Tighe's LX570 - general thread (1 Viewer)

[Tighe]

Nice weekend spent in Idyllwild. Didn’t get off the pavement much but the camping was superb. It was 100 degrees when I was driving through Anza, and it was 78 at Marion Mountain Campground where we stayed. On Sat we drove up to Boulder Basin Campground- the road leading to it’s quite rough but no problem. I imagine it gets hairy during snowmelt when there’s runoff/wet conditions. Any good OHV trails in the area, or recommendations for dispersed camping?

 

[Tighe]

Couple more pics.

 

[Tighe]

I liked Idyllwild so much last weekend I dragged my kids there again this weekend. Took the 2 and 3yo this time, and they loved it ofc. We stayed at Boulder Basin Campground and it was among the coolest spots I’ve ever made camp. I can’t wait to go back. Got lots of new pinstripes too but hopefully they buff out! The upper part of Black Mtn Truck Trail is spectacular. I imagine the pucker factor would be pretty high with any kind of weather!

 

[Tighe]

More pics.

 

[Tighe]

This past weekend I dragged a couple of my kids back to Idyllwild again, as it's the last reservable weekend at Boulder Basin before the campground 'closes' for the season. At least online it's closed as of this week, although the ranger said there are no plans to close. So I don't know what that means. We explored Little Thomas Mountain as well, which I've wanted to do for a long time. Spent probably 1.5 hours driving it. I much prefer the higher altitude and large trees/boulders of Boulder Basin over the lower scrub/brush found throughout much of LTM. No issues with the truck but it'll definitely need some TLC after a season of camping!

My 2yo at one point came running to me in tears and it took me a minute to realize there was a wasp...inside her shirt. That was a disaster with 6 stings but ultimately she was fine. PSA to pack Benadryl in your med kit! Also I made chocolate fondue with some small disposable aluminum baking pans. Very easy and it was a great way to sorta eat s'mores, despite a fire ban!

 

[TeCKis300]

O man, that's a scare for you little one! Glad to hear she's okay.

I almost went to Idyllwild this weekend too. Would have been a great spot to beat the heat but we wound up in Valley of hte Moon.

Do you have any specifics for camping spots and trails? Looks like a great spot.

 

[Tighe]

Hey Paul! Yes it nearly spelled the end of the trip, but the swelling went down so quickly and she bounced right back. I was very eagle eyed for the rest of the day and night!

Yes, I have some insights on camping in Idy. By far the best campground I've been to there is Boulder Basin, but as I said above it's basically the end of the season now. It was cold at night up there! The road leading up is 4S01 and is no problem for a stock LC/LX. I saw a Prius up there a few months ago, albeit with a pretty mangled front bumper and some cladding hanging off the underside. But it made it up! No sweat in your rig obviously but probably not if you're towing anything other than a small trailer. Tight turns, very tight passing clearances if there's traffic, steep dropoffs, etc. The rangers said the road closes with the first major snowfall, and then reopens in the spring. They are available by phone to confirm any road closures at 909-382-2922. Sometimes they answer, usually not. I also look at the fantastic San Jacinto Trail Report website for updates. Once up to Boulder Basin, I recommend sites 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30. Of these, 18-21 are first come first served. Boulder Basin website. Fire bans have been present about half the time this summer. If you continue past the campground, 4S01 leads to 6 or 7 Yellow Post Sites, as well as the Black Mountain Group Campsite. These ALL look awesome, but I have not camped at any of them, only driven by. The group campsite is reservable here, the YPS cannot be reserved. 4S01 is an out and back road and I have not driven the full extent, but it's pretty breathtaking and I definitely recommend checking it out. I turned around at the Fuller Ridge Trailhead (33.84025, -116.73524) so I'm not sure what's beyond that point. I did get a fire permit which is free and only takes a minute. Not sure if the YPS have a fire ring.

I've also camped at Marion Mountain. It's nice and there are some great hikes nearby. Paved all the way to the campsites, but pretty twisty roads. Fern Basin also looks nice but I haven't stayed there, only driven through. I would pass on Stone Creek Campground, unless you're looking for a crowd.

Lmk what other info I can provide!

 

[TeCKis300]

Thanks for the details! After looking into it a bit more, I realized I've put a toe on Little Thomas Mountain a couple of times but never went too far due to time limitations. Also have camped at Lake Hemet and Hurkey Creek too many times to remember. Boulder Basin however really really intrigues me and is my type of camping. I'll have to put this one on the list. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Tighe]

Just got back from a surf trip to Costa Rica. Whoa, the cruisers there are awesome, and plentiful! I was filled with envy, as I love the whole 70 series lineup…

 

[Tighe]

Nice weekend in Anza Borrego. We initially drove up toward Coyote Cyn but the lower portion is closed and padlocked. Ranger said a monsoon totally destroyed the road up to Sheep Campground- no timeframe for repairs. Anyway we went to Fish Creek as a backup and picked a site nearish Sandstone Cyn and had fun. The Go Fast Superlite RTT is fun, but it’s not without effort. It def beats a ground tent for kids though, it’s so fun for them.

