Builds Travis’s PNW LX570 (1 Viewer)

[tbisaacs]

I was so close to taking the plunge on one of these! Ultimately I decided to pivot to the new GX550. This will replace my LX570, and lack of remote charging infrastructure, reported repair costs, and (oddly) the short rear opening, dissuaded me. Though I do love how it drives and that Rivian went with a clamshell! (I’m seriously miffed at Toyota/Lexus for nerfing it)

I would love to hear more comparisons since you’ve now experienced the R1S and LX in depth!

If you could have only one, and your LX where trouble-free, which would you choose?

I'm really glad I don't have to make that choice I am really attached to the LX. It's built exactly how I want, proven, and it's at the stage of it's life that I don't worry about beating it up. I really can't imagine selling it, it only gets funner with age despite maintenance. However it's objectively a terrible daily driver with mods, armor etc.

In terms of driving dynamics—the Rivian is better in every single way. For haters who say EV's are soulless, I would say you are full sh**. 835hp, instant torque, huge super car brakes—it will embarrass almost anything and I'm running 34" knobby tires. The tech is 1000x better and so is audio system. It's slightly narrower inside than LX but more legroom, no transmission hump, and gobs more storage with false floor in the back and the frunk. It's within a few hundred pounds of my built LX but feels a thousand pounds lighter. Seattle and the west coast in general has great DC fast charging options so I never have range anxiety. And i just got notified about my NCAS adapter so will be able to take advantage of Tesla charging network too.

Both vehicles are BoF but LX feels more rigid, less fragile if that makes sense. My AHC is still in tact and has a slight edge over the Rivian's air suspension in terms of smoothness. Although I've had 3 ride quality updates OTA on the Rivian and I like it better now than when I got it in terms of ride quality.

For all of the LX's shortcomings (due to age, and self inflicted due to mods) I really enjoy putting miles on it and never hesitate to flog it offroad. It's only weakness are short parking garages and passing a gas station without stopping. I'm not there with the Rivian yet not because I doubt it's capability—its just that it's new, pristine, and shiny. And parts are still hard to get. I enjoy them both for different reasons.

 

[open country]

R1S is a dream daily/family hauler for me, but still out of reach. I'm on the reservation list for the R2 - really impressed with what Rivian is doing.

 

[tbisaacs]

I'm working down my LCDC prep checklist and thought I would catch this thread up on what's gone down in last 6 months or so.

Full fat 35s
I let an alignment issue go for too long (and you know, not rotating tires basically ever) and ruined my front 2 Falken 295/70s so made the leap to full fat. I am an absolute KO2 sh**-talker but I can't deny how timeless they look laces out. So I sold out and went for it. They are honestly great tires so far. I've had a few snow trips and performance was excellent. No appreciable differences going with a tire that was a full 1.25" wider.

Steering R&R
Chasing down the alignment issue was like pulling on a thread and unraveling a sweater. I had a slightly tweaked outer tie rod, leaking steering rack, and frozen LCA adjusters so had a local Indy whom I've used for basically everything do all the work. New OEM rack, inner and outer tie rods, and new adjustors. I was going to do LCAs too but needed to give my credit card a break. I do plan on full R&R on the suspension at some point so UCA and LCA are definitely on my list this fall. Alignment is spot on and steering feels great.

KAON battery tie down
I have most of my electrical accessories running through a BlueSea SafetHub 150 on the passenger side on a Slee mount but do have 1 resettable breaker running to my rear DC/DC charger. I usually just 3M tape it down but wanted something cleaner. KAON makes an amazing solution for this:

Thanks to the careful eyes of this forum, it was noted that I have this installed incorrectly. It slides on top of tie down, not replaces it. I of course tossed my factory tie down so had to eBay a new one. Fully intend on installing it the right way

Axle seal issue
The shop I used removed driver side CV to slide the rack out which was fine, but they absolutely mangled the CV dust shield and axle seal in the process. I drove around a few thousand miles until I changed the oil and found gear oil absolutely everywhere. I admittedly panicked about it and sent the truck back. Diff fluid was glitter free and an axle seal did the job. I'm still a little skeptical at this point and carrying a spare axle with me to Ouray.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Steering R&R
Chasing down the alignment issue was like pulling on a thread and unraveling a sweater. I had a slightly tweaked outer tie rod, leaking steering rack, and frozen LCA adjusters so had a local Indy whom I've used for basically everything do all the work. New OEM rack, inner and outer tie rods, and new adjustors.

Mind me asking what that set ya back?

Thats one thing i am thinking of having a shop do, but quotes are ALL over the place.

 

[tbisaacs]

Mind me asking what that set ya back?

Thats one thing i am thinking of having a shop do, but quotes are ALL over the place.

Will grab the exact number when I’m back at the truck but north of $2k

 

[Boston Mangler]

Will grab the exact number when I’m back at the truck but north of $2k

Thank you sir!

Local quotes i've gotten range between $1700-3500. Which is nutso

 

[tbisaacs]

I had a couple of minor electrical issues in Ouray this month

• One (and subsequently both) of my Xenon Depot HID ballasts failed
• My ARB dual compressor was super flakey—only one bank worked most of the trip (ended up being a worn harness)

So I spent a good few hours in the parking lot of my hotel and the auto parts store in Montrose troubleshooting. Ultimately I was able to get sorted but boy was my electrical setup a pain in terms of troubleshooting and just moving stuff out of the way.

So this week I finally jumped into this century and ordered a Switch-Pro 9100 and a Slee Mount.

Installing the Switch-Pro itself is maybe a or job but I ran into a couple of setbacks.

The best part first—look at all of the stuff I got rid of. And I got an empty accessory panel with room for activities:

Once I got everything out of the way I started mocking up how I wanted things including pulling the switch harness through the firewall, lugging new power cables, and moving my BlueSea 150 to my new Kaon battery tray.

