ft in the air, I wonder if once the rock sliders are filled in there will be some more visual weight at the bottom. Congrats on the find