Builds "Rednexus" - 2007 GX470 Build and Fabrication Thread (6 Viewers)

[Rednexus]

Thanks guys! Appreciate the kind words!

In other news it was super easy to set up wireless Android Auto on the PX6 using an Amazon dongle. Plug, pair, play. Now i just need to open up the center console, install a hub, and hide it. The wired connection was kinda buggy and slow-charging.

Amazon.com

 

[GrizzlyClint]

Thanks guys! Appreciate the kind words!

In other news it was super easy to set up wireless Android Auto on the PX6 using an Amazon dongle. Plug, pair, play. Now i just need to open up the center console, install a hub, and hide it. The wired connection was kinda buggy and slow-charging.

Amazon.com

View attachment 3605594

You better get a anti glare screen put on that thing otherwise you ain't gonna see it in any sort of daylight. LOL. I hated ours...

 

[Rednexus]

You better get a anti glare screen put on that thing otherwise you ain't gonna see it in any sort of daylight. LOL. I hated ours...

Glare has been a problem for sure! I have put up with it since I like having AA, Torque Pro, and offroad mapping apps. That being said I did put an anti-glare protector on too .

 

[Rednexus]

Spent this afternoon checking a few other minor items off the list.

^First up was wiring in a pair of PIAA Superior Bass horns. Honestly, I was kind of disappointed, they aren't much if any louder than stock, although the sound is more piercing/annoying (which is the point ).

^Next up was fixing the high beam trigger for my ditch lights. The high beams on these rigs are really weird - just sitting (no lights on), both wires to the bulb are grounded. When the low beams are on the wire on the DS is hot and the wire on the PS of the connector is open. When the high beams are turned on, the wire on the DS stays hot and the wire on the PS side of the connector switches to ground. So it's a ground-triggered system. I fixed the system by wiring the ground from my 5-pin trigger relay into the PS side of the bulb connector (the trigger wire is spliced into the DS of the bulb connector). This worked perfectly! Now I can run my ditch lights on rural roads (to watch for deer) and they'll automatically turn off via the dimmer switch.

^Lastly, I swapped the $15 Amazon ditch light brackets for a set of JW Off Road brackets. The cheapo PS bracket was already starting to deform under the tiny weight of my GMRS antenna. The JW brackets are much beefier but not totally bent right - I think the PS one is clocked a bit to one side. Still they are way more beefy than the other ones and I got them for $35 due to them having some cutting beads on the mounting area, but I probably won't buy from JW again.

 

[Rednexus]

Throwback Thursday!

One of the first few trips in my rig. I loved driving it then (late 2020), but it sure looked impotent in 100% stock form.

 

[Rednexus]

Barely noticed it was back there....

 

[Rednexus]

The pitfalls of parking under a 70 ft tall maple tree. We'll see how the paintless dent guy does.

 

[LRDV8R]

s***

 

[Rednexus]

The GX has had some thunking when taking off and metallic popping when going from P to R or D to R. I finally decided to remove the driveshaft (which is super easy) and clean the slip yolk. I had definitely been over-greasing it - there was at least a inch of solid grease behind the slip yolk. I cleaned it up and just spread some grease on the splines before re-assembling.

It's better, but not cured (thunking is less and the metallic pop is less severe). I think the splines are shot - perhaps the PO ran it low on grease for too long, or perhaps me over-greasing it caused the issue (or both). The splines are kind of wavy and just not even. I think it hampers motion, causing the slip yolk to momentarily get hung up and then "pop" free. It will eventually get replaced with a new OEM driveshaft.

 

[Rednexus]

Did some more interior work last night, including adding a new Android Auto/Car Play adapter for the PX6 and hiding the wireless Android Auto adapter. The old adapter had problems sometimes with wired connectivity, which I attributed to wear/dirt in the USB plug. This had the added and unexpected benefit of upgrading Android Auto to full-screen! Pretty nice to have this in a 2007. The wireless connection now boots up much faster too. I'll probably never run it wired and just retain wireless with my phone plugged into the QC port.

Also installed the Ellis Precision shift knobs I've had sitting around for months. They feel awesome and the extra weight makes shifting easy. I also replaced the shift detent pin (per the suggestion of @stupidchicken03 ), which was super easy. I checked the shift cable bushing while I was in there and found it to be perfect. Everything in the shifter mechanism also got a coat of Dumonde bicycle chain lube, which IMO works great in these kind of applications.

And now we're up to today. Installing a new driveshaft to hopefully get rid of the awful clunk.

And these parts. All of the 555 parts are replacing poor-quality aftermarket parts from a few years ago - including the recalled UBJs in my Ironman UCAs and Moog tie rod ends and sway bar end links, all of which have really crappy boots that ripped. The brake lines are to replace my SS PowerStop lines from 3 years ago, per my debacle with them, and the trans pieces are to try and get rid of the P2759 code that I think is a fault in the trans harness or the TCC solenoid.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Did some more interior work last night, including adding a new Android Auto/Car Play adapter for the PX6 and hiding the wireless Android Auto adapter. The old adapter had problems sometimes with wired connectivity, which I attributed to wear/dirt in the USB plug. This had the added and unexpected benefit of upgrading Android Auto to full-screen! Pretty nice to have this in a 2007. The wireless connection now boots up much faster too. I'll probably never run it wired and just retain wireless with my phone plugged into the QC port.
View attachment 3639780
Also installed the Ellis Precision shift knobs I've had sitting around for months. They feel awesome and the extra weight makes shifting easy. I also replaced the shift detent pin (per the suggestion of @stupidchicken03 ), which was super easy. I checked the shift cable bushing while I was in there and found it to be perfect. Everything in the shifter mechanism also got a coat of Dumonde bicycle chain lube, which IMO works great in these kind of applications.
View attachment 3639784
And now we're up to today. Installing a new driveshaft to hopefully get rid of the awful clunk.
View attachment 3639785
And these parts. All of the 555 parts are replacing poor-quality aftermarket parts from a few years ago - including the recalled UBJs in my Ironman UCAs and Moog tie rod ends and sway bar end links, all of which have really crappy boots that ripped. The brake lines are to replace my SS PowerStop lines from 3 years ago, per my debacle with them, and the trans pieces are to try and get rid of the P2759 code that I think is a fault in the trans harness or the TCC solenoid.
View attachment 3639782

