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Also, never forget to tell someone else where you are going and when you plan to be back in civilization enough to check in. Costs you nothing but time, but can make a huge difference in the chance things go very wrong.
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Jul 14, 2020 15:56
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Also a good idea when you're hiking, including the route you're planning to take. Did we already have discussion about the new Bronco and I missed it? I think Ford knocked it out of the park with this one.
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Jul 14, 2020 16:25
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MomJeans420 posted:Also a good idea when you're hiking, including the route you're planning to take. Lol at GM
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Jul 14, 2020 16:38
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I'm sure there was some in The News Thread but  Before they dropped all the details I was thinking this was going to be a flash in the pan where it sells well for a year or two, then fades away and disappears after one generation when Ford wants to build more Escapes, while the Wrangler soldiers on despite being worse for most buyers. Now I'm not so sure, and I mean that in a good way. This is the first shot directly aimed at the Wrangler by any automaker in a very long time. Toyota, GM, and Ford have all danced around the Wrangler a bit with packages focused more on handling "rough roads" and "high speed desert terrain" than rock crawling. The fact that you get the super-low crawler first on all manual trims, as opposed to only getting the 4:1 low range on the Rubicon, is very nice. Likewise with at least getting a rear locker all the way down on the Black Diamond trim. This is the first new non-Jeep I've ever seen really get the attention of "Jeep people" at all, when things like the Raptor and ZR2 barely even registered. The only thing any JL buyer can claim outright supremacy on is the solid front axle, and that's a liability everywhere that isn't rock crawling.
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Jul 14, 2020 17:54
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If I was looking to buy something new I’d be excited. Lockers, 35” tires, and sliders as factory options are cool. Hopefully it does well and brings competition for Jeep and gets the attention of other manufacturers. I like my older 4Runner, but it’s a total family wagon stock and a bit stagnant design and options wise.
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Jul 14, 2020 18:45
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Jeez that Bronco looks alright. Wonder if it will turn up diwn here eventually, and if it'll still have the option for 35s. Recently I picked up a D23 Navara. She's basically stock at the moment with just a set of all-terrains and 3mm stainless bash plates. Got her out for a shakedown at Sundown. Lots of muddy trails covered in rock, steep loose climbs with wombat holes. I was really impressed with how she climbs but she just doesn't have much droop in stock form. Bash plates copped a bit of a workout too. Looking at lift kits at the moment, a mild 2 or 3 inch setup should be the perfect mix for extra clearance without ruining the everyday driveability. Still tossing up whether to put rock sliders on now or wait until I've trashed the sidesteps first.  
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Jul 15, 2020 00:00
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FogHelmut posted:This was Maple Springs Truck Trail out of Silverado Canyon to Main Divide Road. There's a few other ways up through Corona and other areas. But this is dead simple maintained fire roads, you don't really even need 4wd. And I'd say that's true for any of the fire roads around California. If you want to get weird, there's usually side roads and off shoots along the way, but the majority of the main roads can (not saying should or that it would be comfortable or efficient) be done in a basic CUV with street tires. I was just here a couple weeks ago in my Trooper! Definitely a simple trail, which was perfect for me since I'm new to this scene and my Trooper. The highlight was seeing some cool kids on our way down that were coming up around mile 4 in a stock looking Camry.
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Jul 15, 2020 00:11
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Thank you all. Maybe I'll take the kid out there to bounce around a bit.
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Jul 15, 2020 03:33
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I've been getting out every weekend or so with the family, exploring the local forest roads. I should get more photos, and gradually getting more comfortable on rougher terrain. A few weeks back, we went for a hike with the kids, and the trailhead was at the end of a fairly rough 5 mile road; there was a larger parking area a half mile or so from the trailhead, and then a rougher stretch to a smaller parking area right at the trailhead. We didn't realize the last section existed, so we didn't drive it, but some interesting cars did. On our way back, here's someone struggling to get back up the hill (it was probably 15% grade or more)  We were at our truck loading back up for at least 5 minutes or so; didn't see them make it up the hill in that time. Parked at the bottom was this:  I certainly thought it was bold of them to take it down the hill; very interested in what it was like trying to get it back up. More recently, we went out to some of the reservoirs and lakes on the sierra crest, most interesting part of the drive was around/along Bowman Lake:   
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Jul 15, 2020 19:23
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I saw that first pic and was confused because I remember you posting pics of your truck in the ski thread.
