Benefactor
Hey everyone! Just starting my build thread that will more than likely span a bit as I slowly have time/acquire parts to keep on building. I apologize in advance, but this first post may be a little long!
Background:
I bought my 2006 Lexus GX470 with 152k miles in February 2019 for a grand total of $10,000 out the door (It's scary how expensive they are today for the same vehicle). She was bone stock and only had 3 owners. When I went to the dealership to take a look I saw the vehicle was registered in New York and one point and feared it would be a rust bucket underneath. To my surprise the only rust I could find was on a couple of bolts. The GX had no reported accidents, however I noticed there was some respraying of the front and rear bumper. My guess is being in New York probably had plenty of "bumps" to the bumpers. The frame was solid so I decided to take if a for a test drive since I knew I would eventually be replacing the bumpers.
The car drove wonderfully and had no issues shifting between 4lo and 4 high with the transfer case. Center lock engaged just fine and the air bag suspension in the rear was working smoothly. The dealership originally wanted $12,500 for the car (plus tax and fees), however there wasn't much paperwork on repairs, maintenance, etc. My biggest concern (besides worn out tires) was whether the timing belt/water pump had been changed. So I started working the dealership down on price after getting a couple of quotes for timing belt/water pump replacement. I noticed they had maintenance done at a local European/Luxury car repair and so I called them directly while trying to haggle the dealership, and too my surprise they knew the car well and sent me over all their maintenance records. Luckily the water pump/timing belt had been replaced at 120k miles. I of course did not tell the dealership this and was able to talk them down to $10k cash out the door. So I became the proud owner of a Titanium Silver GX470.
Current Mods:
After about 1 month of ownership I decided to put some new rubber on as it really wasn't safe to drive in anything but dry weather with the current tires. At the time I was working for a tire company and thus got a screaming deal on some all terrain tires fueling my "modding" bug.
I wanted to be methodical about my approach to modding this rig. 1) I am one of those people that will throw all my money at everything at once to get up and going. 2) I am still relatively new to overlanding/off roading with any rigs so I wanted to understand the car and what I am looking for before just throwing money at it.
After getting tires I took a 1,000 mile shakedown from Tennessee to Michigan and back to make sure there was no immediate issues I needed to address while also visiting my wife's family. First issue to fix was the gas cap. It ended up needing to be replaced since I got the dreaded Christmas tree dashboard light up. Thankfully $27 later it was resolved. Next I checked all my wiring, switches, lights, etc. to make sure it was all in working order. Besides regular oil changes and suggested maintenance we spent most of 2019/2020 as the weekend warrior/haul the pup on hikes vehicle. During this time I did add some LED bulbs to the headlights and a couple of interior mounts for phones, tablet, etc.
Around the time I finally settled on a suspension upgrade COVID had just made its way to the US. My wife and I went back and forth as to whether we should pull the trigger or wait since she was now pregnant with our first child and with COVID we couldn't really go anywhere. A few months later we went for it, unfortunately everyone else decided it was a good time to buy upgrades as well and it ended up taking around 3-4 months to get the suspension bits in. After that the suspension sat in our garage due to our son being born. I ended up taking it to a shop and having them install it along with a new bumper, etc just because I did not have the time.
Suspension:
We went with the Dobinsons MRA 3" full adjustable lift. In addition we also purchased new Dobinsons UCA's and also had to replace our LCA's during install. We went with the stiffer springs because we knew we would be putting a winch and bumper and storage system in the rear.
Wheels:
Around the time of the suspension install I also had a set of Alpha Equipt Wheels that I purchased end of 2019 during a limited GXOR run. These wheels are honestly great and I love the hardened paint they used that is not as rough, but similar to bed liner paint.
Front Bumper:
I won't say I have any regrets with my bumper choice, but I did have a few issues with the bumper quality. Overall they did a fantastic job packaging it for shipment, and I am generally happy with it. I went with the Iron-man 4x4 ARB look alike bumper . I chose this over the ARB because they had it on sale for like $600 less.
Future Mods:
Below are mods I plan on doing that I have not acquired and/or decided on which direction I want to go. When I get to new mods I will reply to this thread with my choice and reasoning for that decision. Just a heads up, just because I picked something and have my reasons doesn't mean I am right or that it is THE best choice, but nonetheless it is ultimately my decision for my rig.
Rear Bumper: Undecided
Winch: Probably Warn, but have not decided
Skid Plates: Probably the ARB 4Runner set
Rock Sliders: I have changed my mind on which set to go with almost daily
Fridge: More than likely the ARB Zero series
Rear Drawers: Undecided if I will go prebuilt or custom
Lights: Don't ask, but there will be some
RTT: We are debating whether to do an RTT or if we will do a trailer build as well
I am sure there will be plenty more mods that I haven't listed yet. But that is where she stands today. We have done some light off-roading, but nothing a standard SUV can't do. Skids and Rock Sliders are priority for next mods, but with moving to CA in the last couple of months and getting settled in those may not happen until end of year.