When I went to start the truck, the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and throwing codes: P0102, P1613, P1614, C1201.

The truck was running like garbage but I tried to use Carista to reset the codes. No dice. So then I thought maybe it was just a dead battery so I stuck it on the fast charger—still didn’t fix it.

What was weird was that one of the codes was a secondary air injection code so I went down the rabbit hole and found this:

Secondary Air Injection Code

Half a dozen drive cycles and no CEL or pending codes. I'm going to call this one fixed.

forum.ih8mud.com

SAI codes after installing the slee first gen ARB compressor mount. Bingo, has to be it. So I slept on it and came back and pulled the connectors for the SAI relays to inspect them for abrasion or a short and the honestly all looked perfect except one of the connectors was a few mm pulled out. I also tried resetting codes, leaving battery disconnected etc.

I was just about to hit purchase on the Hewitt bypass kit when I went and double checked the fuse I was using to trigger ignition on the Switch-Pro and bingo—it was blown. For reference this is the 7.5A fuel injection fuse.

I tried starting the truck and it ran better but when I reset the codes it sputtered and died and they came back. I tried to reset one more time with IGN on but truck off and that did the trick.

So I think my issue was two fold

• SAI connector was legitimately loose—I likely dislodged it removing the connector
• And of course the blown 7.5A fuse

That whole process set me back almost a half day. Once resolved I got back to work.

I tucked the controller in the cubby where the ash tray goes. It’s got 4 dabs of gorilla glue to hold it and the harness runs though an opening in back that used to have a light.

I’m only using two switches right now—one for my ARB and another for my 7” bumper lights. The next one I add will be to energize a 500amp solenoid for my winch.

I’m about 90% happy with the setup underhood. I ran out of split loom and lugs and patience so plan to continue to refine once my solenoid comes in.

BTW there isn’t much to see with the Switch-Pro itself. The slee mount shares the bolt holes with the ARB mount so it’s more or less hidden under there.

 

[grinchy]

solid.
nice job fitting the controller into the ash tray!

 

[Boston Mangler]

Nice! Good clean job!

FYI, I’ve had issues with 2 different dual arb harnesses (just harness, not compressor)

Double check the big flat gray plug and see if it’s cracked and the pins are close to touching.

Longggg story short, that was my first issue, got replacement harness, was cracked in the exact same spot on the main plug, same issue as you describe.

Ended up making my own harness, no issues since.

Quality of some ARB stuff has gone down hill in the last 5 years. Anything to do with wiring and or the harnesses are pretty poor quality compare to what they used to be.

On the flip side, my dual compressor is about 5-6 years old and in its second truck and zero issues since harness fix, it works like a bull filling up my 42s on the camper thing

 

[clrussell]

Slee battery terminals?

Great wiring setup.

 

[tbisaacs]

Slee battery terminals?

Great wiring setup.

Yep, slee billet terminals

 

[kcjaz]

Yep, slee billet terminals

Are those the big ones or little ones?

 

[tbisaacs]

Are those the big ones or little ones?

Standard size, not the group 31 size

 

[kcjaz]

I’m trying to think through my house battery setup and what circuits I’ll put on the house battery and what will remain on starter battery and how I’m going to switch stuff. I love other peoples build threads because they are helpful in thinking things through.

I like my hard wired, old school, dash mounted switches for my compressor and lockers so im not going to change that but the harness situation under the hood needs some cleanup. I like the switch pro but I wonder if it’s overkill if I only have fridge and camp lighting on the house battery. I’m also thinking about putting light bar and or future satei or other fog lights on the house battery. If I do that then having a clean switch interface like switch pro seems appealing. Is your intent to put everything on the switch pro?

 

[tbisaacs]

I’m trying to think through my house battery setup and what circuits I’ll put on the house battery and what will remain on starter battery and how I’m going to switch stuff. I love other peoples build threads because they are helpful in thinking things through.

I like my hard wired, old school, dash mounted switches for my compressor and lockers so im not going to change that but the harness situation under the hood needs some cleanup. I like the switch pro but I wonder if it’s overkill if I only have fridge and camp lighting on the house battery. I’m also thinking about putting light bar and or future satei or other fog lights on the house battery. If I do that then having a clean switch interface like switch pro seems appealing. Is your intent to put everything on the switch pro?

Everything that I’d want at camp, or to run 24/7 goes to my lithium out back. Everything else would be switch pro or direct to battery (like winch power, DC/DC charger etc.)

From Switch Pro I have
ARB compressor trigger
7” spots (direct, no relay)
Winch solenoid (future)
Lockers (future)

From my SafetyHub 150 I have
40 amp to each side of ARB
125 amp to switch pro
60 amp to victron DC

From starter battery I have
Power to SafetyHub
Power to winch cutoff

From lithium house battery I have
1kw renogy inverter
Blue sea fuse holder
Various USB outlets
ARB fridge hard wire
Shunt and monitor
NOCO trickle charger

 

[tbisaacs]

Posting an updated diagram w/Switch Pro for posterity

 

[LXGus]

Posting an updated diagram w/Switch Pro for posterity

View attachment 3715960

This is great! The only question I have is, why is there a 60amp fuse between the starter battery and Victron and another 60amp fuse between the Victron and house battery?

 

[tbisaacs]

This is great! The only question I have is, why is there a 60amp fuse between the starter battery and Victron and another 60amp fuse between the Victron and house battery?

Because current can flow both ways. Victron recommends a fuse on both sides of the charger as well.

 

[LXGus]

Posting an updated diagram w/Switch Pro for posterity

View attachment 3715960

Love a good diagram! Figma or Illustrator?

 

[tbisaacs]

Love a good diagram! Figma or Illustrator?

Miro