OMT 2007 GX470 (1 Viewer)

[agruver]

Hello everyone! My name is Adam and I have been browsing this forum for a few years and finally decided it was time to get an account to start contributing. I'm on parental leave after having a second child, so I have some time on my hands while the little guy is strapped to me sleeping and decided to introduce myself and my vehicle and retroactively document some of the work that I have completed. I'd rather be out tinkering, but there's only so much I can do while holding a three week old.

I picked up my Old Man Tan (my wife calls it camo beige) 2007 GX470 back in 2020 after being jealous of my brother's backcountry adventures for many years. I was quite busy with work at the time, so I decided to find a vehicle that already had some of the basic maintenance completed and a few OEM+ upgrades. I'm the second owner and the vehicle has lived all of it's life in Southern California. Mileage at purchase was 113k and current mileage is just under 130k. This is an extra vehicle for me, and with my first kiddo arriving in 2022 I've had less time that expected for long road trips. I've still managed some very epic adventures and have been extremely impressed with the capability of the GX platform.

I'm going to list out the current state of the vehicle in my first post, and plan to add subsequent posts to capture some of the notable changes and adventures between 2020 and today. I have some additional plans down the road that I'll document here as well. This will probably be most enjoyable for me as a trip down memory lane, but hopefully someone else will get a little value here or there.

At the time of purchase the vehicle had the following maintenance/upgrades:

• TB/WP @ 112k
• Both CVs replaced @ 112k
• Old Man Emu Nitrocharger lift with airbag delete
• 285/70/17 K02 mounted on Method 701 17 x 8.5

Maintenance/replacement items since I have owned the vehicle:

• Replaced both front wheel hubs and bearings
• New radiator cap and coolant flush (there's a fun story about finding out the old radiator cap was bad)
• Full running gear fluid exchange - front diff, rear diff, transfer case, transmission
• Mass Airflow Sensor replacement.... twice (go OEM... the Autozone brand crapped out after 2 months)
• Idler pulley and serpentine belt replacement
• Transmission wiring harness plug replacement (developed a rare leak through the wiring harness plug)
• Replaced spark plugs @ ~126k miles (appeared to be originals)

Additional upgrades during my ownership:

• Eibach Stage 2 shocks and springs (the Old Man Emu shocks were over damped for my liking and static weight)
• SPC front upper control arms
• Superpro double offset lower control arms
• Hayden 678 transmission cooler upgrade
• RSG metal works rock sliders
• Amazon special rock lights hooked up to OE side step wiring harness
• Scanguage 2 to monitor water and transmission temps
• De-chromed (plasti dip for front grill and rear chrome + black prado window trim)

Image from a fun trip in the Eastern Sierra mountains at 11k feet

 

[agruver]

Taking ownership

I purchased my GX in November of 2020 in full pandemic price swings. I had a very demanding job position at the time so I wanted something trail ready to start adventuring. If I went back and did things over I would certainly buy a stock rig and make my own modifications. I've actually had to go back and change things over time since they didn't suit my taste. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

The vehicle recently received key maintenance items such as the timing belt and water pump, a fresh brake replacement, and new CVs. The vehicle also had a mild lift and recently upgraded wheels and tires.

The PO had only upgraded 4 wheels and left the OE spare, so first order of business was getting a full size matching spare. A little bigger than my daily's tires

 

[agruver]

First Big Adventure - Death Valley, Feb 2021

A friend of mine organized a trip from the southern to northern end of Death Valley for February 2021. The Death Valley adventure started on the southern end of the park near Baker and ended on the very north end of the park near Big Pine. We covered the route, a little over 200 miles, over three days. The first day was mostly pavement driving to the "tourist' sights, while day two and three took us off the pavement through more remote destinations.

Day 2 took us through Titus Canyon, Ubehebe Crater, past Tea Kettle Junction to the Racetrack, down Lippencott Pass, and out to the Saline Valley Warm Springs.

Day 3 took us out of Saline Valley up through Steele Pass and Dedeckera Canyon, and past the Eureka Sand Dunes. We exited the park at Big Pine and drove back home on Day 3.

Overall, the GX handled the terrain very well without any hiccups or problems. The main takeaway was that the OME nitrocharger shocks are really not tuned well for a stock weight rig. They control body motion well on the pavement, but are too heavily damped for comfort on rough road (at least in my opinion).

