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Thought I'd start a little build thread for my wife's G63. General plans for it include the following:
Suspension Lift (LeTech 50mm)
33" tires (Toyo MT)
Wheels (trying to decide on these right now)
Tune (currently investigating this. Will likely go Renntech, but if I can find a high flow cat downpipe I might need a custom mapped tune)
Exhaust (463 Industries on the way)
Mansory front bumper LEDs (here now, just need to install them)
So far I've gotten the lift done, and I put the tires on the stock wheels for now since we are undecided on which wheel choice to go with. Here are some progress pics starting from the day we picked it up to how it sits now:
Last edited by The Butcher; Sep 24, 2020 at 10:27 AM.
Nice. What size spacers are you running? Do you extend out past the flares? (hard to tell in the pics).
Those are 31mm spacers. They caused the front tires to rub the front inner fender a bit, so I ordered 25mm spacers, but before they arrived we just got a heat gun and pushed the inner fender liner in some. Found out the heat gun can melt the plastic if you aren't careful, but it pushed the material in enough that it now clears without rubbing. The tires stick out just a touch in the rear, and not as much up front. Essentially the shoulder hangs out, and where the tread starts is about even with the outside of the flare. No one but the most eagle eyed observer would notice the front to back difference, but it is slightly noticeable if you really scrutinize it. I might try the 25mm spacers out back, but that would require more effort than I want to put forth right now!
Those are 31mm spacers. They caused the front tires to rub the front inner fender a bit, so I ordered 25mm spacers, but before they arrived we just got a heat gun and pushed the inner fender liner in some. Found out the heat gun can melt the plastic if you aren't careful, but it pushed the material in enough that it now clears without rubbing. The tires stick out just a touch in the rear, and not as much up front. Essentially the shoulder hangs out, and where the tread starts is about even with the outside of the flare. No one but the most eagle eyed observer would notice the front to back difference, but it is slightly noticeable if you really scrutinize it. I might try the 25mm spacers out back, but that would require more effort than I want to put forth right now!
Thanks, and if you want to sell the 25mm spacers send me a PM to discuss.
Those are the Mansory LED inserts that go in the opening in the bumper. They are carbon fiber with an LED light installed. There is a little cutout for the factory sensors so they can see. I wasn't sure if the Brabus lip spoiler with LEDs would fit with the grille gaurd installed, so I went with Mansory. I knew someone had to make something for the opening since it looks like it should have a light in there, and Mansory does indeed.
Beautiful truck! I like your wheels and tires. I did put Toyo AT3 295/55/20 with 31mm spacers on my 2020 g63. My wheel offset is 23mm. It was rubbing bad at the front even I trimmed the fender. So I took off the spacers, now, the left side is completely fine, it still rub a little bit on the right side when do a full turn.
Wow! Great job. Stunning G!
Tell me, the other G in your image, is that your 65? What lift does that have? What spacers? Are those the original flares?
Very tasteful job on both. Inspiring to me.
Those are the Mansory LED inserts that go in the opening in the bumper. They are carbon fiber with an LED light installed. There is a little cutout for the factory sensors so they can see. I wasn't sure if the Brabus lip spoiler with LEDs would fit with the grille gaurd installed, so I went with Mansory. I knew someone had to make something for the opening since it looks like it should have a light in there, and Mansory does indeed.
Wow! Great job. Stunning G!
Tell me, the other G in your image, is that your 65? What lift does that have? What spacers? Are those the original flares?
Very tasteful job on both. Inspiring to me.
Thanks! Yes, the G65 in the pic is my wife's other G Wagon. I have it listed for sale, but she's reluctant to give it up! She loves the ride and new gadgets in the new G, but there is something special about a G65. It has a mix of parts for the custom lift that required a combination of springs and spring spacers along with caster bushings and new track bars. I had a set of custom front control arms made for it too, but haven't installed them yet. That would negate the need for the caster bushings, but I had installed the bushings in it while waiting for the custom arms to be fabricated and I haven't gotten around to swapping on the arms. The wheels on that truck do not have spacers as they were custom ordered to my specs with the correct offset. The flares on it are the original G65 flares.
Last edited by The Butcher; Sep 26, 2020 at 08:00 AM.
Beautiful truck! I like your wheels and tires. I did put Toyo AT3 295/55/20 with 31mm spacers on my 2020 g63. My wheel offset is 23mm. It was rubbing bad at the front even I trimmed the fender. So I took off the spacers, now, the left side is completely fine, it still rub a little bit on the right side when do a full turn.
