erupert

I've done it on the LX 450, but don't how the LX 470 is set up. Probably not a big deal to do it, but you should get the Factory Service Manual if you're going to do bigger jobs like this. On the 450 you have to have a special service tool for the rear axle locking nut, in order to get it off and set the pre-load when you put it back on. Don't know if the 470's have a locking rear differential option, but on the 450's, you need to lock the rear diff before pulling the rear axle shaft. Rookie. Thanks. I guess that I'd better check to see if I need to tool before I start. The 470 has LSD not a locking diff.

I tow a race trailer (open) and the whole setup weighs almost 5K. As to your question, it depends on how much tongue weight you are putting on it. The rule of thumb is 10% of your total weight on the tongue. The auto height-control is rated for up to 700lbs which should be plenty. If you haven't loaded your TT correctly and you have too much on the tongue, you will bypass the height control. Get your trailer weighed somewhere with all your stuff in it to figure out where you are on totals. They sell a tongue scale that you can use to check your weight. Equalizing hitch takes weight off the tongue so you should be OK to use of of them instead.

Just noticed that I have a rear axle seal going bad. The parts are cheap (around $10-$12 each for the innner and outer) but I am wondering if anyone on the board has replaced theirs by themselves? I've done it before on other cars and it's a solid-axle design so I am thinking that I shouldn't need any special tools. Any tips? I have a friend with a shop so I have access to his lift (although it's not free) for a day. Once it's on the lift and torn apart I don't want to find out that I am missing something.

See my post and the one previous. There's obviously some heavy brakers out there.

Well, I think that it all depends on how you use the brakes. Do you crawl up behind someone then brake hard or do you coast in with more stop time. Brakes exchange kinetic energy for heat. The heat is caused by friction. The longer the period of time that you dissapate the energy over, the less friction you will require. In addion (just saw this again today in the holiday traffic), when creeping up on someone on the highway, do you let off and let the wind drag slow you down or do you touch your brakes. I was behind someone who was touching the brakes for a second about every 5 seconds on a downhill when the car in front of them was at least 10 car lenghs ahead. Definately someone who will be replacing brakes sooner. In addition, the dealer will be very conservative about when the pads are replaced. They first mentioned changing them at the 45K service. At the 60 they said that it was "critical". I got another 10K out of the front and 15K from the rears before they were really starting to get thin. I checked them at the 45K mark and they were barely under 1/2. Now, if this was my race car, I would definately pitch them at 50% because there isn't enough material to dissapate the heat and the brakes will generally boil the fluid and fade once the pads get under 50%, but a street vehicle should almost never be subjected to that kind of heat load.

Really..?? Edmunds pulls up a Dealer retail TMV for this mileage and condition of $22,250. Are you in the business? I would agree. My brother is starting to shop for one and he said that he is definately seeing low $20's for newer models than a '98. While it probably wasn't a "killer" deal, it's still better than $28K on a new Trailblazer.

I've gotten huge variations on brake life based on the service writer I pick. With my Landcruiser, the service writers use the Landcruiser brake jobs to make thier money, and I've had them try to change pads with as little as 8K miles on them. I'm buying a Lexus this time hoping for better, more honest service. My wife is the daily driver of our lexus. We got 65K out of the first set of pads. Just changed them again at 120K and they weren't even 1/2 used up but the rotors were warped. Had all four turned for $200. In addition, with 120K, we are still on just the 2nd set of Michelins.

I took the door panel off my '99 when the window support broke. You need to remove the power window/lock assembly. It's fit in with a snap assembly. I didn't know and brok mine taking it out. Now it just lays in there. But, I digress. Once you remove power assembly, you should see another screw for the center panel. I believe that the rest of the perimeter is just snaps.

They might call for 4 hours in the book, but it's a load of crap. I just did my front pads and taking calipers off isn't more than a couple minutes. In addition, I thought that the rotors would be hard to take off so I took it up the street to have them cut the rotors right on the truck. However, they had to remove them as they couldn't get the clearance. Pulling both and turning them is 2 hours. Another 1 hour for the rear. 3 hours labor to have all of them off. Can't be that hard if a generalist suspension shop can do it for 2 hours labor.

