Yea we have not got ANY snow at the cabin in Truckee (20 mins outside of Tahoe) in several weeks 
Build "Rednexus" - 2007 GX470 Build and Fabrication Thread
- Thread starter Rednexus
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
That's insane since you all get a healthy amount yearly. I wonder if mother nature is waiting until February or March to dump snow on us?Yea we have not got ANY snow at the cabin in Truckee (20 mins outside of Tahoe) in several weeks
- Thread starter
- #763
At least here in the middle of the US (where our weather...to put it bluntly....has been psychotic for the past 20 years), all of the seasons are shifted back a month. October/November/December are quite warm, January is hit and miss, while February and March are much colder and snowier than they used to be. Then we have a very abbreviated spring and go straight into summer.
We get hit from every direction. Winter is shorter yet colder. Summer is longer and hotter. In 2025 we had a very cold/snowy winter (-10F temps), tornadoes and windstorms in March, some crazy rainstorms in the spring/early summer, then a drought in late summer/early fall. Plus the 72F on Christmas Day I mentioned earlier. No wonder so many trees on my property have died standing or been blown over by storms.
- Thread starter
- #764
Armor/reinforcement time, after hearing reports of folks crushing their lower shock mounts (@Hiluxforever ).
^These required some grinding/fitting, especially for the shock side, to fit together right. It's also not easy to get nice looking welds laying under the rig
.
^Lower link skids too. Again not my best welding. Woolwax on the frame kept catching on fire too.
^Also rebuild the rear Foam Cell Pros. They have about 60K on them and just now got bouncy. Overall not a hard job, but quite messy. The Fuchs/Shell shock fluids Ironman recommends are not sold in the US as far as I can tell. So, I used some KYB dirt bike fork oil which had the same specs. Fingers are crossed that I put them back together right.
^Astute observers may have noticed my rear 3rd member was out. It had developed quite a bit of gear whine over the past 5K that kept getting worse. After corresponding with ECGS, they agreed to go though it under warranty, so I pulled it and shipped it back to them (this is 100% why I didn't attempt a gear setup myself). There was quite a bit of metallic glitter in the gear oil.
^Wear pattern after 10K miles. After poking around online, I think the pinion was set too shallow, which would cause the whine on coasting/light throttle I was hearing. My OEM gears with 190K on them showed much less wear. I'm hoping they'll replace the gears and not try to re-use these. We'll see.
^These required some grinding/fitting, especially for the shock side, to fit together right. It's also not easy to get nice looking welds laying under the rig
.^Lower link skids too. Again not my best welding. Woolwax on the frame kept catching on fire too
. ^Also rebuild the rear Foam Cell Pros. They have about 60K on them and just now got bouncy. Overall not a hard job, but quite messy. The Fuchs/Shell shock fluids Ironman recommends are not sold in the US as far as I can tell. So, I used some KYB dirt bike fork oil which had the same specs. Fingers are crossed that I put them back together right
. ^Astute observers may have noticed my rear 3rd member was out. It had developed quite a bit of gear whine over the past 5K that kept getting worse. After corresponding with ECGS, they agreed to go though it under warranty, so I pulled it and shipped it back to them (this is 100% why I didn't attempt a gear setup myself). There was quite a bit of metallic glitter in the gear oil.
^Wear pattern after 10K miles. After poking around online, I think the pinion was set too shallow, which would cause the whine on coasting/light throttle I was hearing. My OEM gears with 190K on them showed much less wear. I'm hoping they'll replace the gears and not try to re-use these. We'll see.
- Thread starter
- #766
I agree, and there was also a ton of metal on the drain plug magnet. I followed their break-in and fluid recommendations to a T. We'll see how well their actually do on the warranty service. Once the diff gets there I'll ping them for a status update. They indicated they'd turn it around ASAP. Until then, I'll be driving my FIL's 1999 Cummins around town
.
Last edited:
Hiluxforever
SILVER Star
It looks like a crush sleeve failure that allowed the pinion to be pushed out of alignment.
