WB's LX470 Build (1 Viewer)

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Well the "out with the old" portion of the plan happened too quickly. The "in with the new" took far too long. After 6 years in a 60 and another cross country move on the horizon, I decided to sell my trusty 85 FJ 60. Awesome truck and I hope to own another again. After the VA to Cali move, I knew I wanted another LC but was stuck in an internal debate / infinite loop of 60-80-100. It was tough to freally objectify the stylistic, maintenance, and monetary mix of each of the series and come to a conclusion of what the best fit was for me.

Based on the placement of this thread in the forum, it is obvious I ended up looking for a new-to-me 100 series. What a search. I was adamant about finding an 06-07 to get the 5 speed AND the VVTi among other things. I didn't want rust issues either. After about six months of either too expensive, too many miles, or too little maintenance (documented or otherwise) I found something that I ended up purchasing.

I will continue to break with the Mud tradition of naming the thing because it is a truck... and when it turns out to be a lemon that I should've spotted from a mile away it'll be easier to sever ties with "it," set it on fire, and forget about it!!

At the time of purchase...

06 LX 470
Bone stock (unless you count no third row seats and only one key - the valet at that - included in the purchase a "mod")
Classic Silver Metallic with grey interior
144k miles
No rust thanks to the single owner who lived in CA his/her whole life

One of the big draws to this series over an older is the comfort in and around town as well as the speed (and comfort) at which it can get you to the start of the off road portion of the journey.

On the to-do list are the following:
1. New shoes. Take off the lame, bald Michelin P tires and put on something mo betta.
2. Armor it up.
2a. Front bumper (Dissent Front w/ Come-up 12.5rs)
2b. Rear bumper (Dissent No Cut Rear)
2c. Skid plates (Dissent Aluminum Skid Plates)
2d. Sliders
3. Figure out the suspension implications of the above. Options might include: do nothing, AHC can handle it; beef up springs to help AHC; AHC delete; some thing so cool I haven't even thought of before.
4. Electronic adjustments
4a. BT45-TOY
4b. Find some place to plug a damn iPhone into
4c. 110v outlet or three. Why in God's name is this not standard on all cars?
4d. LED interior lights
5. Winch (Come-up 12.5rs)
6. Space reserved for a good idea
7. Space reserved for a bad idea

Can't wait to learn what this thing can do.

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Task #1 is officially off the list.

5 x LT275/70R18 Grabber ATX tires bought and installed.

ANNNNND it still fits in the garage with the AHC on H.

Winning.

 

[sanshin]

Nice, clean looking ride. Great color too. If you haven't already, don't forget to check those heater t's... DIY: Replacing heater hose pipe T's *important*

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Thanks!

Yeah, under the hood is in surprisingly good shape. I’m the second owner and it was a well-maintained corporate car prior so everything was done at each of the scheduled maintenance intervals. Anything that came up was taken care of as well (PS, water pump, CV).

It ain’t perfect but it needs a little less work than I had expected (which is a good problem).

 

[OEMGUY0720]

If I may suggest sair... 1.25" or 1.5" wheel spacers to add more girth on that already looking good beast.

same rig as mine minus the hyper silver rims, mine's on silky smooth HT tyres and rims are chrome

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Amazon has been providing a continuous stream of packages over the past few days.

Blue Sea 1045 for some USB juice instead of an empty 12V port
BT45-TOY for Bluetooth audio and phone
I was enticed by Amazon's AI and got the items "Frequently bought together" with the BT45... couldn't have been happier. USB/AUX 1M extension cable and the best $5 spent in a while - plastic trim removal tools.

Unrelated to the electronics project (but probably more necessary) were new set of 24/22/16 Bosch Clear Advantage blades.

Here is everything before the install:

The BT45 and extra USB ports took a little longer than I had anticipated but it was mostly due to my hesitation taking all the trim out. I was sure I was going to snap some 28 cent clip and have a ill-fitting dash for the rest of the LX's life. Surprisingly, everything held together pretty well. Hopefully this doesn't result in overconfidence in the overall construction of the vehicle but I probably don't need to go so slow next time.

Pretty straight forward install.

1. Pop out tan trim (disconnect the electrical plugs for the buttons on the tan trim. Pop out vents. Pop out black ashtray/12V trim. Disconnect all the plugs.

2. Install the USB/Aux extension and the Blue Sea 1045 into the black trim. Takes some monkeying to get the 12V plugs out...but after three curse words and the understanding that they were going into the trash after I pulled them out... they came right out. I had to enlarge the hole on the right for the BS1045.

