Hello All!
New to the forum (and the GX in general), I have spent a couple weeks lurking around the mainstream forums for the 120 platform and liked the vibe/knowledge base I saw here the most so that's where I decided to start. This will probably be a bit lengthy but I'm trying to get all my thoughts down and then get some advice from you experts on a few things I either need opinions on or are a bit confused about before I start my build.
First, a little background on my situation and what I am looking to do:
I recently got rid of my 1G Tundra, I loved the truck but it wasn't really meeting our needs any more, primarily because I now have 2 small children and it was only an access cab, so the inside space left a lot to be desired. They are getting old enough that we'd like to start doing family camping trips and want something capable yet comfortable for the 4 of us to travel in. I also do a good amount of mountain biking with friends and wanted something that could comfortably carry a few guys and some gear to set up base camps from which to hit the trails. I don't plan on doing any hardcore 4-wheeling/rock crawling but I want something relatively capable to get out to some remote places. I wouldn't be doing any kind of off-road racing. When we camp it's generally pretty short duration, 2-3 days at a time, so I don't plan on doing much in the way of overland gear.
I started researching and quickly settled on a 100LC/LX470 as an ideal platform....but after a few months of searching everything I found was either super high mileage or pretty beat up. Out of the blue I was talking to a good friend and he offered up that they were planning on trading in their 2003 GX470 (125k miles) and after researching it, it seemed like I could do what I wanted with it and the price was too good to pass up. It's in excellent shape, all scheduled maintenance done. Use will be a mix of daily driving and camping/off road, I have another car (that get much much much better mileage) to drive to work but I could see myself driving this 1 or 2 days a week. I'd guess I will put about 4-5k miles on this a year and intend to keep it for the long haul. I should have it in a couple of weeks, so I have been busy reading and starting to plan my build.
This brings me to the planned build list:
Initial build:
Radflo 2.5" coil overs
Total Chaos UCAs
Radflo 2" lift in rear
MetalTech rear coil conversion
MetalTech/OPOR Sliders
New Tires (see question below)
Some kind of roof rack, haven't decided yet
Future plans (as budget/needs allow):
MetalTech Front bumper
Maybe a swing out rear bumper, not sure yet.
Questions:
1) From what I have read this suspension seems like it would fit my needs (preserve a quality ride on road while being capable off road). Thoughts?
2) The most confusing part of this whole thing has been the tires - I get everyone's setup is a bit different so from reading countless threads it's difficult to determine what tires will fit. I should note I am planning on staying with the stock rims at least for the time being, partly for budget reasons and partly because I actually like how they look. In your opinion what's the largest tire I can fit without rubbing with the stock rim and the above mentioned lift/UCAs. I deduced it to be something like a 275/70r17 from my reading, does this seem right? It's OK if it no longer fits in the stock spare location, I am OK strapping it down in the back on a day to day basis and up on the roof rack for travel until I can afford some kind of a swing out bumper. I know the stock wheels have less more backspacing than a lot of aftermarket options so I am also OK running a 1" spacer if needed, especially since I kind of like the 'wider/baja' look anyway. Anyhow, I basically need some knowledge/recommendations on tire size as i am very confused.
3) Anything I am missing, or any other advice that you wish people would have told you as you started your builds?
There's some awesome rigs and build threads on this forum, I hope to join them soon. Thanks for any advice or answers you can provide.
Cheers.
New to the forum (and the GX in general), I have spent a couple weeks lurking around the mainstream forums for the 120 platform and liked the vibe/knowledge base I saw here the most so that's where I decided to start. This will probably be a bit lengthy but I'm trying to get all my thoughts down and then get some advice from you experts on a few things I either need opinions on or are a bit confused about before I start my build.
First, a little background on my situation and what I am looking to do:
I recently got rid of my 1G Tundra, I loved the truck but it wasn't really meeting our needs any more, primarily because I now have 2 small children and it was only an access cab, so the inside space left a lot to be desired. They are getting old enough that we'd like to start doing family camping trips and want something capable yet comfortable for the 4 of us to travel in. I also do a good amount of mountain biking with friends and wanted something that could comfortably carry a few guys and some gear to set up base camps from which to hit the trails. I don't plan on doing any hardcore 4-wheeling/rock crawling but I want something relatively capable to get out to some remote places. I wouldn't be doing any kind of off-road racing. When we camp it's generally pretty short duration, 2-3 days at a time, so I don't plan on doing much in the way of overland gear.
I started researching and quickly settled on a 100LC/LX470 as an ideal platform....but after a few months of searching everything I found was either super high mileage or pretty beat up. Out of the blue I was talking to a good friend and he offered up that they were planning on trading in their 2003 GX470 (125k miles) and after researching it, it seemed like I could do what I wanted with it and the price was too good to pass up. It's in excellent shape, all scheduled maintenance done. Use will be a mix of daily driving and camping/off road, I have another car (that get much much much better mileage) to drive to work but I could see myself driving this 1 or 2 days a week. I'd guess I will put about 4-5k miles on this a year and intend to keep it for the long haul. I should have it in a couple of weeks, so I have been busy reading and starting to plan my build.
This brings me to the planned build list:
Initial build:
Radflo 2.5" coil overs
Total Chaos UCAs
Radflo 2" lift in rear
MetalTech rear coil conversion
MetalTech/OPOR Sliders
New Tires (see question below)
Some kind of roof rack, haven't decided yet
Future plans (as budget/needs allow):
MetalTech Front bumper
Maybe a swing out rear bumper, not sure yet.
Questions:
1) From what I have read this suspension seems like it would fit my needs (preserve a quality ride on road while being capable off road). Thoughts?
2) The most confusing part of this whole thing has been the tires - I get everyone's setup is a bit different so from reading countless threads it's difficult to determine what tires will fit. I should note I am planning on staying with the stock rims at least for the time being, partly for budget reasons and partly because I actually like how they look. In your opinion what's the largest tire I can fit without rubbing with the stock rim and the above mentioned lift/UCAs. I deduced it to be something like a 275/70r17 from my reading, does this seem right? It's OK if it no longer fits in the stock spare location, I am OK strapping it down in the back on a day to day basis and up on the roof rack for travel until I can afford some kind of a swing out bumper. I know the stock wheels have less more backspacing than a lot of aftermarket options so I am also OK running a 1" spacer if needed, especially since I kind of like the 'wider/baja' look anyway. Anyhow, I basically need some knowledge/recommendations on tire size as i am very confused.
3) Anything I am missing, or any other advice that you wish people would have told you as you started your builds?
There's some awesome rigs and build threads on this forum, I hope to join them soon. Thanks for any advice or answers you can provide.
Cheers.
