Yeah this.... I used a floor Jack which was slightly precarious but worked out ok.
Post pictures! Want to see it on that blue
RG7 GX460 Journal
- Thread starter RG7
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Post pictures! Want to see it on that blue
- Thread starter
- #62
Here you go. I used several floor jacks as well. Found that pre-installing the fairlead gives a leverage point to tilt the front plane perpendicular and get it tucked up properly into the grille while the rest is supported with other jacks/stands
Install turned out pretty good. I have very similar notes to everyone else who’s done a write up on this piece so nothing else to add there.
I will say that after running Hagerman pass the fascia has shifted and will require substantially more trimming on the bottom than what I’ve done. No biggie overall though.
Truck has performed flawlessly and is in a really good spot for the time being. We just completed a 4400 mile road trip and it was stellar offroad and extremely comfortable/quiet on road, despite the lift, tires, crossbars etc.
We completed most of the northern half of the Colorado BDR while we were out west and the trail was really cool. Less difficulty than I would have liked on the northern section, but would highly recommend any of the BDR’s for anyone looking for a good 5-7 day trail.
Walked out of my hotel one morning to see a friend parked next to me. Kinda neat to see how far the truck has come in a year.
- Thread starter
- #63
Okay, due for a bit of an update here. Little has changed up until recently, but some bigger ticket items are on order and I’ve been knocking out a few small projects here and there.
The majority of my time with the car over the past 9 months has just been spent using it how it’s meant to be used.
The GX has enabled a lot of great days worth of skiing, paddling, fishing, camping, wheeling — you name it.
This is with relatively little modification, and what I’m calling stage I of my ownership. Stage II will be about refining what already exists and getting into place the last big pieces of the puzzle to make this a capable, reliable rig for my needs.
In no particular order I —
— Added a magnetic mounting point over one of the switch blanks, will mainly be for a handheld GMRS but being magnetic adds flexibility. In all honesty this is a pretty hamfisted mounting solution, but black hardware will clean it up down the road, and I’m not spending a ton of time looking at the floor while driving, so I think I’ll keep it.
— Got rid of the Fast N Furious-spec tail lights. Stockers are for sale for anyone who needs one or both.
— Fixed my biggest gripe with V1.0 of my rear drawers which was the mounting solution for the slides. On V1.0, the steel angle I used was only 1” or 3/4”, which didn’t put the centerline of the slides high enough for the bottom of the middle slide stage to clear the bottom of the drawer. Simple solution here: 3” angle, cut down one side to 3/4”, drill holes, install. Huge improvement over the original, and actually gives the drawers their full functionality.
That brings us up to speed with what’s been done, now onto short term plans —
— I still have a few gripes with the drawers
1. The left drawer, while much improved over V1.0, has substantially more resistance when sliding then the right drawer. Likely some adjusting I can do with the new slide mounts
2. I am lacking a good way to mount tiedown points to the top of these drawers. Not for lack of options, but because I don’t think the way the top plates are attached is very sturdy (C. 12 machine screws through each plate into nuts in the t slot). This does a fine job for holding the tops in place, but up until now, they’ve only ever been under compressive force. Tension from a tie down pulling upward would be a different story. Need to think on this further.
3. Once you get bedliner dirty, that dirt will be bonded to the material until the end of time.
— I’ve ordered an Expedition One single swing rear bumper/tire carrier. I spent far too long thinking about rear bumpers, and while I’m still not in love with this option, I think it suits my needs the best. The Exp One is the only bumper I’ve found that swings with the rear barn door which was the deciding factor for me.
— Skid plates to be ordered this week. TBH should have done these first, very excited to get them on.
I also have several miscellaneous smaller bits on order that I’ll document as they roll in.
The majority of my time with the car over the past 9 months has just been spent using it how it’s meant to be used.
The GX has enabled a lot of great days worth of skiing, paddling, fishing, camping, wheeling — you name it.
This is with relatively little modification, and what I’m calling stage I of my ownership. Stage II will be about refining what already exists and getting into place the last big pieces of the puzzle to make this a capable, reliable rig for my needs.
In no particular order I —
— Added a magnetic mounting point over one of the switch blanks, will mainly be for a handheld GMRS but being magnetic adds flexibility. In all honesty this is a pretty hamfisted mounting solution, but black hardware will clean it up down the road, and I’m not spending a ton of time looking at the floor while driving, so I think I’ll keep it.
— Got rid of the Fast N Furious-spec tail lights. Stockers are for sale for anyone who needs one or both.
