Do you have a vibration at highway cruising speeds? Mine's fixed!
#167
well, i don't know if this will help but,
I changed my rotors and brakes think they were the problem. But, I still had the dreaded vibration. Went to autozone and picked up a torque wrench and torqued the wheels, in a star patern, to 76lbs. Drove 50, 60, 70, 80 and it was smooth as as silk. 99% of the vibration is gone. I know this is not the answer to the entire vibration problem, but just something to add to your check list.
I changed my rotors and brakes think they were the problem. But, I still had the dreaded vibration. Went to autozone and picked up a torque wrench and torqued the wheels, in a star patern, to 76lbs. Drove 50, 60, 70, 80 and it was smooth as as silk. 99% of the vibration is gone. I know this is not the answer to the entire vibration problem, but just something to add to your check list.
#168
Driver
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: VA
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I have an 01. I'll cut to the basics; I'm sure this sympton has many causes but here are my findings: Coilovers with stock wheels slammed. Nice ride. Upgraded to 18's and had the shaking. Upgraded to 19's and had the shaking. Did alignments and balancing on both sets. Took off wheel locks, didnt help. Got pissed off. Installed hub centric rings on my 19 inch Rays tonight, took it for a test drive. No vibration/shaking in between 55-80 at all. It was so bad earlier today i couldnt believe it. Haven't touched steering although i agree its loose. Careful tightening of wheels might do the trick to but the hub rings make it a no brainer. If you have aftermarket wheels and they are not hub centric its worth a shot guys. 16 bucks or so on ebay is a nice price to pay for living with the shakes for a year. Will follow up later this week.
Keep in mind my shaking occured when putting on aftermarket wheels. Stockers were fine.
Keep in mind my shaking occured when putting on aftermarket wheels. Stockers were fine.
#169
Pole Position
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Pennsylvania
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I had the steering problem going at 40+mph. I took it to Lexus asked them to do a balance on the rims and an alignment. They did the balance and it looks like it is fixed, its been a week now. No shakes like before. However, they told me they will not do the alignment because of shocks and springs, I have LTuned shocks and springs...I didn't aruge or say anything back.
They also told me that if the steering shakes it is not an alignment problem, its the rims or the tires.
Anyway, the problem is fixed for now.
They also told me that if the steering shakes it is not an alignment problem, its the rims or the tires.
Anyway, the problem is fixed for now.
#170
Ok guys.. I still get abit of a disconnected feel in my steering wheels and a little cracking noise and I feel that noise through my pedals, so its coming from the bottom of the car. I drove my bosses 2000 gs400 with 70k miles and it does not do it. Mine is 2001 GS430 100k miles. I had pre-tentioner tightened to the point where the wheel does not center back itself all the way and I have o give a little help, which I do not mind, because it feels a lot firmer then stock. I had my tilt column changed, due to bad tilt motor, new steering rack, new rack joint/shaft, new ball joints, new tie rods, Tein CS v2, and Daizen control arm bushing kit. I took it to few mechs including Lexus of Orlando mech and he still can't figure out a problem?! I mean it is not bad, but I espacially feel this disconnected feel over rough pavement like brick pavement on my driveway when I go over it 10mph and I could feel my steering disconnect abit from the wheels, is it normal, since our steering feel is just crap comparing to BMW and is made to be soft and loose stock?! I am just getting so frustrated with this car that I can't find this problem. Is there any other parts that could be bad, I read on one of the threads that someone had some kind of ball bearing changed and when they took it out bearing was damaged and just felt apart? My alignment was just corrected and car drives nice and straight and was done at Lexus.
#171
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (1)
This problem is just bull****. I can't immagine what else needs to be done. I did pretty much everything dlomonosov did above. I just didn't tighten the tensioned because I didn't have the right size wrench, and didn't do the daizen bushings, yet. I don't know if im going to do them at all. I just want the castor bushing anyway, thats it. I changed my tires, I changed the control arm, balljoints, tie rods. I did an illignement before new tires, and after. I'm thinking of changing my suspension. I have seen my mechanics change a spindle barings on an LS. I am going to ask them why they did that. My car just handles like ****. Sometimes it is actually scary. I even had a passenger tell me that I can't drive, she said I alway wiggle my car left and right. This sux.
#173
Cranking vast amount of friction into the steering linkage is NOT a solution for unbalanced or non-centric wheels, tires or bearings. Sure it may help mask or discourage the vibration, just a sweeping your dirt under the rug makes the room look clean too.
The wheels + tires need to be PERFECTLY balanced AND PERFECTLY round. Any decent engineer shop should understand the fundamentals of eccentricity and balance. The TSB deals with hand feeding techs who should already know better on how to properly use dial gauges and checking bearing slack etc. It also tell them that things should be done properly ( = very small tolerances). This is not a SUV.
All Lexus and Toyotas TSB’s, manual and about everything else can be downloaded from their site. For $10 for 24-47 hours access you could download the complete set of ALL documents from every Lexus and Toyota ever made if you are so inclined and any decent tech should know that.
The wheels + tires need to be PERFECTLY balanced AND PERFECTLY round. Any decent engineer shop should understand the fundamentals of eccentricity and balance. The TSB deals with hand feeding techs who should already know better on how to properly use dial gauges and checking bearing slack etc. It also tell them that things should be done properly ( = very small tolerances). This is not a SUV.
All Lexus and Toyotas TSB’s, manual and about everything else can be downloaded from their site. For $10 for 24-47 hours access you could download the complete set of ALL documents from every Lexus and Toyota ever made if you are so inclined and any decent tech should know that.
#174
hmmmm....i got vibrations around 55mph too....
recently had the ball joints & outer tie rods replaced...got new wheels and new tires...got a 4wheel alignment (done twice)...new hubcentric rings....all my lugs are the same..... and my steering wheel still vibrates like a ****!!!
how do i adjust the steering pretensioner? where is it located?
recently had the ball joints & outer tie rods replaced...got new wheels and new tires...got a 4wheel alignment (done twice)...new hubcentric rings....all my lugs are the same..... and my steering wheel still vibrates like a ****!!!
how do i adjust the steering pretensioner? where is it located?
#176
Everything in Moderation
iTrader: (1)
(I posted this in the other pretensioner thread also.)
The correct size of the bolt head that will fit properly into the hex preload fitting is that of a 5/8" hex bolt. (This means that the bolt head is not 5/8" across, but the head on a nominal 5/8" bolt is exactly the right size to fit into it. The hex hole is about 24mm across, and the 5/8" hex bolt head is about 23.5mm.) The bolt is available at Home Depot. I got a 2" long one, completely threaded, the shorter the better, but you can use any length. Get a matching nut too, and spin it all the way down onto the bolt, to give yourself something for an open-end wrench to grab onto.
#179
Lexus Test Driver