Builds "Rednexus" - 2007 GX470 Build Thread (2 Viewers)

[Rednexus]

Completed installation of the Nomad valve body this afternoon (didn't install the lockup switch but will do that in the near future). The install was really pretty easy and only took around 3.5 hours from start to finish, with me taking my time and refilling the transmission. It lost a total of ~7.5 quarts, or half the transmission volume during the install. A messy job for sure with fluid everywhere, but nothing was difficult.

Overall the impressions so far are good. Shifts are much more firm and crisp, although not harsh. They aren't quite as sporty as my old Mazda3 6AT was, but are much better than stock. They also get progressively firmer - at light throttle it's not much different than stock, but really tightens up under more throttle. The GX also feels quite a bit faster as it holds gears longer and downshifts quickly (and often does a double downshift). Is it worth the almost $2K pricetag? Maybe....I'm a mechanical-mods guy and like having every true mechanical upgrade that I can get for my GX. It definitely drives better. Probably a good mod if you are towing or have a heavy rig (armor/tent/fridge/etc), but probably not necessary otherwise.

I just took a few pics of the old valve body during the install and removal, mainly so I could make sure everything went back in the same place. I didn't get the new valve body (it looks exactly the same as the old one .

And here is a video of a full-throttle run (you can also hear the growl of my aFe cold air intake ). Shifts are much snappier/firmer under throttle than before.

 

[Rednexus]

Installed everyone's favorite budget awning today. Only cost $113 in tax from the local NAPA, and it showed up 2 days after the online order.

Rather than drill holes in the crossbars (which I use all of the time for hauling bikes), I took the chance on a set of Yakima Mighty Mounts ($60 from REI). They ended up being a perfect fit and I was able to bolt the Maxi-Trac brackets directly to them. They even used the same M8x1.25 SS hardware as the awning. The whole assembly can be installed/removed in a few minutes without any tools, and zero modifications were made to the crossbars, awning, or mounts.

Regarding the awning itself, it's probably not something I would want up in a rainstorm or really windy day, but should be perfect for sun protection when we go to the river and park on the gravel bar. Overall the quality is actually pretty good considering I have all of $175 in this whole setup plus ~30 minutes to install it.

 

[Rednexus]

We took a Father's Day weekend camping trip, so I was able to test out the Nomad valve body a bit more. The highest point in MO was along the way, so I pulled our camper up to the top (around 900 ft of total climbing in 5-6 miles, but a few really steep sections). The trans temps made it right up to 200F, but never above. Considering it was 95F out (at the bottom anyway, cooler on top), with the AC on and our family of 4 in the GX, I was pretty happy. I still need to install the lockup switch, and I think this would have helped even more as much of the pull was in 2nd and 3rd gear. The valve body is a pretty good towing upgrade otherwise - the firmer shifts are nice and it holds gears longer than before (zero gear hunting too). The trans temp was 170-180F on the rolling hills, outside of the sustained climbs - lower than temps were stock (no VB and upgraded cooler) with no trailer hooked up.

 

[Krackerjacked]

We took a Father's Day weekend camping trip, so I was able to test out the Nomad valve body a bit more. The highest point in MO was along the way, so I pulled our camper up to the top (around 900 ft of total climbing in 5-6 miles, but a few really steep sections). The trans temps made it right up to 200F, but never above. Considering it was 95F out (at the bottom anyway, cooler on top), with the AC on and our family of 4 in the GX, I was pretty happy. I still need to install the lockup switch, and I think this would have helped even more as much of the pull was in 2nd and 3rd gear. The valve body is a pretty good towing upgrade otherwise - the firmer shifts are nice and it holds gears longer than before (zero gear hunting too). The trans temp was 170-180F on the rolling hills, outside of the sustained climbs - lower than temps were stock (no VB and upgraded cooler) with no trailer hooked up.
View attachment 3038256

You have a very good looking, sleek and functional setup man. Good job and Happy Father’s Day!

 

[Rednexus]

You have a very good looking, sleek and functional setup man. Good job and Happy Father’s Day!

Thanks! It's certainly opened us up to a lot of new family activities that we weren't able to do before.

 

[Rednexus]

Several hours this weekend were spent fixing exhaust leaks. I had a bad one at the flange in the Y pipe, one at each header collector, and one at the Y pipe to catback. The Y pipe flange was rust-welded together so I cut out the old one and welded in some new pieces. A Subaru EJ25 midpipe gasket was a perfect fit for the new flange. Then I slathered the Y pipe to catback gasket in copper RTV and added washers to the spring bolts to get a good seal. After replacing the collector gaskets and using more copper RTV there are no more leaks!

Next up was extending the AC drip line. This was a 10 minute job I should have done years ago. I used ear clamps, a barb hose connector, and some leftover power steering hose to route it back past the transfer case crossmember.

 

[AmericanKing]

I'm curious what method did you use to diagnose your exhaust leak? Excess noise, cracked pipe & Soapy water?

