My New (to me) 1999 LX470 BUILD - Repair, Maintenence, Upgrades (1 Viewer)

[nvbeepat]

I was on FB market place and saw an LX470 popped up for sale for only $2,300. It hit a deer and the owner wanted to get rid of it. Fast forward a few hours later and the truck was now mine for only $2,000!! I currently own a 1999 LX470 with 165k miles, but it was never cared for by its previous owners and it shows. I put as much love as I could back into it and have improved it drastically.

Here is my current truck with the new one being delivered.

It is a 1999 with 240k miles and kept in extremely good condition. The underneath is INSANELY clean for being a truck living in the northeast (NYC), and I later found out that it was in California for its entire life up to less than three years ago. The interior is perfect (besides some driver seat bolster wear) and it drives like a dream. It has the OEM 2006-2007 wheels with almost brand new tires too!

Here is all of the damage:

To my luck, nothing mechanical was affected at all or anything related to the engine, besides the airbox being cracked. All the parts I bought are as followed (with prices):
- $145 new radiator support
- $225 used fender (matching paint)
- $175 used grille
- $75 used lower tie bar
- $60 radiator fan
- $15 indicator/fog light wiring harness pigtail
- $220 used headlights and side markers (what a steal!)

The labor will be done within the next week and I will list the cost for that too on here. I won't be buying a bumper at the moment as I plan to get an ARB bumper relatively soon. I will also be transferring a bunch of parts off my old truck to this new one (sliders, lights, spoiler, wheels, etc.)

Right now I have a TON of maintenance I want to do to just get everything at a baseline since it has quite high mileage. It was taken to the dealer until 193k miles, then one guy owned it for 6 years and put less than 10k miles on it, and then it came to the northeast with just over 200k miles on it, and the previous owner didn't do much maintenance it seems like, besides oil changes.

My planned list is as follows:
- Wipers
- Cabin air filter
- Engine air filter
- Spark plugs
- Front diff fluid
- Rear diff fluid
- Transfer case fluid
- Transmission fluid
- Power steering fluid
- AHC fluid
- Fuel filter
- PCV valve
- Timing belt/water pump
- Serpentine belt
- Heater T's
- Coolant flush
- Radiator
- Thermostat
- A/C condenser

I will be documenting my whole build on here with everything done to the truck!

COMPLETED MAINTENENCE:

11/27/19 - $2,000 - Purchase
12/8/19 - 239,842 - Michelin silicone wiper + rainx treatment
12/12/19 - 239,874 - AHC flush
12/22/19 - 239,898 - AC Condenser

 

[nvbeepat]

For my first mod, to gain a little horsepower , I added a sticker on the rear tailgate that I put on every car I own!

More to come!

 

[nvbeepat]

I decided to flush the AHC fluid to see if I could get a better ride out of the truck, even though it was already super smooth to me. At my local Lexus dealer it was $33 and change per bottle. My dealer stocked the newer bottles.

For the tools I used a bottle with three feet of 3/16in tubing from Home Depot & a turkey baster from Dollar Tree (less than $5 for everything) and it worked great. My only gripe is that it was hard to put the tubing onto the bleeder valve sometimes.

I followed a PDF doc posted on the forums here and the bleeding went smoothly. I was surprised at how dark this fluid was... probably never flushed in the 240k miles of ownership it seems like.

 

[nvbeepat]

The body work that was done looks just like factory! I used a radiator support made for a 2003-2007 model (since it was super cheap) and it worked perfectly with 0 issues. Since the old AC condenser was bent & brittle (but still worked) I decided to throw in a new Denso condenser.

With all the work done it's just like factory! I decided to not get a used bumper and just get the ARB sometime soon. Got the truck home and gave it a good cleaning and clay bared it. It still needs waxing!

Sliders soon to come!

 

[nvbeepat]

Merry Christmas everyone! I got some time to work on the LX and make some minor changes. I added a dashcam that doubles as a backup camera, only $100 for such good quality and features.