- Thread starter
- #769
It should have a solid pinion spacer in it, but it's totally possible they set up the pinion depth wrong. I thought it did have pinion marks on the carrier, but it is probably a reflection from the camera flash. I had a diff in my old '72 C10 do that, and it made an awful noise .
.
Good thing you went with ECGS and hopefully their warranty will do you right.
I got my 5th gen 4R 8.2” elocked rear diff regeared and installed by Premier West Gears here in SoCal and I’m at 8k miles and so far so good.
But that’s always my worry that something may go wrong too quickly
I got my 5th gen 4R 8.2” elocked rear diff regeared and installed by Premier West Gears here in SoCal and I’m at 8k miles and so far so good.
But that’s always my worry that something may go wrong too quickly
- Thread starter
- #771
Warranty is the biggest reason I went with ECGS (along with the cost being competitive with everyone else), as gears/lockers have been the biggest single investment I've made in the rig. Their warranty is supposed to be 5 years with no mileage limit, so I'll see how they do. Really hoping I don't have to fight with them to get it fixed, but we'll see
.^Got the other side done. I tweaked the fitment a bit and adjusted my welding style and it came out MUCH better. Tweaks I made were 1) grinding off the little ears on the OEM LCA bracket (the PS LCA was a bear to get the link back into as I didn't do that), 2) grinding off the locating tab on the shock brace, and 3) grinding a recess into the shock brace to provide room for the LCA nut. I also had to make a few more minor tweaks here and there, and they came out fine.
^But the biggest help was this little guy! Worth the $100 at HF as it was much easier to clean up the axle/frame for welding compared to the wire wheel and Dremel grinding stone I used on the other side. Milwaukee makes a cordless finger sander like this, but it's $300. The nice thing about having a real air compressor now is that I can run tools like this.
^Rattle-can finish. This time the Fluid Film inside the frame definitely caught fire when I was welding on the front LCA skid. I ended up blowing compressed air into the frame to put it out.
Last edited:
That little belt sander was awesome at removing spot welds when I replaced the rear quarter panel on my GX
- Thread starter
- #773
It will probably be used for 90% of my pre-weld metal cleanup going forward. Much safer, cleaner, and easier than a flap disc or wire wheel. The HF belts, however, really suck, so I ordered a 10 pack of 3M belts for it.
- Thread starter
- #774
I shipped my diff to ECGS last Thursday. They got it on Monday, rebuilt it on Tuesday, and it will be in the mail to me today (Wednesday). It got new gears and bearings. Apparently nothing really "stood out" for a reason as to why it was so worn, but the gears were "suspect". I suspect it may just been a bad batch of aftermarket gears or a setup issue.
Overall, I'm very happy with how ECGS handled this. They quickly rebuilt the diff, did not charge me for anything for parts or shipping, and exhibited zero pushback in honoring their warranty. I'm going to clean out the housing really good and break in the new gears again. Hopefully this one lasts the life for the rig.
Overall, I'm very happy with how ECGS handled this. They quickly rebuilt the diff, did not charge me for anything for parts or shipping, and exhibited zero pushback in honoring their warranty. I'm going to clean out the housing really good and break in the new gears again. Hopefully this one lasts the life for the rig
.
Last edited:
Good to hear it went smooth. What gear oil are they using? And you had 4.88 gears?I shipped my diff to ECGS last Thursday. They got it on Monday, rebuilt it on Tuesday, and it will be in the mail to me today (Wednesday). It got new gears and bearings. Apparently nothing really "stood out" for a reason as to why it was so worn, but the gears were "suspect". I suspect it may just been a bad batch of aftermarket gears or a setup issue.
Overall, I'm very happy with how ECGS handled this. They quickly rebuilt the diff, did not charge me for anything for parts or shipping, and exhibited zero pushback in honoring their warranty. I'm going to clean out the housing really good and break in the new gears again. Hopefully this one lasts the life for the rig
- Thread starter
- #776
They recommend Lucas 85W140 conventional, and I have 4.56 gears. The Lucas would not be my first choice but I'll continue run it during the 5-year warranty period so I'm covered. It's pretty expensive around here ($14/qt), so I stocked up on 4 gallons off of Summit Racing (about $7/quart in jugs).
