Lifted Rx300 With Big Tires

[T Money]

Does anybody know the exact diameter/distance from center the front break caliper sits at? Ideally I want to fit a 16 inch rim on my 07 rx but It would be very tight if it is even possible. Maybe with a wheel spacer and depending on the rim it could fit? If I can fit a 16 inch rim then I would go with some 255/65 16 tires. These are 10x29.1 so slightly smaller in diameter than everyone who has gone with 245/65 17 but also slightly wider.

[Kev ho]

Been following thread for a few years now, took a lot of what yall had to say into consideration so thank you 🙏 
 

@kevindboldt, im interested in your experience with the lift. Do you have a link to your 40mm strut spacer? Pros vs cons? Any other lift options, is your rig still “lexus” quality, ride experience, other maintenance issues, MPG, off road experience?

-Kevin

[Dannyboy99]

Hey there! I just picked up a 2001 Lexus RX 300 and I've been looking into lifting it at some point in the near future; does anyone know if all of the suspension parts would be interchangeable with a 2001 Toyota Highlander?

[Broc Luno]

Yup, most are interchangeable.  There are some differences in special order axles and stuff.  But run of the mill stuff all goes over.

[Dannyboy99]

On 3/31/2021 at 8:09 AM, Broc Luno said:

Yup, most are interchangeable.  There are some differences in special order axles and stuff.  But run of the mill stuff all goes over.

Beautiful, thank you! I took mine off-roading yesterday and am super impressed with its handling in mud, dirt, and sand. Can't wait to lift it and put it on some decent mudders.

[RXOR_02]

On 6/30/2019 at 8:14 AM, hewitttech said:

The middle shaft was shortened about 1.5 in. When it twisted and it pulled the front shaft backwards. I was able to cut about a 3rd of an inch off the front of the front carrier mount so the axle flange hardware would clear. There was still enough spines in the output to still seal so I filled it back up. On Sunday it took me 3 hrs to go 50 miles back to civilization. I was able to track down a totaled 03 awd on craigslist. The driveshaft was pretty much all that was left abs she would only take $20 for it. A road trip with my dad and a few hours later I had it swapped out and was back on the road. 

The funny part is I did my usual search for local GXs for sale and traded my 00 RX for an 05 GX the next day. Lexter 2.0 and I havent had to do any mods yet!

Very nice replacement

[RXOR_02]

On 1/11/2021 at 9:40 PM, Kev ho said:

Been following thread for a few years now, took a lot of what yall had to say into consideration so thank you 🙏 
 

@kevindboldt, im interested in your experience with the lift. Do you have a link to your 40mm strut spacer? Pros vs cons? Any other lift options, is your rig still “lexus” quality, ride experience, other maintenance issues, MPG, off road experience?

-Kevin

Are you still on stock ride height? Those tires look like they would clear the struts. What's your wheel and tire setup?

[Kev ho]

@RXOR_02 im on stock height and suspension. Wheels are 16x8 Raceline Injector +18 offset. Tires are 245/70/16 Toyo Open Country A/T3. The offset makes the difference for strut clearance, didnt want to go with spacers. They clear the base of the rear strut by maybe 5/16”. No rubbing on the front tires either.

 

unfortunately i was t-boned about a week after that photo...RIP RX. 

[RXOR_02]

3 minutes ago, Kev ho said:

@RXOR_02 im on stock height and suspension. Wheels are 16x8 Raceline Injector +18 offset. Tires are 245/70/16 Toyo Open Country A/T3. The offset makes the difference for strut clearance, didnt want to go with spacers. They clear the base of the rear strut by maybe 5/16”. No rubbing on the front tires either.

 

unfortunately i was t-boned about a week after that photo...RIP RX. 

Man, I'm sorry to hear about your RX but glad you're alive. I'm looking at some 16x8 vision wheels with a +0 offset. Hoping it clears a stock struts with a more conservative tire setup like yours. I dont fancy changing out my stock springs or spacers either. 

Did you get another RX to replace you RX300?

[kevindboldt]

On 1/11/2021 at 10:40 PM, Kev ho said:

Been following thread for a few years now, took a lot of what yall had to say into consideration so thank you 🙏 
 

@kevindboldt, im interested in your experience with the lift. Do you have a link to your 40mm strut spacer? Pros vs cons? Any other lift options, is your rig still “lexus” quality, ride experience, other maintenance issues, MPG, off road experience?

-Kevin

Hey there, installation of the strut spacers was a major pain in the a$$. The bolt holes on the front spacers weren't even close to lining up so I had to do a lot of !Removed! around to get them installed properly. The rear ones went in OK but I have a lot of squeaks and rattles from back there. Finding someone to do a wheel alignment was difficult because as soon as you're not playing with the factory specs, they want nothing to do with it. Once I found a shop willing to do it, the handling improved dramatically. As far as the Lexus ride is concerned, I drove around on the lift for a few weeks before I got the wheel spacers and off road tires installed. When it was just the lift kit, the ride was pretty close to exactly the same as before. Add the big off road tires and it feels like an F-150 instead of an RX300 but that's to be expected.

