i finally got ahold of a pair of lexus gs400 rims, which look identical to the is300 rims from what i can tell. i previously had the stock 15" with gold center caps (not a fan of the gold). anyways, i got them at a steal and am loving them so far. the handling feels better with the low profile tires like they really grip the road.

obviously my next step is to lower it some because now the wheel gap looks bigger due to the rim size change. this is my first venture into this sort of thing so im not sure the correct steps to take. can i purchase some lowering springs alone and be okay? or do i have to redo my entire suspension? ive searched around and got mixed answers. any help is appreciated... i need some guidance as far as what parts, where to get them, and how much its all gonna cost.

here are some pictures of the wheels


front wheel gap


rear wheel gap

 

first, what are your goals? how low of a drop do you want? then you have to factor in your budget.

 

Wow that gap looks massive for some reason... anyway the GS wheels look good on your car. You can just buy new suspension to lower it if you like. What you have to remember is that if you get suspension that is less in height compared to the OEM suspension, but has the same tension/torque than you will want to get some shock absorbers that have more restriction to compensate. If you go the other way, and get suspension with more tension/torque compared to the OEM, than you might be able to get away with the standard shock absorbers as the travel should be more restricted from the stiffer suspension. Pretty much, if you take your suspension as is, and cut it in half, you should have half the ride height left. Put the car back onto this, run over a few bumps and you will get a lot of damage to the wheels, brakes, all the little nuts and bolts, bushes etc. In essence, if you replace the OEM suspension with very stiff suspension than you shouldn't be in too much trouble. Handling performance may not increase at all by doing this, but it will get you the looks.

 

First up riot, great looking rims there. Itching till the day I get mine. I have also been thinking about the height, and from reading using comparable parts from the same year Camry would also work. Now I have found these on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Toyota-Camry-...QQcmdZViewItem), would they fit without issue to a 3rd Gen ES? I suspect they would as most of the driveline components are shared between the Lexus and camry???

I am only trying to lower a little bit and avoid having to change the shocks if at all possible.

 

They should work ok. What you can do is ring up any major suspension store like pedders or something, and ask them how much to lower it and than ask for the suspension codes that are applicable to your ES. Than check with the Camry springs, they should be the same codes.

 

Looks good but those actually are IS300 wheels and not GS400 fyi.

 

@PlatES300: im not looking to go VIP here, just something functional and sleek. honestly i was thinking the 1 to 1.5in area, not sure.

@ParkerGen: thanks for the info guess i gotta do the shocks at the same time as the springs.

@MCG33: while i realize they do look like the IS300 rims and that is the main reason i purchased them. they were sold to me as rims from a GS, also as referenced by this post and this picture of a gs400, both look strikingly similar to mine and the IS300 rims. no matter what they are, i like them lol.

 

GS400


IS300

 

No problem, in the end it's up to you and what type of suspension set up you go for. You could use steel bars as your suspension and it will still go.

 

@MCG33: thanks for all the helpful information regarding my suspension. as i can see the differences, it matters not where they came from as they are now mine and on an es300. thanks for arguing about it though.

@Parker: lol thanks again. do you have any recommendations as to where to get these parts at the best price? also about how much does the average shop charge to install struts+strings?

 

Sorry man, maybe someone else on the forums can help you out with that, I'm in Australia so wouldn't know much about that there.

 

I have Ksport coilovers for this car if you need them