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Jul 17, 2020 01:28
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highme posted:I saw that first pic and was confused because I remember you posting pics of your truck in the ski thread. Ah yes, I suppose silly of me not to include any photos of the truck. Don't have any from either of those trips, but here's one from February when I got it stuck for a little while in some snow  
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Jul 17, 2020 02:02
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I'm assuming this is the Bowman Lake near Tahoe, not the one in Montana?
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Jul 17, 2020 05:07
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MomJeans420 posted:I'm assuming this is the Bowman Lake near Tahoe, not the one in Montana? Yeah, that's right. North of I 80 along the crest. We came from the northeast from Jackson Meadows reservoir
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Jul 17, 2020 05:44
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So the old take a hike forum has become The Great Outdoors and is being rebranded for all sorts of fun activities in the great outdoors! https://forums.somethingawful.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=272 This is one of those weird threads that fit well into either forum. It might be worth having a thread in each forum so you can also talk about playing in the dirt with goons who don't just post in AI! (If ya'll'd rather be in TGO instead, I can do that too! You can also stay just in AI too! I'm trying to drum up activity in a newish forum so we can get more goons talking about funhaving in the outdoors!) Elmnt80 fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Jul 18, 2020 |
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Jul 17, 2020 20:03
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Fog Helmut Thanks for the tip. I popped my off road cherry today. Drove from Silverado to I 15. Any other places similar in difficulty nearby? Next time, I'm bringing a sandwich and cigar for the peak. And leaving the wife at home. Don't think she like the heights and jostling.
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Jul 19, 2020 04:22
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Evil SpongeBob posted:Fog Helmut https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/cleveland/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprdb5340229 Anything in "Trabuco Ranger District" is local to Orange County. I haven't gone down towards San Diego much. There's plenty of easy to difficult stuff up around Big Bear, and going east out towards Anza Borrego. Those type of things would be a long day trip, if not staying somewhere overnight. I know there's some off-road vehicle parks - one near Ocotillo Wells, another in San Gabriel Canyon, and another in Murrieta. I've only been to Ocotillo Wells, and it ranges from super easy to oops I shouldn't have gone this way.
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Jul 19, 2020 04:35
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Is it strange that I hate Texas so much for poo poo off-roading I'm thinking of asking work to allow me to move out of state for my job since its pretty much indefinite work from home at this point. Eyeballing somewhere between Las Vegas down to Lake Hasevu City, that way I'm a day's drive from all sorts of killer southwestern off-roading. Also considering Moab if I can get fast enough internet. I'd move back to California but the income tax situation, I'd rather be just outside. Got access to a garage/cabin out in Big Bear Lake so I can get some California wheeling in there. I miss Big Bear, Mojave, Afton Canyon, Anza Borrego, etc. That being said I'll have to do a trip down to Big Bend area for a few days and check out some trails when I get my truck out of the shop. loving DMV sticker check place ran my H1 into a wall trying to pull it into the garage after I told them to be careful with it. 14 years of wheeling that parade float, including some tight jeep trail canyon poo poo, and I managed to avoid body damage all this time only to have a teenager gently caress up the hood and brush guard in suburban Austin. Oh well, its finally getting addressed on their dime. Big K of Justice fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Jul 23, 2020 |
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Jul 23, 2020 07:11
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Christ, imagine being the one to explain that to the boss. What'd the repairs run? I've got a small crack in the hood of my m998, that's from my own gently caress up though. Should only be a couple hundred for the body guy to fix, but
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Jul 23, 2020 17:53
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Let's see that H1 
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Jul 23, 2020 18:00
