New GX470! (1 Viewer)

[stupidchicken03]

Ok Wow i like that a lot - but question, what about throwing in a whole Ram compatible rail somewhere up there? So that it can support more mounts. This is a great design though and might steal this as my starting place.

I thought about a short rail, to have it more modular, but not a lot of "flat" space up around the dash.
And I personally dont like to:

-use double sided tapes to hold something down that may have a "decent" amount of weight on it (phones, tablets, radio, etc). Especially where I live (just outside Sacramento, California) we get 110+ summer days and upper 20 degree winters. So in the summer, the inside of the car, especially dash, will get hot making adhesive more likely to fail over time.

-I try to not cover any vents/controls/knobs/screens as much as possible.

Those are just personal "guidelines" I stick to for myself.

 

[GX0R]

Proud owner of 2003 GX470 with only 76k miles - want to turn into overlanding beast and invest in it for the true long haul.

Super excited, and tons of wood to chop as I get started working on it. Any tips or must-have mods you all recommend?

I've had one for 4 years now. Your first modification should be an odb II scanner . It's what tells you the baseline health of your GX and how each mod you do( and you will do a lot) affects it so you can prioritize.

 

[GXgeorge]

I've had one for 4 years now. Your first modification should be an odb II scanner . It's what tells you the baseline health of your GX and how each mod you do( and you will do a lot) affects it so you can prioritize.

Good call out. Luckily I will have all I need here next week, was blessed with a failing Master Cylinder assembly (I think the ABS booster) I’m replacing.
As part of my brake bleed I plan to do electronic bleed with Techstream software. Fun never stops!

 

[FrontRunnerChris]

If anyone has ideas the areas I am hoping for recommendations that seem to be hard to get really solid best practices are:

- Convert Nav system to new head unit, retaining all controls and getting Apple Carplay
- Second battery system
- Additional cabin storage up front - I feel like there is very little just the cupholder space, but tons of open air to add storage potentially?

Other than that, just looking at typical mods and my issue is there are so many options and trying to find stuff at least somewhat budget friendly for things like front and rear bumper upgrades, wheel on back, winch, etc.

There ya go! The nav conversion will probably take a bit longer and be a little more tedious from what I have read, but the dual battery system and center console upgrades are relatively straight forward! At least the dual battery system can be straight forward, or they can be pretty complex depending on the way you go! Let us know how it works out!

 

[ORST]

Ok Wow i like that a lot - but question, what about throwing in a whole Ram compatible rail somewhere up there? So that it can support more mounts. This is a great design though and might steal this as my starting place.

I think the Owl Expedition media mount would work for mounting a rail. I use it to mount a ram ball holding a 10" tablet without any issues. It mounts inside the existing cassette player so no drilling into the dash needed. Just make sure to Loctite the screws otherwise they can rattle loose on washboard roads.

 

[fvedmo]

Oh wow good tip, I had heard the OEM one was really solid but I suppose not. Yet another reason I wish I had the time to do timing belt myself, I'd have all the space in the world to easily drop in new radiator...I'll start with seeing if the shop finds any immediate issues then start thinking about preventative upgrade.

OEM one is definitely decent - service life gonna be 80k-300k just can't tell, and a new Denso OEM type one may be worth throwing in when you do the TB anyways, based on the overall forum feedback. An all aluminum version runs close to triple the price.

 

[GXgeorge]

OEM one is definitely decent - service life gonna be 80k-300k just can't tell, and a new Denso OEM type one may be worth throwing in when you do the TB anyways, based on the overall forum feedback. An all aluminum version runs close to triple the price.

Funny enough the shop who did TB accidentally punched thru my perfectly healthy radiator. Replaced it with Denso free of charge, was grateful they made it right and got a preventative swap out of it!

 

[dovetails]

Just seeing your post now but hot damn! Love that low mileage find! looking forward to the progress.

 

[FrontRunnerChris]

Proud owner of 2003 GX470 with only 76k miles - want to turn into overlanding beast and invest in it for the true long haul.

Super excited, and tons of wood to chop as I get started working on it. Any tips or must-have mods you all recommend?

What a Crazy find!! Can I ask how much you got this for?

 

[GXgeorge]

What a Crazy find!! Can I ask how much you got this for?

16k. Was hard to stomach with lots of fine options at 10k, but just thought it was too rare of a find. Not a speck of rust on it either

Already had to sink more in, timing belt right away, then I just DIYed Master cylinder and ABS pump assembly and new suspension, list just goes on.

 

[dovetails]

16k. Was hard to stomach with lots of fine options at 10k, but just thought it was too rare of a find. Not a speck of rust on it either

Already had to sink more in, timing belt right away, then I just DIYed Master cylinder and ABS pump assembly and new suspension, list just goes on.

Yeah that might be the kicker to it - timing belt changed at 76k (should have lasted at least another 25k) but because of the age, the rubber probably just started deteriorating. You might find this to be the case with a few other parts.

Nonetheless $16k is a solid price, and I too would have jumped on it!