 

[MrTorgue]

Several hours this weekend were spent fixing exhaust leaks. I had a bad one at the flange in the Y pipe, one at each header collector, and one at the Y pipe to catback. The Y pipe flange was rust-welded together so I cut out the old one and welded in some new pieces. A Subaru EJ25 midpipe gasket was a perfect fit for the new flange. Then I slathered the Y pipe to catback gasket in copper RTV and added washers to the spring bolts to get a good seal. After replacing the collector gaskers and usimg more copper RTV there are no more leaks!
View attachment 3043916
Next up was extending the AC drip line. Thus was a 10 minute job I should have done years ago. I used ear clamps, a barb hose connector, and some leftover power steering hose to route it back past the transfer case crossmember.
View attachment 3043917
View attachment 3043918

Exhaust leaks suck.

 

[MrTorgue]

I'm curious what method did you use to diagnose your exhaust leak? Excess noise, cracked pipe & Soapy water?

Soapy wooder works like a charm.

 

[Rednexus]

Excess noise led me to realize I had a leak. A shop vac discharge hose taped into the tailpipe and a spray bottle of soapy water found them right away. Definitely a great trick I had seen on YouTube.

I was worried it was at the header/manifold gaskets but the soapy water verified zero leaks at both sides.

 

[Rednexus]

I have the lockup switch wired and working. This is not for the faint of heart as it requires splicing multiple wires within the ECU harness. Also, the instructions were wrong as what it said was the lockup pins were actually for the camshaft position sensors. I was able to use the FSM to figure out the right pins. I'll contact Cruiser Brothers to make them aware. I'm sure its difficult for them to design these in Australia without access to the actual USDM vehicles.

 

[Rednexus]

This morning was spent tying up the lockup switch wiring. I took a test drive to verify that things were working, after which I re-did the ground connection (as a few things were acting weird), heat-shrunk all of the connectors, put the control box in my DIY cubby that replaced the CD/DVD changer, and hooked everything back up. I also went ahead and added a switch for F and R lockers (wishful thinking as it will be a year or two) and ditch lights (hopefully this year). All switches were from CH4X4. The lockup and locker switches went in place of the adjustable suspension switches using a eBay bezel for small Toyota switches instead of the normal 120 switch size. This didn't allow me to use the provided Nomad switch, so I used a custom CH4X4 switch instead (which used the same connector and was pinned identical to the Nomad switch - probably from the same Chinese factory).

The switch definitely works pretty well. Keeping it locked allows the GX to use it's torque and just lug up hills smoothly. It's a bit jerky if the trans shifts locked, so I'll probably just keep things locked only when towing up a long incline in 4th or lower, or on level ground unloaded in 5th. I think this will be a big help when we eventually drag our camper to some mountains. It does seem to cause some bugs with my OBDII reader - I have to unplug and re-plug it in to get the PID's to show up on TorquePro. I might try a different reader to see if that fixes it. All connectors are good.

As mentioned yesterday, I would NOT attempt this unless you are comfortable slicing up your ECU harness and reading ECU pinouts. The ECU wires are tiny (like 20 or 22 ga) and there is very little room to work with. I extended most wires a couple of inches and used butt splice connectors, which might not have been the right way as I had to re-do some of them where I had 2 wires going into one in. Honestly it's probably a better job for soldering and heat shrink tubing, but I'm not the best solderer. It's also hard to heat shrink the connectors without cooking the rest of the harness and the ECU with a heat gun.

Here is a pic of all the leftover wire and connector pieces from this job....

 

[Rednexus]

So a few updates:

1. I corresponded with Rodney and Jono at WAT and got the issues with the lockup switch sorted out. Turns out the instructions were incorrect. They used some FSM pages for a 2005 USDM GX470 to correct them and sent me an updated wiring diagram which required a few changes and re-splices for the ground and the lockup wire. The issue with the harsh reverse engagement also seems to have worked itself out after driving and letting the transmission re-learn (although I have not used reverse very much due to towing - see update 2).

2. We just returned from towing our camper around 2,000 miles on a vacation up to Lake Superior, including one stop in MN, then Madeline Island, WI and Pictured Rocks in the MI UP. If you have not been to the Great Lakes before, they are incredible in the summer (sandy beaches, nice weather, and cool water). It was a relaxing vacation for our family. The GX and the TrailManor both were flawless and the trip confirmed how capable and comfortable of a family tow vehicle a 15-year old GX can be for a lightweight camper.

3. I replaced my upstream O2 sensors before the trip, and my gas mileage was around 13 mpg average when driving without using cruise on non-interstate roads (55-65 mph). When using the cruise on the interstate and going 70-75 mph it was more like 11-12 mpg. Overall, these are around 10-20% better than I was getting before the transmission upgrades and O2 sensor replacement. It's hard to say what made the bigger difference, but I think the trans upgrades are worthwhile if you are going to use your GX for long-distance towing. Trans temps were usually around 170 locked, 180 after running unlocked, and 200 F when I did a unlocked full-throttle run when it was 100F outside.

