Lexus GX470 Expedition build
- Thread starter boo471
- Start date
boo471
Adventurer
Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.
I didn't get any time over to work on the bracket. Been busy with yard work and cleaning the garage all weekend. I did get me a huge Husky tool chest. So now I actually know where my tools are.... I hope.
boo471
Adventurer
The roof sits at around 6'2" and with the stock roof rail it would be about 6'5". Right now with my roof rack and tent it's around 7'6". You can lower the rear a couple of inches with the help of the air suspension.
So might get a little tight for you. I can't get in the garage anymore. But I remove the tent/rack if needed.
It's a great platform for a build. Great compromise between off road capabilities and comforts. I still drive mine to work every day.
PetitFrereArmada
Explorer
This is a great thread. I like what you have done to your Lexus.
boo471
Adventurer
battry tray information.
So I started looking at the battery tray and what it would take to get it done. This is not laser cut or fancy in any way. I cut mine out with a cutting blade and grinded down the edge's. This first one I did went thru a lot of cutting/adding/cutting/adding/grinding so It looks a bit ruff.
The tray is custom made for a DieHard Platinum Marine Group 34M Battery. I can guarantee that this will fit. I can remove the "flanges" that I have on the base of the tray if you feel like trying to fit a bigger battery but I can't say that a bigger battery will fit. There is more room when it come to the length of the battery and some space in width but height wise its a really tight fit. I was also thinking about making a "box" design of the tray instead of using the tie downs which would make the tray a lot stronger. But it would take more time/material and cost a little more if you want this.
Material costs are approximately:
Sheet metal = $40
Fasteners = $10
Tools/weld wire and so on = $45
Surface treatment = Raw (oiled) = $0 Painted =$10 Powder coated = ? If you want me to do this let me know and I can get a quote for powder coating for you.
My time = (?) It took me about 8 hrs to do the first one but now I have the measurements and doing several at a time will cut time as well. But will be hard to get one of these done below 4hrs.
Shipping = ? Let me look in to this.
So I would say that build cost would be at around $200 + shipping would be a reasonable price.
I would build these per order but would prefer to have a few to build at the same time so I can order the material for them at the same time to save on shipping. I also build these on my spare time ( I work full time and then some) so it might take a few weeks to get these done.
Please confirm if you are still interested of a tray and I will PM you my PayPal information so I can start ordering the material.
Here are some pictures of the prototype tray I did for my truck.
Just above the oil stick you see the AC pipe going up/left in under the tray that is causing a lot of issues for us GX owners. My bracket just clears this.
You need to drill holes in the inner fender to fix the bolts for the bracket. Im welding on nuts on the brackets and fix it with bolts from the outside. Im also using 2 of the bolts holding the airbox to hold down the other end of the bracket.
Here you can see the bolts inside the fender holding the bracket.
So I started looking at the battery tray and what it would take to get it done. This is not laser cut or fancy in any way. I cut mine out with a cutting blade and grinded down the edge's. This first one I did went thru a lot of cutting/adding/cutting/adding/grinding so It looks a bit ruff.
The tray is custom made for a DieHard Platinum Marine Group 34M Battery. I can guarantee that this will fit. I can remove the "flanges" that I have on the base of the tray if you feel like trying to fit a bigger battery but I can't say that a bigger battery will fit. There is more room when it come to the length of the battery and some space in width but height wise its a really tight fit. I was also thinking about making a "box" design of the tray instead of using the tie downs which would make the tray a lot stronger. But it would take more time/material and cost a little more if you want this.
Material costs are approximately:
Sheet metal = $40
Fasteners = $10
Tools/weld wire and so on = $45
Surface treatment = Raw (oiled) = $0 Painted =$10 Powder coated = ? If you want me to do this let me know and I can get a quote for powder coating for you.
My time = (?) It took me about 8 hrs to do the first one but now I have the measurements and doing several at a time will cut time as well. But will be hard to get one of these done below 4hrs.
Shipping = ? Let me look in to this.
So I would say that build cost would be at around $200 + shipping would be a reasonable price.
I would build these per order but would prefer to have a few to build at the same time so I can order the material for them at the same time to save on shipping. I also build these on my spare time ( I work full time and then some) so it might take a few weeks to get these done.
Please confirm if you are still interested of a tray and I will PM you my PayPal information so I can start ordering the material.