How much did this cost? I might be interested in the steering wheel. My shifter is in fine shape, but my leather on the wheel is starting to wear significantly. The later year's wood look would be a nice update as well. email me at eric@theruperts.net

Starting with the 60K service, I have used the Toyota dealer for service. One thing that I noticed is that now I am low on suspension fluid. I am sure that the fluid wasn't flushed since the Toyota's don't have the active suspension.

Check The Tire Rack (www.tirerack.com) - They have good prices. My shop is one of their installers so I get them dropped shipped to him and they mount/balance them there. I have 119K on my '99 LX470, I am still on the 2nd set of Michelins so I love them. I put this set on at 70K and I think that I can get at least another 10-15K out of them.

Unfortunately, the owner did his "homework" and you are the one that just got taken. You will have to buy a whole new "brain". As long as there is one programmed master key with the truck, a duplicate can be made (although Lexus gets around $200 for another key). But it sounds like there is only one key and it can't be programmed (that's what the dealer told us). We are running risky right now because one key was stolen a couple years ago. Must have been kids as they picked the keys off the counter of a coffee shop where my wife left them. While she was sitting with a friend, they went out and unlocked the truck and stole my cellphone. She also had my keys in her purse and didn't realize what had happened until she got home. Needless to say, the dealer says that if this key get's lost we are in the same boat as you.

Interesting problem. Happened in my unit once about 3 years ago. It was right after the dealership returned it and their "driver" had the truck for 4 hours running personal errands and it smelled a bit like smoke. Needless to say I reamed them out. They replaced the unit for free and also totally detailed the truck. Surprised to hear that it's a fairly common problem.

lease is allways tricky. are you certain that you aren't going to go over the mileage? You will spend $36K to drive that car for the next 3 years then turn it in. If you spend $50K on an '04, do you think that it will only be worth $15K in 3 years? Will you want to sell it after 3 years? I bought a '99 brand new for $61K. My plan is to keep it 10 years for an average of $6K/year ($500/mo) not including maintenance. I am just wrapping up year 7 with almost 120K on the clock and the only repair bill that I have ever had is a bad fuel injector around 98K. It's still in beautiful condition and is pretty hard to distinguish from an '06. Hope it helps a bit in your decision.

Can you detail some of the suspension issues. I plan on at least two more years for my truck which now has 118K on it. The one thing that I have noticed in the past year is that sometimes it takes awhile for the autoleveling to kick back in. I know that the doors have to be closed, but even then, I'll sometimes have to get in after unhitching my race trailer and put the suspension into low to get it to level back out. After 118K, I've had very few issues. Some things that you pointed out happened to me too - airbag on wheel is peeling up in the corner, the lumbar area on the driver's side has worn pretty badly, there is a rust blister on the rear hatch, a lot of the paint has worn on the running boards where your feet drag when you get in. But overall, the paint is fantastic. After a detailing it looks like an '06 from 5' away.

Driver side mirror does not work intermittent and passenger side mirror does not tilt the same angle as driver side when shift to reverse. Later, I found out that there is nothing wrong with the passenger side after they replace the new one cause it tilt the same as before. But the dealership just replace a new one whenever you ask for. ← My older '99 stopped tilting much at all. In fact, when moving between the presets for my wife and I, they don't always make it back to my settings. I think that internally they need to be lubed but I don't really use the tilt-down anyway so it's turned off and it's still on a list of minor annoyances, not high enough up there on my personal to-do list to try to figure out how to lube them. I also have a problem with the power folding function on the passenger side. The gear must be missing one tooth because it will stop folding in but if I push on the frame a bit (towards the front of the truck), it will start working again and will work for weeks, sometimes months before I have to do it again.

