Tex's 2019 GX460 build

[Tex68w]

I like the ARB or Ironman over the hybrid, but I’ve always been a fan of those types of bumpers. Sounds like a cool build coming.


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I'll 2nd that. I think the ARB or Ironman will help with the giant predator grill issue on the current GX's too...

I am leaning towards the ARB at this moment as it is a more refined look when compared directly to the Ironman. They look very similar but the Ironman is a little rougher around the edges, that does play into the cost difference though, the Ironman is nearly $500 less than the ARB. Personally I like the look of the subtle CBI GXOR Hybrid but beyond having a place to mount a winch, the main point of the bumper is to help protect the front end of the vehicle from animal strikes. Seeing how we've already had multiple animal strikes with this vehicle in 5-6 months time it would make more sense to help protect the front of the vehicle with a more robust full-wrap bumper like the ARB or Ironman.

 

[Wallygator]

**Update

The GX is headed to Duggy's Garage in Houston on Monday for a BMC, Total Chaos UCA's, and the install of the Ironman Foam Cell Pro lift kit. For now it'll be set at 2" of lift front and rear and I will continue to run the Nitto Ridge Grappler 255/70/18's (32.1x10x18) that are currently on the factory wheels. I have yet to decide whether or not I will use wheel spacers up front, but I'd like to avoid it if I can because I wasn't too keen on them when we had them on the 4Runner. In the coming months I plan to bump the kit up to 2.5-3" of lift (up front) and increase the coil rate to handle a heavier load for the addition of the front bumper and winch install.

I still need to decide which sliders I want to run and whether or not I am going to give the Coastal Off-road dual swing out rear bumper a go or run with a more streamlined and simple solution like the JW Off-road rear tire mount that basically bolts to the rear door. Keeping the overall added weight down is a concern and focus, but I might be willing to give up some out back should I decide to go with the CBI GXOR Hybrid front winch bumper instead of a full wrap like the ARB or Ironman. I don't really like the idea of drilling holes in the rear door for the JW tire mount and I am also concerned about the sheet metal holding up over time. I've seen similar installs tear the metal over time due to the extra load and forces it's experiencing with every jostle of the body.

What do you guys think of the following front bumpers?

ARB

Ironman

CBI GXOR Hybrid

I like the hybrid.

 

[Tex68w]

Hoping for this look out of the kit next week. I'll rock it like that for a few months until I get the bumper, winch, and 285's lined up for the SCS wheels, then I'll go back on for heavier coils and crank up the kit to it's max.

 

[Tex68w]

I like the hybrid.

I think the reason I like the Hybrid is because it doesn't add to the overall length of the front end and it doesn't add to the mass out in front of the hood and its break over angle. This pic shows how nicely the Hybrid increases the ground clearance of the stock front valence and adds nothing in front of that clip. I love the robust look and added protection the ARB provides but it also adds a lot of suspended weight out front and increases the length of the nose by at least a foot.

 

[SoTxAg06]

I think the reason I like the Hybrid is because it doesn't add to the overall length of the front end and it doesn't add to the mass out in front of the hood and its break over angle. This pic shows how nicely the Hybrid increases the ground clearance of the stock front valence and adds nothing in front of that clip. I love the robust look and added protection the ARB provides but it also adds a lot of suspended weight out front and increases the length of the nose by at least a foot.

I can’t disagree with your reasoning. I’m sure there is a substantial weight difference between and traditional bumper and the hybrid. Added weight and bulkiness are probably my two biggest gripes about winch bumpers. That being said, there is a compromise to be had.


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[Tex68w]

I can’t disagree with your reasoning. I’m sure there is a substantial weight difference between and traditional bumper and the hybrid. Added weight and bulkiness are probably my two biggest gripes about winch bumpers. That being said, there is a compromise to be had.


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Agreed, it boils down to looks and light weight vs. protection, safety (airbag compatible), and durability. ARB stands behind their products I am not sure that I can make the same confident claim about CBI and not only that, but when will that bumper actually be in my hands? The ARB is available now!

 

[tennesseewj]

One thing I really like about the hybrid bumpers is that while an enthusiast will notice them, your average passer-by will pay no attention to them. There are times when I appreciate blending in, particularly with a daily driver that I use to meet with clients.

They definitely offer less protection than an ARB, though.

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[Wallygator]

I think the reason I like the Hybrid is because it doesn't add to the overall length of the front end and it doesn't add to the mass out in front of the hood and its break over angle. This pic shows how nicely the Hybrid increases the ground clearance of the stock front valence and adds nothing in front of that clip. I love the robust look and added protection the ARB provides but it also adds a lot of suspended weight out front and increases the length of the nose by at least a foot.

