What would you have done differently to your GX build? Help me build mine!

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T

tuglyfe

Joined
Apr 9, 2018
Threads
1
Messages
5
Location
Dallas, TX
Everybody!

Lurker for quite some time that's finally joined! I have to thank everyone here that has given me so much information! Absolute lifesavers! Without y'all's contributions I don't know where I would be. Prolly up :poop: creek!

My rig:
I picked up a 2003 GX470 less than a year ago and have been stoked ever since. (I got a NUTS deal on it!) The person thought the AC was out on it (but thanks to the glorious interwebs and $13 later at autozone, boom, ice cold AC. It was the relay and the info here that saved me! Y'all are amazing, thanks!)


So, low and behold I am finally ready to join the lift club and I would love y'all's input and recommendations on things you wish you would've done the first time around.

What is your favorite/coveted build?

What would you have done differently with yours/biggest lesson learned?

What do you think is the best bang for buck lift out there?


My uses:

Daily driver/fly fishing/mudding/offroading/hunting/all around everything-ing


Now my weekend warrior 88 'yota van won't see as much wheel time (took that baby from washington-idaho-BC-Alaska-Texas on a massive fly fishing trip and still running strong! 235k on the clock) I'm in the DFW area so if you're into the same kind of stuff let's get together!

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Seems like you fish hard, I get out as often as I can and would love a lift but won't bc I'm short and need to easily reach my rod's on the roof rack. Just sayin. Striped Bass season opens on the 15th here.

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A fellow angler?? In the wild?! Why am I not surprised to find one here? :rofl: I do a lot of spey fishing so I end up never being able to use my rod vault anyways :bang:.

Yeah, I used to be on the water over 200 days a year! Now I'm stuck at a soul sucking desk job :cry:. However, striper can be off the chain on the Guad down south...When I lived in Boston I tried making it down for the season but the gf at the time was "too tired". I need to make it back up to that neck of the woods, especially if its lights out! (so I've heard! I'm used to 80-150+ Salmon a day on the fly in AK during coho season)
 
tuglyfe said:
A fellow angler?? In the wild?! Why am I not surprised to find one here? :rofl: I do a lot of spey fishing so I end up never being able to use my rod vault anyways :bang:.

Yeah, I used to be on the water over 200 days a year! Now I'm stuck at a soul sucking desk job :cry:. However, striper can be off the chain on the Guad down south...When I lived in Boston I tried making it down for the season but the gf at the time was "too tired". I need to make it back up to that neck of the woods, especially if its lights out! (so I've heard! I'm used to 80-150+ Salmon a day on the fly in AK during coho season)
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Sound like I've got to get to AK. Never used a Spey, and stuck at the desk too. A buddy is in Cuba now fly fishing with Avalon. Sick trip, hope to do it one day. Check it out AVALON CUBA FISHING DESTINATIONS CUBAN FISHES SPECIES TARPON PERMIT BONEFISH Sorry I got it all off topic.
 
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Biggest mistake on my end was trying to piece together used parts from different companies. Just go new although you may have to mismatch companies. I have heard from two guys I have wheeled with before that they have the Radflow 2.5 kit but the 2” rear springs were not enough so they swapped out the Radflo’s for Icon springs while running all Radflo shocks and coilovers.

If you are not on a time crunch wait for the sales such as over Thanksgiving and there will probably be some sales over the Summer like 4th of July or Memorial Day..
 
I agree with BlueTribal up there, but also think about what kind of suspension and mods you will want in a few years time and just get them now or as soon as you have the money. I have Bilstein 5100's in the front of mine that I bought a couple months after I bought my '09 because I was in a rush to lift it (mostly because I wanted the lifted look).

However, and I think most will agree, the GX is plenty capable stock and I really did not have to lift it especially since I went with 32" tires (which will fit on a stock GX). A year later I have a set of 2.5" Radflo's and LT springs (plus about a dozen miscellaneous mods I've been accumulating like tow points, bump stops, brake lines, arms...) sitting in the garage ready to install in the summer since I want to get rid of the airbags and make the handling in the front a little tighter.

My point is that I could have saved a little time and money if I would have just bought the proper setup to begin with, although honestly the 5100/ tricked bag combo was decent enough for the less than 10 trail runs I did in the past year.
 
yeah, my goal is to get it away from the soccer mom look (which my twin gives me so much grief about :crybaby:) I know I will wheel it, but predominately right now I want the look with the capability to take it out and get my inner hillbilly on. which lift would yall think is the best bang for buck? i'm thinking at least 2-3" lift.
 
The suspension is probably the most expensive to maintain and most difficult to upgrade to your liking. This includes the bushings in the LCAs and UCAs as well as the front coilovers, shocks, and rear airbags or rear spring conversion. I've had my GX470 for a year and I bought it lifted with the airbag trick, but I'm still trying to figure out what suspension will make me happy.

The price of a new basic suspension front and rear goes from around $1000 with 2.0" diameter shocks and matching springs to about $2500 for a premium suspension with 2.5" diameter shocks and matching springs. The rationale is that the 2.5" diameter shocks perform better because they have less fade in washboard roads and are made with more sturdy lower shafts.

If you have the money and want the lifted look, then go for the premium suspension and bigger wheels/tires. It will set you back around $5000 depending on what you pick for tires, wheels, UCAs, shocks and springs.

If you just want a mild build that's not too expensive and don't care about the fatter tire look, then stick with a basic suspension and skinny tall tires (either 32x10 or 33x10 with stock oem wheels). This will only set you back about $2000.
 
