RG7 GX460 Journal (1 Viewer)

[RG7]

Next up, LFD crossbars went on. I went with these because over $1k for a roof rack that I might end up tossing a RTT on is not ideal. I’m also not in love with the way any of the full rack options look on the GX which is important when the crossbars will do for my use case — though I’ll admit that space on these gets used up pretty quickly once you get a spare and a few cargo boxes up there.

I also looked at the midguard adventure bars but I think the LFD bars are more versatile, with the midguards being aimed solely at RTT mounting.

These went on fine, they seem very stout and keeping the dynamic load rating of the factory roof rails works fine for my purposes.

Got my knockoff recovery boards mounted. The ones I have don’t come with a keyway like maxtrax do, but the dremel took care of that.

Mapping out cargo options for an upcoming trip.

Overall I’m really happy with these. Ended up grabbing them in person since LFD isn’t too far from me and it’s rare that a vendor for GX parts is nearby. Wish I liked their rear bumper more as I’d rather buy local and save on shipping.

 

[RG7]

Alright — final project has been the largest and I’ve been working on piecemeal for the better part of two months. Other than the bumper and winch which are in transit as I write this, this project marks the end of phase one for this truck and I’m putting myself on a 6 month moratorium for any major projects on this thing. In the year that I’ve owned it, I’ve put less than 4,000 miles on it which means I’ve spent more time working on it than I have driving it, much less using it for what I’m building it to do.

We’ve got a 2 week trip coming up in a week and I couldn’t be more stoked.

So, drawers. There is no Goldilocks solution for my situation, but I’ve arrived at a good design (but an execution that is definitely version 0.5).

Key requirements:
- Modularity. They needed to function as side by side drawers for a sleeping platform, and be able to stack on top of each other to fit my dog’s kennel.
- Cost. While very nice, many of the complete solutions cost more than I was willing to pay so I could store my trinkets neatly.
- Learn something new/excuse to buy new tools.

What I ended up with is a pretty blatant copy of goose gear’s design, but at $2k for two drawers, I’m not their target demo anyway. Or so I thought. I like the design, and using aluminum extrusion means these are highly modular and can be changed down the road as I continue to dial in the storage situation on the GX.

Initial proof of concept and cutting to length. I’d never tapped threads before so this was a good learning exercise.

Frames complete and test fit. Needed to cut down on width by about an inch to stack next to the kennel. No biggie, I’m now a pro at shoddy taps into aluminum.

Cont’d.

 

[RG7]

The tops are 1/2” plywood coated in bedliner, and will attach into slot nuts in the extrusion. The sides are 1/4” starboard which is the exact diameter of the slot in the framework, so these press fit into the slots perfectly.

3/4x3/4 steel angle for the brackets.

Test fit after re-working the width. Fits like a glove. Though lack of airflow to the kennel when the door is closed concerns me. It’s got vents on the sides and rear, but I might change this.

Possible fixes include flipping the kennel 180, deleting the 60% seat and loading the dog from the passenger door (lots more work and inconvenient when I’d rather keep both rear seats). Or 3D printing clip on funnels to the rear AC and rear vent of the kennel so I can run a hose for airflow. This one is a bit out there but the dog needs to be in his kennel when he’s in the car so I’m reaching a bit. He’ll be on trips much more in the winter so retaining some heat when he’s cold and wet from running around in sloughs and ponds might not be the worst thing but summer is a different story.

Cont’d.

 

[RG7]

I built the drawers out of 1/2” plywood from Home Depot’s fancy plywood section. There wasn’t a huge selection and at this point I was ready to get this project over with so this is what I ended up with. Don’t love the white but the flip side is neat IMO. Coated these in Thompson’s water sealer for some extra protection.

I fit the boxes together by just running in wood screws. There are a ton in the bottom piece and anything more than that is beyond my skill but it seems pretty stout. Feedback on this is welcome.

