prarucu | 1999 LX 470 build/maintenance/etc log (1 Viewer)

[Pulgasari]

Figured it might be time to make a thread to document everything I've done (or want to do) with my 1999 Lexus LX 470. I’m probably not going to be doing anything too crazy, and this thread is mostly for my own notes, but of course I’d be happy to chat or answer any questions.

Quick Links:

• Story
• Maintenance Log
• Mods
• Trail/State Log
• Pictures

Priorities:

1. Vehicle maintenance; I've been stranded once and don't want it to happen again, plus this is my only car
2. Highway ride comfort; I'll be spending a lot of time on the highway going anywhere, so it better be comfy
3. Interior livability; Ideally I could live in my vehicle at a campsite etc... for a few days
4. Off-road protection; I'm new at this and don't really know what I'm doing, so I'd like to minimize any potential damage

Goals:

1. Visit all 48 continental states and major natural parks/attractions
2. Familiarize myself with vehicle ownership/maintenance (ideally, I'll learn how to do basic things myself)
3. Familiarize myself with off-road techniques (recovery, field repairs, etc...)
4. Keep this damn thing as long as I can

Oh and also, in case anyone’s curious about the vanity plates, the pirarucu/arapaima is my favorite fish.

With these out of the way, let's get into the thread!

 

[Pulgasari]

Story:

When I was 11 years old, we moved to Southeast Asia. I spent a bit of time in Cambodia, and somehow I was just as fascinated by regular everyday traffic as I was by the history and culture around me. For the record, I was a history nerd with almost zero knowledge or interest in vehicles. Most people got around by motorbike (which, it turns out, could fit 6 people). If you were rich enough to buy a car, you were probably going to get a 90s US-market Camry (which fits 10). But if you were really flexing, you'd buy a Lexus SUV with massive LEXUS decals on both sides. Those were basically the two options, because most of the roads were terrible, and roadside gasoline options were sketchy - you'd pay an elementary schooler to top you up with whatever substance was in his oil drum under a tree. I left the country knowing that I wanted to feel like a Cambodian baller one day.

A few years later, I stumbled across the Reddit post where someone realized their 2013 Land Cruiser had previously belonged to a Nigerian warlord. I was hooked - if a car was good enough for Cambodian cronies and Nigerian warlords, it was good enough for me. A few months later, I stumbled across a red LHD LJ78 Prado on the way to work; I had never seen anything like it, and damn, did it look good. If I ever needed to buy a car, it was going to be a Land Cruiser.

Two years ago, that need arose. I had accepted an internship in California, and since I hadn't seen much of the country, I figured I might as well drive there and back from Massachusetts, so it was time to go shopping. At the time, I was still a college student without consistent income, so I was limited to the bottom of the range - early GX470s or LX470s. I ended up settling on the following priorities, in this order:

1. Good mechanical condition and new-ish timing belt/water pump; I had never worked on a car before and needed something that would make it roughly 10k miles without any major repairs
2. Completely rust-free undercarriage and lifetime Southern ownership; I certainly wasn’t going to buy anything near me in MA
3. Clean and mostly functional interior without a factory nav unit; I didn’t want to put seat covers on, deal with a broken or complicated sound system
4. Clean exterior without major damage or excessively peeling clear-coat
5. Complete maintenance history; why not?

After a bit of searching and a few lost leads, I found one that met the first 4 criteria here on MUD: a white 1999 LX 470 with around 280k miles, stock AHC, a newly redone interior, new-ish timing belt/water pump, and registration in Texas since new. There were a few yellow flags - total mileage was unknown since the instrument cluster was replaced, the PPI revealed that the steering rack was leaking and a front CV boot was torn (it also cost $100 instead of $150?), and, unknown to me at the time, it was registered to the seller’s business. Nevertheless, I bit the bullet, flew to Houston, bought the LX, and drove roughly 2000 miles back home.

A few uneventful months later, it was time to make the trek out West. For reasons that might be quite obvious, I took the I-80 route via Chicago, Wyoming, Salt Lake City (!), and then Vegas, making it to the Bay with a day to spare.

I had a blast exploring NorCal for the next 2.5 months, but soon enough my time was up. My sister and best friend flew out, and together with a roommate bringing his own car back, we headed East. Another night in Vegas and $40 in combined gambling profit later, we drove North to visit Zion, then South to camp in the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and then North again to Monument Valley, probably my favorite 24 hours of the entire summer.

