Lexus GX470 Expedition build

[boo471]

Hi,

I'm building a Lexus GX470 (Also known as " Scuba Steve") to use for exploring and weekend trail rides. I'll post some pictures about the work that has been done and update the thread as often as possible about any progress.

My original build thread started at ih8mud.com. You will find more discussions about the early stage of the build there.
Ih8mud

Planned updates:

- 100W solar panel
- Adjustable solar panel mounting solution for roof rack. (Damn you Gobi rack for steeling my idea!)
- Mount and wire up solar panel charge controller.
- Chop frame in the rear
- Rear Bumper
- Rear bumper swing out with storage/spare tire carrier.
- Mount Rock lights.
- A LT front suspension and Custom 4-link LT rear is a dream
- FR ARB locker and a TJM Pro Rear Locker would be nice.
- Mount Compressor in engine bay
- Off road camper trailer, which will probably get its own thread.
- Update rear storage system
- New washer fluid reservoir needed (The current one lost the battle with the front wheel during heavy snow driving). And mounted in engine bay instead.


Completed:

- 2.5" OME Lift
- 1.25" Wheel Spacers
- 285/70/17 Hankook DynaPro MT tires
- BudBuilt Skids
- Custom Rock Sliders
- Rear Storage solution
- HID Xenon conversion
- LED Light bar for roof rack
- RTT
- RTT 12V power harness. Switch box, LED lightning and 12V power socket in tent.
- Fridge, Dometic CF-40
- Fridge Harness
- Switch panel
- Dual battery Relay (BlueSea) mounted.
- Cobra CB Radio with Wilson antenna.
- Compressor
- Optima Yellowtop Battery (Starter Battery)
- DieHard Platinum Marine battery (AUX Battery)
- LED lights for the trunk area.
- Dual Battery Set up with custom tray.
- Dual Battery harness.
- CD changer disconnect and mounted a iPhone control box instead.
- Custom Bracket for relays/fuses and power distribution for all extras from AUX battery.
- Side Off road lights on roof rack.
- Reverse lights on roof rack.
- Custom Flow Master Super 40 CATback system.
- Custom Fridge mounting bracket (Rear seat) with strap down system.
- LED step in lights
- RamMount iPad navigation system with Motion X HD and iPhone. RouteBuddy on MAC with US Topo maps and Google Earth for creating routes to export to iPad.
- Custom Front Bumper
- Snorkel Ironman4x4
- 2*9" HIDs on front bumper
- Spare tire currently mounted on the roof rack.
- 400W Inverter
- HAM Radio, Kenwood TM-V71A installed, KK4WSE

The day it arrived from the dealer:

Current status:


Enjoy!


///Marten

 

[boo471]

Picture of planned armor

Here are my first drafts of the Front bumper (hoop with light tabs to be added, the design will be very similar to the landcruiserNW bumper), rear bumper (will be designed so it can be adapted with a swing arm later if needed, will add some tubing to stiffen up the sides as well), rock sliders and a hugh roof rack designed to hold my RTT, 4 off road lights and room for either a spare tire or Jerry cans with gas/water and tools and such.

Everything will be bolt on and there should be no need to cut up the truck anywhere to get these parts on.

Feel free to give feedback on the design.




cheers!

//Marten

 

[boo471]

Stock car....

Ok, as promised here is some history on my GX and what’s been done to her.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image_zpscf1d9d00.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image_zpscf1d9d00.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL]

Here she is in stock form, straight from the dealer. It's a 2004 and had about 120k miles on her when I got it. She had been very well taken care of and all service had been made up to this point. My dog was a bit skeptical at first but soon learned to love it.
Since the 120k service hadn’t been done I took care of that myself. New iridium spark plugs, new heavy duty fluids in diffs, transfer cases. Also one of the CV boots was badly torn and I wasn’t sure how bad shape the actual joint was so I got a new one. Replaced the old one and rebuilt it since it was in very good shape. It’s now stored in the truck as a spare.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image1_zps36c8f7c2.jpeg"] [/URL]
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image4_zpsf07e6117.jpeg"] [/URL]

 

[boo471]

Modifications started.

So once the truck was serviced and up to par I started the fun stuff...modifications.