Oh, I think Kyle Fogle is in Houston Texas and he owns Treaty Oak Offroad. He specializes in Dobinson suspensions and someone on this board just got an entire Dobinson basic suspension from him for a little over $1000. Home
 
My suspension is in my signature. Arrived at those pieces after phone calls to both @DanKunz and Mark (?) over at Metal Tech 4x4 (owner). Like you, I needed advice based on my wheeling/driving needs and they set me straight (great community here, those were simply the first two I learned something beneficial from).

Advice - whatever suspension you go with, be sure to get all CV/bushing/brake/etc. work/upgrades done at the same time.....having to go back in at a later date stinks. Very reliable rigs but mechanical wear is mechanical wear and your '03 is undoubtedly due for some replacements (and yes, GO OEM).

Rig - love it, truly love it. Congrats on the score and do share some fishing pics!
 
excellent point! that would be hyell to have to go back and do all of that work! oh yeah...the 03 could use a few things...:rofl:

fish pics per request! (used to pulling out these bad boys left and right during season! its nuts! all on the fly!)

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I'm on my second GX now so I took lessons learned from the first one when I built my second one.

1) Get aluminum skids, not steel
2) No drawers (I missed the utility of the open 3rd row area and bolting drawers in compromises it)
3) No roofrack (tons of wind noise with the one I had, and I don't really put much on the roof anyway)

Things I did the same:
1) 255/75R17 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs
2) MetalTech OPOR rock sliders

Extra things I did on my second one:
1) Hidden winch (awesome..I use it far more than I expected I would)
2) Suspension (Ironman Foam Cell Pro - I am quite pleased)
3) FN F(x) Pro wheels with the aforementioned tires
4) MetalTech rear bumper

No regrets, except I might have paid the extra 150 bucks to powdercoat my sliders. Painting them sucks and I didn't do a good enough job, so they're rusting in some spots after a salty NJ winter.
 
@JLee Great insight. One question on your choice of tire size. What did you see the benefits of 32x10=255/75R17 over say 33x10=255/80R17?

JUst curious
 
Re roof racks, yes it's debatable about whether you need/want one, but I have a Gamiviti roof rack and I have no discernable increase in wind noise *with the wind fairing installed* (and it's easily removable for slower speeds fyi). I got the drop down light bar feature (a rectangular section at the front to protect/mount your light bar) and it does cause some window noise with the light bar (a lot without no light bar) above 50~ mph. I'm working on a solution to break up the air that's "whistling" so that I have no additional noise at highway speeds w/out the fairing on.
 
JLee said:
Extra things I did on my second one:
1) Hidden winch (awesome..I use it far more than I expected I would)
2) Suspension (Ironman Foam Cell Pro - I am quite pleased)

No regrets, except I might have paid the extra 150 bucks to powdercoat my sliders. Painting them sucks and I didn't do a good enough job, so they're rusting in some spots after a salty NJ winter.
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Which hidden winch bracket did you use? SSO or Bud Built? I really like to keep my GX somewhat anonymous. Don't like all the attention. SSO looks better one piece design but Bud Built is safer if you ever get into accidents.The OEM crumple some build into the bumper support would reduce a lot of impact from front end collision. The only aftermarket bumper that have crumple zone are big bulky Australian bull bars.

What suspension do you have before? What do you like about Foam Cell Pro? I am researching all the option. In perfect world I want BP-51 or FOX with internal bypass, but don't want the noise that come from heim join. I much prefer rubber bushing for noise free trouble free operation.

I would recommend using POR15 or Rust Bullet. Powder coating does not last once it cracked. It would rust really bad under the powder coat and the rest will fall off. Powder coating need zinc undercoat to last in undercarriage application. I would spray the chassis with fluid film once a year in the fall also.
 
I had my sliders zinc primed and PCed in satin black for $200. They'll be welded on as soon as the weather breaks. Pittsburgh winters will be a good test for how they hold up.

FWIW, POR15 is meant to be applied over rust and doesn't adhere well to smooth raw steel.
 
HomersCanyonero said:
@JLee Great insight. One question on your choice of tire size. What did you see the benefits of 32x10=255/75R17 over say 33x10=255/80R17?

JUst curious
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Lighter tires, (therefore less wear on everything), closer to stock gearing, and cheaper tires too.
 
Jstawgn said:
Which hidden winch bracket did you use? SSO or Bud Built? I really like to keep my GX somewhat anonymous. Don't like all the attention. SSO looks better one piece design but Bud Built is safer if you ever get into accidents.The OEM crumple some build into the bumper support would reduce a lot of impact from front end collision. The only aftermarket bumper that have crumple zone are big bulky Australian bull bars.

What suspension do you have before? What do you like about Foam Cell Pro? I am researching all the option. In perfect world I want BP-51 or FOX with internal bypass, but don't want the noise that come from heim join. I much prefer rubber bushing for noise free trouble free operation.

I would recommend using POR15 or Rust Bullet. Powder coating does not last once it cracked. It would rust really bad under the powder coat and the rest will fall off. Powder coating need zinc undercoat to last in undercarriage application. I would spray the chassis with fluid film once a year in the fall also.
Click to expand...

Mine is a Harbor Freight winch plate welded to the stock bumper structure, with plate steel and triangulation reinforcement as necessary to make it survive a stress test (we put the truck up against something and then pulled a tree until we nearly stalled the winch, reinforced what was failing, and repeated until it stopped failing).

I had stock suspension on both trucks - FCP is the only aftermarket GX suspension I've used.
 
@JLee Yeah, you can also fit a fully inflated spare in the spare location, no rubbing issues and no trimming required, and they fit the stock oem rims. I think it’s a great choice overall.
 
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