Final assembly going down

The drawer slides are from Amazon, and required heavy modification to work with the brackets I’m using. This caused all sorts of problems in that the slides are now crunchy as all hell from the grinding I had to do on the mounting holes in order to get them to lift up above the bottom edge of the framework when fully extended.

Final test fit. Don’t have any pictures of them side by side, but this brings us to present day and they’re 95% finished. Latches should be here tomorrow and I’ll gorilla glue the black starboard faceplates to the drawer and route the latches in flush.

Lessons learned
- There is a reason why drawer systems cost what they do. I’m only into this ~$450 all said and done but I’ve got a huge amount of time spent on these. I learned a ton on this project so that part was invaluable but I’ll likely buy drawers on my next project.
- I bought the extrusion from Amazon, but if I were doing these over, I’d buy it from 80/20 and get their end tap machining service for each end. Would save a decent amount of time.
- They’re a tad too short. Next time I work on these, I’ll add 3” or so to the uprights and that will make them much more usable. The main goal was to have these level with the folded down rear seat height, but I’d rather have the extra storage space.
- I need more vertical space on the slide brackets. I had to do a lot of massaging on the slides to get them to clear the bottom piece of extrusion and they still rub a bit. I’ll grab some 2” angle and have plenty of space.

I’ll get to stress test these pretty soon so I’ll likely have a lot more ideas on how to improve them. Main thing I’m looking for is how the small t slot nuts hold up both the hinges and lateral forces of the boxes themselves. I don’t have high hopes for this but time will tell.

 

[r2m]

Decent bit of work has gone into the GX over the past month or so.

First big delivery was RCI sliders.

View attachment 3424912

View attachment 3424913

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Couple of things to note with these:

1. KDSS line skid needs to be trimmed slightly where it mates with the upright section of the frame. No biggie.
2. Chasing the threads in the frame massively helps the install process.
3. The gussets connecting the outer bar to the square tube are not as pictured on their site. The site has a picture of tubed gussets whereas what I got were c channel gussets that are open on the bottom.

View attachment 3424921

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I ordered the non-tread plate version, but RCI accidentally sent me the tread plates as well, so initially I thought that maybe they used c channel for the tread plate SKU and tube for the version without, but RCI confirmed several times that they are the same for both versions; they changed their mfg process for these and never uploaded new photos to the product page.

Not thrilled with this for a few reasons:
- Open square edges that will get hung up on rocks much more easily than a tube version
- The c channel is inherently less strong than a fully enclosed DOM tube. And the fact that it’s open on the bottom allows a leverage point against the brace that those in the product page do not have.

Is the strength difference enough to matter? I don’t know. I’m not an engineer but would love for one to chime in on this. Probably not enough to make a difference for my use case and I didn’t want to deal with returning these so we shall see how they do.

Other than the difference in the gussets these seem pretty stout.

On the upside, RCI let me keep the tread plates so if anyone wants them they’re free picked up in the Charlotte area. Might be able to make them work with a different brand as well.

1) In support of the the "C" channel and as an engineer, you're not so likely to get rust using C channel. With tubing, one must always be aware that moisture/water can and will get trapped inside tubing with nowhere to drain and can cause premature rust from the inside out. Regarding strength, that C channel will hold up to anything you hit it with, just short of maybe brutal rock crawling and slamming down on them. Did you check to see if they added an extra C channel support along the slider compared to the ones with round tubing? So for the sake of pivoting on trees/rocks, sliding over obstacles bearing full vehicle weight and standing on them with as many friends that will fit on one side, they will hold up, no problem. I'd worry more about a weld then the material.

2) Your second post about doing your own suspension, I agree, I may not have a pretty face, but my wife likes it and I'm always a little nervous about working on components with loaded energy, hence I've always had pro's do it.

3) Love working extruded T slot material! I use it for building test fixtures for work and even home projects (read: 3D printer). It can be expensive if you use only T slot components but you can also use other products instead, example: T straps for securing intersections, L straps for securing right angles, generic hinges, etc. They just need to be 1/4" holes (if that's the size T slot extrusions you're using.)

