wrecked my lx470 a week after buying it

[eric griffin]

so i spent about 6 months looking for the perfect LC or LX and eventually found this one a few weeks ago and bought it. I added the vehicle to my insurance but was debating if to add collision / comprehensive insurance on it when, of course, i ran into someone and banged up the front.

I havent taken it to a body shop yet but this seems like (at the very least) a good time to upgrade the bumper to and ARB or the like ... maybe even the headlights ? The headlight assembly on the passenger side is definitely busted; quarter panel is definitely busted .... my main question is what all should i upgrade here instead of replacing with either OEM or whatever the body shop i use can find in salvage.

Obviously bumpers are easy to find but i still would like recommendations - i probably will never buy a winch FYI. Bigger issue than bumper is that i havent found much in the way of aftermarket higher-performance headlamps ... all ive really found are upgraded bulbs/ballasts, etc. i need the whole kit (two of them actually)

All advice appreciated. cheers

 

[DJCloz]

I recommend Slee Blueberry bumper. It's so well designed and he usually has them in stock and ready to ship. Most other bumper manufacturers have a 6-8 week lead time. That's all I can really chime in on. Good luck!

 

[eric griffin]

I recommend Slee Blueberry bumper. It's so well designed and he usually has them in stock and ready to ship. Most other bumper manufacturers have a 6-8 week lead time. That's all I can really chime in on. Good luck!

just so i am clear, fog lights go away with the blueberry bar, correct ? Not that i am opposed to that, just making sure i understand correctly. Also, do you personally have the blueberry in use ?

 

[eric griffin]

I recommend Slee Blueberry bumper. It's so well designed and he usually has them in stock and ready to ship. Most other bumper manufacturers have a 6-8 week lead time. That's all I can really chime in on. Good luck!

oh, and, also ... that bar is sweet. my favorite that i have seen. thanks for the suggestion

 

[eric griffin]

just so i am clear, fog lights go away with the blueberry bar, correct ? Not that i am opposed to that, just making sure i understand correctly. Also, do you personally have the blueberry in use ?

oh and (sorry) one more question for you - do you happen to know if the 99 LX and the 99 LC have interchangeable bumper and/or headlamp assembly sizes/parts/fittings ?

thanks

 

[DJCloz]

just so i am clear, fog lights go away with the blueberry bar, correct ? Not that i am opposed to that, just making sure i understand correctly. Also, do you personally have the blueberry in use ?

I do have the blueberry. And I cut in some LED fog lights to replace the stock fog lights I lost.

 

[DJCloz]

oh and (sorry) one more question for you - do you happen to know if the 99 LX and the 99 LC have interchangeable bumper and/or headlamp assembly sizes/parts/fittings ?

thanks

Headlights are 100% different. The bumpers I'm not sure. But I do know the aftermarket bumpers fit bother the LC and LX's

 

[FranceJohnson]

ARB bumpers will fit ( they say they do not), you just have to remove the "arial tabs" from the top bar. I went with 2003+ version on our '99 so we could keep the fog lights. No knock on the Blueberry, but ARB is an option.

A 2000 bumper should be interchangeable. I just threw my old bumper in the trash. Cruiser Outfitters or SLEE might have have some old ones they could unload. If you buy a new set of aftermarket lights, I'd be interested in your driver's side one

 

[FranceJohnson]

I read your question incorrectly. The HOOD, HEAD LIGHTS, and GRILL are 100% different between the LX and Land Cruiser. Bumpers are probably the same aside from the fog light assembly. The LX and LC foglight assemblies are different too. I don't know if the LC has the blinker in the fog light assembly like the LX.

So, its possible to change to a LC front end, but you would need to commit to all the parts listed above. Fenders should be the same, aside from color and pin-striping, and the LX fender will have some mounting holes behind the wheel well for the LX plastic cladding.

 

[DickB]

Just FYI I bought an LX with a cracked passenger side headlght and missing trim pieces around the lights and under the grill and have had a tough time finding replacements for a decent price. Can't find anything on the trim without having to have it painted (mine is the grey color as well) but you may have better luck. I can't find any aftermarket headlights other than the cheap ebay ones i don't trust without seeing someone else use them first. And i can't find pics or anything of anyone doing that.

 

[eric griffin]

I do have the blueberry. And I cut in some LED fog lights to replace the stock fog lights I lost.

View attachment 1460756

View attachment 1460757

thats a badass LCruiser. How did you cut the fog light holes ... plasma cutter i guess ...?

In any case, pretty sure that I am going to buy that blueberry that you recommended. I tried to call SLEE about 10 times today an couldnt get anyone to pick up in sales, service, etc.

