Take a look at the second post in this thread, it'll link you to the thread where I sprayed the plastic trim with bedliner. The color is actually a very dark metallic brown, it's a very nice color and changes hue depending on the lighting.
I don't have a link, Import Monster doesn't sell very much directly. They're a middle man for buying parts (and vehicles) from the Yahoo Japan auctions, which is the primary online marketplace in Japan apparently. You just browse the auctions, buy whatever you want through Import Monster, they'll receive the individual parts at their own warehouse in Japan, then they'll box everything up together and send it to you.
I had a P0402 code, which I tried to remedy by replacing the vacuum hoses and bypassing the vacuum pipe that goes through the upper intake manifold, which was definitely packed with carbon build up. And it worked, the P0402 code was taken care of, and P0401 took it's place :-(
Turns out I just forgot to plug the EGR VSV back in when I reinstalled the upper intake manifold previously. Oops.
Once I plugged it back in, reset the MIL, and drove for a while, everything checked out just fine
In anticipation of the looming NY State Inspection, I mounted a license plate bracket to my newly installed 4x4 Labs front bumper. I bought a pair of light mounts for tubular bumpers for $10, a licence plate bracket for $6, and some hardware to attach the bracket to the mounts for about $3, all on Amazon. I'm happy with the end result, but I'll monitor the noise and the engine temps to make sure the location is good.
Since I got my LX about a year ago, the rear differential lock has never worked properly. I finally got around to troubleshooting the issue. As it turns out, the lock actuator was fine and the differential was actually locking when commanded to, but the rear lock position switch connector had a dirty contact. I cleaned up both contacts, in both the switch and the connector, with DeoxIt D5, reassembled everything, and now all of my diff locks work as designed
Good question. I haven't decided what type of winch I'm going to get yet, including not having yet decided between steel or synthetic cable. I'd rather not buy a fairlead that I may not be able to use. Plus, I needed a quick solution to get the inspection over with. I may yet get a fairlead license plate mount, but I'll be NY State legal in the meantime this way.
I changed the fluid in the rear diff and the transfer case earlier today. I couldn't change the fluid in the front diff because someone has completely rounded off the fill plug. So I've ordered new fill and drain plugs all around, and I'll tackle the nuisance of removing the rounded plug once the new plugs arrive.
I serviced the hubs on the rear axle this weekend. Reinstalling the passenger's side axle shaft turned into a bit of a fiasco, because I didn't lock the diff before I pulled the shaft. Other than that, the service went fine. There wasn't any grease left in the hubs or bearings because the axle seals were completely trashed. Once I had everything back together, I topped up the differential, since so much gear oil had puked out during the service, and tested everything. The rear locker, as with the other lockers, engages and disengages without any problems.
Thanks to all of the mudders who offered advice to correct the misaligned diff locker sleeve that was preventing the reinstallation of the passenger's side axle shaft.
I also managed to forcefully eject all of the factory sound deadening on flat surfaces with the aid of dry ice and a mallet. A small amount of factory sound deadening remains on the rear wheel wells, the transmission tunnel, and on the sides of the gas tank hump, but I'm not worried about It.
While I had the headliner out, I sunk some LED strips into it. They'll be directly over the cargo area, and, once wired in, will light up when the rear hatch or either of the rear doors are opened.
I got the headliner reinstalled and the new cargo lights wired in. The cargo lights come on when the rear hatch or either rear door is opened, as shown in this video