T and L Strap Ties

T and L strap ties are versatile utility straps. See Decorative Hardware for aesthetically pleasing options with black powder-coated paint.

www.tcsportcharlotte.com

 

[Rednexus]

Totally agree on the drawers - most off-the shelf options are very expensive and heavy (like a set of Dobinsons or Big Country drawers that weigh 200# and cost 2K), and they are difficult if you attempt to DIY. I was going to DIY a set of wood drawers, but split the difference and got a set of CNC-machined SHW plywood drawers which have been pretty good, but not perfect (and probably wouldn't work with a kennel setup like you have). A nice set of lightweight, pre-made, metal drawers would certainly be nice for folks who are going to use their GX, but aren't going to put hundreds of pounds in the drawers or have a fridge on top.

 

[RG7]

1) In support of the the "C" channel and as an engineer, you're not so likely to get rust using C channel. With tubing, one must always be aware that moisture/water can and will get trapped inside tubing with nowhere to drain and can cause premature rust from the inside out. Regarding strength, that C channel will hold up to anything you hit it with, just short of maybe brutal rock crawling and slamming down on them. Did you check to see if they added an extra C channel support along the slider compared to the ones with round tubing? So for the sake of pivoting on trees/rocks, sliding over obstacles bearing full vehicle weight and standing on them with as many friends that will fit on one side, they will hold up, no problem. I'd worry more about a weld then the material.

2) Your second post about doing your own suspension, I agree, I may not have a pretty face, but my wife likes it and I'm always a little nervous about working on components with loaded energy, hence I've always had pro's do it.

3) Love working extruded T slot material! I use it for building test fixtures for work and even home projects (read: 3D printer). It can be expensive if you use only T slot components but you can also use other products instead, example: T straps for securing intersections, L straps for securing right angles, generic hinges, etc. They just need to be 1/4" holes (if that's the size T slot extrusions you're using.)

T and L Strap Ties

T and L strap ties are versatile utility straps. See Decorative Hardware for aesthetically pleasing options with black powder-coated paint.

www.tcsportcharlotte.com

Good point on corrosion potential with tube, didn’t think about that.

 

[Roody]

Absolutely love the drawer setup. Might have to steal your idea for when I finally have enough time/money/energy to build some for my truck.

 

[RG7]

Absolutely love the drawer setup. Might have to steal your idea for when I finally have enough time/money/energy to build some for my truck.

Thanks. If you decide to go that route hit me up when you do. Hopefully I’ll have them more dialed in by then.

 

[Roody]

Thanks. If you decide to go that route hit me up when you do. Hopefully I’ll have them more dialed in by then.

Sweet, will do! Keep us posted on changes you make along the way. This could be a big help for a lot of us 460 owners.

 

[blinder52]

This has been a really interesting thread from the beginning. Thank you.

 

[blinder52]

After taking delivery it became obvious that the paint was not taken care of and had been subjected to touch auto car washes. This would not do. Step 1 was a full paint correction and ceramic coating.

As an aside, it may seem pointless to some to polish a truck that will get pinstripes and light trail damage. For me it’s about starting with a clean slate; plus, pinstripes aren’t what makes paint look bad, micro scratches and swirls from poor washing makes vehicles look worse than trail scars do IMO.

Here’s my correction/decon process for those interested:

1) Wash with a basic (pH scale) car soap. I use a foam cannon but it’s not necessary. The idea here is that this formula will strip any left over wax/tunnel wash crap left on the paint so we have a clean starting surface.
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2) chemical decontamination with an iron remover. I use P&S iron buster. Word of warning this stuff smells terrible and if you spill it in a cabinet you’ll be chasing that smell for months. Ask me how I know .
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The mixture turns a purple color when it reacts with iron. The GX was filled with it and I’m glad I did it — iron is difficult to remove mechanically and can cause problems when polishing.

3) mechanical decon with Nanoskin auto scrub. Can also use a clay bar for this but tried out the auto scrub this time and it was much easier to work with than clay.

