Newly Purchased GX470 - Amazon piece by piece lift (5100's) (1 Viewer)

[CarolinaGX]

I just purchased an '05 GX 470 with 160k in December. It is in really good shape inside and out and I am excited to start a mild build to take my kids wheeling and the whole family camping. I has had the timing belt changed twice at Lexus as well as most maintenance. For anyone shopping for one, I highly recommend looking at the Lexus owners website and entering the VIN of the potential purchase, it tells A LOT of how it was cared for.

After looking at all of the options for lifts I decided to go to with the Bilstein 5100's, Eibach front Springs, Dobinson rear springs with Metaltech conversion, SPC UCA's, diff drop, and sway relocation all from Amazon. It is similar to the Toytec kit but a good bit cheaper because the 5100's were on sale and I have Amazon Prime. The grand total is close to $1400.

I have watched numerous videos and read a ton on these trucks and how to install the lift and it seems fairly straight forward. How long should I allocate to doing the Front and how much time for the rear, considering this is my first Toyota 4x4? Are there any suggestions how to best approach the job? I plan to do the front first since it has so much rake. Any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Not sure how much time to allocate, but where are your pictures? LOL

 

[joabmc]

With the right tools, 4 hours. If doing it by yourself and in the driveway, double that time. Took me an afternoon to do the rear but struggled to get some of the old stuff out. Front took a few hours once I figured out how to get the OE stuff disconnected (electrical connections for the factory shocks)

 

[CarolinaGX]

It is a Georgia car (just north of Atlanta) so there is almost zero rust so I hope I won't have to fight it too much to take it apart. I don't know what the color is called but is Navy Blue with tan interior. It is non Nav which I wanted. It has the rear DVD but I can't figure out how to turn it on.

Joabmc, can you share anything you learned about disconnecting the front electronics? I will be doing it in my driveway but I have a decent assortment of tools including air tools.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Looks very clean. I didn't do the front myself, but when I replaced the rear shocks...it's was pretty easy to disconnect the one wire going into the rear stock shock.

It's probably a good idea to use Blaster penetrating oil spray a few hours before to loosen any bolts you are taking off. I'm in SoCal with an always SoCal 470 and I used the penetrating spray just to make things easier. I probably didn't need it. My bolts are all good and no rust.

Oh, and what's the lbs/in on those front springs?

 

[fastlane1000]

I just purchased an '05 GX 470 with 160k in December. It is in really good shape inside and out and I am excited to start a mild build to take my kids wheeling and the whole family camping. I has had the timing belt changed twice at Lexus as well as most maintenance. For anyone shopping for one, I highly recommend looking at the Lexus owners website and entering the VIN of the potential purchase, it tells A LOT of how it was cared for.

After looking at all of the options for lifts I decided to go to with the Bilstein 5100's, Eibach front Springs, Dobinson rear springs with Metaltech conversion, SPC UCA's, diff drop, and sway relocation all from Amazon. It is similar to the Toytec kit but a good bit cheaper because the 5100's were on sale and I have Amazon Prime. The grand total is close to $1400.

I have watched numerous videos and read a ton on these trucks and how to install the lift and it seems fairly straight forward. How long should I allocate to doing the Front and how much time for the rear, considering this is my first Toyota 4x4? Are there any suggestions how to best approach the job? I plan to do the front first since it has so much rake. Any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

When removing the rear airbags there is a slide clip at the top that holds them in place. You can see it if you look between the frame and body. You can take a coat hanger with a bend in the end and pull it out. Its a half day job front and rear for a shop. On jack stands for a DIY guy like myself, it may run you into the afternoon/ take all day. I removed the compressor, air tank, and rear ride height sensors too.

 

[Adventurelife]

The lift install is fairly straightforward, I just did mine last weekend. Took me about 6 hours, factored in 12. The biggest thing I've picked up is factor in double the time it should take. Everything takes longer than it takes, and at the first sign of getting frustrated, take a break...

That being said, to each their own... but I would do a little more research on the diff drop for our trucks, it doesn't sound like your lift is going to end up being all that high, the CV angle shouldn't be all that bad, and the diff drop kinda tweaks the angle of the front diff.

 

[CarolinaGX]

Don't quote me but i think they are 660lb/in springs.

PRO-LIFT-KIT Springs (Front Springs Only)

 

[CarolinaGX]

Adventurelife: I noticed that the diff drop kits only address one end of the diff and therefore change the angle of the diff slightly. Have you experienced or heard of any issues as a result of the diff drop?

 

[Adventurelife]

Adventurelife: I noticed that the diff drop kits only address one end of the diff and therefore change the angle of the diff slightly. Have you experienced or heard of any issues as a result of the diff drop?

