4runner in a business suit - GMR102's GX470 maintenance/build thread

Well it has come time to bid farewell to my Tacoma. It took my wife and I on many adventures and was always very reliable for us. The only issue was it was an access cab so the baby didn't fit and I hated the seats. So enter the GX470. I originally wanted a V8 4runner but found that most in my area and the surrounding areas where best to hell and back. Lost out on a couple good ones and started looking at GXs instead. Found a very clean one not too far from me and brought it home.

08 GX470 with 160k on the clock so far. My wife will primarily drive it and it will be our family adventure vehicle.

Mods planned so far

-New Wheels
-New tires (thinking 255/75R17)
-Mild lift (1.5 -2in?)
-Sliders?
-New muffler as I want to hear the V8 sing more!
-Bumper chop for more approach angle

Maintenance needs

-Fluids.
-change warped rotors.
-need more than one key!
-battery may be on it's way out.
-DAC not working.
-air springs not raising or lowering. But don't lose pressure. Not sure what the deal is here.
- Do something about the saggy rear door net.

 

Found some 4Runner TRD off road wheels for sale locally. They are in good shape and were real cheap. Tires on them are shot though. I decided on a 255/75/R17 tire. Supposed to fit well and require minimal chopping. I think it will fit in the stock spare location as well. For tires I decided on the Firestone Destination X/T. In this size they are roughly 32.1 inches in diameter and only weigh 5 pounds more per tire than the Dynapros that are on it now. They are also load range C which I think will be a good compromise between SL tire comfort and E range toughness. Time will tell. The GX also barely started today when I went to check some settings. Battery is only 2 years old according to the sticker on it. I guess it has sat and not been driven for a month so maybe there is a draw somewhere.

 

Got the new tires and wheels put on today. Also removed the soccer mom side steps. Took it down a small dirt trail down by the shooting range I go to. Nothing too crazy just some washboard trails and a small rock garden hill climb. It did very well and I will need to find more challenging terrain for it.

162,300 miles

 

Took her off road down Black Dragon Canyon here in Utah. Did pretty well. ATRAC is far more effective than I thought it would be. The ride was also super nice on and off road. Did manage to catch a sidewall on the new tires. Will need to take that to Discount to see if it is still useable.

 

Beautiful man.

There's a handful of us with GX's on here

@SearArtist
@w.adventures

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/southeast-gx-broverlanding-and-bs.689144/unread

 

Oh for sure. I have posted in one of the threads in the past. I forget which one though.

 

Swapped out the front/rear/center diff oils. Fairly easy job. I prefer the Tacoma though since I didn't have to drop the spare to get to the fill plug on the rear diff. All the fluid was pretty clean so it must not have been in there a long time. The infamous front diff plugs surprisingly didn't fight me too much to come out. Now i need to figure out which axle has the warped rotor on it. It's not too bad but you can feel it when you just about come to a complete stop.

162,800.

 

Added some Apex Overland recovery points to the front. Got the stuff for the rear diff breather relocation. We also made a trip to Colorado and as part of it we went up Webster Pass. Nothing too narly but I was a lot of fun and the views were killer.