🛠️ Member Build Overtrail Upgrades (1 Viewer)

[solluna]

just found this front bumper, anyone ever work with this company?
I like the idea of having one complete part.

2024-2026 Lexus GX 550 Winch Front Bumper

GX 550 winch front bumper with integrated light mounts, high-clearance design, and full sensor compatibility. Heavy-duty, USA-made construction.

www.ragofabrication.com

 

[Earth]

just found this front bumper, anyone ever work with this company?
I like the idea of having one complete part.

2024-2026 Lexus GX 550 Winch Front Bumper

GX 550 winch front bumper with integrated light mounts, high-clearance design, and full sensor compatibility. Heavy-duty, USA-made construction.

www.ragofabrication.com

it's been a while but Rago didn't have a good reputation, I remember lots of people having issues with their products like missing hardware, poor QC and CS. But maybe it improved.

I personally would go with a more reputable brand (Dissent, Slee, etc..)

 

[tougu]

Such a great post, so much great info. If only my wallet could keep up, hah. Thank you for all the info!

 

[WheelsFeels]

Then we will throw another upgrade idea your way!

The Overtrail is such an incredible platform right out of the box, but watching everyone push it even further with suspension and tire upgrades is awesome.

While upgrading the capability on the outside is a must, do not overlook the interior management. If you are planning on hitting the trails for multiple days, playing catch the gear in a messy trunk or rearranging heavy plastic bins every time you stop gets old real fast.

If you want to keep your Overtrail upgrades clean, organized, and functional, a dedicated drawer system is a game changer. At Wheels Feels, we engineered our setups specifically to match the premium, rugged vibe of the new GX platform.

Here is how we handle trunk management for the Overtrail:

• 100% Bolt-On (No-Drill): Nobody wants to drill holes into a brand new Overtrail interior. Our systems mount directly into the factory cargo tie-down points using stock bolts, keeping your ride completely pristine.
• Flush and Rattle-Free Fit: We high precision 3D scan the trunk area so the side wings sit flush with the trim. It will not squeak or rattle even when you are airing down and hitting rough washboard roads.
• Basecamp Ready: You can mount your fridge right on the heavy duty top platform, while all your kitchen gear, tools, and recovery stuff slide out smoothly right underneath it. Plus, everything stays hidden from plain sight when the hatch is closed.

It is definitely worth considering a solid interior upgrade that fits like it came straight from the Lexus factory.



Let us know what upgrades you guys are prioritizing first, and feel free to reach out if you need any specific trunk dimensions for your build planning!

P.S. - we’re running a Father’s Day Special with 20% OFF this week.

 

[Bluegill]

Installed the Dobinsons heavy duty rear springs, model number C59-819V.

Job would probably be pretty simple on a lift but was a pain in the ass on jack stands. I could barely get the axle lowered enough to get the OEM rear springs out. Then I was really at the axle-lowering limit trying to get the Dobinsons installed. The new springs are taller than the OEM springs even with the Westcott Designs rear pucks on the OEM springs. The passenger side was the worst, I had to employ the dangerous and shameful trick of using two ratchet straps to compress the spring a half-inch. Then on the driver's side the spring popped into place much easier.

OEM spring:

Driver's side OEM spring removed with Westcott puck on the spring top:

Comparison of OEM to Dobinsons:

My rear height is up about an inch to an inch & a half. I think I'll have to have the front Kings adjusted up another inch to even things back out again. Went out for a quick overnight run and it turned into some majorly challenging off roading around the Coves of Saguaro Lake here in Arizona. Everything held together.

I also have Dr. KDSS' rear track bar here in the garage along with their Bolt On TrackBar Correction Kit (B.O.T.C.K). I unwisely ordered the BOTCK before installing the Dobinsons but I wisely waited to install it until I after I had the Dobbys in. My track bar mounting positions are even farther out of whack now and I had to order the standard BOTCK instead of the shorty kit I originally ordered. Waiting on the standard kit and then I'll return the shorty for a refund. I have to say that the Dr. KDSS stuff is very very nicely made.

Just ordered Icon's adjustable rear upper & lower links and I think I'll have Westcott install those, adjust the front King coilovers, and make sure everything is up to speed.