4) final rinse and dry with microfiber

On to polishing — for this I used a Rupes LHR15 mkIII with a Rupes yellow foam pad and Jescar correcting compound. The plan was to do a second step with Sonax perfect finish and a white pad, but I stopped after step 1 as the paint already looked great and Toyota pain is historically thin. Figuring this translates to Lexus as well, I didn’t want to take more clear off and leave less protection on the body. Didn’t chase every deep scratch here as I was mostly focused on swirls and micro-scratches which really make the paint look bad.

Finally is the ceramic coating. I used Gtechnic for this — 1 coat of crystal serum light followed by two coats of EXO. Properly maintained this should last a while.

Don’t have any good before/after photos but suffice it to say that the difference was dramatic.

View attachment 3214155

Also added the newer style grille around this time (stock unit for sale in classifieds)

Did you purchase the newer style grille as OEM or aftermarket?

 

[RG7]

Did you purchase the newer style grille as OEM or aftermarket?

Aftermarket, but after chasing blackline part numbers for something else I realized that the OEM part number was barely more expensive than the aftermarket options. Only benefit to going aftermarket on a pre-facelift grille is they (the seller I went with anyway) know who’s buying these grilles so they come with attachment points for the pre-facelift emblem as opposed to the new one so I didn’t have to modify the emblem cutout like you would on an OEM piece.

 

[RG7]

Chopped the front bumper expecting my victory bumper wouldn’t show up in time for my next trip. A day or two later I get this:

Been studying the install video for the past few days, really doesn’t seem that complicated or time consuming but after reading @Thed351W and @LWC install write ups I’m expecting this to take more time than it should.

 

[Thed351W]

Been studying the install video for the past few days, really doesn’t seem that complicated or time consuming but after reading @Thed351W and @LWC install write ups I’m expecting this to take more time than it should.

It's just tedious to get it right. it was just a full day of chopping and trimming. Since the cut itself is kind of complicated it just turns into chasing rubs. GET A TRANS JACK.

 

[Banandalorian]

^ If you don't have a buddy to help either hold or cut, you're going to want some kind of jack to hold up the bumper.
Plan to go through several rounds of trimming and fitting, then pulling everything off and trimming again. This is the tedious part.
Also keep the fasteners loose enough to wiggle the bumper until you have all the bolts/nuts/fasteners in place and aligned where you want. Once I was happy with my cuts, I wasted a bunch of time tightening the passenger side. Then realized I had to undo everything to get the driver's side lined up.

 

[r2m]

Also keep the fasteners loose enough to wiggle the bumper until you have all the bolts/nuts/fasteners in place and aligned where you want. Once I was happy with my cuts, I wasted a bunch of time tightening the passenger side. Then realized I had to undo everything to get the driver's side lined up.

Keeping all fasteners loose till they've all been thread started should always be SOP for any project, large or small.

 

[RG7]

Drawers are mounted. Tolerances here aren’t perfect and I definitely need to redo the hinge brackets but I’m pretty happy with how they turned out.

I kinda mailed it in on the faceplates for the drawers since gorilla glue absolutely does not stick to marineboard at all. Should have realized this ahead of time but I wanted to get these finished so I just ran in some #8 wood screws.

 

[r2m]

Drawers are mounted. Tolerances here aren’t perfect and I definitely need to redo the hinge brackets but I’m pretty happy with how they turned out.

I kinda mailed it in on the faceplates for the drawers since gorilla glue absolutely does not stick to marineboard at all. Should have realized this ahead of time but I wanted to get these finished so I just ran in some #8 wood screws.

View attachment 3429328

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Personally, I like the T slot look! I assume with the boards mounted in the slots of the extruded aluminum, they should be really strong!

 

[RG7]

Personally, I like the T slot look! I assume with the boards mounted in the slots of the extruded aluminum, they should be really strong!

They are. I’m not a huge fan of attaching them this way since the t slot nuts will rattle like crazy on the bottom drawer when they’re stacked since there won’t be a top plate on that drawer, but for now it works.