- Year
- 1997
- Vehicle Model
- 80 Series
- Location
- United States
- Mileage
- 220800
For Sale: 1997 Lexus LX450 If you are looking at this posting, there is a good chance that you have done your homework and are making a targeted search for just this vehicle. Actually, if you are like me when I made the search, you are probably looking for one of the ~3% of 80's that came to the US with front and rear e-lockers. If that is a "must-have" feature in your search, then keep looking. Sadly, I failed in locating a clean 80 with lockers and I bought Hank instead. No regrets, though! He has been a loyal and faithful member of the family.
"Hank?" you say? Our LX450 is affectionately known as "Hank" in the family. Hank served as my daily driver on my short commute to work for several years before he was pressed into duty as a reliable, robust training vehicle for my oldest child. After teaching her to drive and getting her safely to/from school, Hank then focused on teaching her younger brother to drive, also keeping him safe and getting him back and forth to school. Now, my oldest has her own car, her brother a truck, and it is time for our beloved Hank to go to another owner.
Let me tell you about Hank:
1997 Lexus LX450 4wd, all leather 7-passenger SUV
220,XXX miles
Runs strong, passed SMOG in August
Drivetrain/Engine Mechanical:
- 4.5L 1FZ-FE straight six engine
*original head gasket, compression is excellent, very slight leak down but in spec
*Runs strong, no ticks or other weirdness
*Original PHH (though I have a silicon replacement)
*Consumes about a liter of oil every ~3000miles
*Fresh plugs, lots of vacuum lines and coolant hoses, PCV, vapor can, intake tube, etc.
- New heater control valve
- Fresh Radiator (OE developed a leak on the tank seam; all metal, dual pass; Toyota OE pink coolant only). The vehicle has never overheated on my watch!
- Rebuild starter (OE parts)
- New battery 2/19
- New front brake calipers
- New accelerator cable
- New parking brake cable
- New fuel tank pickup filter (tank had the typical leak from the stress crack at the e-brake/sender mold line, so I pulled the tank and had it TIG welded. Replaced the vent line (to the fill nozzle) and the filter for the fuel pump at the time)
- Rebuilt the front axle with Marlin Crawler bearing/seal kit in 2017.
- New Stoptech cryo treated, slotted front discs
- Full-time 4wd, locking center differential with pin-7 modification (allows you to lock the center diff on command)
- Upgraded Old Man Emu coil springs: 2" lift achieved by 2851 Medium front springs and 2860 Medium rear springs
- Castor Correction Bushings (Slee CA77B)
- Fox 2.0 shocks
- Extended brake lines
- Boxes of new OE parts- more on that later
Exterior:
- Tan exterior paint still holds that legendary Lexus shine.
- RUST FREE! This is a Cali vehicle for its entire life. Still has a thick coat of that waxy undercarriage treatment. I have never run into a nut or fastener that was a hassle to remove - even the control arms and brake calipers!
- Custom rock sliders - These sliders are no joke! Main structure is 2x4x.120 wall box, with 1.5" diameter, 0.120" wall DOM tubing "steps". They have welded, gusseted brackets that bolt around the frame rails with Grade 8 hardware. You can hang the entire truck from these if you wanted!
- All OE wheels (including spare)
- Nitto Terra Grappler All Terrain tires, LT285/75R16 Manuf 2017. Tons of life on the tires, as we haven't put a lot of miles on the truck since they were installed
- Tow hitch
- LED brake and reverse lights
- Roof rails removed (this was an Achilles heel for the 80 series due to corrosion in the mounting holes; the rails have been removed and the holes capped/filled with polysulfide)
Interior:
- Driver and passenger seats have new seat covers, but the leather on the seats needs to be replaced.
- Driver's seat base and back could use new foam (still works fine, but it has hardened a bit)
- All seat electrics work great, and I replaced the Delrin drive gears a few years back. I have one or two extra gears, too.
- Second and third row seats are excellent
- Original carpet is excellent and has remarkably few stains/wear; OE front mats
- Panasonic AVH-2330NEX head unit, with new amp and Blaupunkt 8" subwoofer; the OE subwoofer/amp/CD-changer assembly that was in the center console has been removed and the new amp installed in the console. There is a ton of space in there for the creative type that wants to build a compartment.
- Interior lights are all LED replacements
- AC blows cold!
- Heater blows hot! Rear heater works great and the pipes have no corrosion!
- Headliner has some slight marks, but is tight and no sagging.
- The Dash is pristine, with no cracks or stains.
- Overall, the interior is in great shape. Grab a new front seat leather kit (there are several sources for top quality leather upholstery kits) and it will be like new! There are even aftermarket kits to add seat heaters.
Extras:
For those of you looking for a 500k mile vehicle, you are in the right place! Included with Hank is the following:
A complete 1FZ-FE Engine (on a stand), A343F transmission, and transfer case! These were pulled from a rolled 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser with 209k miles. The engine ran fine prior to pulling it from the LC. I had intended to do a complete rebuild of the engine and even made progress tearing down some of the top end, but work picked up and I had to shelf the project. This is the perfect opportunity to do a complete rebuild at your leisure, then easily swap in the engine over a weekend. Same for the transmission. There are tons of engine rebuild threads on Land Cruiser sites (try the 80 series tech section of IH8MUD.COM to start), and I have the full factory service manual printed out.