After Santa Fe, Big Bend, and New Orleans, we were three days and 1500 miles away from school. What could go wrong?

I can’t pinpoint the specific incident, but on the way to Nashville, the front of the vehicle started wobbling quite heavily. Took it to the mechanic next to the motel, apparently both front control arms were gone, and I was misfiring on cylinder #7. Friend, sister, and roommate left, and I spent the next four days alone, stressed and bored out of my mind in a Best Western Inn on the outskirts of Franklin, TN.

I’ll end the story here, but in the year since, I’ve driven a further 10k miles, ventured off-road on a few Central VA trails. The LX is in much better shape, and I’m starting to do some quick fix/install jobs myself. Can’t wait to see where we’re at next year!

 

[Pulgasari]

Maintenance Log:

Italics: Previous ownership
Underline: Self-installed

• 200-225k ish: Replaced alternator
• 250-280k: Previous owner’s baselining
  
  • New timing belt and water pump
  • Air conditioning refresh/recharge
  • Various fluids/seals replaced
  • Instrument cluster replaced - the new one seems to be roughly 55k behind the original one, so that’s the translation I’m using
• 280k 3/22: Vehicle acquired
• 285k 8/22: New windshield (pinecone fell from tree and cracked it)
• 287k 8/22: New front lower control arms (both sides)
• 287k 8/22: New front right side CV axle
• 287k 8/22: New spark plugs
• 296k 3/23: New OEM steering rack
• 296k 3/23: New OEM front ball joints (both sides)
• 296k 3/23: New battery and OEM battery tray
  • It had a single half-size battery and wouldn’t start if I didn’t drive it once a week, even with the dashcam unplugged
• 296k 3/23: Heater Ts fastened
  • Turns out these weren’t tightened properly, so I was leaking coolant for almost a year… the 2UZ is so good I didn’t notice at all
• 300k 7/23: New hood struts (cheap aftermarket)
• 301k 8/23: New OEM front left side CV axle
• 301k 8/23: New OEM front differential seals
• 301k 8/23: New OEM transfer case front output seal
• 301k 8/23: New OEM rear sway bar links and bushings
• 301k 9/23: New OEM front sway bar links
• 302k 9/23: New Denso radiator (emergency Windrock repair)
• 302k 9/23: Reman Ultima 100A alternator (emergency Windrock repair)
• 304k 3/24: New OEM transfer case rear output seal
• 304k 3/24: New OEM rear driveshaft
• 305k 9/24: Used OEM airbox (previous one did not seal)
• 305k 9/24: New OEM AHC globes, AHC fluid
• 307k 1/25: New battery
• 308k 6/25: New Aisin fan clutch
• 308k 6/25: New OEM fan shroud
• 308k 6/25: New Akebono brake pads/rotors
• 308k 6/25: New OEM brake calipers
• 308k 6/25: New OEM brake master
• 308k 6/25: New OEM rear diff seals

Outstanding Maintenance Items:

• Front rotors have some light scoring
• Heater doesn’t or didn’t work very well
• Rear aftermarket subwoofer occasionally makes “dragon breathing fire” noise
  • I’m assuming there’s a bad ground somewhere?
• All gauges except for speed/odometer/RPM stop working intermittently
• OEM engine oil/water sensors disconnected from instrument cluster and instead connect to aftermarket gauges mounted on A pillar
• Fan shroud is cracked and held together with zipties (emergency Windrock repair)

 

[Pulgasari]

Mods:

Italics: Previous ownership
Underline: Self-installed

• 250-280k: Previous ownership (exterior)
  
  • Snorkel
  • 18” 07-21 Tundra steel wheels
  • LT265/70R18 (33”) BFG KO2 tires
  • OEM running board delete
  • 3M ceramic window tint
  • Plasti-dipped front grille/Lexus badges
• 250-280k: Previous ownership (interior)
  
