GX 460 Ironman Foam Cell Pro Lift Install

In this weeks episode we’ll watch Jake in over his head trying to install a Ironman Foam Cell Pro lift kit on his GX460. Grab a beer and your paint spattered jeans… We’re going to pretend to be mechanics for the next 15 minutes!
Video Contents
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00:00 Intro
00:50 DIY Lift Kit install
01:29 Install Overview
01:56 GX 460 Front Suspension Install
02:10 GX 460 AVS Strut Removal
05:15 GX 460 Rear Suspension Install
I've started cashing in all the free jokes. The links above may be affiliate links. Please use them to help support me making more content (and a fool of myself). Enjoy!

[@jamesf6315]

Hugely helpful for us 460 premium owners. Thanks for making this one!

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Welcome!

[@doironjpd]

How did you cap off your electrical connectors in the wheel well? And did you have error codes showing up in your dash and info panel?

[@jamesf6315]

@@doironjpd I didn't cap off anything. The fronts I just zip tied out of the way in the engine bay. No codes and it's been through quite a lot of mud and car washes

[@doironjpd]

@@jamesf6315 ok, thank you sir

[@Maximus01776]

I have the ironman cell foam stage 2 installed in my 2017 GX 460, I was planning to do it myself but l don't have an adequate place to work on, so l decided to have a professional shop to do the installation, $600 later, it was all worth it, every happy with the ironman system, now you need rock sliders, I'd recommend white knuckle off-road

[@mp3moose]

Couldn't agree more with having a shop do the install after seeing Jake's video. I don't have the space or the tools on hand and was worried about the kind of issues he ran into. Love my Nitro Gas Stage 2 kit. Remember to match your spring selection with anticipated load.

[@authenthuse5165]

Damn! This right here is what separates men from wannabes! Well done - this truck is now like no other in the world - this is something you built! As always I appreciate the self-deprecating humor and you sharing both the highs and lows of the job. Can't wait to see the 4Runner video.

[@hiiiamdanny5359]

Funny how a lot of your issues I just faced doing my 470. The rear is bugging me really bad also. So I am glad someone else is calling it out.

[@knaudi86]

Amazing video. It convinced me to hire this out when the time comes!

[@tommyholland3664]

The reason for extra lift in rear is because of the coil conversion. Ironmans bottom perch adds extra lift that non airbag GXs wouldnt have. I believe Metal Techs bottom perch is the only one that doesnt add extra lift.

[@garyabiermann]

First, thank you for the content on your channel as I have nearly the same gx460 and your saved me lots of time with my build. Second, I installed a stage 3 and had every issue you did and a few more. On the sway bar I learned that a $12 2 ft alignment bar and a few jacks to apply pressure changes the game. Also you MUST put the passenger side of the bar back on first. It’s a fixed point and the kdss hydraulic ram is on the driver side. Budget a day for you UCA if you have a lot of connections on you barter cause that’s all gotta come out to get the bolt positioned on the driver side!

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Yeah, we did the R side first then used a jack and screw driver lever to reconnect the drivers side. I might just disassemble the whole IFS system when I do the control arms since Im doing the lower’s too. Then I can grease the bearings and get used to the layout. I rebuilt our 3rd gen 4runner completely and now I feel like I could change it’s shocks out in my sleep. I really appreciate you following along and thanks for the insight : )

[@balaramg]

Sorry to hear that you had to go through all the trouble. I have installed ironman with UCA on my gx460. I didn't even need the spacers and nothing collided. Luckily I had the non airbag version which made the install very easy. I had to install the spacers later to give more room for droop at the rear. I have been to Black Bear pass, engineer pass, hells gate and merus. It's keeping up everything.

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Sounds like a sweet rig. Wasn’t that bad on my install, I just bitch and moan for extra entertainment value ; )

[@balaramg]

@@WastingTimeInTheWoods that's the reason i like your channel. Humor with knowledge. I recently did the black bear pass and hell Revenge. Lexus is awesome engineering Marvel

[@benjaminharvey2229]

Link for the service manual....if it's available online?

[@LifeEnTierra]

Love the videos man keep them coming!!! “And don’t disconnect the sway bars” 🤣

[@JamesPamplinII]

I was able to get the front shocks in by dropping the skid plate and compressing the kdss cylinder with a floor jack. Didn’t even have to unbolt the kdss or sway bar. Was effortless once I saw a random KZbin comment mentioning how to do it. Spent two hours trying to figure it out first. Seems to not be well documented anywhere but it’s so much better than fighting it with a 2x4.

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

That does sound better. Might try that sometime. How did that work of the R side with the fixed link?

[@JamesPamplinII]

@@WastingTimeInTheWoods I was able to jack under the opposite side wheel and it dropped down, just couldn’t do that on the side with kdss because it fights you too hard.