3. Pull out stereo. All you have to do is disconnect the 4 x 10mm screws holding the whole frame to the car.

4. Panic a little because all of the guts of your car are spilling out.

5. Install the BT45 via the 12-pin cable. I have an 06 so it is a direct plug in; no special cable required. I set the pins to emulate MP3 mode (I think or maybe it was DVD). Trial and error basically. Hook all the cables up. Pick a DIN. Start the car. Connect your phone via BT. Try to play music and see if you can get it to come out the car speakers. I couldn't get SAT mode to work. Whatever mode I settled on now works perfect. Comes up via the CD mode of the stereo/nav. Shows up as Disc 4 even though there is no 6 disc changer installed. All the music data displays on screen and the steering wheel controls work to change songs.

Again, big takeaway for me was just keep the guts open and try different settings until you are certain it works to your liking. Double check all the USB ports to make sure they power your devices as well. Hook-up was easy for the BS1045. I just took out the metal clip from inside the plastic housing and slide it directly on to the back of the BS1045.

Once all was good, I connected the USB/AUX extension and the mic for the phone feature then I tucked the BT45 unit in a nook behind the left vent. Plenty of space for cables between the space behind the left vent and in the gap between the radio unit and the nav unit.

6. Everything goes back together in reverse order (vents before tan wood trim).

7. Boom. BT audio and 3 x USB charging ports. (BT45-TOY USB port is charging only not USB audio input).

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Road Trip!

First adventure in the new truck. Headed up to Monache Meadows for part of the long weekend. Absolute blast.

Camped up in Sequoia at an "official" campsite then headed in to Monache Meadows the following morning for lunch and some fishing in the South Fork of the Kern River. Took the Monache Meadows Jeep Road route from AllTrails and had no issues. Didn't bother airing down the tires either. Just kept it in 4LO for most of the drive with AHC in H and cleared everything without issue. First 3/4 of the route in is slow go through the terrain with some climbs and descents.

Once you make it to the SW portion of the meadows, it opens up and is flat and clear.

I was surprised to see over a dozen other folks in Monache Meadows but I guess it was a holiday weekend and it almost made it a little better for the first run in the truck. We rode in solo so it was nice knowing someone else could've lent a hand if needed.

Looking forward to the next trip!

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Another happy client of @pfran42 LED kit.

Managed to run dead my battery just by leaving the doors open for a couple hours while I did the BT45-TOY mod the other week. I happened to stumble across a couple references to the PFRAN LED kit and figured why not?

Easy install and makes quite the difference. Kit came with a spare of each size as well.

 

[bluecruiser]

Well the "out with the old" portion of the plan happened too quickly. The "in with the new" took far too long. After 6 years in a 60 and another cross country move on the horizon, I decided to sell my trusty 85 FJ 60. Awesome truck and I hope to own another again. After the VA to Cali move, I knew I wanted another LC but was stuck in an internal debate / infinite loop of 60-80-100. It was tough to freally objectify the stylistic, maintenance, and monetary mix of each of the series and come to a conclusion of what the best fit was for me.

Based on the placement of this thread in the forum, it is obvious I ended up looking for a new-to-me 100 series. What a search. I was adamant about finding an 06-07 to get the 5 speed AND the VVTi among other things. I didn't want rust issues either. After about six months of either too expensive, too many miles, or too little maintenance (documented or otherwise) I found something that I ended up purchasing.

View attachment 2057762

I will continue to break with the Mud tradition of naming the thing because it is a truck... and when it turns out to be a lemon that I should've spotted from a mile away it'll be easier to sever ties with "it," set it on fire, and forget about it!!

At the time of purchase...

06 LX 470
Bone stock (unless you count no third row seats and only one key - the valet at that - included in the purchase a "mod")
Classic Silver Metallic with grey interior
144k miles
No rust thanks to the single owner who lived in CA his/her whole life

One of the big draws to this series over an older is the comfort in and around town as well as the speed (and comfort) at which it can get you to the start of the off road portion of the journey.

On the to-do list are the following:
1. New shoes. Take off the lame, bald Michelin P tires and put on something mo betta.
2. Armor it up.
2a. Front bumper
2b. Rear bumper
2c. Skid plates
2d. Sliders
3. Figure out the suspension implications of the above. Options might include: do nothing, AHC can handle it; beef up springs to help AHC; AHC delete; some thing so cool I haven't even thought of before.
4. Electronic adjustments
4a. BT45-TOY
4b. Find some place to plug a damn iPhone into
4c. 110v outlet or three. Why in God's name is this not standard on all cars?
4d. LED interior lights
5. Space reserved for a good idea
6. Space reserved for a bad idea

Can't wait to learn what this thing can do.

Is attend @100sinthehills in your plans??

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

I think it might be one of these years!

