gserep1

Hello,
I purchased my 99 GS4 1 month ago. It did not have a rear spoiler. I liked the looks of the factory spoiler, so I bought one from Carson Toyota and had it installed.

The added weight of the spoiler prevented the trunk from staying up when putting in groceries, or anytime I was in the trunk without holding it up by hand. So I decided to modify the rear springs. There are articles in the archives about moving the springs from the weakest factory position to the strongest one, but what if you wanted even more strength than even the last hole would provide?

I decided to drill an extra hole on each side farther back to put in more tension. The result is: the trunk rises up significantly when unlocked, and when lifted by hand, goes all the way to the top and stays there. This keeps me from bumping my head because the trunk normally comes back down.

The other advantage to doing this is the fact that the switch for the trunk light is in the trunk latch. I found that lately that the light would not come on unless I put the key in the trunk. There were 2 reasons for this:

1. The latch needed to be lubricated, so I did that with lots of silicone spray.
2. The weight of the trunk with spoiler kept the trunk from rising up to allow the latch to come up far enough to trigger the light switch.

So by lubing the switch, and putting more tension in the spring, the trunk rises high enough quickly to let the switch snap fully closed, and turn the light on when using the remote.

I enclose 2 pictures: one with the spring in the normal position, and one with the spring in the new modified position.

Just another way to keep that heavy trunk up.

gserep1

Here is the picture of the spring in the normal position (actually, this was supposed to be the FIRST picture). Remember, you have to drill a hole on both sides of the car because there is a spring for each side of the trunk.

Good luck for those who might want to do this. The hole closest to the front of the car is the weakest position, and will cause the trunk to barely move (if at all, when the key is inserted, or the remote is activated. This is the strongest of the 3 factory positions).

04GS300

That's cool. Once open my trunk (sans spoiler) stays up, and I don't really care about it opening itself when I hit the button. I'd rather it be easier to close so I'm not slamming it. So, I'm not that enthused, but it's nice work and I'm glad you're happy! Geez that sounded corny...lol

gserep1

Thanks for the quick response. I find that since the spoiler is so heavy, the trunk would go down when I didn't want it to, or it would BANG down if my wife or kids closed the trunk without thinking. (I hate slamming things). I was now worried about that light in the spoiler.

NOW, since I put the extra tension on the spring, it doesn't close unless I want it to..(and my family has been warned NOT to slam my trunk, he he he.). I still have to lift the trunk to get it to go up to the top. I just wanted it to go high enough to let the switch close and turn on the light...especially at night. And once I put it all the way up, I wanted it to stay that way until I decided to close it.

You have to put some effort in to close it, (but not excessive force). Just a personal preference on my part, I guess.

Thanks again!

BostonGS4

a couple months ago i posted about a slammed trunk/spoiler (mine).

temp was low...like 15 F.

My stock lexus spoiler cracked in half

So im on board with hating slamming things

gserep1

Maybe I am getting old, but now I understand why my folks had a fit everytime I slammed the front door on my way out to school when I was a kid. I slammed EVERY door, until I had to fix a few. I didn't see it then, but I do now. I hate it when folks get a ride from you, and slam the car door so hard it nearly rattles the glass. I almost want to say "GET OUT until you learn to respect my stuff, he he".

They always look silly, and say something like "gee I guess I did slam that kinda HARD didn't I?" YEAH, I guess you did!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well supposedly with new spoiler you need a whole new trunk spring system, sot hat's why yours is so heavy

a nice way to do it though

gserep1

THANKS Rominl,
I learn asomething new everyday around here. This is something I will definitely check into. I'll run a "search" and see what I can find. I like what I did anyway, and it suits my purposes.

I'll see if in fact there are different springs for GS"s with the spoiler as factory equipment.

Just another reason why I come to ClubLexus.

Thanks again!

jtanoyo1

Will this mod get rid of the honda-tincan feel that I feel everytime I open the trunk? It feels darn light to open and even with a minute force, it always feels like I am slamming the trunk a lil too hard. I want mine to open nice and slow like my Bimmer and when it closes, I want it to close with a resounding confident thunk. Help!

gserep1

JTANOYO1,
My trunk felt just like that after I installed the spoiler last week. I knew I had to do something.

I just finished doing my car last night, and I like it already. No one will ever know it was done because the springs are covered up by the side covers. I just stretched them back to where I wanted them, marked the spot, returned the spring, and drilled the holes with my trusty 14.4 Sears Electric drill. When I pulled them back and placed them in the holes, I knoew right away it was stiffer.

I have been thinking about it for awhile, and finally got around to doing it.

As I said before, when the trunk opens, it raises up enough to clear the hasp at the bottom, and a light lift of my hand causes the trunk to come up rapidly, and bounce a couple times against the stops on the top. IT STAYS THERE.

I do have to use a bit of pressure to move it down, and I enjoy the resistance. I know I have to use a bit of effort, so that keeps me from slamming it down hard.

Works great for me so far.

gs4rocks

I did the same thing with my car a while back after installing the spoiler. I made the extra holes about 2 inches farther to the rear for the bars. However, I wasn't really satisfied with the result. Then I found out you can purchase the stiffer tension bars made by Lexus for around $40 for a pair.

With the stiffer tension bar you can still use the 3 adjustment setting according to your preference. Using the holes with the least tension, you still get better trunk release then using the original bars and drilled holes combo. If I knew that I can get the stiffer bars, I wouldn't have drilled the holes. BTW, I got them from Steve at Carsons.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well you can probably pm steve ganz again about the sping kit and see what he said. i only read about the springs setup, my car came with spoiler so it's the stronger springs already. i know about the problem coz' rmmgs4 has the same problem and he also drilled another hole

Neo

iTrader: (3)

When I added a wing, I tried the stiffer positions but it still was not strong enough. Luckily, my bodyshop anticipated this and got me a set of the stiffer tension rods.

amwendwa

Great info. How easy is it to install the stiffer springs.

gs4rocks

amwendwa,

very easy, 5 min job