Prof H's Lifted GX 470

[Prof H]

Hi all!

After lots of reading here on Toyota 120, I decided to go with a 2006 GX 470 for my next vehicle.

Here it is new:



And here's a current picture, as of 2016:

[UnionJack]

Nice ride, welcome to 120 Mods?

[Prof H]

First things I did was pull the running boards. With them off, I was pretty impressed with the GX's clearance, even without a lift.

Here it is on Willow Springs Road in Moab, on the back way into Arches National Park. It's an easy trail, but with a few slick rock patches that make for a good photo op.



And here it is in Arches, with a little dust on the stock Michelins:

[Prof H]

Although my GX only had 50,000 miles on it, the shocks were in bad shape, particularly the front ones. Then around 60,000 miles the rear left airbag and/or sensor started to act up. I would get up in the morning and find the truck tilted to the left.

I knew from reading up here and elsewhere online that there was no point in replacing the suspension with original equipment, and of course I had plans to lift it anyway. I just didn't expect the whole stock suspension to crap out so quickly.

So I took it in to Slee Offroad here in Denver and had them take out the rear air suspension and put in an Old Man Emu kit front and rear. This was the first GX they had lifted, and they wanted to do it right. After talking to them, I went with:

885 front coils w/ 90000 struts
896 rear coils with 60004 rear shocks



They also had to add rear bump stops (for a 4runner) and a retaining clip for the rear coils:



And here it is after the lift:

[Prof H]

The guys at Slee did a great job taking out the air suspension. They took out the dash lights and put in a blank switch cover where the air height controls used to be:



And here's the old suspension:

[Prof H]

My Michelin tires were shot after driving on them with the original worn shocks-- I had a bad pull to the left that was even worse after the lift. Plus, after the lift, the Michelins made the truck feel like I was riding on Jello.

So off went the 265/65/17 Michelins and on went a set of LT BFG AT in 265/70/17. These are C rated, and seemed a good fit for the GX's weight. The stiffer sidewalls made all the difference, and the Jello feel was gone.

Between the lift and the tires, my GX is sitting at 3.5 inches above stock, although I figure it may settle.

[Prof H]

Unloaded, the Old Man Emu rear coils are a bit bouncy, but with my recovery gear in the back, the ride is surprisingly smooth.

With that in mind, I put in a Weathertech cargo mat and a Lexus cargo net, in order to make it easier to keep my recovery gear in back.

To give the Weathertech mat a more finished look, I took out the rear cargo hooks and seat latches and reattached them on top of the mat. The bezels hold the mat in place nicely:

[Cruiserhead]

really nice! Slee is just fantastic, that's great

The GX looks awesome, love the new look

[Prof H]

I tested out the new suspension on a trail near Idaho Springs, just a little outside of Denver. The OME lift really performed off road.

Had many comments on the Lexus, ranging from "that's too pretty to wheel" to "good to see a Lexus being used properly."

[Ryanmb21]

Nice choice in mods, interested to see what you have in store.

[WillRunner05]

Welcome to 120!!!

Prof H,

Welcome to the club. Seems like you have a great start. I would suggest sliders next to protect the sides. I never thought of installing the rear cargo mat that way. I will head out and do mine soon. You can see my build here:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...ighlight=texgx

TexGX

[Prof H]

TexGX-- I've definitely looked at your build thread more than a few times.

Sliders are next on the list. They're really required equipment here in Colorado. What I'm unsure of is whether or not any of the bolt-on 4Runner sliders will work on a GX, or if I'll have to go with weld-on.

[Prof H]

My plan is to build the GX as a weekend warrior vehicle. It's a daily driver, but my wife and I like to be able to get out on the weekends and explore the Colorado mountains. We also go to Moab on a regular basis, and although I don't have an interest in driving the hard core trails, I like being able to get out and see some of the more remote arches and Indian ruins.

Just having the lift and the new tires will accomplish most of this, but some better undercarriage protection would be good as well, along with a winch. I could also use some additional storage capacity.

So my build plans look like this:

* Lift
* Tires
* Sliders
* Roof rack
* Skid plates
* GPS/stereo upgrade (I don't have the factory Nav)
* ARB bumper
* Winch

[UnionJack]

Originally Posted by Prof H

... I don't have an interest in driving the hard core trails

* Lift
* Tires
* Sliders
* Roof rack
* Skid plates
* GPS/stereo upgrade (I don't have the factory Nav)
* ARB bumper
* Winch

With those mods that may change

[RCsGX]

Nice GX Prof H.

[Prof H]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

[Prof H]

So the next mod I need to get done is a set of sliders-- for the protection, of course, but also so my kids can get in more easily.

I'm partial to the Demello bolt-on sliders, but that depends on the compatibility of the GX's frame.

Here's what a non-KDSS GX's frame looks like (it's a composite photo, but everything lines up).

Does anyone know if the holes match those on a 4th gen 4runner?

[WillRunner05]

It's hard for me to tell just by looking at the picture, I wish we lived closer so I could just take one of mine off and try bolting it up to your GX.

[Prof H]

Hey Will!

From looking at the pictures in your build thread, it at least seems possible the holes in the Demello backing plate line up.

And now that I think about it, the promising thing about the Demello sliders is that they have that long backing plate.

Even if the holes didn't align, I could drill new ones in the backing plate to match the ones in my GX's frame.