I just got my car back from service. The agent said that Lexus stopped using pretensioners after 1999 and that there was no steering adjustments. Anybody second this? I have a 2001 GS430.

 

Not sure about the pretensioners.....Was there vibration problems on your GS? Did you have aftermarket wheels or stock 17s?

 

My 1999 had vibrations. I got use to it so I haven't noticed any on the 2001. I had read on this forum that by tightening the pretensioners you would get a better handling feel.

 

it's a tsb and can't be done on all vehicles. you don't want to affect the safety of the ride

 

speaking of vibration, i have a question...

i have a 2002 gs430. so far i got about 1500 miles.

since day one, i noticed my steering wheel shakes only around 55 to 60mph. on my 1k service, i told the service rep, but he said its because of the 17" wheel, and some vibration is normal.

is this true? any thoughts?

thanks

 

P..

GS, esp with 17s are known to have slight vibration. try to have all 4 tyres re-balanced(i would request it to be covered under warranty)..most likely it will help, but i heard they come back in several months as the GS steering is quite sensative...

 

thanks gs4will,

i'll go bug my dealer and see if they would fix it again. last time they just rushed me in and out.

thanks again

 

Ive got a 2000 GS3 with 16" Platinum edition wheels with stock Pilot rubbers.....no vibration at all since day 1. Its unlikely the wheel (unless you hit a pothole and dinged the wheel)....most likely the combination of tire balance and steering mechanism.

Any one got probs with vibrations with 18" wheels? Does it matter what type of wheel? 3-piece? 1 piece? Hub-centric? etc...?

Pete

 

Will you're right on. I used to have the 17" with Bridgestone potenza RE030 and it's vibrated at 60 mph only, so I've changed to Michelin Pilot the problem is gone. Now I got the 18" with Bridgestone S-03 the problem come back when the tires are cold @60mph, but after 5 minutes it's gone. I think there more of the tires related problem. May be they can do the goodwill tires for you.

 

Not sure if this explains it, but I found this on the web:

Lexus had some unusual early teething problems with the newest GS—unusual by Toyota standards. Toyota doesn't often release a flawed car, but early versions of the Lexus GS series did manage to get out with two annoying glitches.
In all, 51.7 percent of the Lexus GS owners we surveyed reported problems—many more than we'd ever have expected. Of these problems, 44.1 percent were electrical in nature and 23.9 percent had to do with a hard-to-cure front-end vibration.
The electrical problems took a number of forms. The remedy was to change the central computer. Dealers willingly replaced these early computers under warranty, and the factory installed an upgraded ECU on later cars.

The vibration proved a little harder to fix. It cropped up mostly when owners ordered the high-performance, 17-in., Z-rated tires, often with chromed alloy wheels. The Z-rated tires tend to give a rough, noisy ride anyway, and the slipperiness of the chrome wheels allows the tires to shift on the rims. This caused them to go out of balance. Dealers would rebalance the tires, only to have the customer come back in a few thousand miles with the same complaint. Later cars have a different steering rack that doesn't transmit tire/wheel vibrations so distinctly.
Lexus stresses that the GS is a sport sedan, unlike the big LS 400, which tends more toward pure luxury. So owners coming out of an LS might not expect or appreciate the firmer suspension and tighter steering of the GS. Most of our respondents, though, bought the GS for its performance and handling qualities as well as its luxury.

Pete

 

Vibrations that go away after a few miles is due to temporary flat spots that some high performance tires get after being stationary for some period of time. My Corvette would do this after sitting for 6+ hours.