 

[Tighe]

I did chew up my running board on a pretty minor obstacle…perhaps sliders are in the future.

The crunch was pretty sickening, and I was VERY happy to see just some local damage to the plastic and no damage to the doors.

 

[Tighe]

Hey all, just wanted to update this to say that I successfully programmed two additional key fobs for my truck recently. I bought OEM Denso fobs from Tom's Key Company, and they included a programmer and a USB connector, which you return once the programming is finished. Basically you buy the key, and then rent the programmer from them. They also cut the new key just using some photos of the old key which you send in. It definitely took some effort on my part but it came out to be about 1/2 the price that was quoted by my Lexus dealer.

Tom's Key Company | Online Spare Car Key Services

Unlock significant savings in your spare car key! Discover Key by Photo Technology and DIY Programming for Fast and Affordable Solutions.

tomskey.com

Here is a video showing how it works:

 

[EatsManyHotDogs]

Hey all, just wanted to update this to say that I successfully programmed two additional key fobs for my truck recently. I bought OEM Denso fobs from Tom's Key Company, and they included a programmer and a USB connector, which you return once the programming is finished. Basically you buy the key, and then rent the programmer from them. They also cut the new key just using some photos of the old key which you send in. It definitely took some effort on my part but it came out to be about 1/2 the price that was quoted by my Lexus dealer.

Tom's Key Company | Online Spare Car Key Services

Unlock significant savings in your spare car key! Discover Key by Photo Technology and DIY Programming for Fast and Affordable Solutions.

tomskey.com

Here is a video showing how it works:


View attachment 3609816

View attachment 3609817

That's a nice move to get that done yourself. And congratulations on beating the dealer pricing. I'll share my own story in case it helps anyone save time of money. I looked into Tom's Key company and I've only seen good reviews about them. The pricing was about $130 for the fob, and $70 for the rental programmer. However, they did not have a fob for my 2008 Land Cruiser. I wound up getting a used (de-programmed) fob for about 90 bucks from an online shop called Keyless Entry Remote (Toyota Land Cruiser OEM Key Fob HYQ14AAB 3 Button - https://www.keylessentryremotefob.com/toyota-land-cruiser-oem-3-button-key-fob-hyq14aab/) and I was able to program it myself with Techstream. They originally sent me a key fob with FCC # hyq14aem, which did not match my existing fob, that is FCC # hyq14aab. I've since learned that the FCC #'s need to match. I've read a lot of forum posts of people who have had mixed success with programming a new key themselves, and I'm guessing a lot of the failures have been the result of a FCC # mismatch. I still need to get the mechanical laser cut key copied though. My local Toyota dealer says they can't do it and I should buy a new one from them - Ha Ha! Never! [maniacal laugh]

 

[Tighe]

That's a nice move to get that done yourself. And congratulations on beating the dealer pricing. I'll share my own story in case it helps anyone save time of money. I looked into Tom's Key company and I've only seen good reviews about them. The pricing was about $130 for the fob, and $70 for the rental programmer. However, they did not have a fob for my 2008 Land Cruiser. I wound up getting a used (de-programmed) fob for about 90 bucks from an online shop called Keyless Entry Remote (Toyota Land Cruiser OEM Key Fob HYQ14AAB 3 Button - https://www.keylessentryremotefob.com/toyota-land-cruiser-oem-3-button-key-fob-hyq14aab/) and I was able to program it myself with Techstream. They originally sent me a key fob with FCC # hyq14aem, which did not match my existing fob, that is FCC # hyq14aab. I've since learned that the FCC #'s need to match. I've read a lot of forum posts of people who have had mixed success with programming a new key themselves, and I'm guessing a lot of the failures have been the result of a FCC # mismatch. I still need to get the mechanical laser cut key copied though. My local Toyota dealer says they can't do it and I should buy a new one

That's a nice move to get that done yourself. And congratulations on beating the dealer...

Yeah, some of this definitely tracks with my experience as well. They did not have my key fob in stock either, but they were able to source two brand new Lexus fobs (FCC ID: HYQ14AAB Board: 0140) which I had them do. It took some emailing back and forth to confirm the FCC ID was in fact correct.

They Key by Photo service offered by Tom's is a separate service. I suspect you could have them only do that portion, if you still want to get it cut. I used it for both my replacements and both new metal keys work in the door lock.

