Samwise Gamgee - 2007 GX 470 (1 Viewer)

[2dub]

Hello, I'm new here. I just bought a new to me '07 GX 470.

It had 130K miles, 2 previous owners and an impeccable service history nearly all done by Lexus. One of the airbags is leaking, but that's okay as the suspension is the first thing I'm doing. No rust on the frame, but the stock wheels have a bit of rust.

I am calling it Sam for Samwise Gamgee the best travel companion anyone could have.

I will be doing a mild conversion from soccer mom mobile to adventure vehicle.

I've ordered the Ironman Nitro stage 1 lift.
I'm shopping for some used wheels now, then some road-friendly All-Terrain tires.

Other than that most updates will be cosmetic.

 

[JAGI410]

Congrats, and what a perfect name for it!

 

[2dub]

Finally finished installing the Ironman lift. I notice a very nice difference in the ride, so far only highway.

Tomorrow, I'm going to install the Phoenix stereo. I also want to hunt down what's going on with the fog lights. Replaced the bulbs, the fuse is good (and yes the lights are turned on) but they still don't work. Next week Sam goes to get the tires and wheels installed.

While I was doing the lift I replaced the rear brake pads and the front sway bar links. The rear sway bar links looked really good.

Here's a question though... When installing the rear suspension, I noticed one of the gas tank straps had rusted all the way through. With it having so little rust elsewhere I am really surprised. Is this a known issue? Has anybody else had this issue? I've added it to my to-do list.

Next few things are going to be cosmetic. Some touch up paint here and there, headlight restoration and then a full detail. Also, I'm going to plasti dip the chrome window trim and other chrome emblems gunmetal to match the new wheels.

I was just going to completely remove the steps, but my wife said she liked them and it made it easier to get in the GX vs my last truck, so they will stay for now. I want to look into AMP folding ones but I really don't want to spend that much.

The weekend after the wheels and tires my son and I are going to hit some mild local off road trails. Which is really what I primarily do for off road. Forest service roads, well established trails and the like. But I am getting ready for a cross-country trip to visit my daughter in Utah and I have dedicated 2 days to hitting some trails. NOT MOAB, been there done that, and Moab is just not fun anymore. Too crowded, too many idiots. But hopefully I can get a couple of action pics with Sam on some trails in northern Utah.

 

[2dub]

So the Phoenix Automotive head unit install went pretty well overall. It just doesn't come with instructions and the various videos I found online by Phoenix, Awesomoto and others were pretty helpful, but I think they've updated the unit since those videos. I don't even have the option for an external mic, and there were a few connectors that came with the unit that just weren't used and some from the GX that didn't have a home to connect to in the unit, but everything seems to work fine.

My only gripe is that the head unit seems to have a polarized screen opposite of my sunglasses, so with my sunglasses on I can barely see anything, but with them off it is a beautiful screen.

I didn't get a chance to hunt down the fog light issue as we had some thunderstorms roll in Sunday, but that will be this weekend.

I'm going to scratch plasti-dipping my chrome window trim to gunmetal. After further review the trim was dry rotted and in pretty bad shape, so I ordered new black window trim from Garage Alpha Offroad. Now I'll plastidip the back windows black to match. I'll still do the logos and other chrome emblems in gunmetal.

Wednesday I have an appointment to get the wheels & tires installed, an alignment along with an a/c recharge. So some new photos will be coming once I get it back.

I want to give it plenty of driving time and run it through its paces before my cross-country trip next month. I still haven't put 500 miles on it yet but so far so good.

Added to my to-do list is removing the 6 disc changer from the glove compartment and getting a 3D printed box in its place. I want to take the navigation cd player out and the air compressor for the rear airbags that I replaced with coils.

 

[2dub]

Just got back from our trip to Utah & Nevada and after nearly 5000 miles in 10 days Sam did very well.

I did have my CV boot open up while out there and want to give a shout out to CV Axle Express in Salt Lake City who got me in quickly and took care of me.

We did some mild and slightly technical trails. Below are some links to video my son took in time lapse on The Pony Express Trail. We took the trail from Faust, UT to the Dugway Geode beds and back. I would loved to have finished the trail through Utah, but had dinner plans up in Ogden.

I didn't get any pics of Sam in action, but here he is parked at a Trailhead at Antelope Island State Park.