Builds Travis’s PNW LX570 (45 Viewers)

[CharlieS]

Winch order was cancelled by amazon seller, not able to order from warn either

The cancellation may be related to the recall on all Warn VR winches because of a potential fault in the handheld remote. If it gets wet, the battery can corrode and cause the winch to turn on, or something like that. I pulled the battery from my remote as a stopgap.

I had the old Slee terminals and switched them to their billet ones. Too many arcing/pitting issues just like yours reported for it to be a coincidence.

 

[tbisaacs]

The cancellation may be related to the recall on all Warn VR winches because of a potential fault in the handheld remote. If it gets wet, the battery can corrode and cause the winch to turn on, or something like that. I pulled the battery from my remote as a stopgap.

I had the old Slee terminals and switched them to their billet ones. Too many arcing/pitting issues just like yours reported for it to be a coincidence.

You might be right—I was watching warn.com over the holidays and for a solid week the VR winches weren't even listed online, and then suddenly came back.

 

[krice118]

@tbisaacs thanks for sharing all of your build - been following for a while. Apologies if I missed this, how did you account for the extra weight with the AHC?

 

[tbisaacs]

@tbisaacs thanks for sharing all of your build - been following for a while. Apologies if I missed this, how did you account for the extra weight with the AHC?

Mostly nothing. It’s not been something I’ve thought about. However recently I added some black spring rubbers in front:

‘Spring rubbers’ LX570 missing link for attitude control on normal builds (non long travel)

Topic: spring rubbers and other ways to modify your base spring rate Why: it works, it easy to install and remove, it’s cheap. And also to get this chatter out of the long travel thread, where more extensive mods are taking place What: spring rubbers are plastic shims that you put in your...

forum.ih8mud.com

And I really enjoy the extra spring rate. I may add some progressive coils in rear at some point, but not really having any performance issues with AHC.

 

[tbisaacs]

Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to inform you that I've installed my winch. This battle station is fully operational.

 

[tbisaacs]

Circling back. I haven’t had any starting issues. My LX brethren, knock on the fake wood veneer for ya boy.

I briefly ran some OEM battery terminals after my original Slee extended terminals failed due to corrosion. I couldn’t leave them alone and ordered some new Slee billet ones.

Im pretty annoyed that I’ve spent $300 on two sets of Slee terminals but here we are. They are well made and well designed. There really isn’t an alternative made for this specific use case.

I also took the opportunity to finish up after my warn install and cut the excess cabling for power and ground.

And I know @CharlieS id going to remind me to shield my terminals

 

[AnyMal]

I never checked, and scrapped it unfortunately. I was going to keep as a spare but then decided I'd rather just push the truck off a cliff if the starter goes out again

My type of comment right here.

 

[AnyMal]

I know im wayyyy to late cuz i was off forum for a couple months dealing with health and things buttt, everyone should be running the "sealed" 31 super starts.

Look at my janky ass terminals though to help you feel better.
I dont think theyve influenced anything but im not exactly proud of this.
Should i be more worried?

 

[tbisaacs]

I know im wayyyy to late cuz i was off forum for a couple months dealing with health and things buttt, everyone should be running the "sealed" 31 super starts.

Look at my janky ass terminals though to help you feel better.
I dont think theyve influenced anything but im not exactly proud of this.
Should i be more worried?

View attachment 3244873

I’d grab some of the slee group 31 extended terminals.

It’s probably fine but I don’t know how you live with yourself with that janky extension

 

[tbisaacs]

After almost two months of bad luck chasing a no-start, replacing a burnt out winch, and finding a leaking radiator at the very last minute, the LX successfully completed a ~ 3000 round trip from Seattle to Sedona and back, almost flawlessly.

As always, the LX is a capable and comfortable touring, even with her extra girth. It's just so compliant, and so quiet. Going east to west, the 80 mph speed limited and 20-30 mph crosswinds through the open areas of Idaho and Utah, she slammed through gas like it was redbull. We averaged 11.5 mpg between Pendelton Oregon to Salt Lake City Utah. On the way back we got a respectable 14.5 mpg.

We got into Sedona on Monday about 3 hours before our rental was ready so we made our way down dry creek road. This is an extremely busy trail due to the Devil's bridge side quest. My very little nephews were with us, so we opted to go past it and play in the water by Van Deren Cabin instead.