One issue I forgot to mention is that one of the fobs I received had a dead battery. In retrospect it should have been obvious because I wasn't getting any flashing red light when clicking buttons, but I did waste plenty of time trying to program it before realizing the battery was dead.

 

[Tighe]

Howdy all. I don't have any big projects lined up for my LX at the moment, so I figured I'd spend a little time looking at some minor annoyances. At the top of the list for me personally is the infotainment screen. I don't want to swap it for something more modern, but I was looking for ways to get an improved image.

My biggest gripe is the image when reversing at nighttime - the stock bulbs seem plenty bright, but the image I see on the screen is all but useless. I did a little test with three 900 lumen flashlights, and the additional light certainly helps, but I don't think I can find replacement reverse lights with anywhere near that output. Any thoughts on improving screen image/camera resolution? I've looked at swapping the camera itself too but haven't uncovered anything. To anyone who's replaced the reverse bulbs, did you notice much imrpovement? I am considering these XPR LED's from Diode Dynamics...but it's a lot to spend on reverse bulbs if they're only going to provide a negligible improvement.

Any thougths welcomed...

Here is the image when reversing at night currently. You can see curved streaks of light on the ground, which I suspect are from the ridges in the bulb housing itself. This definitely does not help with image clarity because it makes it appear as if the camera is dirty...but it's not.

With a few high powered flashlights, things improve a lot. I just can't imagine I would get anywhere near this output from reverse bulbs...and even if the output was good it would still have those streaks from the bulb housing. Top pic has the flashlights sitting on the bumper, bottom pic they're on the ground beneath the bumper.

 

[TeCKis300]

It's been awhile Tighe! Good to see you tinkering.

Interesting thought on the reverse bulb. I've been meaning to upgrade the bulb for awhile as it's probably one of the very few left that's still an OEM bulb. Never thought to upgrade for enhanced backup cam function, but it makes sense. I have auxiliary rear (red) fogs I often use when offroad and I do notice that it adds to visibility and contrast over just the standard backup lighting.

Are they 921 bulbs? I might just try with some mild grade LEDs and see how it goes. Probably more important that they are high CRI versus high lumen? I might even have some bulbs lying around as 921s are common for RVs.

You may find interesting, the OEM camera has more fidelity and resolution than the OEM MFD is capable of displaying. I have it integrated to an aftermarket TESLA screen that is larger and higher resolution and it works well. Also interesting is that the OEM display crops the output of the camera. You can see the bottom left of the camera FOV that it catches part of the OEM trim, which is potentially why they crop.

 

[gasman4u]

Howdy all. I don't have any big projects lined up for my LX at the moment, so I figured I'd spend a little time looking at some minor annoyances. At the top of the list for me personally is the infotainment screen. I don't want to swap it for something more modern, but I was looking for ways to get an improved image.

My biggest gripe is the image when reversing at nighttime - the stock bulbs seem plenty bright, but the image I see on the screen is all but useless. I did a little test with three 900 lumen flashlights, and the additional light certainly helps, but I don't think I can find replacement reverse lights with anywhere near that output. Any thoughts on improving screen image/camera resolution? I've looked at swapping the camera itself too but haven't uncovered anything. To anyone who's replaced the reverse bulbs, did you notice much imrpovement? I am considering these XPR LED's from Diode Dynamics...but it's a lot to spend on reverse bulbs if they're only going to provide a negligible improvement.

Any thougths welcomed...

View attachment 3928105


Here is the image when reversing at night currently. You can see curved streaks of light on the ground, which I suspect are from the ridges in the bulb housing itself. This definitely does not help with image clarity because it makes it appear as if the camera is dirty...but it's not.

View attachment 3928106

View attachment 3928110


With a few high powered flashlights, things improve a lot. I just can't imagine I would get anywhere near this output from reverse bulbs...and even if the output was good it would still have those streaks from the bulb housing. Top pic has the flashlights sitting on the bumper, bottom pic they're on the ground beneath the bumper.
View attachment 3928111
View attachment 3928112

I've got the DD reverse LED's in mine (the XPR variant with DD SKU: DD0394P). They put of a lot of light and are seconded to only the rigid pods I had rigged up in my old truck that were fantastic for reversing offroad/dark untraveled roads. I don't think they're 921's @TeCKis300 , but could be mistaken. The DD bulbs take up the majority of the reverse housing and I could see this as being problematic if you were to leave them on for a long time with heat generation. I would recommend them for anyone who wants more light while reversing.

To pull on the 921 LED thread, I have had to warranty a DD 921 red led (3rd brake light) for another car three times. The most recent warranty email they replied to say I was out of the two/three/whatever year period and I was no longer covered for free replacement. I got a standard 921 from Amazon and havne't looked back. I would not recommend that particular bulb from DD and I'm a big fan of their products overall. HTH.