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Siberia2Desert

Siberia2Desert

Joined
Jul 24, 2020
Threads
5
Messages
53
Location
USA Southwest
Well, well... time to come out of lurk mode and start building. :)
Finally took home great deal on GX470: 2003 Non-Nav Non-KDSS, no third row seats, 225K mi for.... $5900
No major issues so far - TC is dry, rear bags are good, no cracked dash, Timing belt replaced at 185K so I think I am OK for now.

First order of business is basic wash&clean.

Window seals are all rotten - replace with eBay purchased one. Went in OK although not perfect fit but would do fine. I might add some sealant later. Original ones were chrome and new ones plain black (I like it better). Now I just need to find rear window trim in black - it's rotten too.

Roof rack - got Prinsu on Black Friday. It is sitting in garage. Roof rubber trim is rotten too so I might need to get it first.

Sliders - ordered Coastal Offroad ones on Christmas sale and should be getting in next week or so.

Floor mats - ordered WeatherTechs. Didn't want to deal with cutting and trimming.

Initial TO DO list:
  • Fluids changed
  • LCAs replaced - (ordered from 1A Auto already)
  • Sway bar links replaced (1A)
  • Tie rod ends replaced (1A)
  • Alignment and balance after that
  • Brake fluid reservoir wet - check for source of leakage
  • Noisy belt pulley - need to figure out which one it is.
  • Stereo is semi-dead - only radio works and no display. Shopping for head unit on Amazon. I had Androids in other car but I think I will go with Pioneer or Sony this time. Those Chinese Android units can be hit&miss.
  • Leather interior repair - local upholstery shop will do driver and passenger bottoms for $150/each and elbow rests for $70 each
  • CV axles - one side boot is torn. The other side is seeping out so might as well refurbish both. I believe they are OEM so I'd rather rebuild than swap for cheap aftermarket ones.
  • Cosmetic stuff - paint grille. I took gaudy cover off but the actual grille is all faded.

I keep reading on low/mid priced lift options so I'm not sure yet what route to go. The idea is to get the steel bumpers first and then figure out exact parts for the lift. I am leaning towards Billsteins or Eibach.



lex1.png
lex2.png
 
Looks like a solid base platform to start with! How comes along your progress so far?
 
I got the front end done this weekend. Hopefully get to alignment shop next week.
Next up is replacing brake lines for braided Stop Tech. Just got them in yesterday but had no energy left to do it after wrestling with suspension.

Still shopping for a stereo replacement on eBays.
 
I'm not sure what I could have done wrong but once I put the front end back together I'm sitting 2" higher then rear end (~24" fender edge to center cap)
I have replaced LCA, UCA, end link, tie rod and installed new Bilstein 5100 shock. I used the bottom position on the shock which was supposed to get me to stock level. I have not replaced the springs so I'd imagine they are OEM. The PO replaced variable Lexus shocks with Arnott SK-2812 units but they were in a pretty bad shape - driver side was completely busted and oil was all over. I couldn't pull top hats out so I simply replaced the upper rubber gasket

Rear airbags work fine and hold. I measured in Normal mode and I'm about ~22" from center cap. Also, my passenger front corner sags by about 1/2" (I thought it should likely be driver side instead)

Before I disassembled everything I marked the cams but when I drove the truck for the first time after repairs my steering wheel is on 10AM position and there's quite a bit of noise coming up from the wheels.
 
Might seem like silly question, but is the 5100 spring perch right side up? Given factory rake, I'd assume the front went up roughly 3".

Rear end can be evened out by dropping the passenger ride height sensor a few mm.

Steering wheel misalignment can be from any of the new suspension parts being slightly different from the old parts. An alignment should clear that up as long as your cam bolts aren't maxed out in any direction already. Bad toe and/or camber could make the tires noisy.
 
Yeah... dumb me - the bottom spring cup is inverted. Well, I got Newbie for avatar for a reason. Easy fix
 
Siberia2Desert said:
Yeah... dumb me - the bottom spring cup is inverted. Well, I got Newbie for avatar for a reason. Easy fix
Click to expand...
It happens to more people than you'd think lol. Glad it is all good now.
 
Part 1: Head unit replacement... Noob edition :)

I've looked through bunch of YT videos but couldn't find anything comprehensive that goes over the process for noobs like me.
And I have somewhat underestimated amount effort and number of parts required although mine is a non-nav so comparing to nav setup I guess I can hardly complain.

I will attach some photos of the process later but here is the basic overview of you will need:


Tools:
  • Plastic trim kit to pull the panels off
  • 7mm/10mm/14mm sockets
  • Cutters/pliers
  • Electrical tape
  • Positaps or whatever splice connectors you prefer to use
  • Plastic glue because sure enough half of the clips will break off so don't get to crazy about it!
To be continued once I get the photos taken...
 