The best part of this was all of the looks, points, and cat-calls that my 570 and my brother-in-laws 470 got from the pink jeep drivers.

Next on the agenda was the legendary Broken Arrow trail. I watched about 200 youtube videos before hand (of course) and felt pretty prepared for this trail. It's rated a double-black diamond on local guides but I think a stock 200 could do it with very careful spotting.

This trail is really short, but there are no dull moments. Its a little bit of everything: ledges, slick-rock climbs, off camber, sand, and incredible views.

The LX just chewed this trail up. With big tires, good traction and tons of clearance, I could have ran the whole trail in neutral height. No issues—well, until mushroom rock.

This is the last 1/3 of the trail before it become two way. If you know this trail, there is a climb, a hard left, and then a another slick rock climb. The second slick rock climb I heard a heart-stopping noise—a loud thunk, and then more scary noises at both droop and full lock. I thought for sure I broke a CV. I climbed under the car multiple times and didn't see anything out of place. I put the truck in neutral height and slid down the stair case and finished the trail.

Here's my brother in law coming down

 

[tbisaacs]

We finished, aired up and headed back home and after doom-posting on the long travel AHC thread, I finally found the issue—I sheared the driver side sway bar link. The thunking was the ball popping out of the link socket and hitting the bar itself. Way less scary than a broken CV or hosed front diff

I took out the link and then romped the ranch loop west of sedona without issue. This was honestly the funnest part of the trip. We don't have soft sand like this in central washington.

Undeterred (perhaps ignorantly)—the rest of the trail playlist was to be Schnebly Hill Road out of sedona out to 17, and permits for Soldier's pass on Thursday. However our plans were foiled by the weather. Both 87n and 17 were closed, and the forest service cancelled our permits.

It was probably for the best. By the time 17 opened up on Friday, it was a white-out, white-knuckle drive to Flagstaff.

To get home, I contemplated a bunch of options regarding the sway bar link. And long story short, I zip-tied it and drove 1500 miles home. Shout-out to @grinchy for that suggestion. It worked fine, and I lived to tell about it.

 

[HSTexan]

Great pics as always; I saw one that Dave posted earlier this week--looked like a great time!

 

[tbisaacs]

Great pics as always; I saw one that Dave posted earlier this week--looked like a great time!

It was awesome. Dave killed it on broken arrow!

 

[HSTexan]

It was awesome. Dave killed it on broken arrow!

I still haven't even gotten to see his new 100 series

 

[AnyMal]

The 100 is so fing timeless lexus!
Love it. Miss mine dearly.

Sorry im late replying to stuff, been all over the place and on the road lately. But looks like a great time! Glad everything is sorted champ,

 

[open country]

Awesome trip. What's the odometer at these days?

 

[tbisaacs]

Awesome trip. What's the odometer at these days?

155k give or take

 

[tbisaacs]

This week I put on a set Perry parts AHC-specific bump stops. Combined with the black spring rubbers, I feel like I’ve unlocked the ride I’ve been looking for.

The spring rubbers themselves were maybe a 50% improvement in dampening but I still had more rebound than I would like. These bump stops totally eliminated that and gave the front a nice progressive feel.

Highly recommended for a heavy LX.

 

[tbisaacs]

Another quality of life fix! My LX never had the dynamic dampener TSB fix:

I’ve had an annoying vibration felt in the accelerator pedal since Ive owned the truck. I ordered a new one from an eBay seller and Japan with shipping I still saved $50.

5 min fix and life is good.

 

[tbisaacs]

This week I put on a set Perry parts AHC-specific bump stops. Combined with the black spring rubbers, I feel like I’ve unlocked the ride I’ve been looking for.

View attachment 3325779View attachment 3325781
View attachment 3325780

The spring rubbers themselves were maybe a 50% improvement in dampening but I still had more rebound than I would like. These bump stops totally eliminated that and gave the front a nice progressive feel.

Highly recommended for a heavy LX.

I’ve got about 50 miles on these and I’m stunned at the improvement. Comfort AHC setting was only tolerable in narrow conditions before it would get to wallowy and now it’s cushy and controlled.

Feels like it felt before I hung hundreds of pounds of armor on it!