Roody’s 2018 Lexus GX460 Build, Adventure, and Off the Road Again Podcast

BFG told me to go pound sand and go back to where I purchased them from. I went to Discount tire Direct (great people btw and will always continue to do business with them) but they told me that I did not buy the replacement coupons that you can purchase separately at time of purchase (Never needed them before for BFG's so why would I have purchased them then) so I was shit out of luck and out $1400. I then purchased the Toyo AT3's (with the coupons now because I know better and I use my truck on the trails) and never looked back. Even when the new KO3's just came out stating that they were better in the snow and rain and I was tempted, but then I reminded myself that they are just a bunch of "Lienz Cossack's" (old reference to WW2 or James Bond Goldeye) and they will betray me.

 

What are the offset of the wheels you have? Also do you run around with the tire pressure light on due to having no spare?

 

0 offset (basically sits perfectly flush with the fenders) and no TPMS light as the sensor in the spare is still close enough to the system to register as having correct pressure

 

I did not have THAT on my Tacoma World bingo card. Kudos Good Sir!

 

Been slacking on posting podcast updates on here, time to play catch-up

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 186 - Ashley and Richard Giordano of Desk to Glory, their Tundra off-road camper, and more

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 187 - Joel Strickland, the new 70 Series Land Cruiser, etc

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

 

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 188 - Texas Dave Carapetyan of Rally Ready; RedBull F1; and Pikes Peak

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 189 - Chris Steuber of U-Joint Offroad - Lifted 4x4-Conversion Ford E-Series vans and more

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

 

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 190 - Chris, Ross, and our Hooniverse co-editor Kamil Kaluski - Land Cruiser Prado, Colorado ZR2, etc

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 191 - Graeme Bell of A2A Expeditions, overlanding in a Defender, South African adventures, and more

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

 

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 192 - Jonny Lieberman of Motor Trend, his Rivian R1T, the Hoonitron, and more

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 193 - Shelby Hall, Baja racing, the Ford Bronco, and Rebelle Rally

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

 

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 194 - Overland the Americas, their Land Cruiser Troopy, South America, and more

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 195 - My wife Sam talks Lexus GX, napping in the front seat of press cars, and more!

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

 

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 196 - Marvin Stammel of Flex, Rocks and Rollovers - the 24 Hell and Back Challenge, his Toyota pickup, and more

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 197 - Karissa and Linhbergh of Gon Dirtin, their Troopy, culinary adventures, and more

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

 

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 198 - My brother Spencer talks about his 4Runner, Toyo tires, American Racing wheels, and more

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 199 - JD Marshall of Trails Off-Road and the Trailhead Podcast discusses Jeep JK wheeling, trail scouting, etc

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

 

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 200 - Vaughn Gittin Jr and Loren Healy talk RTR Vehicles, Fun Haver, King of the Hammers, and more!

On Spotify
On Apple Podcasts

Thanks to everyone who has listened thus far!

 

Hanging out with @Brownmatthall @AllTacosFloat @CTSpruceMica a few weeks back

 

Oil change today at 35,484 miles. Had the Lexus dealer do it so they could look it over before the CPO warranty ends in October. They also gave it a much needed wash, still cleans up pretty well!

 

Followup to the "Soon..." post from before:







Received in a set of American Racing Baja AR172 wheels (17x8", 0mm offset) to go along with the 34x10.5" BFG KO2s. The Motegi Trailites that are on the truck now have been absolutely fantastic but the 8.5" width is a little wider than ideal for the narrower tires I'm testing next. Very much looking forward to this setup, my dad had the old school AR Bajas and BFG Mud-Terrains (KM1s) on his YJ Wrangler that was the vehicle behind why I'm in this whole off-roading space, so a bit of full-circle emotional joy here.

 

Off the Road Again Podcast: Episode 201 - Larry Chen Returns! We discuss his Tundra, FJ, GX, 200, and his adventures in photography and videography in the automotive world in which he explores GT-Rs, visits @cruiseroutfit , films the first GX550 off the line, and more!








On Spotify

On Apple Podcasts

 

Updates!

A few months back BFGoodrich sent me a set of 34x10.5R17 KO2s to test. I've been running Toyo Open Country A/T IIIs in 285/70/17 for the last 2 years, and the two tires are direct competitors. As I posted in the skinny tires thread, the E-rated Toyos weigh in at a reported 55# with the new D-load rating BFGs being 54# each. I'm also testing a set of American Racing AR172 Bajas courtesy of Real Truck. The 17x8" size makes more sense for the narrower Toyos than does the 17x8.5" Motegis that were mounted on the Toyos. The new Bajas weigh 25.31# to the Motegis at 24.54# each, so the overall wheel/tire setup went from 79.54 lbs/corner to 79.31 lbs/corner-- a negligible difference.

