The Mother-In-Law... Build thread, Intro, and request for guidance ('03 LX470) (2 Viewers)

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Thanks! We tied the rock lights into the factory running board harness so they come on when you unlock the truck with the key remote. They will also be switched so that they can be turned on with a rocker switch. Going to tap into the factory harness at the driver's kick panel to do that thanks to @Ramathorn15 sending me the connectors I needed and sending me wiring info on how to do it. There are rock lights at all four corners, and under the middle of the sliders. They give off a nice perimeter light.

I knew I was going to want some additional lighting while driving on the street, so I threw the SAE compliant Rigids into the slot that I assume is for additional cooling if the ARB bumper was installed on a diesel model. They JUST fit in the slot, and I had my guys weld a bracket deep inside that slot so we had something to mount the lights on. I won't really have Left/Right adjustability, but I can at least aim them in terms of height. I run those lights on a couple of other trucks and like how they supplement the stock headlights.

The only thing I didn't think ahead on was the size of the Baja Designs lights, and whether they would fit on the tab that was already on the ARB bumper. They are too big to slide back enough to actually use the hole in that tab, so we had to drill a hole a little farther forward so the light would clear the upper bar. Not a huge deal, but still bummed I missed thinking ahead on that when I had planned out everything else already. Doing all of those things before powdercoat was my goal, but that one slipped by me.

I'm really pleased with the color combo. It's not an exact match to the truck, but it is close enough that it harmonizes really well.

There is still some wiring left to do, but it's getting close to being done in terms of fun add ons. I got a scan tool so I can read AHC pressures since my Mac Book refuses to load VB so I can run Techstream. I plan to get the current readings, flush the AHC, get the pressure readings again and then determine the next course of action. It doesn't look bad like it sits, but I think it would look just a touch better if it was a little taller. I'll probably do the sensor lift depending on the pressures I find as it sits now that it's loaded up with bumpers, etc.
Let us know how the scan tool goes with measuring the AHC pressures. We have all apple products in our house as well. Used an old pc laptop the last time I ran tech stream that has since crapped the bed so I’m looking for a new solution myself.
 
Let us know how the scan tool goes with measuring the AHC pressures. We have all apple products in our house as well. Used an old pc laptop the last time I ran tech stream that has since crapped the bed so I’m looking for a new solution myself.
Will do. It came in on Saturday, but I didn't have to time to give it a try yesterday. Hopefully I can get some time this week, and I'll report back.
 
Bumpers, sliders, winch and lights installed. Need to finish the wiring for the lights, but everything is bolted into place. The only hang up is with the turn and brake indicators in the rear bumper. This bumper is obviously for an LC, but this is an LX. The wire they are telling you to grab off the truck to hook up the lights in the bumper isn't in the same place as it says in the instructions. We haven't dropped the spare tire to look yet, but anyone know where to wire in the lights from the bumper?

Also got my center caps from Ben. These look great, and should help cover the front hub. I think I'll sand and paint them satin black though.

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Love the mods to date. I've got the same year LX and will end up trying to keep the AHC like you. I know you eventually want the rear tire swingout but where you able to get a spare installed with the new wheel/tire config?
 
Love the mods to date. I've got the same year LX and will end up trying to keep the AHC like you. I know you eventually want the rear tire swingout but where you able to get a spare installed with the new wheel/tire config?
I haven't tried to get a spare under the rear yet. If anything I'll probably just try and find a tire of comparable height for the factory spare rim and put it on there. I'm not terribly concerned about flats on this truck, but having one just in case would be good. We are going to have to drop the spare to try and get at the wiring harness under there, so I'll see what kind of room we have to work with.
 
I haven't tried to get a spare under the rear yet. If anything I'll probably just try and find a tire of comparable height for the factory spare rim and put it on there. I'm not terribly concerned about flats on this truck, but having one just in case would be good. We are going to have to drop the spare to try and get at the wiring harness under there, so I'll see what kind of room we have to work with.
About 99.99999% sure a matching spare will /would definitely fit.

*(Unless you’re running an aftermarket hitch which you’re not bc ARB has a built in rated hitch).
 
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Since I couldn't get VB to load on my Mac I went ahead and bought the iCarsoft TYTii so I can do some diagnostics. And now that I have most of the additional weight on the truck I thought I would check out the AHC pressures to see where we are with the weight on the truck. Not good, if I'm reading this correctly. I found some interesting changes when cycling back and forth, so maybe some of you AHC gurus can give me some guidance.

