Thanks to all you guys and all your input, I finally (after saving some money) decided to modify the suspention on my GS430. I ordered L-tuned shocks and springs, L-tuned muflers, steering ECU, TRD X-brace, TRD front and rear sway bars at Lexus of Manhattan. As soon as the dealership gets all the parts, they will call me to bring the car for the installation. I still ride on stock 16"s and would like to upgrade to 18"s. My ultimate choice is Veil Side's Andrew Racing Dish, but I live in NYC and with these roads (pot holes and everything) I would hate to waste the money. What would you suggest as an alternative to that wheel design and quality.
Also, how would my car's weight change by doing all these suspension mods?
Thank you!

 

Tell me about it...there's no other feeling then haveing your rims shinning and the car glissining to then hit a pot hole and........"BAMMMM" there goes a rim!!

I always hated that..but the sacrifices you make to live in the city that never sleeps!!!!

"D"

 

With 18's you have a fair bit of rubber between the rim and the road.

 

Veilside? NIICE, I havent seen any Gs' on veilsides besides on their website, go for it.

 

I want to keep the same outer diameter of the wheel as on my 16's because of my navigation system ( trip distance and speedometer info is effected by the size of the wheel). Are you sure there will be enough tire rubber between the rim and the road surface? Thanks.

 

Well I know its sounds like it, but you can neer be too sure. This is new york we are talking about....the birth place of pot holes....It all depends on how you drive and where you drive your car....I was had 16" wheels on a previous car w/225/50/16 and i still bent a rim!!!!! saw u be the judge!!

"D"

 

If you want to keep the same diameter as your 16's then stay with 16's.. Not to be a ***** or anything.. If you got with 18's you will have to go with a super fat setup.. and you'll be about 1" bigger that stock... I wouldn't worry too much about Navi and Odometer.. Your worries need to be about the rubber between the road and your rim...

 

I think NYers pay the highest taxes in the nation and your roads still suck... what's up with that?

 

How about saving some money and taking it to a reasonable place to do the installation.

Not only can you save money on the installation (big bucks), you can probably be treated like a customer.

I've dealt with L of M twice.... three thumbs down.....F grade.....zero customer satisfaction....rudest people on earth.

 

i managed to hit my 17" rims.. i'm afraid to put somethin more.. but i'm still planing to.. i was thinkin 18 or 19.. most likely 18"

 

I'd have to agree somewhat with GS4fun, expecially now since our great contact there, Eddie is no longer working for Lexus of Manhattan. He was a good guy that took care of us.

The CL member discount is what brought me in and it's a decent one, but the plan was to have everything done at one time within a day, since it's a trek for me to get into the city (I only ordered 3 parts to install, L-Tuned Springs, Shocks and steering ECU).

Here's my story: I patiently waited for the 3 parts to come in (about 1-2 months - due to L-tuned backorders) made my appointment, hung out in the city for 6+ hours, received a call from Lexus of Manhattan service late in the afternoon that the job was done, but the Steering ECU was not installed, due to the part did not come in yet???? WTF? Everything should have been there already after months of planning and waiting! Great, I have to come back again. I go to pick up my car and the bill is all wrong with no discount applied (full price). Since Eddie is not there, no one there knows about any discount and I pay the full price just to get out of there.

2-3 weeks later, when the Steering ECU part finally comes in (I think it was a LOM parts dept mistake, since L-Tuned said they had plenty of stock of the steering ECU, but LOM parts said it was on backorder). I make another appointment, waited a couple of hours at the dealership to have it installed and again I get billed incorrectly without the discount (higher price than promised). I pay again, because no one else there knows what I am talking about in terms of a discount.

I contacted Eddie to get this straigthened out and he was very responsive and helpful, so we eventually straigthen things out and I got the proper refund about a month later.

The moral of this story is this:

1. Make sure you have all the pricing quoted to you in writing from whomever is quoting you now since Eddie is gone.
2. Make sure that all the parts are in and the job will be completed as promised the day you make the appointment.
3. Check your bill when you pick up your car and make sure that the total amount is correct and the CL member discount is applied.

I'd like to believe that Lexus of Manhattan knows what they are doing when installing L-Tuned components, since they have done it before. I was even thinking about having them install the TRD struts and sways for me with the CL member discount, however based on my previous experience there, maybe it's just not worth it at this time (especially since Eddie is no longer our contact there - He's good to CL members).

Hope this helps somewhat.

 

By the way I want 18's too for the look (especially nice when the L-Tuned springs lower your car a bit).

HOWEVER with this horrible winter of snow here on the east coast, 18's would kill me in the snow. My car would be garaged, unless I opted for a new winter rim and tire set and swapped them out every winter.

I have the OEM 17's now and I still think they look small, but the combination with my fairly new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires and ECT snow function has impressed me in the fact that I can at least move around when it snows, like it just did last Friday.

I'll explain this snow driving improvement in another thread. I think it's mostly the tires.

 

Why did Eddie leave? :eek:

 

Bit, I think new job and better opportunities, I'll let him answer that one once he sees this thread.

 

I think its time to boot LOM from the preferred vendors on Club Lexus....