Thanks! Interesting that your wheels are 23mm offset. Aren't they the factory 20" wheel? Is it a 9.5" wide wheel? Per the offset calculator if your wheels are 23mm offset and 9.5" wide then they would stick out 7mm more than mine which would make sense you were getting some rubbing with 31mm spacers. Where does yours rub on the right side now that you took off the spacers?
Another member sent me a PM asking if the tires would have rubbed had I not added spacers. I thought I would add my response to the main body of the thread in case others were wondering the same:
The new tires are about 1.7" taller and .9 inches wider (based on general measurements for the sizes, not on actual manufacturer specs). There was some concern that the tires would rub the steering knuckle since they are wider and it was pretty tight to begin with, but I'm not so sure the extra .5" of inner clearance encroachment between the tire and knuckle would have been an issue. The spacers helped alleviate that concern, but I might have been able to get away without them. Going with a smaller spacer (or none at all) would have likely caused less rubbing of the front inner fender liner, but I can't say for sure how much less since I just went ahead and used the heat gun on the inner fender liner. I do like the way the tires sit more flush with the fenders now though, so I'll be keeping the spacers for the time being. Once I get the offset figured out I will be able to order a set of custom wheels and be confident with the look and fitment.
Due to the nature of this type of suspension lift the front tires do not stick out as much as the rear tires now. I might also play around with doing a smaller spacer in the rear to get them more flush with the front, but as I mentioned previously only someone who really scrutinized it (and knew what to look for) would realize there was a difference.
I second what Bob asked. I'm leaning towards Renntech for ease and convenience, and I like their tune on our G65. If you have better suggestions please share!
I installed the Fi-exhaust cat-back system yesterday and it sounds really good. Install is pretty straightforward, and it reuses the factory valves which is convenient. Plus, you can just use the factory switch to open and close them. The build quality on these is extremely good. Packaging of the system for shipment was really good, and everything arrived without damage. I haven't installed the tips yet because I'm getting them powdercoated to match a few other things on the truck. I'll post more pics when it is all complete.
Can you post some updates to your build with pics of exhaust installed? Also, did you go with a Renntech tune? Any thoughts on how you like the tune if so.
Can you post some updates to your build with pics of exhaust installed? Also, did you go with a Renntech tune? Any thoughts on how you like the tune if so.
Absolutely..,.
Decided to wait on the tune because the wife wanted a white G, so have a 2022 slot reserved. The Mansory lights are still in the box waiting to go on that truck when it gets here. For now, I just did the lift, wheels/tires, spare tire flipped and exposed, and the FiExhaust. Last thing I will be doing pretty soon is cutting off the resonator right before the muffler. The Fi system sounds great, but coming from a catless setup in her previous G she wants more noise out of it! I'm also waitiing to do the tune on the white one when it gets here, so I don't have any feedback on it for this truck. I can tell you it was awesome on the G65 though!
Last edited by The Butcher; Apr 20, 2021 at 09:15 AM.
A few more just because I love how they turned out. If anyone in the Houston area needs an awesome vehicle photographer I have the guy for you. He does an incredible job, and very reasonable.
Any photos with the Mansory LED's installed and possibly lit up too? Would they run like a daytime running light or only when the lights are on? For the LED light wiring, any special connectors or adapters required or is it part of the kit?
Your G has a great stance. What are the specs on your new wheels, are you still running spacers? You gonna sell it or trade it in when the white one comes in?
Any photos with the Mansory LED's installed and possibly lit up too? Would they run like a daytime running light or only when the lights are on? For the LED light wiring, any special connectors or adapters required or is it part of the kit?
I haven't installed them yet. I'm just going to put them on the white one when it comes in. They don't have any wiring kit other than a couple wires coming off each light. I think you just need to find a key-on power source or similar and you can run them like DRLs. Or find the light source for the halo ring that goes around the headlights and hook up to that. I'll figure that out later on...
Your G has a great stance. What are the specs on your new wheels, are you still running spacers? You gonna sell it or trade it in when the white one comes in?
Sorry for all the questions, came out awesome.
Thanks. I've done so many wheels and tires on other trucks since I put these on I can't recall off the top of my head, but I think the wheels are 22x10.5 with +35mm offset. I want to say they are pretty close to the factory offset, but 1/2" wider. Then I put on some spacers that I think are 21mm or 25mm. Again I can't recall off the top of my head. I tried 31mm spacers, 15mm spacers, and I think I settled on 25mm as the happy medium.
I'll let the dealer make me a trade-in offer when the new one comes in, and figure out if the tax savings are worth it, or if it makes more sense to just sell it. They recently gave over sticker on a trade-in for a 2020 G550, so it's possible it will make sense to trade-in.
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