hewitttech

Well Done with the coil overs! Mind sharing which ones you used (brand, part numbers etc..) and what if anything else you needed to do it. We should start compiling all the info everyone has used for their setup so we can something known to work from for the different years but right now it is just what each individual has kind of figured out for themselves. Did the rear struts change from 03-04? I am running the 245/70R-16 BF Goodrich KO2 on my 2000 rx300 with a ~2.5" spring lift and 2" wheel spacers with no rubbing. You will probably need to go with a different tire or get different wheels if you want to use the KO(2) or your existing wheels. TireRack.com only shows the K02 available for 15" and 16" wheels, the T/A KO for 17" and then the Rugged Trail T/A for 16,17 and 18. The Rugged Trail definitely does not have the same aggressive look or side tread as the K02 or K0 if that is why we both like them but they would be much better on the road but you could probably use your 18" wheels with them.

Looks Good. Don't use more spacer than you have to otherwise your turn radius will suffer. Mine was bad before and is horrible now. Doesn't matter when you can slide the vehicle but on the rode it sucks when you need to turn.

I hear you, I don't think the wide track would look right on the newer bodies. I did mine for sliding around corners on gravel and dirt so the wide stance really helps plant it. I always felt like the 300 was a little tipsy on the road with the factory setup but it did great in 6" of snow even with the highway tires, never had to deal with a lot of snow, let alone ice.

Now you can see how the wheel spacers will give you the extra tire clearance at the perch. I want to say with the 2" spacers on mine it puts the edge of the tire somewhere right at the outside edge of the perch. I could have fit larger tires but went smaller and should probably go to smaller spacers like 1" to 1.5" to fix the edge of my tire hitting the top of the fender when bottoming out.

The world of lifting RX vehicles is still pretty small so there aren't exactly any definitive guides but like any other strutted vehicle the same limitations in tire/wheel fitment would apply. The first limitation on my 300 was the rear spring perches because they are squattier than the fronts. Side clearance of the spring perch will limit how tall and wide of a tire you can fit without modification or for a certain offset/spacer. The next limitation for me was rubbing when turned full clock, not acceptable to me and I was able to fit mine with no rubbing. The taller and wider the tire the turning clearance is greatly reduced, its geometry but you can figure it out with a straight edge. Clock the wheels and take a straight edge across the inside sidewalls to the nearest obstruction and you can measure how much taller of a tire will fit without rubbing but leave some cushion. The closest point of the tire should be at the horizontal axis of the tire but make sure you look at fender clearances as well. Just take your time and measure everything until you are absolutely sure your fitment is what you want. You could also likely take it to a custom shop and they should be able to measure or use a jig to tell you what you can and can't fit. I would not recommend bringing the tire tread up past the bottom of the spring perch. If you do and you do not have ample clearances you can easily slash your sidewalls. If you are sticking with stock suspension the steering changes shouldn't be as drastic but just be ready for it to handle differently. I have not had to trim anything for mine and do not have anything rub except when I have 300-400 extra pounds in it and the suspension takes a really hard hit, mostly the rear where the outside tread just catches the lip of the fender. I need a little more travel or slightly stiffer springs in the rear. I think I am also running a larger wheel spacer than necessary (2"). Same thing for the front but don't hit the fender lip unless it is a really really hard suspension hit and I am turning. There is enough travel and clearance in the front if I am going straight over that really hard hit. I do not rub on the inside of the tire when turning but it is the outside front of the tire that hits the fender liner. That is only because it was a cheap aftermarket liner I was in a hurry to get in there to get some protection for my trans cooler before a trip. I had to cut the vents into the plastic and they puckered out into the wheel well so the tire catches them. I need to reinstall it so it fits correctly and likely make a little aluminum plate/grill for the vent slots so that doesn't happen. ***Edit- Brickwall says you have springs and shocks on the rear of yours and not a strut so that makes it a lot easier. You are then pretty much limited by the strut and turning clearance of the front then,