The strut spacers came from "mother Russia" and shipping took FOREVER... Like 6 months. Probably had a lot to do with the fact that all the COVID stuff had just started so might not be as bad now. If I had it to do over again, I'd have gone with the other lift kit that someone posted earlier in this topic (the blue metal kit). Way more money, but way better quality... Anyhow, here's the link to the strut spacers and wheel spacers. Both are on ebay.

Complete Lift Kit 40mm for Lexus RX300 RX330 RX350 RX400H | eBay

4 pc Wheel Spacers 2" 5x4.5 Adapters bolt 12x1.5 5x114.3 Fits LEXUS 5 lug bolt | eBay

[RXOR_02]

On 5/17/2020 at 10:59 PM, Eddy23 said:

Did this to my 99 Lexus been eyeing this forum for a while I was about to do the spring spacer but ehh I went with the strut spacers from Russia. I chose to go  with after market wheels did the 0 offset just so I wouldn’t rub. My tires specs are 235/70r16 Bfg km3’s. My wheels are methods 16/8.5 replaced the front control arms tie rods and sway bar end links in the process and all the the struts are new too. 

Hey brotha, just curious were all the control arm tie rods , sway bar link and strut replacements necessary for this wheel and tire setup you have here? Or were those things you just decided on while you did the full wheel and tire setup.

[Kev ho]

@kevindboldt I looked into it quite a bit and decided against it...found the "blue" 1.5inch strut spacers that you were talking about from Northwoods Performance, they seem legit and include new sway bars for like $350 in total.

@RXOR_02 Luckily I didnt take a beating from the accident like it did to the rig and walked away fine. 0 offset would potentially clear the struts completely with a 235 tire with lower side wall threads. I would be curious how that performs though.. RXs have a pretty wide turn radius and that might make it even wider, could come into play if you plan on doing any technical driving. I love the RX but parts are so hard to come across for my intended application, especially for the earlier gens. Ended up with a Jeep but will keep up with the forum to add my 2cents in where I can. Best of luck on the build!

[RXOR_02]

On 4/12/2021 at 12:58 PM, Kev ho said:

@kevindboldt I looked into it quite a bit and decided against it...found the "blue" 1.5inch strut spacers that you were talking about from Northwoods Performance, they seem legit and include new sway bars for like $350 in total.

@RXOR_02 Luckily I didnt take a beating from the accident like it did to the rig and walked away fine. 0 offset would potentially clear the struts completely with a 235 tire with lower side wall threads. I would be curious how that performs though.. RXs have a pretty wide turn radius and that might make it even wider, could come into play if you plan on doing any technical driving. I love the RX but parts are so hard to come across for my intended application, especially for the earlier gens. Ended up with a Jeep but will keep up with the forum to add my 2cents in where I can. Best of luck on the build!

Thanks for writing back Kev even though you don't own the car anymore. Congrats on your Jeep, can't beat a true rear axle overlander like a jeep. I'm sure you'll have tons and tons of options for that car over the RX300. There is little to nothing out there for the first gen but I like seeing a few select folks on here still who've managed to figure a setup for light overlanding. I considered what you shared on  your specs for the wheels with a +18 offset which is why I assumed a +0 offset would work especially with a same wheels size and width as you had (16x8). I know another member had a zero offset with method 16x8.5 wheels but he didnt clarify whether his modifications to the front control arms tie rods and sway bar end links and all the the struts being new were related to his wheel and tire setup. It sounded like his wheels and tires cleared just fine and he just decided to modify the front control arm tie rods and the sway bar end links. I tried to message him but no response but I know how forums go, usually slow. Not like a facebook reply lol

[RXOR_02]

Does anyone know what his wheel specs and tires are? Most importantly, I know he is obviously lifted as he stated earlier in the forum but I don't think he's on here much to reply. I'm wondering if his wheel and tire setup would work on a stock suspension with no lift and whether it would clear front and rear struts. Kev Ho old rx300 rig used to run 16x8 with a +18 offset. I'm hoping to run something similar 16x8 but with a +0 offset on stock height and struts. I hoping to find answers as I don't want a lift or do spacers. Trying to keep it stock height but clear my struts and fender. Thanks. 

[Dannyboy99]

I'm curious, does anybody know any manufacturers that currently make skidplates and bull bars for a gen 1 RX300? 

Cheers

[RXOR_02]

Following. I'd love a skid plate. I'm fairly certain most will just be custom. 