  • Reupholstered dark brown seats, dyed steering wheel
  • New, thick dark brown carpet
  • Aftermarket sound system
  • AVX-4800BS double din headunit
  • Radio with PTT and external antenna
• 296k 3/23:DIY 3rd row fold out sleeper platform with cubbies
  • Bought this lightly used from some dude on Reddit
• 299k 7/23: 3rd row delete, 3rd row seatbelt delete
• 300k 7/23: ASFIR 3-piece skid plate kit
• 301k 8/23: OEM roof rack delete
• 301k 9/23: Trail Tailor recovery points
• 303k 11/23: 17" Nomad Convoy 501SA wheels
• 303k 11/23: LT285/70R17 (33)" Falken Wildpeak AT3W tires
• 303k 12/23: Pinch weld mod
• 303k 1/24: White Knuckle Offroad rock sliders
• 304k 6/24: Coastal Offroad rear swingout bumper
• 305k 9/24: King KTRS-79 rear AHC springs
• 305k 9/24: PerryParts rear bumpstops
• 307k 12/24: PerryParts front bumpstops
• 307k 12/24: 03-07 ARB Deluxe front bumper (3413190)
• 307k 12/24: Badlands Apex 12k Winch
• 308k 6/25: OEM Land Cruiser non-AHC front torsion bars
• 308k 6/25: OEM 98-99 Land Cruiser rear axle with diff locker

Mod Wishlist:

• Dual battery system
• Android Auto/CarPlay compatible double din headunit with multiple cameras
• 24 gallon aux tank
• Some temporary mounting solution for my iPad in the center console area

 

[Pulgasari]

Trail Log:

• 5/23: Peter’s Mill and Tasker’s Gap (VA)​
• 7/23: Bald Mountain (VA)​
• 7/23: Flagpole and Reddish Knob (VA/WV)​
• 9/23: Union Springs (VA)​
• 9/23: Windrock Trail 22 (TN)​
• 10/23: Overlook + others at The Cove (VA)​
• 6/24: Wolf Den (MD)​
• 9/24: Windrock Trail 51 (TN)​
• 10/24: More blue trails at The Cove (VA)​
• 1/25: Canaan Loop (WV)​

State Checklist:
48 Continental states + DC (30/49 completed)

​

AL​	AZ​	AR​	CA​	CO​	CT​	DC​
DE​	FL​	GA​	ID​	IL​	IN​	IA​
KS​	KY​	LA​	ME​	MD​	MA​	MI​
MN​	MS​	MO​	MT​	NE​	NV​	NH​
NJ​	NM​	NY​	NC​	ND​	OH​	OK​
OR​	PA​	RI​	SC​	SD​	TN​	TX​
UT​	VT​	VA​	WA​	WV​	WI​	WY​

 

[Pulgasari]

Pictures:
Mostly focused on the interior here

 

[Pulgasari]

Pic dump right after installing the Nomads:

 

[Trapper50cal]

Love the seats and the wheels!

 

[Pulgasari]

Hit 250k on the replacement odometer over the weekend which should bring me to around 305k miles total.

The big maintenance item is now the AHC - still seems to work fine even though I didn’t find any AHC specific maintenance records. New fluid and front bushings already arrived, I’m waiting on Impex to receive the globes in their warehouse so that they can finally send them out. Also looking to find some replacement AHC front rams so that I can get the new bushings pressed and ready to go.

 

[Pulgasari]

First time ordering from Impex - placed an order for the globes just about two weeks ago and they're still "processing". I'm assuming this isn't anything to be concerned about... they say it usually takes 2-5 days to get parts from their suppliers to the warehouse. I've sent them a message, hopefully it's just a slight delay.

 

[sterling]

Please update when you can, I have this exact purchase next.
Thanks

 

[Pulgasari]

Please update when you can, I have this exact purchase next.
Thanks

The parts finally arrived at the warehouse yesterday and I just paid the shipping. Total cost including shipping was 77,700 yen, which is around $494 (US) at current exchange rates. I went with FedEx Priority for $72, which will apparently take 5-8 business days.

Impex Japan is kind of weird, but fortunately the website walks you through it and you get email notifications that tell you what needs to be done.

1. Create your order (parts only)
2. Pay for the order (parts only)
3. Wait for the parts to arrive at the Impex warehouse - this usually takes 3-5 business days but in my case took 2 weeks
4. Pay for the package to be shipped to your address

A bit of a hassle, but since I'm paying $110 per globe instead of $800, I'm happy to save $2700 here.

 

[sterling]

Thanks for the concise update, that clears up alot of questions on the globe ordering process for sure.

 

[Pulgasari]

Globes arrived today, so here’s the timeline, in case anyone’s curious:

• May 8: Order placed/paid for
• May 23: Order arrived at warehouse, shipping paid for
• May 26: Order shipped
• May 29: Order arrived

If anyone’s on the fence, I’d definitely recommend ordering now, while the yen is weak and prices are still low