I also now have a full Overtrail suspension kit available with the full Westcott Pre-Load Collar kit components. I'll clean it all up and make a marketplace listing.

 

[S SUBERI]

Nice Job. I don't know how you get that all done by your self in your garage.

 

[Bluegill]

 

[S SUBERI]

Ha Ha. Every time I try a DIY project on a vehicle, I end up taking it into the shop to get it done right. So I'm really impressed with people that can get things done.

 

[Bluegill]

I know that the adjustable rear upper & lower links will be beyond me. I could probably get the OEM parts removed and the new parts installed in my garage (with much sweating and swearing and soreness the next day), but any adjusting is beyond my abilities. I'll also feel better having Westcott make sure everything is bolted up right, aligned properly, etc.

 

[Crozbd1]

Coming from a guy who has the OME rears currently installed and King adjustable all around, (on 35's with 703s) this is extremely helpful. Thank you!

 

[rocksallday]

Installed the Dobinsons heavy duty rear springs, model number C59-819V.

Job would probably be pretty simple on a lift but was a pain in the ass on jack stands. I could barely get the axle lowered enough to get the OEM rear springs out. Then I was really at the axle-lowering limit trying to get the Dobinsons installed. The new springs are taller than the OEM springs even with the Westcott Designs rear pucks on the OEM springs. The passenger side was the worst, I had to employ the dangerous and shameful trick of using two ratchet straps to compress the spring a half-inch. Then on the driver's side the spring popped into place much easier.

View attachment 22322

OEM spring:
View attachment 22323

Driver's side OEM spring removed with Westcott puck on the spring top:
View attachment 22324

Comparison of OEM to Dobinsons:
View attachment 22326
View attachment 22325

My rear height is up about an inch to an inch & a half. I think I'll have to have the front Kings adjusted up another inch to even things back out again. Went out for a quick overnight run and it turned into some majorly challenging off roading around the Coves of Saguaro Lake here in Arizona. Everything held together.

View attachment 22327

I also have Dr. KDSS' rear track bar here in the garage along with their Bolt On TrackBar Correction Kit (B.O.T.C.K). I unwisely ordered the BOTCK before installing the Dobinsons but I wisely waited to install it until I after I had the Dobbys in. My track bar mounting positions are even farther out of whack now and I had to order the standard BOTCK instead of the shorty kit I originally ordered. Waiting on the standard kit and then I'll return the shorty for a refund. I have to say that the Dr. KDSS stuff is very very nicely made.

Just ordered Icon's adjustable rear upper & lower links and I think I'll have Westcott install those, adjust the front King coilovers, and make sure everything is up to speed.

I also now have a full Overtrail suspension kit available with the full Westcott Pre-Load Collar kit components. I'll clean it all up and make a marketplace listing.

I've read that you might get the AVS warning lights at some point after removing the OEM shocks on an OT. Per discussions I've seen (also on Tundra forums), this happens if the battery is disconnected for long enough to reset the computer. The current "fix" is to plug the original rear shocks in, let it reset and disconnect. Haven't found anyone selling an AVS delete kit, but it seems like it should be just a resistor of some type. Anyway, I'd hang on to those shocks for now if I were you.

 

[rocksallday]

Ha Ha. Every time I try a DIY project on a vehicle, I end up taking it into the shop to get it done right. So I'm really impressed with people that can get things done.

With modern cars, especially the GX, at the minimum you want to get the zero point calibration done professionally. It's not expensive but you can't do it at home. I've also noticed that the shop I go to can get some of the parts for less than what I can get and the difference ends up paying for a big chunk of the labor. They also seem to know a lot of Toyota specific tips and tricks and have the proper tools and specs for every bolt in this car. I mod my 12 yo Jeep by myself all the time, but for the GX I limit myself to bumpers, skids, lights, oil. I let the shop deal with the suspension.

 

[S SUBERI]

Same here. I have a great shop I go to and parts and labor cost along with expertise make it more practical for me

 

[BoostedGX]

I haven’t seen an error light for the suspension yet, what was it that you guys have seen

 

[Bluegill]

I haven't had any lights or codes thrown from my suspension either.

 

[DJ’s Sled]

The only codes I saw were with, and inside the Carista OBD tool. Never anything on the dash or screens.