Here are some photos of when I picked up the GX and where it sits today! Thank you for taking the time read this far and I will update as I add to it!
Background:
I bought my 2006 Lexus GX470 with 152k miles in February 2019 for a grand total of $10,000 out the door (It's scary how expensive they are today for the same vehicle). She was bone stock and only had 3 owners. When I went to the dealership to take a look I saw the vehicle was registered in New York and one point and feared it would be a rust bucket underneath. To my surprise the only rust I could find was on a couple of bolts. The GX had no reported accidents, however I noticed there was some respraying of the front and rear bumper. My guess is being in New York probably had plenty of "bumps" to the bumpers. The frame was solid so I decided to take if a for a test drive since I knew I would eventually be replacing the bumpers.
The car drove wonderfully and had no issues shifting between 4lo and 4 high with the transfer case. Center lock engaged just fine and the air bag suspension in the rear was working smoothly. The dealership originally wanted $12,500 for the car (plus tax and fees), however there wasn't much paperwork on repairs, maintenance, etc. My biggest concern (besides worn out tires) was whether the timing belt/water pump had been changed. So I started working the dealership down on price after getting a couple of quotes for timing belt/water pump replacement. I noticed they had maintenance done at a local European/Luxury car repair and so I called them directly while trying to haggle the dealership, and too my surprise they knew the car well and sent me over all their maintenance records. Luckily the water pump/timing belt had been replaced at 120k miles. I of course did not tell the dealership this and was able to talk them down to $10k cash out the door. So I became the proud owner of a Titanium Silver GX470.
Current Mods:
After about 1 month of ownership I decided to put some new rubber on as it really wasn't safe to drive in anything but dry weather with the current tires. At the time I was working for a tire company and thus got a screaming deal on some all terrain tires fueling my "modding" bug.
I wanted to be methodical about my approach to modding this rig. 1) I am one of those people that will throw all my money at everything at once to get up and going. 2) I am still relatively new to overlanding/off roading with any rigs so I wanted to understand the car and what I am looking for before just throwing money at it.
After getting tires I took a 1,000 mile shakedown from Tennessee to Michigan and back to make sure there was no immediate issues I needed to address while also visiting my wife's family. First issue to fix was the gas cap. It ended up needing to be replaced since I got the dreaded Christmas tree dashboard light up. Thankfully $27 later it was resolved. Next I checked all my wiring, switches, lights, etc. to make sure it was all in working order. Besides regular oil changes and suggested maintenance we spent most of 2019/2020 as the weekend warrior/haul the pup on hikes vehicle. During this time I did add some LED bulbs to the headlights and a couple of interior mounts for phones, tablet, etc.
Around the time I finally settled on a suspension upgrade COVID had just made its way to the US. My wife and I went back and forth as to whether we should pull the trigger or wait since she was now pregnant with our first child and with COVID we couldn't really go anywhere. A few months later we went for it, unfortunately everyone else decided it was a good time to buy upgrades as well and it ended up taking around 3-4 months to get the suspension bits in. After that the suspension sat in our garage due to our son being born. I ended up taking it to a shop and having them install it along with a new bumper, etc just because I did not have the time.
Suspension:
We went with the Dobinsons MRA 3" full adjustable lift. In addition we also purchased new Dobinsons UCA's and also had to replace our LCA's during install. We went with the stiffer springs because we knew we would be putting a winch and bumper and storage system in the rear.
Wheels:
Around the time of the suspension install I also had a set of Alpha Equipt Wheels that I purchased end of 2019 during a limited GXOR run. These wheels are honestly great and I love the hardened paint they used that is not as rough, but similar to bed liner paint.
Front Bumper:
I won't say I have any regrets with my bumper choice, but I did have a few issues with the bumper quality. Overall they did a fantastic job packaging it for shipment, and I am generally happy with it. I went with the Iron-man 4x4 ARB look alike bumper . I chose this over the ARB because they had it on sale for like $600 less.
Future Mods:
Below are mods I plan on doing that I have not acquired and/or decided on which direction I want to go. When I get to new mods I will reply to this thread with my choice and reasoning for that decision. Just a heads up, just because I picked something and have my reasons doesn't mean I am right or that it is THE best choice, but nonetheless it is ultimately my decision for my rig.
Rear Bumper: Undecided
Winch: Probably Warn, but have not decided
Skid Plates: Probably the ARB 4Runner set
Rock Sliders: I have changed my mind on which set to go with almost daily
Fridge: More than likely the ARB Zero series
Rear Drawers: Undecided if I will go prebuilt or custom
Lights: Don't ask, but there will be some
RTT: We are debating whether to do an RTT or if we will do a trailer build as well
I am sure there will be plenty more mods that I haven't listed yet. But that is where she stands today. We have done some light off-roading, but nothing a standard SUV can't do. Skids and Rock Sliders are priority for next mods, but with moving to CA in the last couple of months and getting settled in those may not happen until end of year.
Here are some photos of when I picked up the GX and where it sits today! Thank you for taking the time read this far and I will update as I add to it!
Attachments
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