New to me GX470

[Rednexus]

Clusters can be repaired, but with some downtime. I may do this at some point in the future when the rig is off the road for awhile.

2003-2009 Lexus GX470 Instrument Gauge Cluster Repair

If your Lexus GX470 instrument cluster has faulty gauges, bad backlighting or dim or blank display you may be in need of a repair for your gauge cluster, we have repaired hundreds of these with these issue. Send your cluster to us for a repair. Fits: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Lexus GX470

www.automotivecircuitsolutions.com

Most tire shops can scan all of the sensors via a wireless TPMS tool. When I got 285s a few months ago I had my local tires shop do that as my light was never turning off despite proper inflation. Four out of my five sensors were either non-responsive or had low/dead batteries. I had them replace all four, which was not cheap. I like the TPMS for towing when tire pressure is critical. Bonus is that the new valve stems are much easier to remove when airing down with my Chinese knockoff ARB deflater.

 

[Mike NXP]

Clusters can be repaired, but with some downtime. I may do this at some point in the future when the rig is off the road for awhile.

2003-2009 Lexus GX470 Instrument Gauge Cluster Repair

If your Lexus GX470 instrument cluster has faulty gauges, bad backlighting or dim or blank display you may be in need of a repair for your gauge cluster, we have repaired hundreds of these with these issue. Send your cluster to us for a repair. Fits: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Lexus GX470

www.automotivecircuitsolutions.com

Most tire shops can scan all of the sensors via a wireless TPMS tool. When I got 285s a few months ago I had my local tires shop do that as my light was never turning off despite proper inflation. Four out of my five sensors were either non-responsive or had low/dead batteries. I had them replace all four, which was not cheap. I like the TPMS for towing when tire pressure is critical. Bonus is that the new valve stems are much easier to remove when airing down with my Chinese knockoff ARB deflater.

Oh right on, thanks for the link. Well I'm not too concerned with the light or the system on this particular vehicle due to my use case of mostly local driving / highway cruising .

I'd prefer to get normal valves installed rather then wait on an inventible slow leak from some old tpms valves. I'm pretty good about checking tire pressures anyway.

What I don't want to happen is for the sensor to s*** out for some reason on their watch, because I was told "if the system comes in working and then fails upon re-install I have to buy new sensors " lol TPMS isn't a federally mandated safety law that they are violating, I wish they would just do what I'm asking =[

I don't know if it matters but I'm just going to unplug the TPMS box in the glove box again with the hopes that they can't communicate with the system

 

[Rednexus]

TPMS is actually a Federal mandate, but just for MY2007 and newer vehicles. Since you have a 2004.....it pre-dates the regulation.

 

[Mike NXP]

TPMS is actually a Federal mandate, but just for MY2007 and newer vehicles. Since you have a 2004.....it pre-dates the regulation.

Lol really ? Idk what to think of that =[=[

 

[Mike NXP]

Alright the GX is back on the road after a new set of Nokian One HT's were installed . Discount Tire was more than willing to ditch my TPMS when I arrived, it seems like they just can't say certain things over the phone for liability.

I know this isn't the most exciting tire to run but we're still on track for keeping this rig as my smooth and quiet vehicle with minimal off roading


Steering wheel shake info / looking for suggestions:
- OK so the vehicle was purchased with some semi-dry rotted 10+ year old tires. Upon the first 5-10 miles of driving the steering wheel had a pretty decent shake going on ( nothing too scary but certainly noticeable ) which eventually smoothed out once the tires warmed up
- Ditched those tires , installed new tires, and the problem at first was seemingly cured
- Until this morning, the rig sat for a few days, it was 38 degrees this morning, and once I hit the pavement ( about 2 miles down my dirt road ) I was experiencing the wheel shake again
- Although to be fair it doesn't seem as noticeable and the symptoms seem to have gotten better with the new tire install


Any ideas what else could cause these symptoms? If it was tire balance, it wouldn't smooth itself out after a few miles and would be more consistent..... Although the tire installer did put like a dozen+ sticky wheel weights in each rim which seemed excessive

 

[Stonefoot72]

Alright the GX is back on the road after a new set of Nokian One HT's were installed . Discount Tire was more than willing to ditch my TPMS when I arrived, it seems like they just can't say certain things over the phone for liability.