Yes, you can fit 5 tires and 5 boxed wheels in the GX460:



The goal in swapping out the Toyos for the BFGs was to get a little more height and a little less rolling resistance. Dimensions come into play here: he BFGs are quoted at 33.5" tall by 10.5" wide, and the Toyos are reportedly 32.8" tall x 11.5" wide. It's not a huge difference, but it's noticeable when the two are placed next to each other:






I enjoyed the Toyo/Motegi setup but might like the BFG/American Racing setup even more. It's a much more classic look. I dig it. Here's a few comparison pictures of the GX before/after:






I've wanted to try the KO2s for a while now and am especially curious how this size fares in comparison to the common 285/70/17s. Initial impressions are strong after about 400 miles. Here are some thoughts:

• Less rolling resistance with the narrower KO2s (and coasting is subsequently easier)
• The GX is maybe 5% less excited to drop down a gear on long highway climbs, but more time and testing is needed to verify this
• Equally quiet around town
• KO2s are new and subsequently slightly quieter at highway speed, though they do have slightly more vibration at highway speed
• Ride quality of the BFGs is better, thanks to slightly more sidewall and lighter load rating
• BFGs have worse wheel lip protection; outside of the bead is more subject to rock rash
• Off-road is hard to compare apples-to-apples, but the KO2s seem to be a little happier on dry rocks (again likely thanks to the greater ability for the tire to deflect/flex), water/mud performance is a wash, jury is out on wet/loose climbs, and KO2s are a bit better to run trails with as they are a little more direct but are also slightly more "floaty" (for lack of a better word)

Speaking of off-road, part of those 400 miles were wheeling with some of the Northeast TW guys who are great to wheel with and great friends, too. The KO2s did very well on our little adventure. No grip issues whatsoever, and while it wasn't a particularly taxing or difficult day of wheeling, I am still pleased with the performance thus far. Gratuitous pictures from this past Sunday, some courtesy of the guys I was with:







Quick closing report on the Toyo Open Country A/T IIIs after 2 years and ~8k miles: These are truly fantastic tires. Quiet, comfortable, confident in every single weather condition, and so on. Between my dad, my brother, and myself, we have put probably a half million miles on the A/T 2s, and the A/T IIIs are even better. They were fantastic on my GX, handled everything I threw at them, and held up incredibly. Given, I didn't put much mileage on them, but I drove them in every condition: Dry, rain, ice, sleet, snow, mud, rocks, sand, dirt, and so on. They never broke a sweat. Great, great tires, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone who is even considering them.



More in the next post...

 

Also on the list of recent upgrades was a set of skid plates from Talons Garage. They usually make these out of aluminum for the GX460, but conversations with the team there led us to make steel skids as a prototype/development test set. There's three main pieces: Engine, transmission, and transfer case. Talons Garage isn't one of the big names in the off-road armor, but the caveat here is "yet," as the quality of the product shows what a passionate company they are about what they make. This is a super high quality set of skids and has already been a great asset to my GX460.

Installing them was perfect timing, too: The wheeling I did two days after they were went on the GX came with the territory of a bunch of smacks what would have been exposed components had the skid plates not been there.

Talons Garage skids installed:




They match up well with the Ironman bumper. You can just see the engine skid poking up in this picture:


Oh, and the stock skid sure got a workout...




Usually this is where I would have included my full installation write-up, but limited time and hectic life shenanigans led me to bring the GX to The Custom Shop (which has done work on my GX in the past) to have the wheels/tires and skid plates installed. Everything went smoothly, though the "wings" for one of the skid plates did have to be notched a bit to fit around the bolts that wrap around the frame to hold on the White Knuckle Off-Road rock sliders. Minor issue all things considered, but worth mentioning.

Speaking of the WKOR sliders, they've already been worth their weight in gold:




While at the shop, the guys also replaced the recalled Ironman4x4 upper control arms. I hadn't noticed a problem but figured the replacement parts might as well go on the truck instead of sitting in a box in my garage. As it turns out, one of the upper ball joints had in fact torn:




Fresh new UCAs:




All-in-all, a very productive and satisfying round of upgrades to the GX. It solidified me keeping it around, if not for another few years then for much longer. As much as a pickup would suit some aspects of my life better, I just have so much time/energy/emotion into this GX already that it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever to let go. Plus, it suits my driving use case well and and off-roading it is a hoot. It really does scratch that "Land Cruiser taste on a used 4Runner budget" itch. Love this truck.

Here's a few bonus pictures:

 

Love the tire and wheel combo, I am a fan of the bronze on my GX but the all black is sleek.

I have the Talon Garage set in my garage waiting for install as well haha. Next to that pile is brakes and pads. And pod lights. And soon to be upper ball joint replacements for the SPCs.

Maybe I should use a shop too haha.

 

Thanks Chris!

Sounds like you have a good round of upgrades to your GX as well. If you want to give The Custom Shop a call be sure to drop my name, know it's a bit far for you but they do good work.