— Fixed my biggest gripe with V1.0 of my rear drawers which was the mounting solution for the slides. On V1.0, the steel angle I used was only 1” or 3/4”, which didn’t put the centerline of the slides high enough for the bottom of the middle slide stage to clear the bottom of the drawer. Simple solution here: 3” angle, cut down one side to 3/4”, drill holes, install. Huge improvement over the original, and actually gives the drawers their full functionality.
That brings us up to speed with what’s been done, now onto short term plans —
— I still have a few gripes with the drawers
1. The left drawer, while much improved over V1.0, has substantially more resistance when sliding then the right drawer. Likely some adjusting I can do with the new slide mounts
2. I am lacking a good way to mount tiedown points to the top of these drawers. Not for lack of options, but because I don’t think the way the top plates are attached is very sturdy (C. 12 machine screws through each plate into nuts in the t slot). This does a fine job for holding the tops in place, but up until now, they’ve only ever been under compressive force. Tension from a tie down pulling upward would be a different story. Need to think on this further.
3. Once you get bedliner dirty, that dirt will be bonded to the material until the end of time.
— I’ve ordered an Expedition One single swing rear bumper/tire carrier. I spent far too long thinking about rear bumpers, and while I’m still not in love with this option, I think it suits my needs the best. The Exp One is the only bumper I’ve found that swings with the rear barn door which was the deciding factor for me.
— Skid plates to be ordered this week. TBH should have done these first, very excited to get them on.
I also have several miscellaneous smaller bits on order that I’ll document as they roll in.
dont know if you're aware of this or not, but an option is alpha garage gx to prado conversion (or if you can source a actual prado rear, as i think theirs is a knock-off) 2010-2023 Lexus GX460 Prado 5th Wheel Rear Door Conversion - https://garagealphaoffroad.com/products/2010-2023-lexus-gx460-prado-5th-wheel-rear-door-conversion?variant=44752087679291
r2m
Richard
For mounts to your drawers, you can use these nuts: https://www.amazon.com/PHITUODA-T-Nuts-Four-Pronged-Pack/dp/B09XBC9GG1/ref=sr_1_3?crid=ZRLZOI1CON13&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8RkdAyaOX_7jxCaxTcXUow2r7OU4tif1MIoQl37tJQiDna8nZSElAfW67ICxO4o14VSwZ2kcNJ3xyHURxp_mXOl80ecF9T_CGsQPe2MtrkR2mPLimpuk1wV_a9v9F3JVBLDGVSj1MPq_oU-9w5h5jxZQgSXVmg0Sd3CgXSzSaXTkg0CKRMryqKyOYfG8lKlhNGTlBoEh-XO8G4cLFPD9P9QSMF5oSnCfLVA5lNgiw5U34Ys1DzsKGZzM4nP8hLkKnL-M0ps89prCkoqPi3w1KT4h-tFCRviV-KH8fxhLigE.kixUo0FhRd50RmVxWsnrqHQZYOIXqzlSXDppkDbd_74&dib_tag=se&keywords=pronged+nuts&qid=1723923241&sprefix=pronged+nut,aps,166&sr=8-3
with these D-rings: https://www.amazon.com/D-Rings-Heavy-Anchors-Trailer-Control/dp/B0B7DMB64H/ref=sr_1_6?crid=29LVID70Z4884&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3ImmPuEX33rIhhxlXNIj2e0PFqnn-cCx6uhPbW4y_sxjXfv2779qsvhX-8LlPcnAmpP61Yf2mBuX9m8cvW0sVJlyaRLiRo49qWKirM9Pe-wpk3GBTXU-uxVXy-gA9z1HPlREVF2koALR70qg4m-rWhgu3OE1mLNMa19e3wffuJatQGpFRLx3-HK-Mc4C7riZBt11QZ_lFiEMnqaEofoofhCK1cg1rKCgK-383xY-y6HDUGhv2u-FUegUWxJ7vb6MDseTFdqxCiBaHP4FbNRzN0GBEJJiTXxPsLQk-bnI6lc.ocGSv3O5RmSMp9R5x3mBLaf_c3mLfH8b6siEpZrmyoU&dib_tag=se&keywords=bolt+on+d+ring&qid=1723923337&sprefix=bolt+on+d+ring,aps,178&sr=8-6
You'll have to figure out what size nuts and D rings you'll want to use, but that would offer very secure tie down points an not interfere with opening and closing the drawers.
- Thread starter
- #66
Good shout, and I have mounts using tee nuts off the base plate, but the problem is the small M4 machine screws holding the top plates to the drawers are the weakest link with anything mounted to the tops.Once I figure out something better here, a lot of mounting options become available.