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Finally got the stereo in... what a pain! Still have to glue few broken trim pieces together - plastic gets brittle after 18 years after all so it is almost inevitable that something breaks.
One of the challenges was programming SWC adapter. For some reason JVC stereo would not take input on 3.5 mm jack for SWC but after I switched to harness wire it did work.
 
Replaced PS reservoir, return and pressure line (passenger side). Real pain in the ass to do it because old hoses are stiff and dried up. I don't know if there is a trick that I'm not aware of to push the pressure line assembly in place. I had to take one of the brackets off to do it and then reinstall the bracket in place. Turn the wheel to the side and unclip the splashguard for better access.

Toyota return OE line
Dorman OE 4436002020
Sunsong 3401257

Before:
1618725820660.png

After:
1618725865071.png
 
thank you for posting info about the after market headunit, hope the build is still going well
 
It's been a while but little progress has been made.

Come Black Friday - Crutchfield had a great sale on speakers so I took advantage and replaced all front ones (3 x each door). My lows sounded awful and were dried out and torn as I found out later. I'd say it was a pretty easy and straightforward job that anybody with a slight idea about car audio can handle. Luckily, I have non-nav, non-ML truck so it's all easy to find stuff.
  • Tweeters - JBL Club 3412T - all included hardware was sufficient for install without any modifications. Don't forget to install crossovers.
  • Mids - Kicker 47KSC2704 - comes with all necessary brackets, I did have to cut the notch out slightly on factory mount, about 1/8" on each side
  • Lows - JBL Club 9632, Crutchfield included Metra 82-8146 bracket for free! You'll need it for these, also harness Metra 72-8104. Don't forget to install crossovers
They also included a free kit with connectors that I haven't really used much but hey... it was free.
Install is simple - pop off elbow rest, unscrew behind it; pop off control panel, unscrew behind it; pop off panel behind lock handle, unscrew behind it. Pry the door off starting at the bottom using trim tool an pull it up. Undo the connectors for door lamp and controls. Don't make the mistake I did and carefully unplug window and lock cables from the sockets (may need some gentle effort with pliers). I managed to break the sleeves on the cable ends on passenger side so I have to figure out how to fix that now.

Come eBay deal on rear door speakers... PowerBass OE652-TY. These literally took 10 minutes to install on both sides.
I don't know if I want to bother with subwoofer at this point. I read that it is a bit more involved.

It all sounds much better now but I still need to figure out best settings on head unit.
 
Dobinsons drawers installed:

It really did take quite a bit of time and if I had to do it again I'd definitely do it a bit different. Instructions were not specific to GX470 (they covered all kinds of non-US sold vehicles though) but were enough to get an idea. My truck never had 3rd row seats so I didn't have any factory holes that would match. Existing tie downs only use M8 screws which is not enough to hold that much weight. If you have 3rd row seats you might be able to use existing points.

You will need:
  • Rivet tool - I got whatever was cheapest on Amazon and it came with a bag of M10x1.5 rivets.
  • M10x1.5 50mm SS bolts - The ones that came with drawers were M10x1.25 so unfortunately no match with rivets that I got.
  • Extra M6 SS screws - I did strip a few that came with the drawers so I had to replace
  • Step drill bit (need about 11-12mm hole). You can use regular drill bits but the holes will be much cleaner with step bit.
  • Threadlock
  1. Remove trunk plastic lip. OEM tiedowns and carpet padding
  2. If you plan to run any electrical wiring through side panels (covering wheel wells) remove them now and run wires before you set the drawers. It will be a real pain to remove them later since you will need to remove drawers completely to do that. The bottom lip of side panel will end up under the drawer so you can not access it after install.
  3. Attach mounting bars to the drawer frame ( I placed them about 2-3" from front/back) and position frame in the trunk area.
  4. Mark your holes for floor bolts, verify there are not obstructions on the underside before drilling. I ended up with the rear lip of the drawer frame about 1.5-1.75" from plastic cover (see photo). This left me enough room to mount Bison Gear drop down table later.
  5. Drill pilot holes and then use step bit to drill the right size hole matching rivets diameter. They should fit snugly
  6. Press in rivets with the tool
  7. Reinstall side panels and carpet and cut the holes so you can put the bolts through.
  8. Mount the frame
  9. Install side cover brackets
  10. Reinstall all top panels, tie downs and side covers.
Fridge slide side was a little tight so I ended up adding few spacer washers between side brackets and drawer frame.

IMG_20240811_175125224_clean.jpg


Now I'm going to figure out how to place all of the electrical equipment...
 
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