Tomorrow I'll stab it back together. We have a spring break camper trip planned the first week of April, so I'm gonna put a ton of miles on the rig in March to make sure it's 100% broken in prior to that. To be honest the constant gear howl made the rig feel like a junker when driving it...looking forward to it being Lexus quiet again.
- Thread starter
- #777
^Rebuilt 8.2 with new gears, bearings, and solid pinion spacer. They even cleaned the 3rd member for me. The only reason I knew it was mine was due to a few specs of Toyota pink FIPG that were left on it.
^All put back together and refilling with Lucas 85W140. Prior to re-assembling I cleaned off all the old pink Toyota FIPG (used a dremel with a wire brush attachment) and sprayed half a can of brake cleaner in each axle tube, then wiped out the inside to remove any debris/metal shavings.
^I did have to shorten the lower rear wheel bearing stud on both sides to clear the Eimkeith shock mount reinforcement. I cut both sides off with a hackzall and then cleaned up the end of the stud with the finger sander.
^14 mile initial break-in run on an Ozark letter highway. Zero gear noise, and it rides awesome with the rebuilt FCP shocks! First time I'd attempted shock rebuilding so I was nervous on if they would work, but they feel like brand new shocks. It cost about $75/shock to rebuild, including the $45 Ironman rebuild kit and $30 quart of KYB 01M Fork Oil. I think few people actually rebuild these as none of the oils Ironman recommends are available in the USA in small quantities, and they don't even both recommending a domestically-available substitute (hence me having to find one).
^The FIL's '99 Cummins (aka the 70 Series LC we actually do get
) that I've been driving all week. It's bone stock with 153K on it, which makes it a very rare truck (he gets offers to buy it constantly as Cummins are the preferred oil burner here in Dieselland, USA). Not gonna lie, I love the way this truck sounds and really enjoy driving it other than the sloppy steering. The Cummins torque is legit, and people turn heads at just the sound of it.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #779
Thanks! I was certainly glad as well. Few things are more frustrating then spending a bunch of money on something that doesn't work, and having the business try to weasel out of honoring their warranty.
ECGS will probably make their money back on my free rebuild as I'll keep recommending them to folks
.- Thread starter
- #780
Not many updates on the GX. The new gears are now broken in and the fluid is changed. The Cummins is now dead in my driveway (bad lift pump), so there will be some pre-emissions diesel wrenching content on this build thread next weekend.
^It's getting close to spring firewood cutting time. So I started building a sawbuck to avoid having to cut logs on the ground (kills my back/legs and is also dangerous). The plan will be to pick up a log with the tractor, drop it in the sawbuck, and then cut the log standing up. I designed the "Y" part of the sawbuck (log holder) in CAD and cut everything out of 1.5" square tubing.
^Clamping down the Y on the welding table. I took my time to cut everything (measuring twice) and ground the edges with the mini belt sander, so everything fit together perfect.
^All 6 Y's. These will be welded to the top of a piece of 2x3" square tubing with legs at either end. It will handle up to a 24" diameter and 9'-4" long log (7 pieces of firewood), though most of what I cut will be smaller than that. The extended side on the right is the rear of the sawbuck, and is intended to keep a log from rolling off the back end of the sawbuck when it's dropped on with the tractor.
^It's getting close to spring firewood cutting time. So I started building a sawbuck to avoid having to cut logs on the ground (kills my back/legs and is also dangerous). The plan will be to pick up a log with the tractor, drop it in the sawbuck, and then cut the log standing up. I designed the "Y" part of the sawbuck (log holder) in CAD and cut everything out of 1.5" square tubing.
^Clamping down the Y on the welding table. I took my time to cut everything (measuring twice) and ground the edges with the mini belt sander, so everything fit together perfect.
^All 6 Y's. These will be welded to the top of a piece of 2x3" square tubing with legs at either end. It will handle up to a 24" diameter and 9'-4" long log (7 pieces of firewood), though most of what I cut will be smaller than that. The extended side on the right is the rear of the sawbuck, and is intended to keep a log from rolling off the back end of the sawbuck when it's dropped on with the tractor.