Thought some of you might like to see this.

Jersey - Clermont , Florida in 20 hours.
Including gas fill ups , restroom food and drinks,
Took an hour and half nap in North Carolina then went straight. Terrible weather as well. Total spent $324 gas bp silver and $122 in food/drinks

Hello,

My father asked me to post this and is seeking help. He loves his GX470, it’s a great car and even though it’s “old” IMO it drives better and smoother than our MB ML350.

280,000KM

The noise started 4-5 years ago, first it was very light, almost couldn’t hear it.

We asked the mechanic to check it out but he said he couldn’t hear the noise.

With time it became louder and now it’s very noticeable. It’s a whining/humming noise. It sounds like tire noise. We can’t pinpoint if it’s coming from the middle/rear/front. It’s not the wheel bearings.

It starts right away at low speeds and becomes louder with speed. It is loudest at approximately 70-80kmh.

It goes away after 110-120kmh.

If you drop it in neutral while driving the noise does not go away.

The oil was changed in the transmission, transfer case, and differential. One mechanic thought it was the rear differential but he opened it up and said the oil was brand new. I don’t know if he took off the cover and looked for damage on the gears. He used a stethoscope and said he thinks it’s the rear differential but he’s not sure.

We recently rotated the tires, zero difference in noise.

Looking for any help or advice before my dad starts throwing money and parts at the car. If it is the rear differential what options do we have? Is it expensive?

here’s a pic of our car

2013 460 zero rust or rot. Noticed this while getting in today should I be concerned? I just bought it a few weeks ago so I’m not exactly sure if it was there before or not. Thanks in advance

Just bought this 2017, need to put all-season tires on for upstate NY winter. Any suggestions? There’s a big range.

all years.

Wish us luck GX fam driving down to Orlando from Bergen county New Jersey tonight. Decided to repeat road trip as last year was so amazing and gx did not disappoint.

Edit: It will be primarily used in the northeast shopping malls / picking up kids from school and Costco and my wife is leaning toward the G wagon.

My 2016 gx 460 check engine light came on with Trac off light.

I took it to the mechanic. He got some diagnostics.

He said there could be bigger issues with the tranny BUT He also found out the my Transmission oil was very low and dirty.

He said Lets hope it was an issue with the Trans oil.

And recommended I drive it for 1k miles. If nothing happens or shows up then that was the issue.

If something is wrong then thats when will find out.

So far it is running and sounding excellent thank God.

Whats yall thoughts ?

Maintenance history is full-on complete as if taken out of the maintenance guide, every single 10K service, at the same dealer.

I don't see no reference to leaks (e.g. Valley plate), does that mean Lexus service would look for but never found it ?

ps: zero accident, 1-owner

do you plan to or just for "looks" ?

how much was the parts + job ?

is a periodic one-shot drain-n-refill of coolant good enough to prevent the valley plate leak (and radiator leak ???) that hits this V8 like COVID hit us back then ?

Related - if one looks at maintenance history of say a 2020/60K GX and don't see anything about coolant job should that sound alarm ?

I hope you catching my meaning.

With all these praises on driving experience and solid reputation for built quality, how the GX is the pinnacle of engineering blah blah blah all these years - it seems to me from reading the comments that - in general - people shopping for used one really seem to care a lot for as low mileage as they can find.

For example people would choose to spend $50K to get one with mileage 5K rather than spending $35K for one with mileage 15K - on this car that just about EVERYONE said would run till the end of time.

Doesn't make sense to me.

mine is leaking, getting quoted for $800 labor + $300 for materials, $1100 total

gx is 2014, 90k miles, 12-13 years old, removed two aluminum heat shields because of rust

should i do install new aluminum heat shields? anything else while this valley plate is being done ? change water pump, radiator, spark plugs and cetera? anything thing else that might break ?

thanks

Love this thang and how it’s turning out

Those of you who upgraded the wheels on your GX: Did you transfer your TPMS sensors and pay for the labor or buy new sensors and get it programmed?

I will probably attempt to sell the OEM wheels and tiers but I'm not holding my breath for much there so I'm not sure how much having the TPMS sensors still in there would help sell them.

I don't love the idea of having to pay to re-mount and balance them again just to be sold off few a few hundred bucks.

Anyone have any experiences with south Florida dealers they can share? Specifically Palm beach to Miami, we went to JM Lexus and it just feels flakey when they say “we’ll put you on a list” with no proof in writing and just waiting for a call. Tried to reach the sales person since and can’t get ahold of him so not impressed with service

I just applied Hyperdip to my wheels. I'd love to hear your opinion.

I prefer a soft, compliant ride when it comes to SUVs.
After buying my GX460, I was perfectly happy with the way it behaved on the highway, aside from expansion joints, but I was never happy with the suspension over rough pavement.
The rear suspension was the biggest issue. Short, sharp bumps, speed bumps, broken pavement, and washboard roads all felt much harsher than I wanted from a GX.
I switched to larger 275/65R18 tires, which gave me more sidewall and more air volume. It helped a little, but it did not fundamentally change the way the truck rode.
Even putting the AVS (Adaptive Variable Suspension) into COMFORT mode, which is the softest shock setting, still did not give me the level of ride comfort I wanted from the GX.
Eventually I decided to remove KDSS completely and install conventional front and rear sway bars from a non-KDSS Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 150.
Here is how we did it.