Quick stop in Titus Canyon

Navigating down Lippencott Mine Road

A pair of GX's leaving Saline Valley

Tight Squeeze in Dedeckera Canyon

 

[agruver]

Headlight Polish, Round 1 - April 2021

A buddy of mine had a lightly used Turtlewax headlight polish kit that he was finished with, so I figured it couldn't hurt to spend an afternoon improving the clarity of the original headlight lenses.

The kit comes with varying grits of sandpaper that could be attached to a rotary head and a polishing pad for the final polish step. Overall, the end result was pretty impressive for roughly two hours of my time. This probably could have gone faster, but I was using a portable drill with only one battery. I could get about 15 minutes of sanding or polishing before a recharge was needed. Oh well, more breaks for cold beverages.

I didn't add any UV protection to the light after the polish aside from my typical protective detail spray that goes on after each wash, so we'll see how long this holds up.

The before quality wasn't terrible, but there was noticeable oxidation on the upper section of the light.

Really committed at this point

End result

 

[agruver]

Into the mountains with a bad radiator cap - August 2021

The GX has been good to me through the summer with a few great trips into the woods. We took a trip up to Coyote Flats in the Eastern Sierras in late August, heading up a pretty steep and rough trail out of Big Pine and planning to exit a few miles north in the town of Bishop. The Big Pine trailhead starts around 4k feet elevation and the trail climbs up to over 10k feet in just a few trail miles.

The weather this time of year in Inyo County is quite hot and dry, and we saw temps just cracking 100F on the drive up through the valley. I recently took a trip up to Kennedy Meadows just to the south with >90F temps in the valley, so I was feeling pretty confident in the cooling system's ability to cope with the challenge ahead. However, after stopping at the top of the first steep climb and getting out of the vehicle to check the view, I saw radiator fluid puking from the front of my vehicle. The temp gauge on the dash had not moved at all during the climb (I keep a regular eye on my gauges for all vehicles) so I was a little perplexed by the situation.

We spent some time checking things out and determined that fluid was boiling over into the overflow container. With the engine temps still showing nominal we decided to top up the radiator and carry on. The boil over occurred twice more at the top of two seep climbs, but the coolant temp gauge didn't rise even slightly. I had a feeling that the radiator cap might not be holding pressure thus letting the coolant boil at a lower temp than designed, but I didn't have a spare with me and the only other Toyota in the group was a gen 1 taco with a different cap. Thankfully we didn't experience any other coolant issues after reaching elevation.

After returning home (I pulled over quite frequently to check coolant levels in paranoia), I picked up a new radiator cap and had the coolant system pressure checked and flushed. My shop found no leaks in the coolant system and there was a very clear malfunction of the old cap when compared to the new one. The pressure spring was basically collapsed on the old cap. After some internet digging, I learned that coolant cap failure is a failure common occurrence. I now check my cap for proper function every time I check my oil level every few weeks.

A few big takeaways from this trip for future upgrades. First, I really need to get some rock sliders. I crunched the side steps a few times and had to be very careful with line choice. Second, I need to figure out a solution to more accurately monitory coolant temp instead of relying on the dash gauge. I'm not confident I am getting enough fidelity in temp changes as these gauges are often more of a physical "oh shoot" warning lights. Third, while I like the ground clearance of the current suspension, I'm really unhappy with the stiffness of the OME nitrocharger shocks. Maybe the spring rate is off, or maybe the damping is off. Either way, I need to start looking at alternate options.

Fun parts of the terrain

Climb to the top of Coyote Ridge at ~11k feet. The little taco really utilized his steel skid plates on this trip.

 

[agruver]

Rock Sliders - Nov 2021

After my last few trips where I just barely cleared some larger rocks underneath the side steps, I figure it's time to pull the trigger on some rock sliders. I wanted something that could function well as a step but still protect the door sills, so after lots of research I purchased a set from RSG offroad with the full top plate.

The process for removing the OEM side steps is well documented online, and was pretty quick and easy. I saved the original wiring harness for the lights so I can rig up something new in the future. I still need to go back and trim/replace the piece directly behind the front tire, but that can wait for another day.