I know this isn't the most exciting tire to run but we're still on track for keeping this rig as my smooth and quiet vehicle with minimal off roading


Steering wheel shake info / looking for suggestions:
- OK so the vehicle was purchased with some semi-dry rotted 10+ year old tires. Upon the first 5-10 miles of driving the steering wheel had a pretty decent shake going on ( nothing too scary but certainly noticeable ) which eventually smoothed out once the tires warmed up
- Ditched those tires , installed new tires, and the problem at first was seemingly cured
- Until this morning, the rig sat for a few days, it was 38 degrees this morning, and once I hit the pavement ( about 2 miles down my dirt road ) I was experiencing the wheel shake again
- Although to be fair it doesn't seem as noticeable and the symptoms seem to have gotten better with the new tire install


Any ideas what else could cause these symptoms? If it was tire balance, it wouldn't smooth itself out after a few miles and would be more consistent..... Although the tire installer did put like a dozen+ sticky wheel weights in each rim which seemed excessive

Just sounds like flat spots to me...38 degrees will hold a flat spot for a decent amount of time till warmup, especially if it had been sitting for a few days.

Also, I've become very fond of "road force" balancing on offroad tires. It costs a little more, and most tire shops aren't equipped with the expensive machine, but it does a much better job on notoriously hard to balance tires than simple centrifugal machines in my experience.

 

[Mike NXP]

I noticed our front skid plates have 2 little tabs sticking off the front side as if I should be able to hook them and support the plate while installing but I couldn't seem to figure it out. Is that what the intended use is for those tabs?

After installing 3 of the 4 bolts on the further back plate I realized that one does indeed have a little support tab to help that one get installed .

I also got to join the broken M6 bolt club on the skid plate, but luckily was super easy to drill out and tap up to an M8
** Really need to get better about wearing safety glasses, I broke a drill bit during this process and it flew off and cut my arm up.

 

[Learning Outdoors]

Got the Pearl White repainted with '2024 4Runner Pure White' and three coats of UV resistant clear, not car show quality but I'd give it a 9/10 (~$2K). All things being equal, if shopping for a GX470, I'd say skip the Pearl White versions and just keep shopping for one with a different color that has good paint. But no regrets, got this one at a great price and the overall quality is unbeatable.

Anyway, TPMS threads on here are great. Looked all over at other Lexus websites and YouTube. Kind of brute forcing the lessons by getting a variety of presentations on the same topic. This video below wins hands down (not to be disrespectful to everyone who took time to figure out and document the fix). Nice job to everyone and if your baby is the one with the green box, you're done searching for help. No solder and No cutting TPMS Fix

 

[Mike NXP]

Right on i hope you enjoy your new gx...white isn't bad lol if its clean I wouldnt waste money on a paint job until all mechanical stuff is sorted out .

Either way , the Gx has become one of my favorite rigs to drive. So insanely smooth and plenty of power

 

[Learning Outdoors]

Dashboard dimming: I didn't know why the instrument cluster would dim in daylight and brighten under bridges or tunnels until I read about the daylight sensor auto-adjust systems. Ditto the wiper delay that seemed unpredictable but again, the auto-detect for rain and drizzle. Coolness all around.

 

[Mike NXP]

Not much to report on the GX470 because shes just been so damn good..... Since I have a few other vehicles I opt'd to keep summer highway tires on the GX so I won't be running it as much this winter. Actually it's been sitting for a few weeks under a cheapy car cover...... I went out last weekend to bring it to life and was happy to be greeted by the interior lights and then a very quick and easy to start 2UZ

This motor starts way nicer than the 2UZ in my cruiser which at times doesn't sound as strong on startup . I'm eager to take it out on some snowy roads and compare a stock GX with summer tires to my 100 series with KO2s.

The KO2s on the 100 series are like ice skate when the roads freeze up . Also being a bit more lifted and top heavy the 100 just slides around. Curious how the GX will do in comparison, I'll post back after some testing.



Happy GX'ing to all

 

[Mike NXP]

Well just about every car in the driveway has some problems right now, except for the GX470...

Going on a year of ownership with this rig and it's my new favorite to drive around.... It sat under a car cover for the past few weeks but since my other vehicles are being worked on I've been driving it more. The motor starts up really smoothly and it rides just as nice still with 250K and original suspension....I had to make a sudden brake slam / swerve on the drive home the other day and the vehicle handled it really well.... I've also still managed to keep my dog out of it and haven't even really burned too many doobies in there so it still smells nice inside

 

[lndshark]

Wow! Where did you find such a fine example of Toyota engineering? Impressive!

 

[Mike NXP]

Wow! Where did you find such a fine example of Toyota engineering? Impressive!

haha right? I've certainly got my moneys worth out of it so far....I wish I had like 2-3 of these stock piled in my driveway