Before installing the bumpers, sliders, winch, etc., the AHC would cycle through all three LNH settings. Now that the bumpers, etc. have been added it only seems to want to go into N and L. When I select H, the rear end raises, but the front only goes up a touch and the whole truck ends up settling back to N. The accumulator pressure stayed pretty much constant at 10.4-10.5. Here are pics of what I found:


N to L the first time:
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L to N the first time:
IMG_0937 2.JPG

N to L the 2nd time:
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L to N the 2nd time:
IMG_0941 2.JPG

L to N to H, but resets to N:
IMG_0947.JPG


I also found it odd the height control sensors were different L to R in the front. Is that something that needs to be corrected, or is it just my 300lbs. sitting in the driver's seat?

I'm also pretty certain the fluid reservoir is overfilled. I think it's at the seam between the top and bottom, but it was hard to see for sure even after pulling out the filter in the fill neck.
 
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Crank your front torsion bars clockwise. Each full clockwise turn will reduces MPa by .2. So you need quite a few turns to get the front close to 6.9. I would start with 5 turns each side on the TB's then check the data after coming from low to N without you in the truck . The pressure data is only good in N after coming from- low disregard the rest. Once you get the front close to spec disconnect the temp sensor at the reservoir and cycle back low to neutral to get an accurate rear pressure. For the rear you can lower the rear sensor a little bit and or add a 30mm spacer if needed.
 
Crank your front torsion bars clockwise. Each full clockwise turn will reduces MPa by .2. So you need quite a few turns to get the front close to 6.9. I would start with 5 turns each side on the TB's then check the data after coming from low to N without you in the truck . The pressure data is only good in N after coming from- low disregard the rest. Once you get the front close to spec disconnect the temp sensor at the reservoir and cycle back low to neutral to get an accurate rear pressure. For the rear you can lower the rear sensor a little bit and or add a 30mm spacer if needed.
Thanks for the pressure change info. I knew I saw that somewhere, so that saves me the time searching! If I can't get enough correction out of cranking the torsion bars I assume I can reclock them. How exactly do you do that without a reindexed torsion key?

In the rear, does anyone have a ballpark of how much pressure is removed by adding the 30mm spacer? I don't want the ass way up in the air, and 30mm seems like a pretty tall spacer. I realize the AHC will put less pressure in the system after adding the spacer, thus lowering it some, but I'd be concerned the rear end would be way up from an 1.18" spacer. If that's the right size then that's the right size. Just curious if anyone has a ballpark in the pressure change like the .2 per turn of the torsion bars.

Which of the connectors on the reservoir is the temp sensor? Looking at the pic I took of the reservoir I see a sensor on the front and one on the DS.

Should I do all of these changes/adjustments before I do a fluid flush? I assume that would be best so I'm not changing too many variables at once, but just want to be sure. I didn't know if changing the fluid would possibly add some pressure (or maybe lose some) after a fluid flush.
 
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The temp sensor is the one closest to the firewall. Dont remember exactly how much the spacsr dropped pressure. If the spacer raises the ass higher than your eyeballs like you an just lower the rear height sensor a little which also lowers pressure. Flush will not add pressure may reduce I did it first.
 
The temp sensor is the one closest to the firewall. Dont remember exactly how much the spacsr dropped pressure. If the spacer raises the ass higher than your eyeballs like you an just lower the rear height sensor a little which also lowers pressure. Flush will not add pressure may reduce I did it first.
Excellent. Thanks!
 
No worries This is the thread I use for flushing measuring etc. The ABCs of AHC - How to Measure, Flush, and Adjust all in one place

You have all you need good luck
Thanks for all of these links. Makes it really easy! I've cranked torsion bars on other trucks, so it'll be interesting to see if these are any more difficult.