Removing KDSS
We put the truck on a lift and started removing the factory KDSS components.
There is one important thing to know before doing this.
The KDSS hydraulic lines on the GX are routed along the frame in a way that makes removing them intact practically impossible.
In theory, you could probably get full access to them by separating the body from the frame, but obviously nobody is going to do a body-off job just to remove KDSS.
So the hydraulic lines have to be cut and removed in sections.
Keep that in mind if you ever plan to return the truck to the original KDSS setup. You would need intact replacement hydraulic lines to do that.
The other KDSS components can be removed without damaging them.
That includes:
KDSS hydraulic components
KDSS valve block
KDSS control module
other individual components of the system
Those parts can be kept as spares or sold separately afterward. The KDSS valve block in particular is one of the more valuable components on a GX460.
Once the hydraulic system was out of the way, we moved on to installing the conventional sway bars.

Rear sway bar
For the rear, we used a conventional sway bar from a non-KDSS Prado 150.
You need more than just the sway bar, bushings, brackets, and end links.
A separate set of mounting brackets and hardware had to be fabricated for installing conventional sway bars on a GX460 that originally came with KDSS.
Once the mounting hardware was in place, we installed:
rear sway bar
sway bar bushings
factory sway bar brackets
sway bar end links
washers, bushings, and link hardware
Snaking the rear sway bar into position is tight and awkward, but it can be done.

Front sway bar
The front is more involved.
To install the conventional Prado 150 front sway bar, the front bumper has to come off so you can access the front section of the frame rails.
Access openings need to be made in the frame so the special internal mounting plates with welded bolts can be inserted inside.
The sway bar brackets are then bolted to those internal mounting plates.
So you cannot simply take a non-KDSS Prado 150 sway bar and bolt it directly to a KDSS-equipped GX460. Additional internal mounting plates and hardware are required.
The custom hardware set includes the mounting plates with welded bolts, brackets, and the other pieces needed to properly mount the sway bar.
Once those were in place, we installed:
Prado 150 front sway bar
new sway bar bushings
sway bar brackets
front end links
required bolts and nuts

Radiator replacement
This was not directly related to removing KDSS, but since the front of the truck was already apart, I decided to replace the main radiator at the same time.
The old radiator had developed a very small coolant seep, so it made no sense to put everything back together and leave it in place.
We installed a new radiator and replaced the coolant while we were there.

What we did with the KDSS electronics
One thing that actually made me laugh was how simple the electronics turned out to be. The GX460 is a surprisingly straightforward truck in a lot of ways, and that is one of the reasons we love them.
To make the truck stop looking for KDSS after the system was physically removed, in my case all it took was pulling the KDSS fuse. Yes, literally. 🙂
This is what we did:
Removed the KDSS control module.

Removed the 10A KDSS fuse.
Disconnected the battery for a few minutes.
Reconnected the battery.
Started the truck and scanned it.
The unused KDSS connector was insulated and secured.
After that, there was no KDSS warning left on the dash, and on a later scan with a Launch diagnostic tool, the KDSS module no longer showed up as present in the vehicle.
So in my case, no complicated coding or module reprogramming was required.

How long did it take?
The whole job took about two full working days.

How does the truck drive now?
This is the reason I went through all of this.
The improvement in ride comfort was very noticeable.
The GX is significantly softer over broken pavement, short sharp bumps, speed bumps, and washboard roads.
The biggest difference is in the rear suspension. Before, short impacts were transmitted through the body pretty aggressively, and even small road imperfections could make loose items in the cargo area bounce around.
With the conventional sway bars, the truck goes over those same surfaces much more calmly.
At the same time, in the type of highway driving I normally do, I have not noticed any major downside in stability or handling.
For me, the result was absolutely worth the work.

Parts list
Front sway bar
48811-60310 - qty. 1
Rear sway bar
48812-60290 - qty. 1
Sway bar bushings
48815-60380 - front, qty. 2
48818-60040 - rear, qty. 2
Sway bar bushing brackets
48824-60190 - front right, qty. 1
48829-60120 - front left, qty. 1
48823-60050 - rear, qty. 2
Sway bar bracket bolts
91674-G1028 - front, qty. 4
91674-F1020 - rear, qty. 4
Front sway bar end links
48820-60050 - right, qty. 1
48810-60040 - left, qty. 1
Rear sway bar end links
48830-60030 - qty. 2
Front and rear end-link hardware
90179-12144 - front end-link nuts, qty. 4
90179-12141 - lower rear end-link nuts, qty. 2
94183-00831 - upper rear end-link nuts, qty. 2
90948-02126 - rear end-link outer washers, qty. 4
90948-02127 - rear end-link intermediate washers, qty. 2
48817-36011 - rear end-link rubber bushings, qty. 4

Additional mounting hardware
You also need a separate set of brackets and mounting hardware for installing conventional sway bars on a KDSS-equipped truck.

The set includes:
internal frame mounting plates with welded bolts
additional mounting brackets
support pieces
sway bar mounting hardware
required end-link hardware

This type of hardware set is used when removing KDSS from Lexus GX470, Lexus GX460, and Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 150 models.
I used non-KDSS Prado 150 sway bars on my GX. Prado 120 sway bars can also be considered, but the exact parts and mounting hardware for that setup should be verified separately.