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ThinkFear posted:Christ, imagine being the one to explain that to the boss. What'd the repairs run? I've got a small crack in the hood of my m998, that's from my own gently caress up though. Should only be a couple hundred for the body guy to fix, but It gets better, I couldn't get an estimate from a body shop between San Antonio and Austin. 30-40 shops, most ran away screaming once they ran the VIN and it came up blank or claims its "too old" or "we can't get parts" [you can]. One hot rod shop wanted like $40k, later walked down to $7k then stopped answering calls. Every place goes "we can do hummers" until you show up with an H1 and then you get 3 people scratching their heads. In LA I can get an H1 painted at half a dozen shops with estimates and have no one blink an eye at it. Every place near me is a volume insurance shop, they get a mazda/ford/whatever in, punch in the vin and spit out what the computer tells them. 2 exotic shops here turned me down because they never did a Hummer before and then there was the one custom/hotrod shop I mentioned but they pulled the "we don't do collisions only off frame restorations". 40k for a paint only resto is nonsense, in hummer land that's a paint/off frame resto plus a duramax or cummins swap included for that price  For the record, I had a complete color change done by a dealer in Los Angeles for about $5500. I'll follow up once everything is over with. There was a slight complication on the shop's end and I'm lucky enough the shop is a chain. Civilian hoods are out of stock so I'm having to use a new HMMMV hood, have it stripped and repainted then have the additional DOT light holes and decapitation retention plate/hood release holes drilled for the H1 specific hardware. This was from a long while ago, Odessa Canyon trail and we were just got through with an inch to spare, no damage. The guy in the gold 2004 wagon there is Art, he's an avid wheeler always around Hesperia and Big Bear,CA out to Afton Canyon all the time in his H1 and his m998. Super nice guy.   This was after the color change, no body damage but I had a ton of scratches and paint chipping off. The factory paint on these things are pretty bad. Color change isn't a big deal on a soft top, I stripped off the roll bar trim and all the panels just unbolted with hand tools. The trucks after 1996 or so start with a black base coat for the interior and then top coated with the final factory color so you didn't have to worry about door jams matching and such.   A few years ago I met some friends who were visiting Vegas for Defcon and wanted to make a side trip to LA, traffic on 15 was bullshit, so we went the scenic route, that's the "Mojave phonebooth spot" south of Baker, hit all old mining roads to cut down to I-40 and looped around Barstow that way.  Went wheeling once since I moved to Texas, to a private off-road ranch of some sort... pretty mild... it sucks I have to drive really far now to do anything interesting. Big K of Justice fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Jul 23, 2020 |
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Jul 23, 2020 18:59
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loving sucks about the damage but never stop posting about your Hummer  That narrow spot would give me pause in my skinny little TJ.
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Jul 23, 2020 19:26
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God drat $40k. Must be hard to sit down with balls that big. Here's another truck. 
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Jul 23, 2020 19:51
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I'm sorta tempted to sell my H1 after all this and get a 4 speed HMMWV as long as it has hard doors and a red dot a/c system. Friend did up a pretty nice 2 door m998a2 and got a "avenger" style hard top roof shell and put 2 h1 door shells on it and it turned into a really nice hmmwv pickup, he later added a 2" body lift, rocker slides, a rhino tire carrier and a airlift rear bumper and its a really nice trail rig. And if the paint gets messed up, just hand touch it up with the carc roll on stuff. It's crazy how all the body shops didn't want to touch the hummer, it's just a hood and a bunch of labor. It's all bolt-on stuff, no custom bodywork, it's just some of the paint got rubbed/chipped on the a-pillar and that's just a typical mask and blend job on a few panels... I really wish I found the other inspection shop up the street, one that was a drive-through, so you don't need to give keys to anyone else you just park and they do the inspection for the DMV. On these theres no diesel smog in Texas, just a visual inspection, technically the place that messed up my truck could have done it in the parking lot which is the sad thing.
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Jul 23, 2020 20:58
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Ironically, I'm kinda going the opposite direction. I've been piecing together a 4 man softtop kit, no doors. It is my backup plow truck, but no ragrets and all that. It does desperately need a 4 speed swap - COVID has put that and a few other projects on hold though.
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Jul 24, 2020 20:00
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I wheeled the Naches Pass Trail yesterday and today with my kid. This was a step-up from the trails I've ran in the past. We bypassed the very first, most difficult section because we were by ourselves and had never been on the trail. It's pretty tight for a vehicle this size, though I got away without really damaging anything. Bumped a fender, rear bumper, bottomed out a bunch of times. We got to the last section of trail - no more than a quarter mile - when we got stopped by a tree obstacle that wasn't going to happen with this wheelbase. (Today I've noticed that a lot of JLU/JKU drivers bypass this section). So I had to back down a tight, difficult section of trail in twilight. Unfortunately (or not?) the only bypass to this section of trail is FS19, which was completely blocked due to new culvert construction. We went the trail back toward the west side this morning. Pretty fun trip.             
