mikeHud1

Hey guys,

I have a shop that's been trying to track down a set of springs for my '94 LS 400.
Does anyone have a contact or know who retails them?

It could be these have been discontinued...

Thanks for any help!

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Those pretty much disappeared, a new in box set will be pretty rare. Some members have found springs at junk yards. This is one reason why adjustable coils is an easier route, those fit the 90-00.

mikeHud1

Hey Mike,

Thank you. I hear what you're saying and certainly seems to be the case.

The shop that is helping me works primarily on German cars and they do some performance work on them as well. They are wanting to help because they said this kind of car is not your everyday blah vehicle. They deal with coilovers regularly, but the owner seems to want to steer me away from those. I've seen the members here using various makes of adjustable coils, but may be going a more aggressive route with them. The shop I'm working with says although the coilovers are great for the track, the ride will be harsh for the Lexus. Any thoughts on this and is there a brand I could consider that will give a decent ride?
I use my LS as a daily driver...

BTW, I'm running 225/60 16s

All the best,

Mike

Bylan

I definitely understand the shop wanting to steer you in the direction of lowering springs instead of full on coilovers, but you are not going to find springs for the LS. Every week someone on the LS400 Facebook group posts about lowering springs and they are completely unobtanium. Any website with them listed doesn't actually have them in stock, tons of people have tried.
From what I have heard, coilovers don't have to be track oriented. I have found plenty of people with BC Racing coilovers that keep their car at a reasonable ride height and the ride is not harsh or crashy. I've heard many people describe it as on par with like a 5 Series BMW, but not an M car or an AMG. In fact I dont think I've heard anyone complain. And Dampening/rebound is adjustable on basically every decent quality coilover, which allows some fine tuning.
I daily drive my 98 LS and I live in the Chicagoland area; our roads are ****. I plan on getting some BC coilovers because I've heard nothing but good things, and I do not want to lose all of the comfort that the stock ride has.
Definitely interested in other people thoughts and experiences with changing up their suspension, and not the slammed to the ground crowd.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

coilovers will be the roughest ride, even with everything set to soft. just look at the spring size compared to stock, so i understand wanting to run conventional lowering springs but alas they are pushing towards "unobtainium" brand new.

Bylan, i'm curious to see if folks on FB have tried to contact H&R distributors to see if they actually have the parts in stock prior to ordering. there is bound to be a box or two, hidden away in a warehouse somewhere likely in the west coast. perhaps i'm just being unrealistically optimistic.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Does Tein or one of the other spring manufacturers have springs that can be used in some of the coil setups? Many offer higher rates but how about in the lower rates side?

mikeHud1

As a matter of fact, the shop helping me said they have a call into H&R, but i haven't been updated yet.
I too am hoping that maybe they may have some good news, I'm hoping for the best.

Otherwise it may be Strutmasters for a conventional set up, but I see a number of negative reviews so not sure what I'll do.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

good idea! looking into other manufactures of lowering springs may be your next option. not sure if Eibach makes a kit for the LS400.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Had we ever established what the factory spring rates were? Back in the day I called Eibach and they didn't release that type of info. One of the old threads a member here had built a test rig to measure the rates, I'll have to search for it.

This would also be a good time to see if there is any cross compatibility among springs. I didn't see anything from Whiteline. Tanabe was one of the other choices for the 1-LS.

mikeHud1

I just called Eibach and they don't carry anything specifically for a 94 LS.
They do have various springs, but I really didn't know what to ask for.

mikeHud1

Great idea Mike!

Stroock639

i have my old set of H&R 52426 springs that i bought new and ran for about 3 years before going back to stock, those are for a 2nd gen LS though so idk if you'd be able to use them

mikeHud1

I'd be interested... I see the part# for the '94 is: 52425
maybe someone can clarify for us.

Thanks!

RA40

iTrader: (6)

That may be interesting. The 2-LS shocks have a longer body but as far as spring heights, I don't recollect us having that discussion before.

Stroock639

no problem

my car in my sig pic has the H&Rs installed to give you an idea of how lowered it'd be