Welcome to the unofficial lifted RX Club! That is an AWESOME RX! I would say this is a good place to post but we probably could start a new thread for all lifted RX. I would have preferred to use strut spacers but couldn't find any at the time, can you share a little more about the strut spacers you used and where you found them? I still need a little bit more lift or slightly harder springs especially in the rear and always wondered if there was an easy swap with something like a highlander or 4runner. I always wanted to go shopping at a pull-a-part just to see what I could make work but honestly I don't think I have the back for that sort of work anymore. Can you elaborate on what you found when you were looking or struts/springs that would work? It would be great to start building up how the travel/springs/heights compare. I think I have blew my right front strut and I think my wheels are just way to damn heavy for the stock struts. The 245/70R16 KO2s I have are 44lbs each and the next step down, the 235/70R16 are 36lbs! 8lbs is a lot so I am glad i didn't go with even bigger tires that would fit because the next sizes up are 48 and 50lbs each. I haven't played with my 300 much lately but I think a set of 1" strut lifts or one step back down in tire size is what I need to do next. I honestly haven't played with it much since I got a new toy (15' RC350 Fsport in Super Mica Blue) and Lexter now just stays hooked up to my boat and still does an excellent job with that at least once a week.

Yeah, wet traction on my BFG KO2 tires suck also. They are OK on dry but awesome offroad on dirt and gravel as expected. I am also commenting on another thread someone was asking about a lift for a 350. The nay sayers don't get how awesome these vehicles are with just a few mods. It is mostly lifted, big wheel small tire 4x4s around here and they definitely stand out. It is one of those things that the stock ones look so dainty now and mine looks like it was meant to be that way. If I don't do mod another RX after this one I have looked at the V6 Rav4 or crazy as this sounds a Highlander since they are still smaller than the 4 runner. I think it is the smaller size that makes it much more fun to zip around in than a big 4x4 but still have a lot of capability. I like some of the LX and GX but would feel bad if I put a hole in the door, hit a tree or dented a fender like I have in this one. But then again I haven't run across one in the right price range with the right problems either.

That is the Predator yelling when he rips the guy's spine out or in this case the steering column...

I just want to keep this thread alive so maybe more people can appreciate what these vehicles can be. The RX300 has had a few more mods and things tightened up since I last posted and is doing Great! 230k on the odometer now. I completed a full front engine seal job with new timing belt water pump tensioner and new lower timing cover (crank pulley wore holes through it the way it seals). New front CV shafts, New Lower Steering U-joint/shaft and a reman. steering rack. New front subframe mounts all torqued back to spec. I was chasing a problem with the alignment wanting to go left after turning right and right after turning left. It was the lower steering shaft which was a lot easier to replace than dropping the steering rack and subframe. Have now replaced both oil control valves which completes ALL important engine sensor/control replacements and made a noticeable difference in how it runs. Now the good stuff. New slotted and drilled rotors in the front with EBC Yellowstuff pads and front braided-stainless lines! This is what it was missing! With the heavy rubber and towing my boat the Lexter feels like it would almost do a stoppie now if the rubber on the front would stick. K&N Filter because paying $20 for a stock air filter makes no sense when a $40 K&N and recharge kit will last the rest of its life. As an added benefit it actually does make a tiny difference in power when winding out the engine which is pretty much the only way I drive it. The engine is now running amazing and just now seems to be broken in. My rubber spring lift has sagged just a tiny bit in the rear so considering designing some strut mount spacers and having them machined as a better permanent option. It has been through some nasty mud but I still try to avoid anything I can get bogged down in. If you can keep the wheel speed up you can get through most of it but only if there is a bottom and you don't have one wheel break free. I have had luck applying the brakes and gas at the same time as psuedo limited slip but again not a lot of low end torque, it is not a mud truck!. Better traction on dirt and gravel than on the road. You can pick one up relatively cheap for what you get. I have had Scouts and Landcruisers. Right now this is more fun... and I still have heated seats! I literally have people checking it out all the time and regularly get complimented on it because if nothing else it is different.