I also changed out the rear wiper for a more modern looking one. Getting the old one off was TOO much work. I ended up busting it off with a wrench and hammer.

I changed out the headlights and license plate lights to LED's as well. For the license plate light I got one that's the entire housing. It provides so much light, and is super useful for setting up camp too. For the headlights, these ones fit in the stock headlight housing and allow for the headlight cap to be put back on as well. They provide a TON of light as well, and don't make the squirrel finders way too obvious like HID's would. Removed the stock running boards too.

 

[nukegoat]

For my first mod, to gain a little horsepower , I added a sticker on the rear tailgate that I put on every car I own!
View attachment 2154739

More to come!

'Thin Blue Line': What does an American flag with a blue line mean?

One flag maker says the flag's use by white supremacists in Charlottesville "tarnishes what it and our nation believe in."

www.usatoday.com

Hmmm

 

[nvbeepat]

Finally got a chance to install the OPOR sliders on the truck! Primed and painted myself, and got the alignment on this one perfect. I installed it myself with the help of two jackstands.

An ARB front bumper is on its way now!

 

[ClassyJalopy]

I changed out the headlights and license plate lights to LED's as well. For the license plate light I got one that's the entire housing. It provides so much light, and is super useful for setting up camp too. For the headlights, these ones fit in the stock headlight housing and allow for the headlight cap to be put back on as well. They provide a TON of light as well, and don't make the squirrel finders way too obvious like HID's would. Removed the stock running boards too.
View attachment 2165969

View attachment 2165971

This is surprising! Are yours converted to use an aftermarket projector?
My 98 LC factory headlights had the worst projection pattern of any lights I have ever seen, including some Chinese aftermarket ones. When I put HID bulbs in the stock projectors, the light was all scattered and those blasted "squirrel finders" shot a beam of light up about 20 feet above the ground.

Yours looks great with a decent cutoff and spread!!

 

[willoCo]

nice score. License plate cracked me up too.

 

[nvbeepat]

This is surprising! Are yours converted to use an aftermarket projector?
My 98 LC factory headlights had the worst projection pattern of any lights I have ever seen, including some Chinese aftermarket ones. When I put HID bulbs in the stock projectors, the light was all scattered and those blasted "squirrel finders" shot a beam of light up about 20 feet above the ground.

Yours looks great with a decent cutoff and spread!!

I am using the factory projectors from the LX470. I didn't modify the headlamp housing itself in any way.

 

[nvbeepat]

I got my new set of tail lights in the mail today! They are the 2006 - 2007 Lexus LX470 style tail lights with the LED strips. I paid $272 shipped off aliexpress, and I think they look damn good.

The build quality of them would be 8.5/10. It looks really good and clear but the edges and stuff could be better, but maybe I'm a bit too picky. They are sealed as well as the stock ones from water, at least it appears to be.

For the fitment, it would have to be a 7/10. It didn't go in as easily as the stock ones, and some of the holes and clips didn't line up perfectly. I had to transfer the speed nuts from the OEM stock tail lights to the new aftermarket ones and drill some of the plastic away. The thread pattern on the aftermarket one wasn't the same as the stock one. Left is aftermarket and right is OEM.

At night they look beautiful! Also, the reverse light puts out a TON more light than the OEM housing. A LED reverse light will be in there soon.

 

[prwillard2]

Can you post the backup cam item and tailgate wiper models?

 

[chaileyk5]

Nice score, and good job putting it back together. What LED bulbs did you use for the headlights?

 

[RPLX470]

Looking good! Would love a link to the head light LEDs you used.

 

[ramangain]

I decided to flush the AHC fluid to see if I could get a better ride out of the truck, even though it was already super smooth to me. At my local Lexus dealer it was $33 and change per bottle. My dealer stocked the newer bottles.

Jeez, some the L dealer parts department are killing on the AHC fluid. Both of my local dealerships sell the AHC fluid for $21+ tax for a bottle. Dealerships are in the Winter Park and Orlando FL area.