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Aug 5, 2020 04:02
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That looks awesome.
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Aug 5, 2020 04:20
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Fog Helmut Thanks for the tip. Did the OC truck trail twice. Here's a rare pic of an offroad Jeep GC. Not pictured is the massive amounts of drool and hair from my pyrnees/retriever that Im cleaning out tomorrow from a 1 week trip to Yosemite. Got the Spot X with roadside service as I found out last week just how much of CA isn't covered by cell towers. 
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Aug 7, 2020 05:18
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Yeah that moon dust up there is something else. Super fine and gets into everything and through all the seals.
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Aug 7, 2020 05:28
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Yeah, it's all inside my door seals. Gonna be a mother to get it all out. Curious to go up during rainy winters when there's mud.
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Aug 7, 2020 05:35
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Went out on Saturday to Little Moab to adventure around some of the trails in the area and let the kiddos climb all over some of the rocks while they pretend it is a "castle". Had to park hard and see how well the Old Man Emu twisted up. Pretty decent for just a 1.5 inch lift.   did not bother to air down because also note the new scars on the passenger steps from a pretty steep ascent with a boulder I apparently felt my way around. Step sliders are 99.9% happening this month. best thing was my kids literally spilling out of the side of the car when the door opened.
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Aug 7, 2020 21:57
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That's a surprising amount of lean in that last pic
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Aug 7, 2020 22:51
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Loving all these photos! Last weekend we went into the Northern Cascades, 30 some miles north of Winthrop and did some scouting for possible upcoming campsites.  Came across this washout on one of the forestry roads. Gotta say, impressed that my little Subie made it across those loose river stones without issue! This little SUV continues to impress me with how capable it is.     On the way back, we came across a large brushfire out by Twisp. Oddly enough, last time I was at this exact location was 5 years ago for a wedding during the massive fires we had. The fires got to across the highway from where the wedding was. But driving through this again, it was fascinating to see all the firefighters climbing down the mountains and carving fire lines while the chopper was overhead dropping water.    This weekend we have the entire week off for a well earned break. Wife and I plan on taking multiple trips all around the Cascades and possibly deep into the Hoh Rainforest. Cannot wait to see what we can find!
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Aug 7, 2020 23:13
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Hope this is the right thread for 4x4 purchasing questions: I've been looking into buying a mid 2000s Lexus GX 470 (probably an '07), as it seems like they tend to be cheaper than 4Runners at a given mileage around here (also it seems most original owners don't buy these for off-roading, so most have been babied). Is it worth tracking down a model with KDSS? It sounds like it gives real benefits both for on road driving (fully engages the huge swaybars when cornering to reduce body roll and improve the handling feel) and off-road (essentially disconnects the sway bar so the car stays more level when the wheels are sitting at different heights). This sounds appealing as this wouldn't be used strictly for off-roading, and I like the feel of thicker sways when cornering on pavement (I've been running upgraded swaybars on my Subaru for years). I'd plan on lifting the vehicle a bit and probably moving to aftermarket suspension components eventually (rather than replace the rear airbags when they start to go), but from what I understand you can keep the KDSS when doing upgrades like this (at least up to a certain level of lift). So in theory it sounds great, and from what I've read online people seem to like it, but it's hard to tell if it's just "nice to have" or an actual game changer. From what I gather KDSS was a very rare option, so finding one with it would add a lot of hassle and time to my search (amplified by the fact that it's hard to tell if the vehicle has the KDSS option via listing pics unless there's an underneath pic). Does anyone have any input?
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Aug 7, 2020 23:39
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I bought a GX470 a couple years ago for the same "cheaper and nicer than a 4Runner" reason and didn't bother looking for KDSS cause it didn't really seem worth it. That said, I never drove one with it either so I may just be living in blissful ignorance. I would suggest trying to find one without the nav system so you can have normal HVAC controls instead of them being built in to an ancient stereo interface.
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Aug 8, 2020 00:46
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I assume that means replacing a nav unit with something aftermarket or a non-nav OEM unit isn't trivial?