Copy that on the ECT always being in power mode! Mine is still pretty damn peppy though even with the tires but I did fix or freshen up anything that might cause it to not run at peak. Part of that might be just railing the crap out of it to get to the power band everywhere i go though...lol I also swapped everything over to synthetics after scraping the oil pan and flushing the engine 3 times. The tranny got a similar treatment and I am also running synthetic in it and hte front and rear differential, it made a slightly noticeable difference. I am a little more worried about stopping this thing than going though. I have completely replaced the front brakes including the calipers but they feel under powered now. I don't know if it was the napa pads and rotor combo I put on there or if maybe I didn't get the fluid bled right. I have completely flushed and bled the brakes twice since but they still feel underpowered and overworked. So either I haven't found the problem yet or the pad rotor combo isn't quite as good as the originals or I need a brake upgrade because the tires. I am thinking it is just the pads and rotors because it was fine when I first put the tires on there before a caliper seized when changing just the pads Of coarse it doesn't matter if I have more brake power if the tires don't have enough traction on the road. As far as the knife that was one of my favorites to carry but it is now at the bottom of the lake somewhere. That makes about 3 of them in the past 10 years or so lost to lakes. I do have GPS coords. on the one before this but just haven't taken that scuba class yet so I can use my metal detector to find it. I use the crap out of them so I still feel like I get my money out of them even if I loose one every once in a while. Someone was talking about lifting a 330 on another thread/forum and everyone was bashing him.. apparently they haven't seen this thread. But like you said the early ones are really built well! I wonder if one of the 330 or 350 drive-trains would swap in if I blow this one up...lol

Here are a couple more pics of the parts and how I did mine. I cut the spring helpers to fit the spring plates as a spacer. There is also a pic of where I drilled and cut out the damaged bumper mount to replace it. That was from the tree hit it took the first time I had it out there and got it buried in the first pics in the post. I just took me a while to get around to do it after doing all the more important work so she was in top shape for trips 2 and three with her out there. In that pic you can also see how the AC Condensor has taken some damage from water/mud/trash and gravel flying up in there. There is also a special tool I made to extract a broken off Oil Control Valve for the Rear VVt-i actuator that was acting up. If anyone runs across this thread and needs the tool let me know, you will also need a slide hammer.

Very Nice... I have been rocking mine with the 245/70R-16 BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 D tires. Since the last time I posted i finished my lift and wheel spacers. I am glad to see someone else has discovered how fun this little AWD can be with a little wider stance, stiffer springs and big tires. I have successfully run two more guy's weekend rally drives with it since getting it stuck which spurred this whole thing. As long as you are still a little careful about what you are doing it has made this vehicle 10x more capable especially if you can keep the RPMs above 3500 when the VVTi kicks in and aren't relying on low end torque. Going up two size tires on mine made the speedo read damn near perfect, i think it is only off 1mph by gps at 70-75. The only disadvantages is that the tires I chose are really heavy and the next step up that would fit was like another 20 lbs a tire heavier. I was aiming for the biggest contact patch I could get and still fit without rubbing at all. They are absolutely incredible on grass, gravel, mud and sand but really suck on pavement especially if it is wet and you have to be very careful with water on the road at speed. It looks like your tire choice is much more road friendly and I almost went with the Grabber AT, DynaPro AT or the Road Ventures because of that but the BF G KO2 Look sick on there. Aside from the poor traction on the road the BFG AT ride really well and you almost don't notice hearing them but it probably helps a lot that it is a Lexus...lol If I was buying tires again I would see if I could go with only maybe a 1 size step up and see if I could get them to tuck inside the fender lips without rubbing. But as it stands I don't rub at all and unless we are out on the trails hitting the fender lip isn't an issue. Moving forward with this thing I am considering trying to find stock Toyota springs that will fit to give me the 2" lift without the spacers or possibly adapting it to a coil over setup instead of the struts. The lower control arms on this thing are very beefy for stock and not that light crap you would see on a new car. So far this is probably why I am continually surprised how much abuse this thing takes without crumbling up like a ball.. built for longevity not mpg. The way I used my rubber spring helpers as a spring compression lift the rear has already sagged a little so I am looking at the spring/suspension upgrade or as a stop gap to design and have a 2" shock mount spacers machined. I am considering doing this one of two ways. It would be easiest just to design and machine strut spacers to push the whole assembly down 2". The other option because I like the stiffer spring ratio is to machine spring perches that fit under or on top of the spring like I am doing with my current rubber compression lift. I am working on front end protection as well. The trail/rally driving style i need a good lightweight skid plate that will protect the AC condensor/radiator and at least one more to protect the exhaust that hangs down below the uni-body rails. The lower part of the AC condesor you can see through the bottom of the front bumper has taken some abuse from tall grass, gravel and stuff splashing up into it. I bought one of those little plastic covers that goes down there so I can use it as a template. My fender liners in the front are also damaged and the passenger side actually got torn out which is not good since it provided a little bit of protection for the trans cooler. I have the new liners but really wondering if I should do something a little more like alluminum in a couple places. The skid guards are really more useful for making sure you don't get stuck in a ditch or at least make it a lot easier to recover so it doesn't get caught up when you are pulling it out. I am hoping to make a real bumper that would bolt to where the factory bumper support does and would go just in front of the bumper but haven't come up with a design that I could also use to mount the front of the skid plate to. The options that you can still find are only for looks not real protection and seeing how I have already hit a tree with it a little extra protection would be nice. All things considered I am having a blast with it still and so far I have only gotten it stuck one time since modding it. Last time we were out I was running through a ditch of water and a small cut off tree stump came up and wedged under the engine/trans and lifted the front tires off the ground. The skid plate may have prevented it and for sure would have made recovery easier but I was pretty happy with the fact it wasn't because I buried it. I was also really happy with that though because I only got stuck the one time and ended up having to pull my buddy's Cherokee out of stuff I already gone through twice..lol Other than that I have finished refreshing everything and bringing her back from the dead (and I mean everything from suspension and sensors to engine seals, water pump, timing belt and everything in between name it and it I have probably replaced or fixed it) she has just over 230k miles on her and is now screaming like new. Considering it wouldn't run when I got it I will definately be getting my money out of her in fun and the way I see it as long as I get my money out of the tires I am all good!