The plan with this truck is for my wife and I to drive the 4 corners of the lower 48 states (Maine, Florida, Cali and Washington state). And we where not planning on driving on high ways. The more trails and back country roads the better. So an expedition rig with the capability to stay away from civilization days on end was the main goal. But I also like going off road every now and then so some decent off road capabilities was needed.

First thing i did as black out all chrome parts and the wheels. I used Plasti Dip for this. I also blacked out the hood.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image2_zps6d882060.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image2_zps6d882060.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image2_zps6d882060.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image2_zps6d882060.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]

Communications is a must so that was done at an early stage.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image7_zpsbbb1015d.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image7_zpsbbb1015d.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image7_zpsbbb1015d.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL][/URL]

We needed somewhere to sleep so a RTT was mounted on the truck.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image8_zpsadf14855.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image8_zpsadf14855.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image8_zpsadf14855.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL][/URL]


I installed an OME 2.5" lift kit (tricked rear airbags)and new tires was needed since the old once (brand new when I got them) sucked off road. The new tires are Hankook Dynapro MT (285/70/17) and 1.25" spacers. Had to do some cutting in the wheel arches to get the wheels to fit. The OME 885 coils seems a little soft. The have started to sag a bit so will most likley upgrade to 886 soon or just ad some spacers to get back about 0.5" of lift that's been lost.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/photo1_zps102c309b.jpg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/photo1_zps102c309b.jpg"] [/URL][/URL]

I needed to be able to air up the tires after off roading so I got my self a small compressor. Pretty good actually.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image26_zps44a61fcb.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image26_zps44a61fcb.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image26_zps44a61fcb.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL][/URL]

A new battery was installed.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image32_zpsf771861b.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image32_zpsf771861b.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image32_zpsf771861b.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL][/URL]

 

[boo471]

Rear Storage

I needed to get some storage in the back for tools, clothes, food and stove. So I started measuring and removing interior parts to find good hard points to fix the storage unit. After that I started sketching (I normaly use CAD software but that's cheating, much more fun to sketch by hand).

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image20_zpse21891ee.jpeg"] [/URL]

Card board mock up.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image19_zps87c169db.jpeg"] [/URL]

Almost there... Inside of drawers are sprayed with bedliner spray to take some beating.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image21_zps5992ab90.jpeg"] [/URL]

The finished product. It's made with MDF board and is heavy as heck but really sturdy. Boltet with 4 bolts to the floor. It's holding all my tools, spare parts, camping stuff, clothes food (not chilled food), cooking gear and stove. It's big.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image22_zps331f20ab.jpeg"] [/URL]

The tent and rear door gives good protection against the elements and yes you can drink beer and cook back there.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/photo2_zps656c77f0.jpg"] [/URL]
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image24_zps88519919.jpeg"] [/URL]

 

[boo471]

Started adding steel to the truck.

So I need some armor for the truck (Work in progress). I contacted Budbuilt to get their skids and have them customize their 4runner sliders for the GX.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image13_zps9d01f8f8.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image13_zps9d01f8f8.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL]

The sliders got tacked up but never finalized by Bud. Not sure why (He didn't respond to any of my calls/emails) hence Im building my own now. But here is Buds, GX version of the sliders.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image15_zps514c188a.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image15_zps514c188a.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL]

The skids needed some paint on them to not rust (powder coating is nice but hit one rock and you scrape right thru it, really to expensive for something you will beat the heck out of anyways. I prefer just spray a little paint on the scratches and your good).

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image17_zps8fd47695.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image17_zps8fd47695.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL]

I dint like the dark paint, its to hard to see where you have the rocks when spotting so I decided to get a very pretty orange color instead ;p

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image34_zpsb77e30b3.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image34_zpsb77e30b3.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL]

These skids are awesome. They have saved my truck on several occations. Really heavy duty!

 

[boo471]

Fridge...