 

[DJ’s Sled]

For our newer members..these are the codes (that my Carista OBD tool shows) after removal of the front and rear AVS components. Again, I’ve never seen anything on the dash, screens or any other apparent ill effects.

 

[DCSanz GX550 OT+]

Finally Installed my CBI Covert Front Bumper and Baja light bar. Warn evo 10S winch going in next couple weeks. Happy with the outcome. Rear Bumper and lights will be installed within the month.

 

[S SUBERI]

Looks great!

 

[Bluegill]

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there!

Yesterday I crawled back under Junior to install the Dr. KDSS track bar (aka panhard bar) and track bar correction kit.

Dr. KDSS Track bar:
Dr. KDSS Track Bar

Dr. KDSS Bolt On Trackbar Correction Kit (BOTCK):
B.O.T.C.K - Bolt On TrackBar Correction kit Land Cruiser 250, GX550 and 6th Gen4runner

This is some really nice hardware, very well made.

In the following photo you can see my stock track bar sitting at a pretty good angle. The axle mount on the right hand side measured 16.25 inches from the ground and the frame mount on the left measured 21.25 inches, for a difference of 5 inches. I put a red line from bolt center to bolt center and you can see the high angle of the track bar - it should be as close to level as possible.

If you are only installing the correction kit, you have to loosen the frame side bolt to let the stock track bar relax. I'm replacing the bar so I removed the bolt entirely. There is a free (not captive) nut on the back side.

Here is the stock track bar removed and compared to the Dr. KDSS track bar - it arrived from the good doctor nearly perfectly sized - maybe 1 mm longer eye to eye.

Here are the BOTCK parts - I grabbed this screen shot from Dr. KDSS' install video as I forgot to get a good pic of the parts. Here is also a link to his install video.
Install Video

The red rectangle on the left is simply a threaded plate for the bottom bolt to anchor into to secure the bottom of the "Main Front Bracket." The red "Back Bracket" in the foreground is a really ingenious part that makes this whole kit work - the long cylinder takes the place of the stock track bar eye location and you re-install the stock track bar anchor bolt through this whole (the backside on the stock truck's bracket has a captive nut). Kind of hard to explain but it makes sense as it all comes together. Then the Main Front Bracket sandwiches the stock mount on 3 sides and the upper bolt hole is the new hole that you bolt the old or new track bar into, thus lifting the trackbar mounting location but keeping the whole structure rigid and strong.

In the photo below, I've slid the rectangle anchor plate in the proper slot (white arrow) and the Back Bracket (red arrow) is loosely set in place. I already loosely installed the Dr. KDSS track bar on the frame mount on the driver's side and I held it up out of the way with a bungee cord. I figured it would be easier to anchor the track bar in the frame mount and then the kit would have a little play in it so I could jiggle it all into alignment on the axle mount side. This proved to be the way to go as it was a bit difficult to line up the eye of the track bar to the rear hole on the Back Bracket. I ended up doing it out of order and getting the new track bar mounting bolt all the way through the new track bar, then jiggling the whole setup as I got the stock bolt into the stock hole location, then got the bottom and side bolts lined up. I then went from bolt to bolt, turning them each about a half dozen turns at a time until they were somewhat tight.

Then it's time to torque everything down. The directions call for 105 lb-ft on the stock bolts (frame mount bolt and original axle mount bolt) and 120-125 lb-ft on the grade 8 Dr. KDSS bolts. Of course I got into an arm wrestling competition (both arms) with a buddy Friday afternoon after a few beers at our local watering hole and my arms and shoulders were already killing me before I started this job Saturday morning. It was all I could do to brace my feet on various parts of the truck and pull/push 105 & 121 lb-ft on these damn bolts. Now I can barely type this here on Sunday. Good times.

The finished product - note the angle of the new track bar.

I then half-heartedly started to work on installing my new Icon rear upper & lower links. I can see all 8 nuts & bolts (1 each end of the 2 upper & 2 lower links) but it's a bit tight, especially the upper links. Then I realized that I couldn't get my impact gun on most of the bolts, just not enough room, and I can't really get a breaker bar in there either, not to mention a torque wrench to get the bolts back to 90-100+ lb-ft. The truck really need to be up on a lift. Besides, it was already over 100 degrees in my garage and my arms were killing me. I'll leave the rear link install to a shop.