I have a second center console, extra interior parts (visors, plastics, etc.), extra air filter, several OEM and WIX oil filters, a variety of seals and gaskets, and a box of new OE hoses. All of these extras will come with Hank.
The price is $7500 for the whole kit and caboodle.
"Hank?" you say? Our LX450 is affectionately known as "Hank" in the family. Hank served as my daily driver on my short commute to work for several years before he was pressed into duty as a reliable, robust training vehicle for my oldest child. After teaching her to drive and getting her safely to/from school, Hank then focused on teaching her younger brother to drive, also keeping him safe and getting him back and forth to school. Now, my oldest has her own car, her brother a truck, and it is time for our beloved Hank to go to another owner.
Let me tell you about Hank:
1997 Lexus LX450 4wd, all leather 7-passenger SUV
220,XXX miles
Runs strong, passed SMOG in August
Drivetrain/Engine Mechanical:
- 4.5L 1FZ-FE straight six engine
*original head gasket, compression is excellent, very slight leak down but in spec
*Runs strong, no ticks or other weirdness
*Original PHH (though I have a silicon replacement)
*Consumes about a liter of oil every ~3000miles
*Fresh plugs, lots of vacuum lines and coolant hoses, PCV, vapor can, intake tube, etc.
- New heater control valve
- Fresh Radiator (OE developed a leak on the tank seam; all metal, dual pass; Toyota OE pink coolant only). The vehicle has never overheated on my watch!
- Rebuild starter (OE parts)
- New battery 2/19
- New front brake calipers
- New accelerator cable
- New parking brake cable
- New fuel tank pickup filter (tank had the typical leak from the stress crack at the e-brake/sender mold line, so I pulled the tank and had it TIG welded. Replaced the vent line (to the fill nozzle) and the filter for the fuel pump at the time)
- Rebuilt the front axle with Marlin Crawler bearing/seal kit in 2017.
- New Stoptech cryo treated, slotted front discs
- Full-time 4wd, locking center differential with pin-7 modification (allows you to lock the center diff on command)
- Upgraded Old Man Emu coil springs: 2" lift achieved by 2851 Medium front springs and 2860 Medium rear springs
- Castor Correction Bushings (Slee CA77B)
- Fox 2.0 shocks
- Extended brake lines
- Boxes of new OE parts- more on that later
Exterior:
- Tan exterior paint still holds that legendary Lexus shine.
- RUST FREE! This is a Cali vehicle for its entire life. Still has a thick coat of that waxy undercarriage treatment. I have never run into a nut or fastener that was a hassle to remove - even the control arms and brake calipers!
- Custom rock sliders - These sliders are no joke! Main structure is 2x4x.120 wall box, with 1.5" diameter, 0.120" wall DOM tubing "steps". They have welded, gusseted brackets that bolt around the frame rails with Grade 8 hardware. You can hang the entire truck from these if you wanted!
- All OE wheels (including spare)
- Nitto Terra Grappler All Terrain tires, LT285/75R16 Manuf 2017. Tons of life on the tires, as we haven't put a lot of miles on the truck since they were installed
- Tow hitch
- LED brake and reverse lights
- Roof rails removed (this was an Achilles heel for the 80 series due to corrosion in the mounting holes; the rails have been removed and the holes capped/filled with polysulfide)
Interior:
- Driver and passenger seats have new seat covers, but the leather on the seats needs to be replaced.
- Driver's seat base and back could use new foam (still works fine, but it has hardened a bit)
- All seat electrics work great, and I replaced the Delrin drive gears a few years back. I have one or two extra gears, too.
- Second and third row seats are excellent
- Original carpet is excellent and has remarkably few stains/wear; OE front mats
- Panasonic AVH-2330NEX head unit, with new amp and Blaupunkt 8" subwoofer; the OE subwoofer/amp/CD-changer assembly that was in the center console has been removed and the new amp installed in the console. There is a ton of space in there for the creative type that wants to build a compartment.
- Interior lights are all LED replacements
- AC blows cold!
- Heater blows hot! Rear heater works great and the pipes have no corrosion!
- Headliner has some slight marks, but is tight and no sagging.
- The Dash is pristine, with no cracks or stains.
- Overall, the interior is in great shape. Grab a new front seat leather kit (there are several sources for top quality leather upholstery kits) and it will be like new! There are even aftermarket kits to add seat heaters.
Extras:
For those of you looking for a 500k mile vehicle, you are in the right place! Included with Hank is the following:
A complete 1FZ-FE Engine (on a stand), A343F transmission, and transfer case! These were pulled from a rolled 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser with 209k miles. The engine ran fine prior to pulling it from the LC. I had intended to do a complete rebuild of the engine and even made progress tearing down some of the top end, but work picked up and I had to shelf the project. This is the perfect opportunity to do a complete rebuild at your leisure, then easily swap in the engine over a weekend. Same for the transmission. There are tons of engine rebuild threads on Land Cruiser sites (try the 80 series tech section of IH8MUD.COM to start), and I have the full factory service manual printed out.
I have a second center console, extra interior parts (visors, plastics, etc.), extra air filter, several OEM and WIX oil filters, a variety of seals and gaskets, and a box of new OE hoses. All of these extras will come with Hank.
The price is $7500 for the whole kit and caboodle.
