All around novice—to Lexus, the GX, and off-roading

[SilverMedal]

Howdy from central Texas ! I've been lurking the forums for a bit and am a new[ish] owner. I've been looking at the GX 550 for a while and it was at the top of my list for a vehicle that would meet my needs.

Primary

• Towing. I need the ability to tow ~6.5k lbs (open trailer+car). The GX's towing capability gives me the opportunity to tow enclosed as well.
• Family comfort. Our main car is a relatively short-range EV and I wanted something that is comfortable long distances.
• Daily livability. Trucks are great, but driving a full-size truck is not ideal for my lifestyle.

Secondary

• Off-road capability. I've had friends with nice overland and off-road vehicles and it's always appealed to me, however I am very green in this department.
• Resale
• Fuel mileage

I looked at the gamut of pickups, both mid and full size, but nothing seemed to tick the boxes like the GX. Spent a little more time working out colors and spec only to find out Lexus doesn't allow you to order vehicles like I've done with past purchases. I put down a deposit with the local dealer, gave them 3 colors I'd take (Atomic Silver, Nori Green, and Earth—all with black roof) and what options I'd ideally want. Interestingly multiple dealers told me I wouldn't be able to get a base OT with a black roof because Lexus hadn't been building allocating them this way. Was told 3-6 months for wait time and then surprised when 3 weeks later I got a call stating they had one available. Just so happened to be a standard OT in Atomic Silver/black roof. This is a MSRP dealer, so of course it had some port options—I didn't bother to try and argue as most of them were small cost. I do wish it hadn't had the roof rack.

If only it would stay this clean forever.

I've now had the truck for approximately 3 months and 1500 miles. I quickly took the roof rack off and stored it, added a Land Bull lift gate light, and thanks to this forum an ARB breather manifold for the front and rear differentials. Poking around and seeing some of the neat overland builds is inspiring but I'm unlikely to change much a this point as it would be wasteful. I will hopefully put the towing to the test soon but the plan is to drive and experience the truck stock until I find a need to change something.

So far, I'm quite pleased. The ride is decent and the handling is actually quite impressive for a softly sprung brick on AT tires. I am a bit envious of a friend's GMC Canyon AT4X's Multimatic dampers which are extremely impressive. The lack of storage options are moderately annoying at times, but generally not a big issue for me. There are some odd decisions Lexus has made that may have solutions I'm unaware of (mode memory?), and some that don't (lumbar support that's not height adjustable). Probably my biggest and silliest gripe with the OT is around Lexus' decision to not have the same B pillar trim and windows as most of the other trims.

Recently, I visited Hidden Falls, a nearby off-road park, with a friend to check out the capabilities of the truck. Even though I didn't tackle anything super challenging, I've come away impressed with just how capable the truck is in its stock form. Truck has now been waded, crawled (up and down), articulated, mudded, and skids bonked. I have a better idea of how the various systems operate and what obstacles can be tackled easily and not so easily. Something that quite impressed was the onboard air compressor—I know that it's a decent but I still somewhat expected it to be a bit gimmicky. It aired down and back very respectably. Oh and that front overhang is a bit of a pain in the ass.

Looking forward to continuing to learn and be a part of the GX community.

 

[El Chorizo]

Welcome to the site from Austin, TX... Looks like you had a blast! Glad to have you aboard!!

 

[Dragoon]

Welcome to the forum! I'm interested to hear your thoughts on how it tows your car hauler with a car. Do you think the side mirrors will be enough to give you good visibility while towing, or do you think you will need an aftermarket clip-on type of mirror extension?

 

[fftfk]

What’s the issue with B pillars and windows?

 

[cmfhsu]

I gotta say I don't think the GX is the best tow vehicle, but it's certainly serviceable. I loaded mine up with an open u-haul car trailer & my racecar miata, which should be ~4000-4500 pounds, and it does squat quite a bit and it got pushed around by trucks pretty frequently. I'm sure a trailer with sway control & a WDH would help, but this car is just a brick with a pretty short wheelbase and you can't really beat physics on that one.

 

[Matthew@LC250Mods]

Great looking rig and love to see her getting used as intended!

 

[SilverMedal]

Welcome to the forum! I'm interested to hear your thoughts on how it tows your car hauler with a car. Do you think the side mirrors will be enough to give you good visibility while towing, or do you think you will need an aftermarket clip-on type of mirror extension?

