- Thread starter
- #21
I buy it at either Rural King or local John Deere store, it should cost no more than $9.99 a can.
Builds The Bare Minimum GX470 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter kbahus
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
I buy it at either Rural King or local John Deere store, it should cost no more than $9.99 a can.
Saying your shocks are toast is an understatement.
this whole thread makes me cringe lol
The bump stop for the air suspension is really close to the axle for safety, in case the air spring blows out it will keep the rear end from suddenly collapsing. There is a shorter bump stop for the Prado that didn't have air suspension. Not sure of the part number offhand but it's been discussed here and on some of the Australian forums.
Also, if anyone has a hard time finding Fluid Film, it's basically just lanolin dissolved in mineral spirits.
Yeah rust's a bitch, but what can you do when you live up in these parts? As I said, there are several companies that have sprung up just to address this issue, providing annual rust-proofing treatment to the undercarriage and body cavities (inside doors, side panels, etc.). I swear by these treatments, which have made my cars last much longer than the average car around here. Maybe it's a price to pay to have the pleasure and luxury of enjoying the wonderful change of the seasons up here. And coming upon a relatively rust-free vehicle is a joyous experience for us, whereas for you guys down south it's no big deal 
Keep the info coming kbahus, provides me with some good info on what I can expect to encounter on my GX down the years.
Keep the info coming kbahus, provides me with some good info on what I can expect to encounter on my GX down the years.
- Thread starter
- #26
Good info on the bump stops, I will keep that in mind. That also explains why my 03 came with the bump stops removed when I picked it up from the PO with the 4runner springs installed. I have since reinstalled the bump stops with OME 895E springs, which work perfectly in combination.
Some parts came in today including the air filter, cabin filter, Aisin timing belt kit, and some hood struts. The seat belt buckle came in from Lexus today too. Going to get some more work done tomorrow after work and hopefully tackle the tbelt on Sunday. Tonight I need to order some rear shocks and an oxygen sensor, probably going with some standard Bilsteins as they are pretty cheap and this is strictly a mall cruiser.
Some parts came in today including the air filter, cabin filter, Aisin timing belt kit, and some hood struts. The seat belt buckle came in from Lexus today too. Going to get some more work done tomorrow after work and hopefully tackle the tbelt on Sunday. Tonight I need to order some rear shocks and an oxygen sensor, probably going with some standard Bilsteins as they are pretty cheap and this is strictly a mall cruiser.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #27
Before I order some shocks does anyone have a set of good used rears they want to part with on the cheap? I need to save money where I can as I do seem to be spending it rapidly!
wow that is painful. Glad I live on the dry ass west coast!!
kbahus, The word on the street is that with awd vehicles you want to keep all 4 tires matching as best as you can. if some are different sizes it can screw up the awd system because different wheels are spinning at different speeds.
- Thread starter
- #30
That is the truth, not sure where I referenced mismatching tires though?
Battled the front shocks today, should have taken me an hour tops, took nearly three. The worst part was the electronic damping controllers on top of the shocks. The allens were rusted up and I ended up just snapping the things off with a pry bar to get at the top nut, which was really rusty too. After that was free the upper shock mounts had fused to the shock towers, took some banging to get it all apart. Got her done though and the ride is light years better. I had some nasty steering wheel feedback when hitting pot holes and cracks in the road that is now totally resolved. Hopefully I can get some rear shocks in it tomorrow. The progress has been great.
Last edited:
ha ha I re read your post above and you were talking about shocks. My bad
- Thread starter
- #33
I got it for below book value with enough wiggle room for a majority of the immediate repairs. It was basically like buying it at wholesale.
Today I was able to get some shop time and knock a few things off the list while discovering some things that need added to the list. First off was swapping the shocks with the used ones off my 03 (installed some 5100's), this was easy as the shafts snapped right off facilitating an easy removal! I also installed the OME trim packers on top of the springs, I am going to have to get the factory spring insulators as they do not hold the spring as well as I had hoped. I also remedied the air bag fault code with a new seat belt buckle, upon removal I found the wires snapped off at the plug. Oh yeah, I knew it needed brakes but while I was installing the rear shocks noticed some poor wear on one of the rotors and found the pads has literally come apart. I am going to have to do a full rear brake refresh as the caliper carrier bolts are seized and will probably break off. The parking brake assemblies do nothing as well, I won't know what happened in there till I pull it all apart.
I still need to the timing belt, not looking forward to staying late and knocking that out, book time is 4.4 hours so hopefully it comes apart without trouble. The good news is it is starting to ride/drive nicely with less lights illuminated on the dash!
View attachment 1302947
Today I was able to get some shop time and knock a few things off the list while discovering some things that need added to the list. First off was swapping the shocks with the used ones off my 03 (installed some 5100's), this was easy as the shafts snapped right off facilitating an easy removal! I also installed the OME trim packers on top of the springs, I am going to have to get the factory spring insulators as they do not hold the spring as well as I had hoped. I also remedied the air bag fault code with a new seat belt buckle, upon removal I found the wires snapped off at the plug. Oh yeah, I knew it needed brakes but while I was installing the rear shocks noticed some poor wear on one of the rotors and found the pads has literally come apart. I am going to have to do a full rear brake refresh as the caliper carrier bolts are seized and will probably break off. The parking brake assemblies do nothing as well, I won't know what happened in there till I pull it all apart.
I still need to the timing belt, not looking forward to staying late and knocking that out, book time is 4.4 hours so hopefully it comes apart without trouble. The good news is it is starting to ride/drive nicely with less lights illuminated on the dash!
View attachment 1302947
Last edited:
Great work, keep it up
- Thread starter
- #35
Too hot this week to stay late at the shop, 100 degree heat index values with all of the humidity suck the life out of me. I did manage to replace the rear O2 that was throwing heater circuit code. So it seems that with the 02 spacers and a new sensor all of my CEL codes have been remedied at this time. Only one light left on the dash for the TPMS, it is definitely a bad sensor so I will be bypassing the TPMS.
A few minor annoyances have developed in the meantime. The sunroof rattles occasionally, it seems to be the plastic bar that spans the width just to the aft of the opening, not sure what do about it yet as it does not seem broken. The CD player also went on the fritz when I tried to load CD's. The Steve Miller Band is now stuck in the changer and won't play, error 3 also displays on the screen. More work to come when time and weather permits!
A few minor annoyances have developed in the meantime. The sunroof rattles occasionally, it seems to be the plastic bar that spans the width just to the aft of the opening, not sure what do about it yet as it does not seem broken. The CD player also went on the fritz when I tried to load CD's. The Steve Miller Band is now stuck in the changer and won't play, error 3 also displays on the screen. More work to come when time and weather permits!
Sunroof rattle is usually the rubber around it not sealing well. Causes rattles and whistles.
- Thread starter
- #37
While driving home today I suddenly noticed that my humble V8 sounded much more like a V8 should. More stuff to fix.....
X2
I can't imagine being a mechanic out there in rust country. I hear a torch is a best friend for those guys.
- Thread starter
- #39
A torch is nice but working as a full time tech I use my Snap On air hammer far more!
I was a tech for a Toyota dealership here in AZ for many years and I hated when cars from back east came in. A guy that worked next to me didn't mind them at all... he was from Michigan and told me all about being a tech in a state with a lot of rust. You guys have a lot more skills than we do.