I have a ''99 LX 470 Bought new in Oct of '98 for $61,000 Dealer maintained for all services up to the end of the 60K Warranty. Nothing but routine service. Replaced the Michelins and the front brake pads at 70K Major Service at 98K, engine missing. Diagnosis - Bad Fuel Injector Driver's window fell down at about 105K. Broken plastice window support. Fixed it myself with a free part from the local SafeLite Auto Glass shop (glass shops wanted to sell a whole new window) Replaced the brake pads again yesterday at 118K. Still had 50% but I have a shimmy. Looks like it will need the front rotors turned or replaced. Looks like the Michelins will be good for at least another 10K. Replaced one headlamp bulb and a couple taillight bulbs somewhere in the 90-100K mile range. Thats it! This has been and continues to be an exceptional truck. There is an odd "shudder" when starting from a dead stop with the front wheels turned. I think it's in the AWD transfer case. It's been getting more prevalent since it was in at around 98K for the engine miss and major fluid service. Thinking about trying a different diff fluid type.

The box is located behind the left rear taillight assembly. Take of the taillight and it will be down in the body cavity. It can be replaced with an aftermarket one from an auto parts store with no problem. Changed mine several years ago. ← Thanks, what after market store can I find one at? ← Any autoparts store - NAPA, AutoZone, Pep boys, etc. They are in with the trailer lights and they are a standard 4way to 3 way (separate brake / turn to combined brake/turn) converters.

Is this aftermarket item just the plug and wire? or is it the control box? How do you know what the appropriate wires are? ← It's a standard 4 way to 3 way converter (separate brake/turn to combined) and they are at any Automotive store. If I recall, the factory box tells you what each lead is. If not, if you have a simple 12v test light, you can probe each wire as you activate the clearance, brake and turn functions. Brown is usually pretty standard for ground so that's one less.

Wondering about the paint issues. Maybe the truck wasn't garaged. I have a '99 with 118K on the clock. I have the gold paint and it's in beautiful condition, no fading at all. In fact, when it's detailed (2x year) it looks brand spankin' new. Other than factory scheduled maintenance (did all service at dealer until 60K then switched to self-service for everything but the major at 90K which I get done at Toyota) I have had only one problem with the truck, a bad fuel injector at 105K. I am on only the second set of Michelin's and just put new pads all the way around. This is only the 3rd set but I have a very slight shimmy which I think is a slightly warped rotor. When I pull out from a stop, there is a "shudder" in the driveline. It's slight, but annoying and I think it has to do with the fulltime AWD. Check the one you are buying. I am thinking about switching to another type of diff fluid to see if it helps. Other than that, no failures at all. I think that I've only replaced one headlamp (recently) and one or two taillight bulbs! It's been a great truck. We also tow a race trailer with it on occasion and I love the active suspension. I don't think the wind-deflector on the rear was offered in '99. They are great trucks but I would be leary of one with bad paint, doesn't sound cared for. Check the book for service stamps.

Nope, never locked the center diff. Think I used it once goofing around in a parking lot full of snow but that's about it.

The box is located behind the left rear taillight assembly. Take of the taillight and it will be down in the body cavity. It can be replaced with an aftermarket one from an auto parts store with no problem. Changed mine several years ago.

I have a '99 purchased late '98 so I think we have the same unit. I've replacd mine with an aftermarket from Pep Boys (through my own stupidity I shorted out the factory one) about 2 years ago and have never had a problem. Nothing magical, just cut and match up the appropriate wires.

I have a '99 LX470 that has 118K on it. About 98K, it would occasionally "shudder" when accelerating from stopped with the front wheels turned. It gradually got more frequent and now it does it most of the time. The mechanic that services my Mercedes suggested that it looked like the driveshaft had never been lubed at the grease fittings (even though I did every factory service from new up through the 60K and then again at the 90K. I have avoided taking it back to the dealer because I am thinking that it's in the transfer case and is related to the AWD. I know that the full-time AWD Jeep Grand Cherokees seem to have this problem. Any thoughts? Maybe a change of the transfer case oil to an aftermarket product? Again, on the Jeep forum (I also have a Jeep), I read that certain aftermarket lubes could help. Thanks in advance.