Thanks. With the mirrors being so vertical, I am curious about the visibility as well. I'll be sure to post some initial thoughts afterward.

What’s the issue with B pillars and windows?

The non+ OT has matte plastic B pillar trim and the front windows aren't the double-pane glass found in other trims. I think the matte plastic (and associated window trim) looks cheaper is all. I have doubts the glass impacts the sound level much.

I gotta say I don't think the GX is the best tow vehicle, but it's certainly serviceable. I loaded mine up with an open u-haul car trailer & my racecar miata, which should be ~4000-4500 pounds, and it does squat quite a bit and it got pushed around by trucks pretty frequently. I'm sure a trailer with sway control & a WDH would help, but this car is just a brick with a pretty short wheelbase and you can't really beat physics on that one.

Agreed—but the GX, to me, felt like the best vehicle to meet my various needs that wasn't a full-size pickup. I test drove a GMC Sierra AT4X with the diesel 6cyl and felt it was too large for my daily use. Coincidentally, it is also specced to tow less from the factory.

I have 2 track cars, a spec Miata and a BMW, and expect the GX will do well. The other thing that entered my mind is the if the GX is just awful, the financials would be better going GX -> truck than the other way around. What is your trailer/hitch setup now?

 

[DJ’s Sled]

I gotta say I don't think the GX is the best tow vehicle, but it's certainly serviceable. I loaded mine up with an open u-haul car trailer & my racecar miata, which should be ~4000-4500 pounds, and it does squat quite a bit and it got pushed around by trucks pretty frequently. I'm sure a trailer with sway control & a WDH would help, but this car is just a brick with a pretty short wheelbase and you can't really beat physics on that one.

Agree.
I had to make to add 2 main upgrades to make a somewhat better tow vehicle out of it. Of course, these don’t come free.

I had a suspension kit added, with stronger springs to tame most of the bobbing and accommodate the trailer tongue weight. The trailer is 22’ long and about 5500 lbs loaded. With anti-sway and WD (solid bars).

I went with 18x8 +25 wheels and 285/70/R18 E tires. The extra track (width) and side wall stiffness increased the lateral robustness. I’m no longer having issues with heavy winds or trucks passing.

Having done all that I’m in a good place. However, I’m not interested in towing anything approaching 9000 lbs, that’s for sure.

 

[SilverMedal]

Agree.
I had to make to add 2 main upgrades to make a somewhat better tow vehicle out of it. Of course, these don’t come free.

I had a suspension kit added, with stronger springs to tame most of the bobbing and accommodate the trailer tongue weight. The trailer is 22’ long and about 5500 lbs loaded. With anti-sway and WD (solid bars).

I went with 18x8 +25 wheels and 285/70/R18 E tires. The extra track (width) and side wall stiffness increased the lateral robustness. I’m no longer having issues with heavy winds or trucks passing.

Having done all that I’m in a good place. However, I’m not interested in towing anything approaching 9000 lbs, that’s for sure.

Right on. I've read your experiences and appreciate the input. I do plan to purchase wheels at some point for visual and performance reasons, and your experience has me interested in the OME package. Before doing that though, I'll read more about the various options out there and tow with the truck in its stock form.

 

[Bluegill]

Good looking GX!

 

[cmfhsu]

Thanks. With the mirrors being so vertical, I am curious about the visibility as well. I'll be sure to post some initial thoughts afterward.



The non+ OT has matte plastic B pillar trim and the front windows aren't the double-pane glass found in other trims. I think the matte plastic (and associated window trim) looks cheaper is all. I have doubts the glass impacts the sound level much.



Agreed—but the GX, to me, felt like the best vehicle to meet my various needs that wasn't a full-size pickup. I test drove a GMC Sierra AT4X with the diesel 6cyl and felt it was too large for my daily use. Coincidentally, it is also specced to tow less from the factory.

I have 2 track cars, a spec Miata and a BMW, and expect the GX will do well. The other thing that entered my mind is the if the GX is just awful, the financials would be better going GX -> truck than the other way around. What is your trailer/hitch setup now?

I'm just renting u haul car haulers with a cheap curt 7500 pound hitch right now while I look for an aluminum trailer.

I've only towed the Miata so far, since it's a racecar, but I'm hoping to tow my track Camaro as well when I get a trailer. Then I'll look to buy a proper weight distributing hitch with sway control.