[@FissionChips1983]

The salt on that "let's get started" at 1:56 could be tasted from here. Lol.

[@BillReals]

IDK know why you don't have way more subs, your content is really well done.

[@candidcapture]

Great presentation!!! Thank you!

[@cardp17]

great video once again!! extremely helpful, honest opinions always appreciated. poor chewy!!

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

He’s a tough bastard. 30 minutes later he was jumping into my truck uninvited like always : )

[@chriseppley8272]

Great content as usual!

[@rc7074]

Comedy gold, Keep learning from yours and others mistakes and you'll be an ace mechanic if you live long enough. I learned mine from age 13 on and now I'll tackle just about anything. Plus you'll have an awesome set of tools.

[@bartman1857]

llp0pm

[@stephenmorgan6578]

I did what was then the Stage 3 Kit with UCA’s on my non-bagged 460. I disconnected my sway bars also, but I have 3 floor jacks so I used a combination of those and ratchet straps to get the sway bars back in place and bolted up front and rear. Did the whole thing myself. If I had a helper I might have been able to use the 2x4 trick to get the coil overs in, which caused much swearing on my part in any case. I though the UCAs were going to be a pain, but they weren’t bad actually. My alignment with the lift and new UCAs was not far off. The alignment shop only had to make one small camber adjustment and I was good to go. I experienced the same with crazy height on install, but a quick drive and it settled right down. I have probably the same rear springs as you, performance 2”, and with any load they settled down. With the family of 4 and all of our camping gear loaded up, she sits really nice and rides like a Caddy.

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Yeah, I should remeasure now that its been about 6 months since the install. Still looks like a stink bug though.

[@familygromscarsfun3896]

Once we THOROUGHLY stripped the the bolt..... 😂😂😂😂

[@kirkgoree1308]

You'll have 2 Yarises (Yari?) by the time you've built both the 4R and GX...Great videos!

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Thanks!

[@DDG58]

Nice job

[@CliffCakes]

Man I've been there. I think we all have. On my install I ended up loosening the front lower control arms knowing I'm going to get an alignment anyway. That made it much easier for sure. I put the truck on the ground and tightened everything up however now I have an assortment of warning lights on and my steering wheel is way off. Hopeful a proper alignment and a google search with fix my issues. Take care!

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Good luck! Dont forget to do a zero point calibration. Took care of the Christmas tree lights for me.

[@godspeed2789]

Silly question about the front. Why not use a spring compressor. Or put the wheels on and lower it so it compresses the spring and then connect the sway bar?

[@chopperpl]

Hi, thanks for the video What offset and tire size were you running that it was rubbing so much? Have you fixed this issue?

[@doironjpd]

Just did this install this weekend. Removing the sway bad was very VERY tempting. Had some issues but everything came together alright. Though I'm still throwing codes to check air suspension after removing the fuses and wondering how best to seal off the electrical connectors

[@doironjpd]

Sway *bar*

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Awesome. Congrats! Did you do a zero point calibration? That might fix it. I never had any issues. I just used electrical tape and wrapped them up and zip tied them so that the connectors would gather water (pointing down so they would drain any water). Curios, did Ironman ever update the kits or did you have to cut the bolts for the spring perches?

[@doironjpd]

@@WastingTimeInTheWoods yep, had to trim the bolts. It was an older kit though. I've had it sitting around for over a year. Hopefully they've updated them since. Your video was very helpful, appreciate the upload! My next move is to mess with the height sensor and see if that helps correct the error

[@robbergstrom943]

Kudos for doing the install and sorry to see all the drama. Looks like you have a “good” excuse for that swing out rear bumper, bump up to 33s, and an extended range gas tank. Maybe I’ll leave our rear on air springs and just upgrade the rear shocks as adjusting air rise height with washers take 2 minutes.

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Most of the trouble was just my inexperience. Getting more comfortable being covered in grease now : )

[@Gx460guy]

Doing a 3” lift this weekend thanks for the video. What did you set the rear bag delete spacers at?

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

I set them to the minimum height then raised the L side 1/2" (to compensate for the lean). I got +3.375" on both sides after settling with 3" 'stock load' springs.

[@olsonj]

Just found your content and learning what i can from you... We are debating getting a 460 or a 4runner or a grand cherokee to use for light trail riding & exploring here in Oregon so we can take my mom with us to get her out of the house after we recently lost my dad. So I guess I'm curious on your take, if you have a moment, on those vehicles new and what your thoughts are on loading 3 dogs (2 german shepherds and a lab) and 3 adults in with some light gear for day trip exploring (13 hr drive days round trip). Do you think either one is better then the other? It's also will be my wife's daily driver and she's 5' nothin... So I don't want to get something big for her then she won't want to drive it. Anyways, hope you see this and give some input. Love learning from your content and its super entertaining.