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/SPR4/181901/N1716.oap?ck=Search_N1716_1363586_-1&pt=N1716&ppt=C0361 http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/search/Coil+Spring+Boosters/N1716/C0361.oap?model=RX300&vi=1363586&year=2000&make=Lexus This is pretty much the only type of thing I can find for the lift. This one says approximately a 1" lift. Is this the type of spacer you used? I just replaced all my shocks and am not sure with either of my spring compressors that I can get it compressed enough to get a spacer like this in. I was thinking more of something that would move the entire strut down to maintain the spring ratio. And think these are the wheel spacers I am going with. http://www.ebay.com/itm/4X-HUBCENTRIC-WHEEL-SPACERS-5X4-5-TO-5X4-5-12X1-5-50MM-2-INCH-60-1-CB-/201092289464?fits=Year%3A2002|Model%3ARX300&hash=item2ed208d3b8:g:mQYAAOSw7ThUimN3&vxp=mtr

At our last "men's weekend", running my rehabbed 00' RX AWD through the narrow roads of the managed land area was a blast! It handles great on the dirt and gravel with the occasional puddle mixed in there. Hard to get the back end to step out unless doing a pendulum type turn at speed but completely stable through everything. Ridding 4 deep with no backup we were intentionally avoiding anything muddy because of the ecopia tires and no limited slip diffs but alas, we did eventually get stuck. Day 2 we were running a 2 track through a field and all was good until halfway across we started to sink. I floored it and we made it through but the problem was the road then dead ended a 1/4 mile later and we had to turn around. On the way out we hit it at speed and got sideways a couple of times and the ruts messed us up. Right as we were getting out of it I was too hard on the gas and we lost traction on the rear put it in a ditch full of water. It was all a very well camouflaged booby trap, like quicksand but of grass covered mud. Pictures in order as they appear. 1)Normal road coming in. 2)Road after being surprised and getting through the first time. 3)Road after turning around and getting through it the second time, notice the ditch of water we didn't see before getting to it. 4)RX in the ditch, front left past the hub in water. 5)Unstuck looking back after ditch surfing for ~100 feet with help until it popped back up on the road! 7)Back at camp. 6)Fixing tire damage, 3 plugs in 1 tread hole could have been gravel cut or a stick in the ditch and ready to go again. Anyways, I have been joking with my wife about a small lift and putting AT tires on it since we got it. Since the trip my wife says it is MY RX now and she wants something else. Now that I also punctured the back 2 tires it is time for the lift and AT tires before our next "men's weekend" in March for my birthday. The 2" wheel spacers are easy but as has been mentioned above by another poster I can't find the leveling spacers. If you can please share any info on the ones you found that would be great! I would hate to have to have some custom machine work done since this is just a cheap fun project and not a serious project like my real 4x4 (78 IH Scout Traveller).