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Aug 8, 2020 19:06
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The HVAC controls are integrated and the part off the non-nav one with controls is like $700 if you can’t find it on a junkyard one. I don’t think the replacement is that bad if you DO have the non nav controls available. I think there are starting to be aftermarket full replacements that can do the HVAC stuff but it’s all weird knockoff stuff that I’m not sure how well it actually works in practice?
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Aug 8, 2020 19:43
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It's not just the nav unit you're worried about replacing, it's the head unit / stereo itself (which is a big screen if you have the nav system). As the cars age and we all have GPS/Waze on our phones, it's become more desirable to have real HVAC controls and the cheaper stereo because that is a lot easier to replace with a modern head unit that has bluetooth and whatever other fancy features the kids want these days. I have KDSS on my 460, but I've never driven a GX without KDSS so I also can't really compare the two. I will say I bought my 460 used with Cooper Adventurer tires already on it and I was still surprised how well this truck handled curvy mountain roads. I don't think the tires help very much, so something about the full time 4WD / KDSS / overall setup is surprisingly decent.
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Aug 9, 2020 08:14
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I don’t remember who the op was (sorry op) but there was a great GX470 buyers guide posted in the thread in the last year or two.
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Aug 11, 2020 06:25
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highme posted:I don’t remember who the op was (sorry op) but there was a great GX470 buyers guide posted in the thread in the last year or two. Believe this is the post, and the GXOR guide itself: https://lexusgxor.com/general:purchasing. There was also some GX related buying discussion on page 92, didn't look back much further than that. Thanks for the tip! One thing I've learned is there does now appear to be an aftermarket replacement for GX470s with factory nav (and someone else making custom firmware for those). Expensive, and doesn't seem like the greatest from what I've seen, but it's there if you want Android Auto or CarPlay. I believe there's also a way to replace the radio segment w/ an aftermarket single din unit using a Beat Sonic MVA-81 while leaving the factory nav/climate control in tact. Again, expensive for what it is. Personally, as long as I have Bluetooth or an AUX I won't be too fused as I'm perfectly happy mounting a phone holder on the dash and just using my phone (but maybe that's because I haven't had a car with anything nice built in before). I do think it's marginally less distracting to look at the dash-top/windshield level for directions rather than down at the HVAC/radio area. Regardless, there's hardly any cars available that I'm seeing without factory nav (the few I've seen so far have been more beat up older models with significantly higher mileage). I must say, I'm currently enamored with the idea of KDSS, to the point where I'm considering flying in somewhere to pick one up (they seem rare enough that the chances of one showing up local-ish any time soon would be a crapshoot). Looking for models with the Sport trim seems like the best way to spot it in online ads, as while I believe it was available as an independent option some years, most ads don't seem to mention it or show any under body pics (which is the only other way to tell AFAIK other than checking what dash lights show when you turn the car on). The black wood trim of the sport package is also a nice bonus too compared to the stock trim. From what I've been reading, KDSS does sound great for what I indend to do (not solely an off-road build, lifting only 2-3"), and a majority of reports from people that have driven both KDSS/non-KDSS GX's or 4Runners say they felt it was at least worth it, if not must have. My main hesitations with it are a) aftermarket part fitment (though there do seem to be plenty of aftermarket parts specifically designed to fit around KDSS these days), b) some work becomes harder due to KDSS being in the way, and c) while it does seem to be a reliable system (not seeing many reports of it failing), it is one more thing that can break, and if it does break it's either a very expensive repair, or a hassle to delete. I probably should just say gently caress it and get a local non-KDSS option, but there is something to be said about waiting for a vehicle that checks all the boxes when it's something you might plan on keeping for 10+ years. I'm also excited about the full time 4WD in the GX470 (essentially AWD via a Torsion center LSD as best I can tell), as this seems like an ideal setup for ski trips where curvy road conditions often frequently change from pavement to mixed to snow and back (which isn't ideal for locking the center from what I gather). Also makes me feel more at home as someone who has owned a couple Subarus.
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Aug 11, 2020 09:17
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I was looking into that Phoenix Automotive replacement but was dissuaded by the amount of work, poor documentation and support, and reports of strange problems post-install. I ended up going with a unit to replace the cassette player while leaving the factory touch screen in place. Having to use the touch screen to adjust AC settings is annoying, but better than having random warning lights pop on.
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Aug 11, 2020 15:10
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