"You're wheeling a what?!?!" Build Thread - 2005 Lexus GX470

His rig was on the Mule Expo face book page. Looks pretty badass.

 

@AWilson013 and @Nimitz are also doing GX builds.

 

Says the guy driving the Ford.

 

I own a taco too ..

 

I'm just jelly.. would legit fuck your GX

 

Subd, almost bought one of these myself for a family car. Can't wait to see what ya do with it.

 

Just did Dobinsons on my son's 08 4runner. So far I'm impressed with it.

 

we had a 04 and it went to 200k with no major issues when sold. Should have kept it for purposes like you're doing. The V8 was awesome.

 

Are you familiar with the guys at Tamdem Automotive in Fort Worth? One of them, Alex, wheels a pretty heavily modified Lexus. They're all super nice guys and his Lexus rules.

 

Yep. They're doing the suspension install for me. Going to drop it off this Friday or Saturday. First time I let someone other than me work on one of my rigs but I trust them. They do good work!

 

They did mine as well. I have to go back up there soon. They sent my rear Fox shocks for a rebuild and gave me a brand new pair of Bilsteins as loaners without me asking. They rule.

 

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Why's they send them off? Did you buy them used? Or just revalving?

 

There was a rub on the upper mount cup that caused a leak in one of the reservoir hoses. The cup is going to need to be grindededed, ground(?) away a bit prior to reinstalling. They said there's never been an issue with it before concerning Fox shocks. I guess I just got lucky. I know Icon now has it in their instructions to grind away some of that cup. You can see my nice temporary plumbing tape fix in the photo.

 

Looking forward to seeing another built GX with KDSS. Though it restricts your travel, the ride and handling it provides is awesome. With just under 3" of lift my GX still corners like stock.

Jonathan's GX is pretty cool. Hopefully those 37s aren't going to bite him in the ass.

 

Checking in

285s on Iron Man FCPs and a buncha other crap. The GX definitely got slept on in the offroading world

 

How do you say it limits travel? Something I saw a week or two ago showed RTI numbers from KDSS and non-KDSS GX and showed better numbers for KDSS.

 

Its basically a non-removeable sway bar

 

But it uses the cylinder to help with flex. So while it's a non removable swaybar, it doesn't stay locked to the frame like a normal swaybar. It uses the cylinder to help flex no? Look at these numbers from RTI for KDSS and non-KDDS.

https://plus.google.com/+ToshiClark/posts/4UjKS2hBWR9

 

Those are stock numbers. That piston can only extend so far. Once you lift the vehicle a few inches, the piston is extended even at ride height. Start articulating, and it quickly becomes the limiting factor.

That's not to say KDSS cannot flex- it definitely can. However, a non-kdss vehicle has the potential for a LOT more flex especially with the bolt-on long travel kits available.

And one side of it IS locked to the frame which has a strange impact once you start getting up around 3" of lift or more. Your drivers side will sit higher than the passenger.