Very nice. Let’s hope the 555 tie rods work out good…I have the same tie rods, same new rear drive shaft….and a little noise from the pinion bearing! Lol

 

[Rednexus]

Very nice. Let’s hope the 555 tie rods work out good…I have the same tie rods, same new rear drive shaft….and a little noise from the pinion bearing! Lol

All symptons of having a well loved and well-used older GX!

The 555 stuff was quite a bit nicer than the Moog junk and whatever UBJs Ironman had in their UCAs. It was actually pretty easy to swap the UBJs with a HF ball joint press. The problem with 555 stuff is that it isn't painted (other than the end links), so I gave everything a quick coat of gloss black paint and then Fluid Film'd the hardware.

No photos for the driveshaft. The clunking seems to be much better than it was before, so I'm hopeful it stays that way. I'll always have some clunks with the Nomad valve body, but they aren't unsettling like they were before. Also, whatever grease Toyota used smells like cow pies.....a lot like cow pies (being from the Ozarks, I know what they smell like ).

Back to the transmission - after removing the harness and the TCC solenoid and testing everything, I'm reasonably confident that the P2759 was caused by an intermittent short in the transmission harness. Resistance across the TCC solenoid pins would occasionally spike to 7 ohms but then drop back to the 5.6 ohms upper end of the spec. Which would explain why my P2759 appeared, disappeared for a week, then re-appeared. No codes (at least yet) with the new harness and solenoid, and the TCC lockup is actually smoother than it was before. Hopefully this holds as well.

However, on the test drive, I didn't have 4th and 5th gear! After looking at photos of the new harness and old harness, its appears I swapped the two little blue pressure sensors (?) at the front of the transmission. I'll drop the pan again tomorrow and swap them back around (getting quite good at this!).

Lastly, the Metal Tech extended rear SS brake lines. Much nicer than the PowerStop junk and USA-made. The OE Toyota rubber lines also went on and fit perfectly everywhere else (as expected).

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Ah…that’s what I forgot to do. Paint the tie rods and paint the calipers….tie rods shouldn’t be hard to paint the outer even when installed.

I also have the rear center extended brake lines from Metal Tech and rubber Toyota brake lines to the wheels.

 

[Rednexus]

Ah…that’s what I forgot to do. Paint the tie rods and paint the calipers….tie rods shouldn’t be hard to paint the outer even when installed

I definitely painted my tie rod ends after the installation. Didn't even bother masking anything . I'm sure the alignment tech will scrape some off next week, but that's better than both of us scraping some off.

Ironman noted they'd pay up to 3 hours of labor for UBJ / UCA replacement per their recall. I just might send them a 3-hour invoice from Rednexus Offroad LLC for my trouble today.

 

[Rednexus]

Turns out I made two screwups when hooking up the harness. First was swapping the pressure sensors side-to-side (bottom of picture). Second was not inserting the SL2 solenoid all the way (top of picture). It's actually possible to install the retainer pin with the solenoid not pushed in all the way. Obviously I should have checked my work more, but what threw me off was the new harness having different wiring colors and quite different routing than the old harness (despite being a Toyota part, it must be an updated version). Another somewhat embarrassing post to write, but hopefully others learn from my mistakes

Now it appears to be fixed! What's interesting is that the trans shifts quite a bit better in all gears. It's always had firm shifts with the Nomad valve body, but had kind of a "hop" in the middle of the shift. The "hop" is gone and there is a nice quick shift. I think the harness in these are wear items due to wire/connector degradation in a high-heat environment; honestly I'd recommend just replacing it during a higher-mileage transmission fluid exchange. It was $38 from Partsouq or $56 from my local dealer.

Also still loving the new driveshaft. All the clunks are gone! It's an updated version and was $316 from my local dealer (same price as Partsouq but no shipping costs).

 

[Rednexus]

Spring storm life in the Heartland.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

Spring storm life in the Heartland.
View attachment 3641060

I do NOT miss the bad weather, I'll take a random blizzard or wildfire over a damn tornado / spring storm.

 

[Rednexus]

I do NOT miss the bad weather, I'll take a random blizzard or wildfire over a damn tornado / spring storm.

This is a 3-4x a year event for us now. The storm rolled in as I was completing my test drive. Watched it rip a 12" diameter limb out of one of our neighbor's trees. The 60 mph straight line winds have been nuts.

 

[Rednexus]

In Helsinki for work. I'll never let anyone say a Prado is not a Land Cruiser again .

 

[aztoytec]

Strange trailer hitch. Any idea what’s that for?