 

[mtnco]

First Big Adventure - Death Valley, Feb 2021

A friend of mine organized a trip from the southern to northern end of Death Valley for February 2021. The Death Valley adventure started on the southern end of the park near Baker and ended on the very north end of the park near Big Pine. We covered the route, a little over 200 miles, over three days. The first day was mostly pavement driving to the "tourist' sights, while day two and three took us off the pavement through more remote destinations.

Day 2 took us through Titus Canyon, Ubehebe Crater, past Tea Kettle Junction to the Racetrack, down Lippencott Pass, and out to the Saline Valley Warm Springs.

Day 3 took us out of Saline Valley up through Steele Pass and Dedeckera Canyon, and past the Eureka Sand Dunes. We exited the park at Big Pine and drove back home on Day 3.

Overall, the GX handled the terrain very well without any hiccups or problems. The main takeaway was that the OME nitrocharger shocks are really not tuned well for a stock weight rig. They control body motion well on the pavement, but are too heavily damped for comfort on rough road (at least in my opinion).

Quick stop in Titus Canyon
View attachment 3813776

Navigating down Lippencott Mine Road
View attachment 3813779

A pair of GX's leaving Saline Valley
View attachment 3813803

Tight Squeeze in Dedeckera Canyon
View attachment 3813802

This is small but I appreciate that you said “damped”. And also, that trip looks like great fun! Totally jealous.

 

[agruver]

Rear Storage Shelf - August 2022

Upgrades and modifications to the GX have been non-existent throughout most of 2022. I'm expecting my first child soon so prep work for family has rightfully taken priority. However, as the birthdate approaches, I'm realizing that the location of my spare tire behind the second row limits my ability to carry larger items like strollers efficiently. I've been getting by with this spare tire location up until now, but it hasn't always been great on longer trips with coolers, gear boxes, and other bags precariously packed around an above the tire.

I'm limited on time, so my dad and I decided to quickly build a storage platform. My dad had some extra lumber lying around from a past project and was able to snag a few yards of unused industrial carpet from an office remodel, so my all in cost is practically zero for this.

We started mid-day on a Sunday afternoon and finished up within a few hours, so the finished product is basically "good enough" but not great. I figure for the price of gas to drive to and back from my dad's house (roughly 90 miles round trip) this is a great outcome for now.

We sized the shelf height so I could 1) clear the spare tire 2) fit my standard camping box and/or cooler below the shelf (I can fit two boxes side by side) and 3) fit two rows of camping boxes stacked above the shelf. So if I ever move the tire out of the cabin I'll be able to hold quite a bit of gear back here with my current camping boxes.

Here's what I've been living with since I bought the car. Hasn't been ideal but I have gotten by on all past adventures.

Not much math or science going into this, but it passes the "feels strong enough" test. The center support is offset to clear the tire.

Carpet going down with some glue and some large staples.

Viola! A finished storage shelf. A little bulky, but I'm happy to use left over material.

 

[agruver]

Front Wheel Bearing Replacement - November 2022

I started getting a minor shake in the steering wheel at highway speeds a few weeks back and it quickly escalated to the point that I'm not comfortable driving above city speeds anymore. A quick diagnosis revealed the left front wheel bearing was going back, so after some deliberation I picked up a set online from 1A auto and swapped them out over a weekend. It's unclear if these are Japanese bearings or some cheaper bearing, but for <$200 shipped I figured I would give them a shot. After the swap the steering wheel shimmy was completely eliminated, so hopefully the bearings hold up for at least a few years.

Mileage at the time of replacement was ~121k and I'm pretty sure the old units were original.

I also took a few minutes to fill in the missing side step piece just behind the front wheel. I meant to get this cleaned up after installing my sliders about a year ago, but didn't care enough until now. It's a pretty easy process to dissect them and get the front plastic bit reinstalled, and it really does clean up the side of the vehicle.

Before putting the side step "filler" piece back in.... also really love the California winter weather

With side step filler reinstalled. Really cleans it up.

 

[agruver]

Changing the Fluids - March 2023

I've added just under 10k miles since I purchased the vehicle, and figure I'm a overdue for changing out all of the fluids since they are likely original. While fluid exchanges aren't terribly difficult, I don't have a very big garage or the most time so I farmed this out to my local independent Toyota/Lexus mechanic.