Have you seen anyone attach lights to the bar / that sit above the bar ? I assume that's possible.

thanks a lot.

 

[eric griffin]

Just FYI I bought an LX with a cracked passenger side headlght and missing trim pieces around the lights and under the grill and have had a tough time finding replacements for a decent price. Can't find anything on the trim without having to have it painted (mine is the grey color as well) but you may have better luck. I can't find any aftermarket headlights other than the cheap ebay ones i don't trust without seeing someone else use them first. And i can't find pics or anything of anyone doing that.

Both the body shops that I know in town both found the same OEM replacement light assembly in about 5 seconds - they both use some parts used/overstock parts supplier out of florida called auto-alliance. i tried to google them and gave up researching them pretty quickly; my 2 minutes of research on them appeared to indicate that you have to be a member of the "auto-alliance" to buy from them .... in any event, the light was still 500 bucks for a new OEM part (lexus dealer quoted me 620 bucks for the same).

there is a 4wd store near me in Raleigh NC, i also went buy there and asked them what they thought - one guy recommended two manufacturers that he was certain that they either make or made exact fit replacements for the 99 LX470, Recon Lighting and Spyder Lighting .... I couldnt find anything for the 99 LX on their websites ... no, wait, one of them made a rear light assembly replacement.

anyway ... yea, i feel your pain. ive been looking for anyone that makes any replacement for these lights all day and have come up with absolutely nothing except some garbage on Amazon.

:-(

 

[eric griffin]

ARB bumpers will fit ( they say they do not), you just have to remove the "arial tabs" from the top bar. I went with 2003+ version on our '99 so we could keep the fog lights. No knock on the Blueberry, but ARB is an option.

A 2000 bumper should be interchangeable. I just threw my old bumper in the trash. Cruiser Outfitters or SLEE might have have some old ones they could unload. If you buy a new set of aftermarket lights, I'd be interested in your driver's side one

View attachment 1460758

my LX has (for lack of a better description) horizontal stripes on the lower half of the body (on the sides) .... yours doesnt have them.

if you know what i am talking about, did just some years come with them or did you remove them somehow ?

nice ride.

 

[eric griffin]

this is off topic but those SLEE skid plates are friggin awesome !

Slee - Toyota - 100 Series Skid Plates

 

[Dwight S]

my LX has (for lack of a better description) horizontal stripes on the lower half of the body (on the sides) .... yours doesnt have them.

if you know what i am talking about, did just some years come with them or did you remove them somehow ?

nice ride.

If you are talking about the plastic body cladding below the door molding, I can't verify if some years had them and others didn't. But... if you have them, there are holes in the lower doors to attach them to. So be prepared to address them if you remove the cladding.

Have you checked car-parts.com for the parts you need?

 

[FranceJohnson]

my LX has (for lack of a better description) horizontal stripes on the lower half of the body (on the sides) .... yours doesnt have them.

if you know what i am talking about, did just some years come with them or did you remove them somehow ?

nice ride.

All LX470s have the plastic cladding on the bottom of the doors, front fender, and tailgate. It is removable, but leaves tons of holes. The cladding is present on our truck, and was originally the lighter grey that came with the 2000 LX470s. I taped up the black area above the plastic trim, and sanded the plastic with a 700-1000 grit paper to smooth it out. I then just used a spray paint can of gloss black epoxy paint to paint the trim. Turned out pretty well. I expect the paint to fade with the sun exposure, but this truck spends tons of time on desert roads and the cladding takes a beating. So, redoing a ~30 minute job every couple years isn't a big deal.

 

[FranceJohnson]

my LX has (for lack of a better description) horizontal stripes on the lower half of the body (on the sides) .... yours doesnt have them.

if you know what i am talking about, did just some years come with them or did you remove them somehow ?

nice ride.

All LX470s have the plastic cladding on the bottom of the doors, front fender, and tailgate. It is removable, but leaves tons of holes. The cladding is present on our truck, and was originally the lighter grey that came with the 2000 LX470s. I taped up the black area above the plastic trim, and sanded the plastic with a 700-1000 grit paper to smooth it out. I then just used a spray paint can of gloss black epoxy paint to paint the trim. Turned out pretty well. I expect the paint to fade with the sun exposure, but this truck spends tons of time on desert roads and the cladding takes a beating. So, redoing a ~30 minute job every couple years isn't a big deal.

 

[eric griffin]

Naturally after wrecking my new ride, Slee is backorder on the blueberry bumpers for "a couple months"

Drats foiled again

 

[viducce]

How about the Dissent front bumper, IMHO looks great and is kind of modular...

 

[CreasyBear]

Other options, TJM is getting ready to re-release their bumper for the LX/LC and there is a member here working on building one as well.