Here are some pictures of the prototype tray I did for my truck.
Just above the oil stick you see the AC pipe going up/left in under the tray that is causing a lot of issues for us GX owners. My bracket just clears this.
You need to drill holes in the inner fender to fix the bolts for the bracket. Im welding on nuts on the brackets and fix it with bolts from the outside. Im also using 2 of the bolts holding the airbox to hold down the other end of the bracket.
Here you can see the bolts inside the fender holding the bracket.
Attachments
boo471
Adventurer
cleaned the garage
So I spent the bigger portion of my Sunday to clean out my garage. I moved here to the US about 3 1/2 years ago with just a bag of clothes. Somehow I have manage to fill my garage with a looooot of stuff. I needed to organize this so I got myself a Husky tool chest which now hold pretty much all my tools. Seemed to be the best chest you could get for the money.
Before
After
So I spent the bigger portion of my Sunday to clean out my garage. I moved here to the US about 3 1/2 years ago with just a bag of clothes. Somehow I have manage to fill my garage with a looooot of stuff. I needed to organize this so I got myself a Husky tool chest which now hold pretty much all my tools. Seemed to be the best chest you could get for the money.
Before
After
Bretthn
Explorer
Looks good.... for now. Just wait until the next project starts. I gave up on keeping my garage organized a long time ago. It gets worse once you have a kid.
boo471
Adventurer
Electrical managment thingy
I been thinking of organizing my wiring under the hood and I have seen that a few guy's in the Tacoma forum had done a bracket that mounts to the inner fender that seemed like a sweet solution.
So I started sketching on some ideas on this.
So my needs where.
- Clean everything up = All small wires to be hidden under the bracket.
- Mount for my BlueSea automatic relay
- Mount for my circuit breaker
- Mount for my BlueSea fuse box
- Mount for heavy duty ground terminal
- Be able to mount 8 relays in a secure manor. I noticed that a lot of people mount these horizontally which is not a good thing. They are made to be mounted vertical so I had to make a different solution here.
- Act as cable management for my 2 gauge cables between my 2 batteries.
It was a tight fit but I was able to fulfill all my goals above.
I made a cardboard template and started cutting a 16gauge sheet of metal. Sprayed it and started test fitting my components.
Here you can see the ground terminal and the holes on the sides of the fuse box to allow wires to be routed.
Mounted in the truck
I been thinking of organizing my wiring under the hood and I have seen that a few guy's in the Tacoma forum had done a bracket that mounts to the inner fender that seemed like a sweet solution.
So I started sketching on some ideas on this.
So my needs where.
- Clean everything up = All small wires to be hidden under the bracket.
- Mount for my BlueSea automatic relay
- Mount for my circuit breaker
- Mount for my BlueSea fuse box
- Mount for heavy duty ground terminal
- Be able to mount 8 relays in a secure manor. I noticed that a lot of people mount these horizontally which is not a good thing. They are made to be mounted vertical so I had to make a different solution here.
- Act as cable management for my 2 gauge cables between my 2 batteries.
It was a tight fit but I was able to fulfill all my goals above.
I made a cardboard template and started cutting a 16gauge sheet of metal. Sprayed it and started test fitting my components.
Here you can see the ground terminal and the holes on the sides of the fuse box to allow wires to be routed.
Mounted in the truck
Hector
New member
Marten---
Love the truck, though some may say i have a thing for gray cruisers. Well thought out and cleanly executed build. Digging the pen and paper drafting too. Ive been admiring the progress from the other side of Bryan Blvd as well and figured id find you here. We need to get some local expo folk together for a cars and coffee meet up......or even a better an overnight run to the hills.
keep up the great work, hope to see you around
Love the truck, though some may say i have a thing for gray cruisers. Well thought out and cleanly executed build. Digging the pen and paper drafting too. Ive been admiring the progress from the other side of Bryan Blvd as well and figured id find you here. We need to get some local expo folk together for a cars and coffee meet up......or even a better an overnight run to the hills.
keep up the great work, hope to see you around
boo471
Adventurer
lol so your spying on me ey!
We are a bunch that meet up and ride once in a while. Next trip coming up in a couple of weeks if you want to tag along.
See more info here.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/116585-NC-meet-and-greet-2nd-edition