1998 Lx470 Strutmasters Suspension Conversion

[LX470Briggs]

Did this conversion of the weekend on my 98 LX470 that I bought in Indiana....yes a rusty truck.

Disassemble: This proved difficult as the hydraulic bolts were rusty at high torque and not very hard in size. Ended up cutting the shocks off. Be careful of the hydraulic fluid it will spray all over the place and give you a bath. The front shocks we were able to cut off the tops without issue using a 4 1/2 inch die grinder with a metal cutting blade. The rear shocks put up a larger fight. We cut a window in the shock to give the cutting wheel tool body extra space to cut through the shock. Once the shock was cut off we still had to deal with a section stuck to the truck. Then you do the second cut at the rubber between what's left of the shock and the LX470 shock perch in the rear. After this the top of the shock can be removed but you will not be able to get the hydraulic line free to plug unless you drop the fuel tank....I didn't. Maybe later I will. However on the exhaust side i had no issue.

Installation:

Front: Front shocks were easy as pie. The only thing that was not clear is what shocks go where. Smaller are up front. Look at the bottom bracket on the shocks...should match the one's you pulled out in terms of diameter. Clocking the torsion bars was kind of a pain too because of the rust.....liquid wrench soaked helped a lot.....also a mini sledge. You can beat on the back of the bar where the adjustment bolt is (30mm) of course after the two nuts in the front are removed (22mm on bolt and nut side). The key point on clocking the torsion bars is to bring the lever arm down in the back where the adjustment bolt is giving you much more adjustment. However do not bring it too far down because then the big adjustment bolt will not fit (so you have to do 2 splines like the instructions say, and marking with touch up car paint works great because it does not wipe off easily) For torsion bar bolt adjustment I highly recommend an impact wrench unless you are the hulk. I moved the bar 2 splines not the saddle (clockwise driver side and counter passenger side).

Rear: Jacked up the truck and lowered the rear end....the rear end will lower to the limit of the brake lines so be careful. I removed the stock springs with little effort (they are weak). I left them out while we had to cut out the shocks. Once the shocks were removed I installed the new springs without a compressor. Was a pretty easy process with the rear end down. Next I installed the rear shocks. I tightened the upper nut first. The reason for doing this is you can fix a wrench up top of the shock and then just spin the shock to tighten....you will notice a bolt shaped on the shock that you can get an open end wrench on.

Result:

Height: You can adjust the front. Mine is at 34.5 inches from fender well to the ground...factory wheels and tire pressure (thinking I will go to 35 in.) In the rear it sits at 36 inches. I did not measure when I had the electronic suspension. They say it is suppose to be higher in the back by less than 2 inches. My driver side torsion bar seems to require more adjustment to be level with the passenger side. Also I think after driving some they settle and might need to be re-adjusted. After clocking and all that above the adjustment is piece of cake.

Ride: It rides awesome. It handles bumps great. The only advantage I see in the electronic suspension is lowering so you dog can jump up the rear tailgate (my french mastiff has no problem). The other is the high mode for off-road, but let's be real the LX470 does not have locking diffs so probably not the best rock climber without a heavy expense investment.....it's mild off road and ski trip kind of truck right? If you want to go full off road then you probably need to Slee kit that includes new torsion bars for a heavy bumper with the winch as well as a lift. I went Strustmasters half the price and meets my needs. I almost began to hate my LX470 due to the suspension problems but after the conversion i am falling in love with her again. I cannot stress enough that ride quality was not sacrificed by going regular suspension. In fact after the conversion I wondered why did not not just get a Landcruiser instead of the LX470 because the electronic suspension was a real pain to diagnose problems, and mechanic shops take advantage of that fact. I spent almost 500 just is diagnostics...most were not accurate.

With all the being said if someone want to buy a pump or sensors off me they are for sale. Probably be on craigslist or ebay by next week.

[Cheapmfr]

How's the conversion working out?

[Texasoil]

We suggest you advise your Insurance about what you have done. Without the AHC, they may decide not to insure it as the emergency manuvering characteristics do not meet the certification requirments of the NTHSA. Some companies are OK with owner mods, many others will not insure vehicles when the safety features have been degraded.