I had them change out the front and rear diff fluids, do a full drain and fill of the transmission, change out the transfer case fluid, and bleed the brakes. I went back and forth on the full transmission drain and fill since the vehicle has ~122k miles at this point and I don't have any records of it being replaced from the previous owner, but I really don't think the truck was used to tow or was abused at all so I'm going to take my chances and get some fresh fluid in there. Fingers crossed I don't grenade my tranny in the next few thousand miles.

No pictures of this activity since I farmed it out, just a nice bill for the work.

 

[agruver]

Trip to Mammoth Mountain and Transmission Leak? - April 2023

The misses gave me a kitchen pass to head up to Mammoth for a few days for my buddies birthday and for some spring skiing. The snowpack this year has been pretty good, and the spring weather in the Sierras is amazing.

The ~700 mile drive up and back down the 395 from Southern California was uneventful, but during my post-trip vehicle checkout I noticed a little oil slick on the undercarriage starting at the transmission and running back to the rear diff. Hmmm.

I took the car back to my mechanic who completed the fluid exchange a month back and he said the transmission crush washer was faulty and causing a small leak. I don't feel great about this, but he pressure washed the underside of the vehicle so I'll keep a close eye on it going forward. The transmission temps read <200F during the entire trip, even when climbing a few thousand feet of elevation outside of Bishop, CA so I don't think there is any damage from this, but something I will keep an eye on.

 

[agruver]

Side Step Lights - June 2023

When I removed the stock running boards to add rock sliders a while back, I kept the original wiring harness and connectors intact for the OEM side step lights. I finally got around to wiring up some aftermarket LED rock lights purchased from Amazon to add to the OEM+ look of the vehicle.

Wiring up the lights was super easy with the original plugs. Simply spice into the stock wiring from the running board light and plug the new LED lights in.

I took inspiration for the mounting brackets from a few online examples, and found some T framing brackets at my local hardware store. I was able to find a set with a similar bolt pattern to the Amazon rock lights and with some simple hand tools was able to mount these up to the stock running board holes on the body.

All in all it cost me <$50 and a few hours of tinkering for a nice floodlight when the doors are open.

 

[agruver]

Continuing to document the past changes to my GX. I really dislike the chrome trim all around and my side molding seals are shot, so I decided to try out some Plasti-Dip on the front and rear chrome and pick up a set of the black Prado side trim pieces.

There is a nice writeup over at GX Basecamp for the side moldings including the parts list from PartSouq, and the process is pretty straightforward.

I think the chrome delete works well with the black wheels and takes the grampa effect down a notch or two.

 

[agruver]

Suspension Refresh - August 2023

I finally got tired of the stiff ride from the OME nitrocharger shocks and decided to try out the Eibach Protruck 2.0 kit. I looked at most of the different options in this mid-level price range and went with the Eibach kit for a few reasons:

• First, they are fully "sealed" and come with a lifetime warranty which gives me confidence that I won't have to rebuild them a few seasons down the road. I really don't like the idea of paying for expensive shocks then having to go through the effort of pulling them out to get them rebuilt every few years. I've heard mixed results regarding seal longevity with some of the "rebuildable" options and just didn't want to deal with it.
• Second, many reviews put the Eibach as a nice "in-between" ride quality compared to a few other popular shock options. Notably, Bilstein 5100 or 6100 and Fox 2.0. The Bilstein shocks are digressively valved which gives them a more "sporty" and responsive feel under slower shaft movement (around town and cornering), and since I have a sport sedan daily driver I want my GX to have a more compliant ride. Alternatively, the Fox 2.0 has linear valving but many reviews say it is a little soft for heavier vehicles and can bottom out easily on rough terrain. Dobinson IMS shocks were also on my short list, but I struggled to find any direct comparisons to the Bilstein, OME, and Fox options.
• Third, the Eibach shock uses a threaded steel body which allows on-vehicle preload adjustment of the front coilovers. This sounds significantly more user friendly compared to the Bilstein style circlip adjustment that requires a spring compressor for preload adjustment. I don't plan on making changes frequently, but if I add any weight to the front like a hidden winch (probably a ways down the road) I like that I can make some small adjustments to the front right height as needed.

I plan on setting ride height around +2" to +2.5" above factory so I probably don't need to upgrade the UCA, but I decided to add in SPC upper control arms for more spring clearance. Again, this was another trade with some of the more popular options out there, but I ultimately chose the SPC UCA since you can set the amount of positive caster. I don't have body mount clearance issues with my stock UCA and Old Man Emu shocks, and I don't want to this to become a new problem. I hate when one modification leads to a cascading affect.