 

[Couvi]

How you liking those tires? Have any other pics of them? Side profile? Lookin good.

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

The Grabbers are great. I had a set of the old AT2s on my FJ60. They did well in the Overland Journal test back in 2014 and featured a 60k tread life. I opted (to continue) to shy away from BFGs because, despite the hype, they’re not 20% better (I’d argue they aren’t better at all) but they sure cost 20% more than everything else. The Cooper Discos actually won the Editor’s Choice and the Value awards.

Anyway, I stuck with Grabber and bought the newest offering, the ATX. Super strong, last forever (I’ll drive more on the highway than off for the next 60k miles), and a great price at a great local shop near me.

Let me know if you want a specific picture but this is only other one I have the phone:

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Busy couple of weeks and haven't had much time to tinker. I managed to break that spell this weekend and throw down $8 worth of parts on the rig. Big spender.

Hopefully Cruiser Garage saves me some front end rust later on in life. If not... I guess I'll be out eight whole American dollars.

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Yuck. Saying I'm glad I changed them now isn't the best statement. I am glad I changed them but the better COA would have been the PO changing them sometime over the last 145K miles.

Sad that a $10 part has the ability to make this thing come to a complete halt. Glad I caught it before it did just that. From the looks of it, the Ts had another 6 1/2 miles on them...

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Not all bad news from this weekend though...

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Howdy from the road!

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Boom! Big pile of work finally arrived. After some lengthy searching I settled on a full setup from @benc and Dissent Off-Road. I ordered everything (front, winch, rear w/ tire and accessory tray, and skid plates) from him mid-August and it was finally ready in January. I made the cannonball run and loaded everything into the LX with the seats out. No issues fitting it all in the truck and I cannot speak highly enough of my impression of both @benc and the quality of product he puts out. This guy gets it.

Here is the pile of work once I got everything back down to SoCal:

A close-up of his insane welds:

Time to get to work!

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

Front was by far the most challenging to get on due to the combination of the weight of the center portion once the winch is bolted on and maybe some pecularities of my frame.

Following these instructions, which are also available via dissentoffroad.com, I dropped the stock bumper, prepped the frame, and got everything bolted on.

I cannot overstate how important it was to get every mm of the old bumper bracket off the frame. Even the slightest amount of slag on the side mean the center mounting brackets won't slide on straight. This effects the fitment of the center section (with the massively heavy winch) and the geometry of the side section (wings).

Once the frame was prepped, I mounted the winch on the center section (feet down with the control box mounted with the bracket fabbed by Dissent), then installed the center onto the truck. I needed to use a floor jack to lift the center section in place because the winch weighs upwards of 70lbs alone. Slap it to the thick ass steel Dissent uses and I'm sure the center piece weighs 90-100 lbs.

Here's the center:

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

With the center on, the wings were quick. I slapped in the fog lights then went to work on the skid plates. Those were pretty straight forward and are extremely stout as well. @benc thoughtfully designed the skid plates with access holes for everything.

The complete front:

From afar:

First thing that sticks out is "those steps have to go!" I thought about keeping them on as a one time use slider but quickly changed my mind. I'll put a photo below with the step removed and rear installed. Much better lines.

 

[whirlybirdbrewing]

I'll add to the front install instructions, but big lessons learned are as follows:

1. Prep the frame properly. Get everything off so you can adjust the center supports as required.

2. Get a step drill bit! I stupidly started with a big, cobalt standard bit and it was a total PIA. After a string of expletives, I got a proper step bit and made quick work of the frame holes. It also was essential for mounting the rear and opening up a few other holes to help with alignment.

3. I kept the stock LX bumper wiring harness and reused it for the fog lights and the turn signal mod.

4. Fog lights I simply hard wired one end of the Rigid receptacle to the stock wiring harness using a "waterproof wire butt splice."

5. Turn signals disappeared as soon as I dropped the stock bumper so I had to move the turn signals up to where the LX has the parking lights. There were a few posts about this but it really isn't necessary to buy all the pieces (socket, housing connector, etc.) because you can buy a direct fit lens assembly with the correct hole in the back and use the same bulb, socket, and wiring from the stock LX bumper. Details are in the post below.

6. The Come-up 12.5RS winch doesn't have a cutoff switch. You can hard wire it to the battery then use the wireless remote to turn it off. I would assume that there are no issues with this whatsoever but I also don't want any ghost battery drain to leave me stranded anywhere and I think the number of times I will NOT need the winch will far outnumber the times I will need the winch. The problem is the amp draw when the winch is running can be pretty huge (~470A) and most battery cutoff switches would fail which would defeat the whole purpose of the switch. I'll post the final setup once it is finished.