Got my self a fridge. Have had it out a few times and I am very happy with it. You get a lot for your money! Bought some 10 gauge wire going straight from the battery to a 12v rear socket with a switch and a digital volt meter to mount the fridge to.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image31_zps34d590a2.jpeg"] [/URL]

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image30_zps3b56ba05.jpeg"] [/URL]

 

[boo471]

HIDs

I'm planning to mount around 14 additional light sources all around the truck when its all done (2xfog lights, 2x8" lights on bumper, 4x7" lights on roof, 2x rear working lights, 4x rock lights). But for now I settled with upgrading the original lights.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image36_zps3c5c4cd2.jpeg"] [/URL]


[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image35_zpsd728391f.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image35_zpsd728391f.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL]

 

[boo471]

Front bumper mock up.

I did some measurements and built a front bumper mock up a while back.

[URL=http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Marten_Medin/media/image5_zps06c96f61.jpeg.html]

[/URL]

 

[boo471]

Random pictures

Somewhere in Uwharrie...
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image33_zps526f650f.jpeg"] [/URL]

The wife and I and of course my helper during this build, Bobo (the dog) out camping somewhere in NC.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image28_zps53df8106.jpeg"] [/URL]

RTTs are nice. The dog loves hanging out up there and the wife never seem to be able to get out of the bed in the morning when you have a nice mattress to sleep on.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image16_zpse031ce0a.jpeg"] [/URL]

A spring day in Uwharrie after a day off road.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image12_zps833782af.jpeg"] [/URL]

Typical parking by a GX owner...
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image11_zps694ff358.jpeg"] [/URL]

Bobo and I spending some quality time in the wild.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image10_zps6dfa9f85.jpeg"] [/URL]

We did the first of 4 corners a couple of weeks back. This is early morning somewhere in Vermont. It was a 25 hour straight drive from NC to West Quoddy head light house in Maine.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/image29_zpsc570fd3d.jpeg"] [/URL]

Playing in the mud...
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/photo3_zpsee52dd8a.jpg"] [/URL]

 

[boo471]

Switch panel

I got some switches that I ordered from E-bay this weekend and mounted them to the center console last night. Im pretty happy with the results. I will start wiring them up this week.

[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Switches_zps68e76381.jpg"] [/URL]

 

[boo471]

Switch panel mounted

Here is what it looks like mounted.

A few wires....
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Switch1_zps122af6be.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Switch1_zps122af6be.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL]

LEDs are controlled by the dash light. None of the switches active.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Switch3_zps5c042ba9.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Switch3_zps5c042ba9.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL]

 

[boo471]

Lights arrived from China....

[URL=http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Marten_Medin/media/image_zps3f8dc5a8.jpeg.html] [/URL]

My plan was to get 2x7" mounted in the grill and 4x5" on the roof. But found a decent LED bar at a good price so decided to use that on the roof and got 2x9" mounted in the grill for distance instead.

[URL=http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Marten_Medin/media/bild2_zps73ada67c.jpeg.html] [/URL]

 

[boo471]

Work on Roof rack started

I got some work done on the roof rack yesterday. Like I mention in my first post. This roof rack will be built to hold my RTT and with a "basket" in front to hold either a spare tire or what ever else one would want up there. It will have mounting points for my LED light bar and for reverse/work lights in the back. I will also build a custom sliding adjuster and mount a 100W solar panel that will be horizontally mounted above the LED light bar and that can slide forward, above the windshield when parked.

I did shorten the rack a little bit compared to my original design. It was just to big. It looked weird and I wanted to keep the weight down.. There is still enough room up there to put a whole lot of stuff.

The frame is built out of 1"x0.120 DOM tube, 1" and 3/4" HREW tube. Should be pretty sturdy once everything is welded down properly.

Right now Im debating how to design the mounting brackets on the truck. I want to make sure it's waterproof so might need to go get some more seals (for GX470s without roof rails). So no water gets in under the current seals.

Wife grinding down my not so pretty welds (its been a while since I welded).
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Bild2_zps49555ce8.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Bild2_zps49555ce8.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Bild2_zps49555ce8.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL][/URL]

This is how far we got yesterday before I had to stop working and start moving a Copper head snake instead that my dog was playing around with.
[URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Bild3_zpsb22b3484.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Bild3_zpsb22b3484.jpeg"][URL="http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/Marten_Medin/Bild3_zpsb22b3484.jpeg"] [/URL][/URL][/URL]

 

[boo471]

Today's progress. Before the thunderstorm rolled in and the power went out.