Builds ROTW Capocaccia's 1996 Lexus LX450 (1 Viewer)

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Joined
May 1, 2006
Threads
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Ok guys. I guess its my turn to try and show off my rig haha. I can only be inspired by how much better alot of the fellow members of hte IH8MUD community's rigs look than mine. Lets start the show.

Id like to thank first of all this site. In all honesty, my dad sold my 2001 Toyota Tundra and gave me me 1996 LX450 which was my brothers before it became mine. I sat in it and drove it around for a few weeks and I just felt like I was taking the kids to soccer practice every day. My ego was being crushed as well as my social life. (chicks dont dig 18 year olds in soccer mom cars). So I knew it was a land cruiser and I figured, hey, its a 4WD with solid axels lets see if theres an online community for this like there was for the Tundra. So I searched and searched and finally fell upon IH8MUD.COM and boom, my wallet emptied and I fell in love with my rig.

Heres my old Tundra and my LX in stock form and the first time I ever wheeled it.

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And heres me stuck for the first time. Hasnt happened since I promise.

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Thank you everyone especially CPJONES for my Bumper. Matt for the shop time, education on how much better OME is than Skyjacker, and education on how to install a suspension. And everyone at IH8MUD for setting me straight and keeping my mind going.

My rig is a 1996 Lexus LX450 and sorry it doesnt have a CDL. It was babied by my brother and I dont think it ever touched rough road much less the trails at Harlan or anything else. My first mod was my tires. I decided to go with BFGoodrich All Terrains due to their good road manners. I had the Dueler A/T Revos on my Tundra and was impressed but just wanted to try something else as well. This is my DD and Im 18 years old so I needed a tire that would have a good lifetime on it so the BFGs were my choice.

SIDE NOTE: My real first mod was my sound system but the first mod that pertains to some off road accessory was my tires. My sound system is a Pioneer DEH-P4800MP Single Din head unit with a 12" Memphis M Class subwoofer in a ported truck wedge box which fit awesome when I still had my third row seats in there. Now it falls over under hard breaking but im gonna fix that later by cutting it down and moving it to the back of my 2nd row. I have a 250 watt Phoenix Gold amp and since my stock speakers arent horrible Im keeping them for now. Oh ya, Ive got an Ipod adapter that plugs into your cigarette lighter and plays through the radio also. I love it.

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After that I decided a roof rack was what I needed next. Now Im not going on any expeditions so I searched and found a off brand 2 piece rack for 100$ that mounts to the factory rack. And for my purposes, its been the most cost effective mod yet. It carries my spare and lights up the nights for me so what more can I ask from my 100$ rack.

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Moving on I was low on cash so that summer I worked until I could get some new wheels. this was before the painting the factor wheels trend or else I would have done that but I ended up getting some Pro Comp 1089 Series Wheels. I love the look and all but the lug nuts do not have enough space around them to fit a standard lug wrench forcing me to carry the necessary socket in my car at all times. Typical Pro Comp. But I sold my factory wheels for 400$ so my cost for the pro comps was somewhere in the 300-400$ range. Im getting smarter as I go along I promise haha.


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The missing lug that I have is from the locking lugs that they gave me that stripped out and I threw in the trash. Im replacing them soon. Locking lug nuts suck.


So I decide I need a suspension lift. Im 18 and on a budget so I said Im gonna try the skyjacker. Ya, that didnt turn out to well when I find out the kit is for 4 springs and 2 shocks. Why only two? I dont know. But heres the rest of the story. This car is a gift from my dad so I clear everything I do with him first. He was COMPLETELY against getting a lift. So I explained to him the safety in how the new springs are made to deal with the rigs new height and the shocks are valved to the spring rates as well. He was at this point kind of impressed in my research and my knowledge of what I was going to do. My birthday rolls around and I get the money for the suspension and figured heck why not ask again or else I get some sliders or something. So I asked him and he answered me with "Son, your 18 now, you can make your own choices but these choices need to be ones your 100% confident in." Of course he added in how I was going to have to pay for the whole thing myself which I already knew.

So Matt aka RockClimber7 lives in memphis and we spoke and he got me shop time and on goes my 2.5 OME 850/863 kit.

