Rebuilt 2005 GX470 Project - Back in CO!

Who owns the land? It's available to anyone wanting to build?

 

Oh it's private land, but public road. Not sure who owns it though

 

I just saw this. Has an ARB front bumper.

 

I wish the GX had a normal style rear bumper like that LX. So far haven't been able to find any used oem bumpers in good enough condition to buy. Have alerts set on marketplace. I'll very likely end up with a full aftermarket one. But also weary of adding too much weight just yet.

I definitely want to get a low profile roof rack before next winter for snowboard trips. Also want to fit some auto folding side steps. Oh and none of the factory skid plates are installed atm except the gas tank.

 

This is probably what mine will end up looking like as far as bumpers, roof rack, and side steps

 

Lexus Racing Development?

Have not seen that before.

 

LaRD

 

hmmm....so I did find some new knock off OEM bumper covers on carparts.com, not to be confused with junk yard site car-parts.com. Front and rear included for $535 after shipping and tax. Guess I'll end up ordering those instead in the next few weeks. Need to keep the budget down at this point. A decent condition OEM rear bumper cover on car-parts.com is $400..

I think I have saved most of the rest of the hardware needed to reattach the cover. But i did toss the broken foam absorber insert. That's $75 new from Lexus

 

Just now stumbling into this thread.
Euro tech in golden is a great shop with honest prices if you need more service in the future. Love the gx build and welcome back to CO.

 

Thanks! I'll check them out. Always looking for good shops. I've used Bimmer Haus in Broomfield years ago. They worked pretty hard to prove to warranty that the SMG hydraulic pump was the cause of my issues at that time. I was going to go back to them, but they're backed up till end of July.

 

Ordered.

+ $531

 

The front bumper had enough minor issues to justify replacing it. Paint flaking, some road rash, broken fin, and a divot from who knows what

 

Spotted today. Thought it was pretty cool!

 

Damn, that's a direct HiAce import from Japan, complete with Fire Department decal, not sure if that adds 0.1HP or decrease 10HP because of it....lol

 

Sunbathing the bumpers. Because apparently that's a requirement when you buy cheap knock-offs. Wasn't happy unpacking them and seeing they were folded up...left side of the front bumper with obvious creases. When I went online to start a damaged item return, only then was I prompted with a video explaining that "we fold our bumpers to save you money on shipping!" Saying the bumpers are made with memory formed plastic. Instructions say to leave them out in the sun for 4 hrs, or use a heat gun to get it back into the intended condition. We'll see...the rear bumper should be fine. But the front bumper has twisting on the smaller parts by the fog light.

But, that's what you get for a front/rear bumper combo that costs less than an OEM rear bumper alone from Lexus.

Doesn't help that FedEx delayed delivering it. They had it on the truck out for delivery to me three days in a row

 

Boo!

 

https://youtu.be/VYnF4ao1NOc?si=vP4WZMeiEvEN6_bG

 

I fail to understand how the hell they folded this stuff, like, how?!

 

The plastic is pretty plyable. Definitely not as sturdy as OEM.

 

If that were mine, it will be on the same FedEx truck before the guy can roll on to his truck....
Why not go all steel bumper? Aside from the weight.

 

Costs. Because of the style of bumper on the GX470 is different than a normal truck bumper, you have to get a full steel bumper like the pic a few posts back. And those cost over $2000. Like $1400 for a diy version is have to weld together. This front/rear combo was $535 shipped.

I'm at like $22000 into this project so far, well beyond the value of it. So time to start being frugal on parts that don't matter as much as things like suspension. Still have searches saved incase something pops up on marketplace.

And I haven't even gotten to fixing dings and hail damage before I paint to wrap this thing

 

Yea, at $22000 you really need to start thinking what you want with it.....

 

It's better. But still not great. Will have to go get the heat gun out of storage tomorrow and see if that actually helps

 

Ugh, just noticed one of my M3 badges badges are missing. I need to get an outdoor car cover for this thing

 

Getting some bumper mounting parts prepped for reinstall. Rust removal and painting. There's still a few tiny plastic pieces I need to get. The plastic nuts that pop into the quarter panel so I can screw parts back on

 

Eh well RIP Slate truck. No longer a financially viable purchase after the EV credit just got killed. For me at least. It will be a $28k truck, where it was originally marketed as sub $20k. The tax credit now ends Sept 30 of this year, previously ending in 2032.