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Thanks buddy! So sorry to hear about your dad. All three are pretty big vehicles but none are too hard to get into if you don’t lift it (& u don’t need to) Im biased. We own a 4runner and GX and I would never buy anything but a Toyota product for resale and reliability reasons. The one thing I’ll say about our GX for dogs is that the rear air conditioner is amazing for them. They pant and drool a whole lot less when they jump back in the car since they have their own vents all the way in the back. Its only on premium models though. Good luck and let me know where you land!

[@ebaad26]

Hi. Nice videos and good job done. Quick question: did you get “ check air suspension” error in the dash. I have the same setup installed on my gx 460 model 2010 and 2 things that i m not happy 1st is obviously a “ check air suspension “ error on the dashboard which is permenant How do i remove it ? 2nd from the front the vehicle is much lower than from the rear. Assume its the design of this vehicle Can you pls advise to make my day

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Not sure what I did to get so lucky but I never got an error and never added washers to the sensors or anything. I did a zero-point calibration (paper clip method) right after the lift, and all the warning lights went away and never came back. I left my compressor and valve block in and just removed the lines. Hope you can sort it out. Warning light would drive me crazy!

[@10TPOPR]

What height lift kit did you order? 3" front and rear? 2.5" front, 2" rear? Etc.

[@cybrah]

Great video! Are you running 275/70/17?

[@WhatD4FCK]

Are you thinking in getting the dr kdss clamps and sway bar ends adapters? Also I saw you only install the kdss spacer in the rear is there any reason you didn’t in the front ?

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Yeah, I was actually thinking of reaching out to Dr. KDSS to try those when I swap all the control arms. Looks like a good product.

[@titanslug]

I believe you do not need the front KDSS drop spacers IF you use the Dr KDSS front end adapters. I will mention that if you install the front end adapters, you won’t have a hard time getting the sway bar back on like this guy did. Go check out the Dr KDSS video where he installs the front end adapters on a lifted 4Runner, he has no issues getting the sway bar back on.

[@aiden8317]

Hi was your driver and passenger side coilovers different? It seems that they shipped me 4runner coilovers which says passenger , driver on them! also wondering if they are same as GX460 coilovers.

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

I think they are just set up differently for lean but not sure. 5th gen 4runner and gx have the same struts so don’t sweat that.

[@544shannon]

Are your rear shock perches adjusted all the way down? I don't recall you mentioning anything about that in your video? FYI - for whatever reasons due to suspension geometry and "magic" whatever distance your adjust on the perch is DOUBLED in ride height. I have been running the same suspension for almost 3 years now on my GX470. In that time, I have had to make several adjustments to my spring choices due to unplanned modifications. Initially, I went with the front performance springs and a year later got a steel front bumper..... so I upgraded to the HD springs. The rears were probably the same option as yours, up to 660lbs. However, over the years I have accumulated so much gear that the rear began to sag. Instead of going to the rear HD spring, because I thought it would be over sprung and the ride would be too stiff, I opted for those spring perch adjusters to get the extra lift I needed to level out my truck. When I am unloaded, it sits like yours with a noticeable rake. When it's fully loaded, it's perfectly level. I have learned to live with it and it's a good compromise. I also thought about raising the front coil overs a tad as well. Have you thought about that? I have been watching your build progression over the past year or so and since you are "budget minded" I would say stick with what you have. Like me, I purchased so many things I never thought I'd buy and all that weight really impacted the ride height of the truck. You might end up buying a rear tire carrier or rear bumper like you mentioned. That alone will probably make a substantial height difference in the rear with all of your additional gear loaded in the truck. I am also on the fence about buying a steel rear bumper with swing outs and again, I will probably end up purchasing HD springs and have to adjust the perches to a lower setting. I know you didn't know about the spring options when you ordered your kit, but perhaps in light of saving some time and cash.... in the long run I think you'll be okay. I guess worst case scenario, if you do go to the 1.5" springs, keep your current springs just in case.

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Great insights. I agree. Leaning towards not messing with it and maybe adjust the front up a half inch. We’re renting a travel trailer to go to Sedona in October and I think I’ll appreciate the extra sprung in the rear. Thanks for the tips. Sounds like you’ve been around the block a couple times : )

[@The24solo]

Nicely done! This is the Autozone guy. Did your rear-end ever settle?

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Hey, buddy! Nope. Still perked up.

[@JerryFrancel]

What did you do about the rear bolts being to short?

[@WastingTimeInTheWoods]

Cut 1/4” off the ones that are too long.

[@thorsky2754]

Had same dang bolt issue with the Metal tech kit, bolt was too long.