Dang that is nice! Yeah exactly, on your vehicle and your use, you don't need a giant piece of bumper hanging off the front. The hybrid is lighter than the others and fits the vehicle very nicely. Looks awesome at the mall while allowing winch capabilities at said mall. The more I look at the GX's, the more I like them and that hybrid is just a sweet looking bumper and a very clean design. I feel it makes the weird front design (all lexus') look way better than stock.

I don't know? I guess if I owned a vehicle like that I would want to keep it clean looking. If I lived in Australia the ARB would be it, hands down. On a vehicle that is not going to see hard core wheeling or crazy ass Kangaroos flying in front of me on a regular basis, I like the hybrid. Of course as mentioned the ARB is probably better in a crash but that would not stop me from buying the hybrid for the reasons mentioned.

 

[DzlToy]

There is no such thing as an air bag compatible bumper. That is marketing schtick. Air bags are triggered in modern cars by sensors measuring g-force, i.e. an accelerometer. You were traveling at 30 mph and 0.5 seconds later you are traveling at 0 mph, air bag fires, in a nutshell.

Put 15 different bumpers on, take the factory bumper off and drive without a bumper or weld a piece of pipe to the ends of the frame rail and the sensor still measures rapid deceleration in a crash. The sensor is typically mounted under the cowl or under the dash, not in or near the bumper itself.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming, after this message from Hella Vehicle Systems: (you will notice that the word bumper is not contained below)

AIRBAG FUNCTION: COMPONENTS
Airbag control unit
The control unit is the heart of the airbag system and is installed centrally in the vehicle. It can generally be found in the dashboard area, on the centre tunnel.

It is responsible for the following:

• Detecting accidents.
• Detecting the signals sent by the sensors in a timely manner.
• Triggering the necessary firing circuits in a timely manner.
• Providing the power supply to the firing circuits using the capacitor, independently of the vehicle battery.
• Running self-diagnostics on the entire system.
• Storing faults in the fault memory.
• Activating the airbag indicator lamp if the system fails.
• Connecting to other control units via the CAN bus.

 

[Tex68w]

There is no such thing as an air bag compatible bumper. That is marketing schtick. Air bags are triggered in modern cars by sensors measuring g-force, i.e. an accelerometer. You were traveling at 30 mph and 0.5 seconds later you are traveling at 0 mph, air bag fires, in a nutshell.

Put 15 different bumpers on, take the factory bumper off and drive without a bumper or weld a piece of pipe to the ends of the frame rail and the sensor still measures rapid deceleration in a crash. The sensor is typically mounted under the cowl or under the dash, not in or near the bumper itself.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming, after this message from Hella Vehicle Systems: (you will notice that the word bumper is not contained below)

AIRBAG FUNCTION: COMPONENTS
Airbag control unit
The control unit is the heart of the airbag system and is installed centrally in the vehicle. It can generally be found in the dashboard area, on the centre tunnel.

It is responsible for the following:

• Detecting accidents.
• Detecting the signals sent by the sensors in a timely manner.
• Triggering the necessary firing circuits in a timely manner.
• Providing the power supply to the firing circuits using the capacitor, independently of the vehicle battery.
• Running self-diagnostics on the entire system.
• Storing faults in the fault memory.
• Activating the airbag indicator lamp if the system fails.
• Connecting to other control units via the CAN bus.

Let me rephrase this, the ARB is the only bumper designed to still work in conjunction with the factory crumple zones.

 

[Tex68w]

Dang that is nice! Yeah exactly, on your vehicle and your use, you don't need a giant piece of bumper hanging off the front. The hybrid is lighter than the others and fits the vehicle very nicely. Looks awesome at the mall while allowing winch capabilities at said mall. The more I look at the GX's, the more I like them and that hybrid is just a sweet looking bumper and a very clean design. I feel it makes the weird front design (all lexus') look way better than stock.

I don't know? I guess if I owned a vehicle like that I would want to keep it clean looking. If I lived in Australia the ARB would be it, hands down. On a vehicle that is not going to see hard core wheeling or crazy ass Kangaroos flying in front of me on a regular basis, I like the hybrid. Of course as mentioned the ARB is probably better in a crash but that would not stop me from buying the hybrid for the reasons mentioned.

I agree, it's a nice, clean, sleeper type setup that still improves your front-end clearance and break-over angle while providing you a winch and some added protection to the wings of the front clip. It does a nice job of helping to compliment the factory look while also improving the design some. As much as I think the front end of these vehicles is their ugliest attribute, I'll admit that I am starting to warm up to it and it's even growing on me some.