I have seen that — neat solution but not for me. If I’m gonna spend the cash to mount the spare on the rear, figure I might as well get the armor benefit that a full bumper brings.
- Thread starter
- #67
Few more small updates
A pillar mount, believe this came from 67 Designs. This will eventually be for a SwitchPro.
Fumoto drain valve. Always a controversial piece but I’ve been wanting to try one so we’ll see.
Changed to a Factor 55 Flatlink E shackle. Before was just running the standard hook on one of the recovery points which wasn’t ideal for the rope. Also cut off the “winch saver” rope guard around the first few feet of winch line. I can see why people don’t like these. I’ve never gotten a ton of mud in there since the winch has been in so the abrasion on the rope was minimal, but I can see where it was starting to happen.
A pillar mount, believe this came from 67 Designs. This will eventually be for a SwitchPro.
Fumoto drain valve. Always a controversial piece but I’ve been wanting to try one so we’ll see.
Changed to a Factor 55 Flatlink E shackle. Before was just running the standard hook on one of the recovery points which wasn’t ideal for the rope. Also cut off the “winch saver” rope guard around the first few feet of winch line. I can see why people don’t like these. I’ve never gotten a ton of mud in there since the winch has been in so the abrasion on the rope was minimal, but I can see where it was starting to happen.
Crazy the Fumotos are "controversial". The oil pan tucks up so high in a GX that you'd need to rip out the front diff and crossmember to impact the Fumoto.
FYI, I like mine for ease of use but find it super-slow. Like 10+ minutes to drain a pan of lukewarm 5W30. I usually start the drain, swap out the filter, start pulling the air filter for a clean, and then turn it off later on.
FYI, I like mine for ease of use but find it super-slow. Like 10+ minutes to drain a pan of lukewarm 5W30. I usually start the drain, swap out the filter, start pulling the air filter for a clean, and then turn it off later on.
- Thread starter
- #69
Purchased a 270 awning that claims to be freestanding — I don’t know about that. Comes with poles etc so will test that claim on a trip out west here in a few weeks. Brand is “open road 4WD”, which I realized after ordering is pretty much a direct copy of the new Ironman 270 awning. Wouldn’t be surprised if they’re made in the same factory or by the same group, looks nearly identical.
This thing is surprisingly heavy for how awkward it is to mount. So much so that I ended up mounting brackets on the ceiling of my garage so that I can hang ratchet straps as a makeshift winch system to bring the awning into place. The mounting difficulty is sort of a bummer, as I envisioned throwing it on real quick prior to any time I wanted it, leaving it off the rest of the time.
Next up, BudBuilt skid plates. Holy cow these things are beefy with a capital B.
I ordered the Overland Protection variant, which means a 3/16” front plate, with 1/8” everywhere else to save on some weight.
Flat out, these skid plates are probably the most well built pieces of aftermarket equipment I’ve ever purchased. The craftsmanship here is outstanding; great looking (to my amateur eye) welds, tight bends, etc.
Better than that, the fitment is perfect and I don’t use that word lightly. I actually mean perfect. Every bolt hole had plenty of room for adjustment, the bends are bang on and each plate fits together perfectly with the others — that is really not an easy thing to achieve where even on a well built vehicle there are tolerances for various parts.
I’ve read experiences of other skid plate systems for our vehicles being a bit of a battle to install RE fitment, but the BudBuilt system was prob 2.5 hours max, taking my time, very easy.
Paint process was two coats of self etching primer followed by several more coats of flat black.
For those wondering about weights:
OEM front: 14.2lbs
OEM mid: 7.3lbs
OEM half fuel: 8.5lbs
BB Front: 25.7lbs
BB Mid: 26.3lbs
BB Trans: 26.6lbs
BB Crossmember: 13.0lbs
BB Full Fuel: 37.7lbs
Estimating 5lbs for skid plate doors and various other hardware additions.
Net weight gain of 104.3lbs
TLDR these skid plates are built like a tank, will see how they handle rocks in a few weeks.
Last major GX purchase for the year is the Expedition One tire carrier which should be arriving soon.
- Thread starter
- #70
Good to know about drain time, thanks!
The Budbuilt skids are extremely legit. I've been running the full overland set since 2022 and they've definitely saved my bacon and/or expensive car parts many times.
do you have the filler cap open when you're draining?
I do not but might try that next time. It drained about 5X faster with just pulling the plug (pre-Fumoto) so I'm not sure it will make a difference.
r2m
Richard
Don't think there's a vacuum that you would need to pull the filler cup since there's a crank case vent.
