Suspension opinions wanted for mild lift on 2004 GX470

[BobinBend]

I have a 2004 GX with about 140K on it and it is still doing great (knock on wood). I am expecting the rear air bags to go any time and want to be ready for reworking my suspension soon. I upgraded to a bigger tire (TOYO Open Country AT2 265-70R17s), and I really like them so far. I would sure like to install a nice 1" lift that works well on road as well as off for fishing and unimproved roads. i am thinking a just swap out with a good shock up front, and replacing the rear air bags with a spacer

to keep the lexus comfort on the washboard dirt roads (unless someone can tell me that swapping to coils/shocks in rear would still retain the comfort.

Icon looks amazing, but the price tag is high of course. Maybe someone can suggest three options (good, better, best?) Also heard metaltech was a good option

any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I live in the Seattle area if there are suggested suspension installers.

 

[GXO]

Talk to ObssessMuch he is my brother and has a GX lifted in the Seattle area you can take a look at before deciding.

 

[BobinBend]

cool thanks, that would be nice to see a lifted GX in person sometime. Most I have seen online have been 2" or more while I am probably more interested in a mild lift like 1-2" for running on a rough/rutted dirt roads with the occasional small rocky patch and still mildly sporty enough to be able to drive to work.

 

[GXO]

I have the 2.5" Iron Man 4x4 lift and it isn't extremely high, nor does it impact on road performance. A bit harsher in the rear on speed bumps, but it is much better in high speed cornering, etc. I have the heavy springs. If you went with the lighter springs in the rear you would be good to go.

 

[mercedeezel]

Welcome! I lifted my wife's GX with the 2.5" TJM kit from Slee Offroad - I think it's still on sale for $625. We love the ride - feels more sporty. I would say it yielded the same performance results Dan mentions.


Seems you want minimal lift but like the OEM lexus ride. An easy/cheap route would be to get the height adjustable bilstein 5100's for the front and re-use the OEM springs. I believe the 5100's have three spring seat settings - stock, low and lift. Set the spring perch to the "lift" setting. I know TJM front shocks that come with their 2.5" lift kit are height adjustable as well, they use spacer rings to move the spring seat up. I'm sure the iron man front shocks are the same but have not seen them personally to verify. Of course, these aren’t adjustable like a true coilover. You have to take the coil and shock assembly apart to adjust the height. For the rear, find some stock FJ cruiser springs and swap them in with Metal Tech's coil conversion kit. Most GX's are a tad higher in the back anyway so you might end up with a level lift. If you stay low you can probably avoid aftermarket upper control arms.

 

[Nothinghead]

I have the Bilstein 5100s on mine both front and rear. There are actually four settings on the front strut from stock to about 2" of lift if you are using stock springs. Results vary because you are using old and somewhat fatigued springs. I went for the setting second from highest and got about 1.7" lift. I rub slightly with 265/70/17 Duratracs on FJC rims only at full lock in reverse. The rides is very comfortable and almost too soft for me. It seems to sway slightly on cornering but I also had nearly flat rear airbags before so that might be the difference. The ride is slightly less sporty and more comfortable that my mother's 2003 4runner with stock springs and new KYB shocks. I have OME (Old Man Emu) springs in my garage that I am waiting to put on the front to match the 2" lift OME springs I put in the rear to replace airbags. What I like about the 5100s in the front is now I can switch the springs to lifted ones without buying new shocks again.
I'll report back the difference between my current OEM springs on the lifted setting on the Bilsteins vs. the stock height setting but with the taller OME springs.

 

[BobinBend]

this is all great info...thanks I will look at some of these ideas

 

[mracer]

I'm running bilstein 5100s with the Toytec/eibach springs in the front and Icon springs for the rear and love the ride and handling. I set the 5100s on the second notch from the bottom and ended up with a 2.5" lift. If you leave it on the lowest setting you should get about a lift of 1.6". I got 2 inches of lift in the back from the Icon springs.

This is my second setup. First setup was 5100s with stock springs on the 2nd notch from the bottom. This resulted in a 1 inch lift. I ran old man emu 895e springs in the rear and got 1 inch of lift from them. This setup rode very harsh and was mainly due to the rear springs. They are much stiffer than the icons and only rode well when loaded down with a few hundred pounds.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

What parts do the gx470 share with other Toyota models? I have the same Eibach/bilstein toytec setup on my 3rd gen and it rides really nice but I fail to see what interchanges at this early stage of my research.


Nice looking Lexus BobinCovington

 

[Nothinghead]

What parts do the gx470 share with other Toyota models? I have the same Eibach/bilstein toytec setup on my 3rd gen and it rides really nice but I fail to see what interchanges at this early stage of my research.