Does anyone know if the heater T's for LX470 and the hoses are the same as they are for the LC? I have all the part numbers for the T's, hoses and clips for the LC, but don't want to order those if they aren't the same on the LX.
 
yep they are the same for all

You can raise the front off the wheels to crank the TB's (makes them easier to turn) the first time since you are not getting H mode presently. Once you get enough pressure off the AHC in the front you should get H back working. I do mine with the truck in H with the AHC button near the shift lever off. That takes the weight off the TB's and gives easier access underneath. Post your data in N after coming from L with the truck on level ground you outside the truck & temp sensor disconnected after some turns on the TB's.
 
yep they are the same for all

You can raise the front off the wheels to crank the TB's (makes them easier to turn) the first time since you are not getting H mode presently. Once you get enough pressure off the AHC in the front you should get H back working. I do mine with the truck in H with the AHC button near the shift lever off. That takes the weight off the TB's and gives easier access underneath. Post your data in N after coming from L with the truck on level ground you outside the truck & temp sensor disconnected after some turns on the TB's.
I'll have the truck up on a lift, so it should be easier to turn the TBs. 25 years ago I did it on my 1/2 ton chevy while it was on the ground, and that was a hell of a job. I was in High School so I didn't know any better!

I probably won't be able to get to any of this until the day after Christmas, but I'll post up my findings once I get those done. Thanks again for your help!
 
Well, the trip to my in-laws for Christmas didn't go as planned. Had the LX and my F450 all cleaned up and ready for the drive...then a girl decided to run a stop sign just as we were leaving town. Luckily no one was hurt, but she hit every panel on the passenger side of my truck, knocked the front axle 6" towards the driver's side, slashed two tires, and bent at least one if not two wheels. She obviously faired worse than we did. Luckily the LX was unscathed, and my buddy let me borrow his F450 to continue our trip. Albeit, 5 hours later than planned.

Hopefully today I can get the AHC fluid swapped out and mess around with the TBs to lower the pressures. I got a set of coil spacers from a friend of mine, but they are for a 4-runner. If they are the same outer diameter we might be able to turn them down on the inner diameter to work. If not, I'll order some of the correct rear spacers.

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Well, the trip to my in-laws for Christmas didn't go as planned. Had the LX and my F450 all cleaned up and ready for the drive...then a girl decided to run a stop sign just as we were leaving town. Luckily no one was hurt, but she hit every panel on the passenger side of my truck, knocked the front axle 6" towards the driver's side, slashed two tires, and bent at least one if not two wheels. She obviously faired worse than we did. Luckily the LX was unscathed, and my buddy let me borrow his F450 to continue our trip. Albeit, 5 hours later than planned.

Hopefully today I can get the AHC fluid swapped out and mess around with the TBs to lower the pressures. I got a set of coil spacers from a friend of mine, but they are for a 4-runner. If they are the same outer diameter we might be able to turn them down on the inner diameter to work. If not, I'll order some of the correct rear spacers.

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Merry Christmas... Geez. Sorry this happened. Of course the more expensive of your vehicles gets the damage. But it will probably command the higher / fairer reimbursement from insurance.

Sounds like you handled It like a speed bump and kept moving into the holiday. Props to your buddy who let you borrow his F450. Must be a good friend.
 
Thanks bud. Yeah, it sucks but at least no one was injured. Her insurance company is not going to be happy with the repair bill. It was indeed nice of my buddy to let me borrow his F450 for the remainder of the trip. It's a wonderful thing to have people you can count on!

I did manage to get a couple of things done to the LX yesterday. I put new struts on the hood and rear lift hatch. HUGE improvement of their functioning. The old ones were OEM, and they were pretty tired. The hood wouldn't stay up on it's own, and the rear hatch was hesitant to stay in place. Now they feel very secure.

I also did a fluid flush on the AHC (and managed to take a bath in mineral oil when trying to drain the accumulator), and got the torsion bars tightend up to relieve some of the pressure on the system. Thank you to everyone on this forum that has put together such a comprehensive guide on how to do this stuff. My starting values were essentially 10Mpa-g on the front and 7.90Mpa-g in the rear. I calculated it needed roughly 13.5 turns to get within spec on the front (assuming .2 Mpa-g change per turn on the TB), so I did 13 turns to see where that got me. Pretty much right in spec (albeit towards the high end), and the rear is pretty much perfect as well. Now the truck has no problem going into H mode at all.

Before Adjusting the TBs, post fluid flush.

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After adjusting the TBs.
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One other thing to note is that my height measurements (hub center to fender) were the following:

Pre-flush:
Front: 19"
Rear: 20.25"

Post flush:
Front: 19.75"
Rear: 20.25"

Just doing the flush helped me get back to stock height in the front. After adjusting the TBs the height was the same, but the pressure was within spec. The system was low on fluid, so that could have been a pretty big part of why it wouldn't go into H mode prior to the flush and TB adjustment.
 

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