Cam's Garage

December 18, 2023 I am going to preface this post with some brief information regarding the Lexus LX570 (and similarly the Land Cruiser 100 Series specifically equipped with the Adjustable Height Control (AHC) system). AHC is a suspension system capable of lowering for easier entry/exit from the vehicle and lifting allowing for more capability off-road. Unlike most other adjustable suspensions, AHC leverages hydraulics rather than air (how must adjustable suspensions operate) to lift and lower the vehicle. As you will soon find out these systems are fantastic when they work, but when they fail it can lead to EXTREMELY costly repairs depending on the specific failure point(s). The Cannonball Run  that Jake and I completed was an unbelievable trip. By the end, we were both absolutely exhausted. But just because we were exhausted did not mean that the automotive escapades would be stopping (or even slowing down)… Two weeks after arriving home from the trip, I was in north Georgia with...

December 12, 2023 I am going to preface this post with an apology for the long delay since my last post. Since writing the other two posts, I have experienced failures in both of my daily drivers (covered in this post ), worked on new vehicles, and had some amazing automotive escapades. Enjoy! Day 6 (Tuesday, July 19) - Salt Lake City, UT Miles: 0 miles Hours: 0 hours After thousands of miles of driving and seemingly no time to rest or relax, it was finally time for a bit of a breather (from driving at least). What is the least peaceful thing that you could potentially do that would inevitably cause further pain and suffering to an area that had been sitting in a car for the past six days straight? Downhill mountain biking in Park City! Jake and I drove from the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Salt Lake to Park City, which was a beautiful 30-minute drive to gear up for downhill mountain biking. While I had done this once in Snowmass, Colorado, my level of excitement was on a completely diff...

  November 22, 2023 As of today, it has been nearly four months since my last post on the Cannonball Run Part 2  (Cannonball Run Part 3 post is about 90% complete). A number of things have occurred since my last post causing the delay in my writing. Thank you for my patience while I get everything back on track! Below are the reasons causing my delays with some context as to what's going on: Lexus LX570 Suspension Failure My reliable  Lexus LX570 suffered it's second suspension-related failure in my 3 years of ownership. For those unfamiliar, the Lexus LX570 uses a hydraulic (not air) Adjustable Height Control (AHC) system. The picture above was taken when I arrived home riding on bump stops... While the conventional approach would be to repair what is broken, I decided to replace the AHC system (what I now consider to be an expensive Achilles heel of the LX) with a conventional suspension I will be providing an updated post that goes in detail to the suspension change th...

July 26, 2023 Over the first 2 days of our Cannonball Run, we completed the 2,000 mile drive from Manhattan, NY to Billings, MT. If you haven't seen that post yet, feel free to catch-up on it here . Day 3 (Saturday, July 16) - Billings, MT to Yellowstone National Park Time: 5 hours Miles: 200 miles When Jake and I woke up in Billings, MT at our beautiful Home2Suites, we were both still in disbelief that we had covered 19 hours/1,300 miles the previous day. We both felt accomplished and were a bit tired, but we were so excited for our drive that day to Yellowstone that it didn't matter. Here was a picture right as we were leaving the hotel and about to load the car. We started our day at the glorious Walmart. You may wonder why we were going to Walmart. Well, Jake and I had booked a reservation at a campsite in Yellowstone National Park for the upcoming night. We did NOT bring anything related to camping in our luggage, so we created a large shopping list in Excel including: Ten...