I opted to not go with them, I'm only running 2" of lift, so I probably wouldn't have anyway, I want the extra ground clearance, and may eventually go with some CVJ's. I've read a lot of opinions. I don't want to make a definitive claim about the value of the diff drop, but it is not as much of a "requirement" on our application as it is on a lot of other IFS set ups. Someone like @Kyle Fogle might want to weigh in.

 

[GXO]

Diff drops don't matter. Not worth the trouble.

 

[runningdrew]

When removing the rear airbags there is a slide clip at the top that holds them in place. You can see it if you look between the frame and body. You can take a coat hanger with a bend in the end and pull it out. Its a half day job front and rear for a shop. On jack stands for a DIY guy like myself, it may run you into the afternoon/ take all day. I removed the compressor, air tank, and rear ride height sensors too.

I replaced my air bags a month ago, and I thought that tiny tin clip was very inadequate to hold he rear bags/air springs in place, but I guess it's really the tension of the bag itself against the top and bottom perch that really holds it.

 

[Adventurelife]

I replaced my air bags a month ago, and I thought that tiny tin clip was very inadequate to hold he rear bags/air springs in place, but I guess it's really the tension of the bag itself against the top and bottom perch that really holds it.

When you do an airbag delete you literally have nothing holding the isolator against the top except the pressure, the clip is just there to make sure the airbag stays in place if you flex without enough air to keep the pressure on the top. If you are ever supporting the weight of your axle with your spring (air or coil), something has gone wrong.

 

[CarolinaGX]

I haven't installed anything as of yet but I have sprayed every nut and bolt with penetrating fluid in preparation. I also went out to see what the issue is with these Alan bolts that seem to cause so much issue. Now I understand the issue! it is a really tight space and those little suckers are tight. I ended up cutting the short leg of a 4mm Allen wrench in half so that it is about 1-1.25" long. Then, after liberal use of penetrating fluid, was able to break the outer bolts free without stripping. I plan to remove these bolts first and rotate the brackets anti-clockwise hoping to loosen the inner bolts (that I can't even see). I will post my experience when I actually do the install (hopefully this weekend).

 

[runningdrew]

I haven't installed anything as of yet but I have sprayed every nut and bolt with penetrating fluid in preparation. I also went out to see what the issue is with these Alan bolts that seem to cause so much issue. Now I understand the issue! it is a really tight space and those little suckers are tight. I ended up cutting the short leg of a 4mm Allen wrench in half so that it is about 1-1.25" long. Then, after liberal use of penetrating fluid, was able to break the outer bolts free without stripping. I plan to remove these bolts first and rotate the brackets anti-clockwise hoping to loosen the inner bolts (that I can't even see). I will post my experience when I actually do the install (hopefully this weekend).

Those Allen bolts are the WORST! took mine off two nights ago, cracked both my AHC dampening control modules, hoping the epoxy I used to put them back together holds and they still function after I reassemble. (Installing 1.5 inch spacers - no funds for a cooler suspension replacement yet). If you can remove yours without breaking let me know, I may need to buy them from you.... .
On the advice of another person I bought regular replacement hex bolts to use to reinstall that I can use a socket on.
Good luck.

(That's what you call DIY)

 

[CarolinaGX]

Success!!! I was able to install the front suspension today and it went very smoothly, I am happy to report. the 4mm bolts holding the shock adjusters were tight but came off without incident. The rest was straight forward. Removal and reinstall took about 90 minutes per corner by myself, not counting jacking it up and torquing everything to spec. I was only able to drive around the neighborhood this evening to test it but it made no noises and no drama. I decided to do the air bag trick for now until I have the time to do the rear install. I used 3 washers on each bolt of the adjuster (thats all I had) and it is close to level with the rear just a hair lower at 0.2 degrees. 4 washers would probably be about right for level. Currently it is ~20.5" from hub to bottom of fender in front and ~21.5" in the rear.

I did not do the diff drop or the sway bar relocation kit. I figure I can see how it does with just the lift and install those bits if needed (I already have them).

I will take it to the alignment shop tomorrow to make sure everything is in spec. I am really impressed with the Toyota design of things (I'm new to Toyota). Everything lineup correctly and the SPC upper control arms are really nice. I can hardly wait to start shopping for 285's.

 

[CarolinaGX]

I just did the spring conversion today and it went beautifully. One "secret" I would like to share with those that will be doing it, is to disconnect the sway bar at the frame to end link connection. This allowed the rear axle to articulate much better and I did not need to use a spring compressor. I used the Dobinson springs and it is every bit of 2" lift. I now have to redo the front to match. I will likely use the middle groove and hope it is level. It is too dark for pictures but I will post some upon completion.

 

[CarolinaGX]

I completed the fronts today and moved it up one groove. That change yielded about 0.75" of lift.

Then I went to Discount Tire and they test fitted a 285/70r17 on the factory rim. No bueno . The rear of the tire hit the front of the running board. The guy said they often have to trim that section for customers and offered to do so but I refrained for now. I guess sliders will be next on the shopping list.