The ARB provides more protection to the front end and would do a much better job of helping to push brush and limbs away from the grill and hood of the vehicle (we do drive around at the ranch quite often). While there aren't any kangaroos here in Texas, we do have a ton of large deer and hogs that we encounter almost daily. We live rurally and work rurally so animal strikes are almost always a possibility. In the six months we've owned this vehicle we've had multiple animal strikes and it will always continue to be a factor. The ARB does add some peace of mind in terms of added protection up front, but it most definitely stands out more and screams "off-road" not to mention the added overall length, weight, and altered handling characteristics to some degree with that much added weight that far up and forward when compared to the Hybrid.

I don't think you can go wrong either way, it really just boils down to looks or whether or not you think you'd ever benefit from the added coverage that the ARB provides.

 

[TexasIsHome]

I love the classic ARB styling, but my vote is for the hybrid bumper. I went crazy on my old Jeep, and decided to keep our 5G 4Runner a bit more tame. I'm running a hidden winch mount and factory bumper and love how it looks unmodified.

 

[Tex68w]

I love the classic ARB styling, but my vote is for the hybrid bumper. I went crazy on my old Jeep, and decided to keep our 5G 4Runner a bit more tame. I'm running a hidden winch mount and factory bumper and love how it looks unmodified.

I'll admit that I am very torn here. If I go ARB it will have to be the 150 series Prado version sourced via an over seas vendor and I will likely have to pay a shop (Duggy's) a pretty penny to install it and make sure it's cut and done properly so that all of the sensors and lights washers, etc. work properly. The CBI Hybrid is simple and something I can easily do in the driveway and keep the vehicle looking stock and subtle. The ARB full wrap definitely screams "off-road" and doesn't help it to blend in.

A few more shots of the Lexus CA build.

 

[Tex68w]

I'll get pics of the entire truck tomorrow when there's better lighting outside, but here's a little teaser of the Foam Cell Pro kit and TC UCA's. The ride is 98% as smooth as stock but with almost no brake dive, it feels sportier. All driving so far has been on road at highway speeds. For daily driving these fit the bill, I'm looking forward to getting it off-road to see how they perform there too!

 

[Tex68w]

Got out this morning and snapped a few pics post lift. I will say this about the ride, while it is slightly stiffer than stock (as to be expected) it is still very comfortable and far smoother and more compliant than any of the 4Runner's we've ever owned, stock or modified. No brake dive, a sportier feel to the handling and all of the great attributes of KDSS retained.

Duggy's Garage in Houston did the work and they knocked it out fast. A promotion a few months back on the Ironman Foam Cell Pro kits made it a no brainer to save some money and go this route instead of the originally planned King's. The savings coupled with the fact that this vehicle will still be driven daily and see a lot of highway use I wanted as comfortable of a ride as possible and less maintenance than what the King's consisted of. I feel like we got all of that with this kit and with the adjustability and option to rebuild/service when needed. The Foam Cell shocks are massive in diameter. I went with Total Chaos UCA's because they've never failed me in the past.

The end result left us with 1/4-3/8" of KDSS lean on the rear passengers side, not as bad as some but still a little disappointing. I am not sure why these vehicles struggle with that even when the system is opened properly during install. Duc left about 1/2" of adjustability on the front so that we can crank the coil overs up a tad more when we move over to the 285's and the front bumper. The rear should settle in the coming weeks kicking some of the ass high look.

It amazes me how much plastic body clad crap is on these vehicles, it really masks the height, clearance and break over angles of these vehicles and quite honestly makes it kind of difficult to tell that the vehicle has been lifted at all. With that said, that is just another reason why I should move forward quickly with the sliders and front bumper. Has anyone trimmed the bottom and sides of the front bumper on a 2014+?

As of right now I will run the 255/70/18's on the stock wheels and eventually move over to the 285/70/17's once we get the rest of the parts for stage two of the build (sliders, bumper, winch, drawers). I test fit one of the 285's on the front just to see how it would look. I was initially concerned as I had originally bought this wheel/tire set for our black TRD Pro 4Runner and I wasn't sure whether or not they would look good on the white GX, but I think they will look great on there. Other than the 285's being wider (also on a wider wheel) there isn't a whole hell of a lot of height difference between the 255/70/18 and the 285/70/17. I was surprised to see how very little difference there is between the two which also made me question whether or not it's worth putting them on, maybe I should just run some wheel spacers with the current 255's and stock wheels instead?!

Hopefully I can get her off-road later this week to see how she does off pavement and if nothing else I can hit the beach and see the difference there at speed in that terrain. Up next are the sliders, drawers, front bumper and winch, LRA 33 gallon auxiliary fuel tank and hopefully I'll get around to installing the MTS and Crawl Control modules as well. Now if only someone would make a respectable rear bumper and tire carrier that compliments the look of the GX.