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I dont know what order these next went in. Oh well.

But ya, I ended up wanting some night lighting and got some auto zone cheap 55W flood lights and mounted them to my roof rack. I wired these to a switch panel on my dash.
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The wiring runs under the drivers side carpet up the seatbelt housing and out the drivers rear door to the rack.
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Later on I ditched the damamge multiplier and went with CPJONES' TJM T17 front bumper. Thanks Casey!

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I needed a place to mount my hi lift so I traded my stock 6 disc cd changer for a mounting bracket which is in the pic.

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I used a bolt and a spacer assembly to keep the other end from wobbling around.

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Well guys! Ill probably edit this during the week to add more. But theres a list of my mods, and the pics below will show alot of what ive done and im making a list of future mods. Thanks alot for everything IH8MUD your support and knowledge is priceless.

Being 18, and low on cash, Ive made a very capable rig for a very decent price. Couldnt have done it without you guys. The best mod is the 20$ star by the way

Oh, and thanks Christo for the windshield banner! www.sleeoffroad.com

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Mods:
285/75 R16 BFG A/Ts
Pro Comp 1089 Wheels
2.5 OME Suspension
Pioneer DEHP4800 Head Unit
Memphis M Class 12" subwoofer
Phoenix Gold 250 Watt amp
Four 55 Watt flood beam lights
TJM T17 Front bumper W/ Hi Lift mounted on it
Custom switch panel for the lights


Future Mods:
Welding my own roof rack with axe and shovel mount
AviStart 4400 2 Way remote start and security system ( got it done yesterday and lovin it!)
1 inch front end spacer
Winch (maybe... if the deals good enough)
 
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Here are some pics from Harlan KY at the April Fools Toyota Crawl and a local memphis 4x4 spot and the safest place of all my driveway.

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And my inspiration for doing it all. I saw Romers rig and thought whoa, that thing looks bad ass. Im gonna have a rig like that one day. Well, Im definately on my way.
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Memphis representin'

Nice cruiser and write up. Glad you got your mods going. Now I gotta get my act together with the 62.
How many miles are on it?

If you ever wanna do any offroading, hit me up. I'm sure ill see you in around in Memphis.
 
137k. Im due for an oil change soon. But ya, this coming week is exam week for me so Ill be busy then but after that I can wheel non stop. We will have to meet up.
 
very nice rig and write up! looking very good. i like your wheels too. what did you do with your old wheels? if you still have them and need somebody to look after them i have a good home for them. they would be in good hands.
:cheers:
 
M-town!!!!

I am from Memphis too but I am in school at Auburn at the moment. I will be home for the summer and I am planning on going to Razorback Ramble the first week in June. We should make a Memphis Convoy out there, it should be a lot of fun.
 
I haven't seen that Toyota ad before. Very nice! Where did you find it?

Nice rig and an example to everyone that is young and/or on a tight budget that you can still build a capable truck a little at a time.

:cheers:

-B-
 
The wiring runs under the drivers side carpet up the seatbelt housing and out the drivers rear door to the rack.
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Could you post a pic of where the wiring actually enters the cab? I'm curious to know...



:idea:

What did those lights cost?
 
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A build on a budget- sounds like an episode of trucks!

It looks good. You've done all the 'important' mods first and are well on your way to having a very nicely built truck.

:cheers:
 
nice rig. Love the wheels.ERG80
 
nice breakfast club quotes.

Sweet rig too.
send me some BBQ!
 
Nice rig and welcome to MUD! :flipoff2:

Wish I had my truck at 18..... and a gas card to actually be able to drive it! :D

I love my LX450 also. I think I'm ditching the stock head unit shortly and installing an Alpine CD player with iPod hookup and new speakers.

-MC
 
Nice write up.:D

Nice build on a budget as well.:cool:

As always thanks for contributing.:cheers:
 
Nice rig and right up too.:popcorn:
 
LOVE those wheels. Great functional build.
:beer:
Smit
 
he can't ignore me, it'sin the quotes...

I have a couple friends that live in Mephis and work for FedEx.

Group buy BBQ anyone?
 

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