Ferry ride back from Madeline Island.

One of our campsites.

Lake Superior beaches at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Sandstone Cliffs

 

[Rednexus]

I took today as a wheeling day and checked out a trail in the Mark Twain National Forest that I hadn't been down in almost a decade. It starts as a 12-mile long, dead-end gravel road through the woods before necks down to a very tight side-by-side trail and ending at a river. I brought a pair of loppers and a M18 sawzall and cut quite a few branches, saplings, and small trees to avoid body damage and pinstripes. I made it as far as I was willing to go solo without a winch or lockers. The pictures don't do this trail justice. It's around a 30% slope and the rocks are super-loose. I'll return this fall with a buddy who has a WJ with a winch and we'll try to do the whole thing.

 

[Krackerjacked]

I took today as a wheeling day and checked out a trail in the Mark Twain National Forest that I hadn't been down in almost a decade. It starts as a 12-mile long, dead-end gravel road through the woods before necks down to a very tight side-by-side trail and ending at a river. I brought a pair of loppers and a M18 sawzall and cut quite a few branches, saplings, and small trees to avoid body damage and pinstripes. I made it as far as I was willing to go solo without a winch or lockers. The pictures don't do this trail justice. It's around a 30% slope and the rocks are super-loose. I'll return this fall with a buddy who has a WJ with a winch and we'll try to do the whole thing.

It’s seriously a bummer how photos and video really flatten out obstacles.
Looks like a great time though!

 

[Rednexus]

Installation of ditch lights was completed this evening. I used a $11 set of Amazon brackets for a 05-15 Tacoma and a set of Cali Raised side projecting pods. I had initially used a set of Harbor Freight Roadshock floods, but they whistled like crazy above 45 mph, so they were returned and the Cali Raised lights went on and don't whistle. Overall, I went with cheap lights due to how easy it is for ditch lights to get stolen.

I built the wiring harness from scratch, including running the lights off of a circuit tap in the engine bay (off of the seat heater fuse), adding a 40A relay, using 16-ga wire everywhere with lots of heat-shrink connectors, and wrapping the harness in 3M electrical tape. On the inside the lights are activated by a CH4X4 switch in place of the OEM aux jack. Power for the switch comes from a circuit tap added to the rear wiper fuse, and the wire running to the relay is routed through the OEM wiring harness grommet near the steering column.

The main use for these will probably be watching for deer on backroads at night, and occasional night wheeling.

 

[Krackerjacked]

Installation of ditch lights was completed this evening. I used a $11 set of Amazon brackets for a 05-15 Tacoma and a set of Cali Raised side projecting pods. I had initially used a set of Harbor Freight Roadshock floods, but they whistled like crazy above 45 mph, so they were returned and the Cali Raised lights went on and don't whistle. Overall, I went with cheap lights due to how easy it is for ditch lights to get stolen.

I built the wiring harness from scratch, including running the lights off of a circuit tap in the engine bay (off of the seat heater fuse), adding a 40A relay, using 16-ga wire everywhere with lots of heat-shrink connectors, and wrapping the harness in 3M electrical tape. On the inside the lights are activated by a CH4X4 switch in place of the OEM aux jack. Power for the switch comes from a circuit tap added to the rear wiper fuse, and the wire running to the relay is routed through the OEM wiring harness grommet near the steering column.

The main use for these will probably be watching for deer on backroads at night, and occasional night wheeling.
View attachment 3102653
View attachment 3102658
View attachment 3102660

Are the mounts pretty solid?
I mean I don’t necessarily need more lights but that’s a steal lmao

 

[Rednexus]

Are the mounts pretty solid?
I mean I don’t necessarily need more lights but that’s a steal lmao

Yes they are! There is a slight bit of vibration in the lights but they are 1/8" steel and plenty strong.

 

[Rednexus]

My old OEM grille was in need of a new plastidip coat, and most of the plastic fastener brackets had broken off. I reached out to our own @ZIDCONPRO and he hooked me up with a spindle-style grille which I installed this afternoon. The total price, shipped from Kazakhstan, was around the same as a TRD-style grille. The grille arrived about 2 weeks after I bought it, and the quality seemed fine (it appears to be injected-molded plastic and the outside of it is painted a dark grey).

 

[Rednexus]

SHW Offroad drawers shipped and I picked them up from T-Force freight. Total time from order to pickup was about 6.5 weeks. They were packed SUPER well - multiple layers of styrofoam and zero damage. I've unboxed them but not much else. First impressions seem good, and they are quite a bit nicer/more detailed than anything I could have DIY built (woodworking skills are OK but this is more cabinet-level construction). Will update the thread with more photos/info as I finish them and get them in the GX.