Nice looking Lexus BobinCovington

The GX shares the same platform as the Land Cruiser Prado 120 series and 4th gen 4runner. I don't know how much overlap there is between the 3rd and 4th gen 4Rs but this should help your research a little more.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

The GX shares the same platform as the Land Cruiser Prado 120 series and 4th gen 4runner. I don't know how much overlap there is between the 3rd and 4th gen 4Rs but this should help your research a little more.

I want to say the Eibach springs Toytec uses for the 4th gen and 3rd gen are the same but the shocks I know for sure are different and not interchangeable. I did read prado bumpers may fit.

Thats what I needed to know as far as suspension matching up between the 470 and 4th gen.

 

[The Great Him]

no 3rd gen 4runner overlap. totally different set up. i dont know about toytecs coils being interchangeable, but im sure a quick call to toytec would clear that up. you will need a true coilover if you dont want to lift high, a true adjustable coilover will be able to go from stock height to 2-3" of lift. for the rear you will need to find the right coil spring to fit how much lift you want. they come in several options for both height and weight.

 

[h2oskikrazy]

I like your front bull bar. Which one did you get?

 

[Cj80cruiser]

no 3rd gen 4runner overlap. totally different set up. i dont know about toytecs coils being interchangeable, but im sure a quick call to toytec would clear that up. you will need a true coilover if you dont want to lift high, a true adjustable coilover will be able to go from stock height to 2-3" of lift. for the rear you will need to find the right coil spring to fit how much lift you want. they come in several options for both height and weight.

Ah, I see you made the move to a GX470. I believe Steeze or Snowrunner confirmed the 4th gen and 3rd gen used the same Eibach front spring but I won't swear to it. I wish there was a FAQs page in this section to help with my research. I imagine there will be one sooner or later as the prices drop on these GXs and more people wheel them.

I like your front bull bar. Which one did you get?

My wife likes it too but I'm trying to talk her into an ARB/TJM/Ironman if I can confirm fitment.

 

[The Great Him]

Ah, I see you made the move to a GX470. I believe Steeze or Snowrunner confirmed the 4th gen and 3rd gen used the same Eibach front spring but I won't swear to it. I wish there was a FAQs page in this section to help with my research. I imagine there will be one sooner or later as the prices drop on these GXs and more people wheel them.



My wife likes it too but I'm trying to talk her into an ARB/TJM/Ironman if I can confirm fitment.

yeup i made the switch. the GX is more family friendly...

so a quick look at toytecs web page and they list the same part numbers for both vehicles 3rd and 4th gen. so i guess those parts will interchange, but thats also an aftermarket part. the struts themself are not interchangeable, eibach/toytec coil is.

the ARB bumper will "fit" but its not perfect. the Prado body lines and the GX body lines are different, enough so that you will either have to cut on the bumper or on the fenders of the GX to make it fit, basically once installed its there for good, no going back. personally i dont like the looks of the ARB on the GX, honestly i have not seen a aftermarket bumper that looks good on the GX.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

I like your front bull bar. Which one did you get?

yeup i made the switch. the GX is more family friendly...

so a quick look at toytecs web page and they list the same part numbers for both vehicles 3rd and 4th gen. so i guess those parts will interchange, but thats also an aftermarket part. the struts themself are not interchangeable, eibach/toytec coil is.

the ARB bumper will "fit" but its not perfect. the Prado body lines and the GX body lines are different, enough so that you will either have to cut on the bumper or on the fenders of the GX to make it fit, basically once installed its there for good, no going back. personally i dont like the looks of the ARB on the GX, honestly i have not seen a aftermarket bumper that looks good on the GX.

This is going to be my wife's vehicle and I'm more or less looking for deer protection. She hates all the aftermarket bumpers so we'll see what happens, lol.

 

[Mlachica]

Check out radflo coilovers, a good quality and less expensive than king/icon

Are those the P265/70R17's or the LT265/70R17s

 

[The Great Him]

Check out radflo coilovers, a good quality and less expensive than king/icon

Are those the P265/70R17's or the LT265/70R17s

i have looked at the prices of Radflo vs Icon and realistically there is not much in the difference of price, maybe $1-200... and when you are talking about $1000+ for a set of coilovers i dont see how $100 is that big of a deal. i get that its easy for me to say with someone elses money but i also know Icon has a race proven history and durability...

but to be clear i have never had the opportunity to compare the two side by side

 

[470SNC]

OME, Iron Man, Toytec BOSS, 5100 coilovers, are your best bet for a more affordable setup if you dont want to drop a grand for Icons/Radflos/Kings/Racerunner/etc.

 

[BobinBend]

any input on good suspension shops near Seattle (reasonably near), that anyone has good experience with? I think it is close to time to get this done.