I was going to call it good with shocks, springs, and upper control arms. However, since I'm in for a penny I might as well be in for a pound so I bought a set of Super Pro double offset lower control arms to replace my original OEM arms. My original ball joints are looking worse for the wear and I don't want to pull everything back apart a few months down the road. The double offset bushings should pair well with the SPC upper arms since I can get a few degrees of positive caster back but keep the wheel forward and away from the body mount.

**Feedback**
I find the Eibach shocks to be really well designed and well built for the price range. Very solid machined top bracket and lower connection points. The ride is greatly improved over the nitrocharger shocks, significantly more compliant around town and off-road. With the nitrochargers I could feel every little rock on the trail and would typically air down even on fire service roads. After installing the Eibach shocks the ride is about the same off road with ~35 psi tire pressure as the OME shocks were with ~20 psi tire pressure. I do notice slightly more body roll and slower transient response, but this should be expected from a 5k pound truck!

The Super Pro lower control arms are also very well built. I can't really detect any quality differences in the metal body between OEM and Super Pro. Time will tell on how their ball joints hold up, but since I only drive ~5k miles a year I'm expecting (and hoping) for many years of life. The cam adjuster bolts also seem to be pretty stout so I'm hoping for consistent alignment. I will say that I'm not the biggest fan of polyurethane bushings, but I'm not sure the double offset design would work with a standard rubber compound. I didn't get enough grease on the ends of the bushings and I have some squeaks when it gets colder. A little silicone lubrication spray usually quiets it down most of the way, but I'll need to pull these back apart at some point to add more grease. Or I'll just learn to live with it.

The SPC upper control arms definitely have some negative reviews out there. I haven't had any problems with mine yet (fingers crossed) but I know that I am taking a chance in order to have the caster and camber adjustability.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Are your cam tabs starting to flatten out in some of them? Make sure they hold the alignment.

I put taco tabs and had a muffler shop spot weld a bead behind the factory cam tabs to make sure they hold up

Also, two underrated suspension changes to consider. They really improved flex/articulation on my 2003 GX470:

1. Remove front sway bar and add HD rear sway bar with extended rear sway bar end links

2. Replace the rear upper and lower links (arms) with Apache Offroad ones.

These two changes balanced and maximized my articulation for under $800

 

[agruver]

Are your cam tabs starting to flatten out in some of them? Make sure they hold the alignment.

I put taco tabs and had a muffler shop spot weld a bead behind the factory cam tabs to make sure they hold up

Also, two underrated suspension changes to consider. They really improved flex/articulation on my 2003 GX470:

1. Remove front sway bar and add HD rear sway bar with extended rear sway bar end links

2. Replace the rear upper and lower links (arms) with Apache Offroad ones.

These two changes balanced and maximized my articulation for under $800

View attachment 3845056

I haven't actually had alignment issues yet, but will go to the taco tabs if I do.

How much worse is highway stability with the front swaybar removed and the rear converted to a higher stiffness? I'm familiar with this modification but haven't wanted to sacrifice the on road stability since most of the off road exploring that I do takes >3 hours of street driving to access. I see you're in the same region, so you probably drive through the same roads to get to the fun stuff .

Did you need to add extended brake lines when you added Apache rear links?

 

[HomersCanyonero]

I haven't actually had alignment issues yet, but will go to the taco tabs if I do.

How much worse is highway stability with the front swaybar removed and the rear converted to a higher stiffness? I'm familiar with this modification but haven't wanted to sacrifice the on road stability since most of the off road exploring that I do takes >3 hours of street driving to access. I see you're in the same region, so you probably drive through the same roads to get to the fun stuff .

Did you need to add extended brake lines when you added Apache rear links?

If you get a HD rear sway bar, you can take the front sway bar off. If you don’t like the way it drives, put the front sway bar back on.

For me, it felt like i regained 80% of the front sway bar just with the Nolathane HD rear sway bar. It felt pretty good on turns and curves.

I already had extended center rear brake lines, so I just added the Apache rear lower and upper arms. They did make a difference too when flexing on rutted roads.

Those two mods are my favorite “underrated” mods