 

[Dannyboy99]

Honestly even just a bush bar would work for me 

[scchen]

I have been a RX owner for years. Coming in and out the forum for repair tips only. It was about a year ago saw posts about purposing the RX for rugged use. I really enjoy all of the modified/customized RXs in this thread. I learned quite a lot from the members on their each unique customization. Also, I am glad there are members lifted their RX with strut spacers without any reliability issues as I am looking to perform that as a future enhancement for the RX. 

 

I own a RX400h and initially was used by the wife for commuting. It was past on to me years ago and it became a multipurpose vehicle with the family such as camping and road trips. The most recent years I have been exploring lots of back roads into more secluded areas in parks and public land. I didn't follow Lexus owner's manual not to travel off the pavement by intent as the vehicle is not designed for the use. I agree with "Broc Luno" statements about trails in state parks as it is fairly decent to travel with our RXs and do some online home work on the trail condition.  Below are few pictures of the few places of my accomplishment. Some trails are with "Soft Sand" and to be safe requires air down for the tires to travel though. 

Again, I enjoyed everyone's rig and knowledge in this post. It definitely gave me motivation to get out there and do it. Even with a HYBRID (AWD). 

 

 

[Eddy23]

Some pictures from the Tahoe area. Sorry for the late reply’s. Did the strut spacer’s from eBay that come from Russia 40mm and front  camber adjustment bolts. 

[RXOR_02]

14 hours ago, Eddy23 said:

Some pictures from the Tahoe area. Sorry for the late reply’s. Did the strut spacer’s from eBay that come from Russia 40mm and front  camber adjustment bolts. 

Do you think you would of cleared with a 30mm spacer? How does you car feel, drive and ride with the 40mm spacers? Also how was the install process, pretty much bolt ons? Where did you get the camber adjustment bolts?

[MarkyB]

You guys have provided some really good info for me. Just bought an '03 RX, coming from an '03 LX. I know, big jump...but, I have my reasons. Now, I'm basically trying to make a baby brother to my LX.

Anyhow, just ordered the Putin spacers. Seeing a lot of comments about new camber bolts and possibly new/shorter tie rods and/or sway bar links (I think). Any help on part numbers would be much appreciated! 

I'm calling this my "Project Prescription" (RX...get it?) pun absolutely intended.

My sold LX (LeeLu) pictured below as my inspiration/motivation.

Edited June 16, 2021 by MarkyB

[hewitttech]

48 minutes ago, MarkyB said:

You guys have provided some really good info for me. Just bought an '03 RX, coming from an '03 LX. I know, big jump...but, I have my reasons. Now, I'm basically trying to make a baby brother to my LX.

Anyhow, just ordered the Putin spacers. Seeing a lot of comments about new camber bolts and possibly new/shorter tie rods and/or sway bar links (I think). Any help on part numbers would be much appreciated! 

I'm calling this my "Project Prescription" (RX...get it?) pun absolutely intended.

My sold LX (LeeLu) pictured below as my inspiration/motivation.

Funny, my GX is down right now and waiting for a new upgraded 8.2" rear with ARB locker to get here. My mind was wandering yesterday and I started looking at RXs again. It was such fun compared to a big pig like my GX has become or your LX can be. I still think the RX is an awesome 4x4 but if you could get it to the level of say a stock tacoma off road.

If I was to do one again I would see if increasing the spring rates considerably would be enough to run without the sway bars all together. Obviously in a more stock setup it would affect on road handling but considering how much lighter they are than a GX/LX it might be something to try out. It certainly simplifies the suspension. Just make sure you do proper bump stops/limit straps, that was one of the biggest issues I kept running into with stock struts/shocks. Then again I may have been a lot more rough with mine hitting stuff hard and getting air. Such fun! Enjoy and still awesome seeing more people getting into this side of the RX.

[MarkyB]

On 5/17/2020 at 10:59 PM, Eddy23 said:

Did this to my 99 Lexus been eyeing this forum for a while I was about to do the spring spacer but ehh I went with the strut spacers from Russia. I chose to go  with after market wheels did the 0 offset just so I wouldn’t rub. My tires specs are 235/70r16 Bfg km3’s. My wheels are methods 16/8.5 replaced the front control arms tie rods and sway bar end links in the process and all the the struts are new too. 

Could you provide the parts information for the tie rod and sway bar ends?

[pandita]

Guys, I absolutely love this thread. I've been trying to find an RX300 for weeks now and I might be picking one up tomorrow if the sale goes through. I just had a question for you guys, I am absolutely terrified of having a catastrophic transmission failure at some point. The one I'm looking at has 170k 2003 single owner, anything I should look for specifically? 

I also plan on throwing on some big tires and a lift. :) 

[Steve]

sweet thread