Coilovers for LS430
05-11-07, 04:20 PM
#1
Coilovers for LS430
i just got this car a week ago and loving it soo far, i previously had an IS350 for about 8-9 months and sold it due to few rattles. Anyways i am trying to lower the car and stiffen the suspension a little bit and now i do understand its not going to ride like the IS. What's available for our cars and what do you guys recommend?
05-12-07, 08:35 AM
#3
as far as I can remember how to spell the name of the brand, this is what I know, Tein CS, HKS, Wald, JIC, Bilstein BSS, AiStar, Buddy Club, Insurance, RSR , Aragosta, Algernon, Insurance, Junction Produce, and many other Japanese VIP companies out there. Tein, HKS, Wald, JIC, and Junction Produce you can order it from their US distributor, but others you might have to either order it or have a shop order it for you from Japan (correct me if I am wrong), for example, Bilstein's BSS kit will only come up in the Bilstein Japan website. Go on Yahoo Auction Japan, and type in UCF30, there should be like 70+ pages for you to scroll through. But that's all I know, if anyone else knows more details please chime in.
I personally don't have any experience with lowering the LS430 with springs, I had the Tein CS, and even on the lowest height and stiffest dampering setting, the car was really comfortable, it's not stiff at all, it honestly felt like stock ride comfort with better handling. But I sold my Tein and looking to get some other coilover that can lower the car more, the only down side of running spring is you will have to use stock shock, I can't find any company that offers aftermarket shock/strut for LS430, but I might be wrong too, but a close friend of mine told me his friend tried cutting the stock springs and the ride was still great, I know it's not really a good idea to cut springs but I am just passing along whatever I know about this matter.
I personally don't have any experience with lowering the LS430 with springs, I had the Tein CS, and even on the lowest height and stiffest dampering setting, the car was really comfortable, it's not stiff at all, it honestly felt like stock ride comfort with better handling. But I sold my Tein and looking to get some other coilover that can lower the car more, the only down side of running spring is you will have to use stock shock, I can't find any company that offers aftermarket shock/strut for LS430, but I might be wrong too, but a close friend of mine told me his friend tried cutting the stock springs and the ride was still great, I know it's not really a good idea to cut springs but I am just passing along whatever I know about this matter.
Last edited by 912inc; 05-15-07 at 09:47 AM.
05-12-07, 02:43 PM
#6
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There are some other issue to think about when lowering a car(or at least there is with my current car). Specifically the cars cv shafts. The cars cv's have been broken in at a certain angle by driving the car. Lowering the car is going to put these into a new position/angle as well as lengthen the axel itself slightly. This will likely cause premature failure at some point.
With my current car, putting lower springs on "gives the strut room to move around inside it's housing". Really its the opposite and the car moves around on the struts. There was as much "pressure" holding it in place from the spring. You see, the bottom of the spring presses on the strut while the top of the spring presses against the upper strut mount. The shortened spring reduced the outward pressure holding it in place. This caused the car to slightly bounce around on the strut. So in addition to the bumpier ride, there was also a bouncier ride. Has anyone experienced this with the LS?
I'm not even familiar with the type of suspention they use.
Probably less of an issue since these are RWD but there might be some similar issues...
With my current car, putting lower springs on "gives the strut room to move around inside it's housing". Really its the opposite and the car moves around on the struts. There was as much "pressure" holding it in place from the spring. You see, the bottom of the spring presses on the strut while the top of the spring presses against the upper strut mount. The shortened spring reduced the outward pressure holding it in place. This caused the car to slightly bounce around on the strut. So in addition to the bumpier ride, there was also a bouncier ride. Has anyone experienced this with the LS?
I'm not even familiar with the type of suspention they use.
Probably less of an issue since these are RWD but there might be some similar issues...
Last edited by bigcory; 05-12-07 at 02:50 PM.
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05-13-07, 11:35 PM
#11
Well, I don't have a LS or a Lexus but I think I can add to this thread. When you lower your car on springs you are actually going to get worse bound and rebound (dampening) with your shocks. The reason for this is that the shocks are designed for a certain height and spring rate combination, when you lower your car you are altering that combination and are actually creating less shock travel which will cause a rougher ride quality. It's not necessarily the springs that cause a bumpy ride, it's the dampers, amount of travel it has and what spring rate it was designed to be used with.
With a GOOD set of coilovers your ride quality will be better than stock if you lower it because the shocks are designed to dampen at lower ride heights. In my car, i went from 3.6kg/3.2kg front rear tein s techs to 9kg/7kg coilovers. I thought my quality would worsen but to my surprise the ride quality was much better (better dammpening).
What I would recommend is for you to get a good set of coilovers that come with helper springs for the front and rear. Also, make sure when you install the springs you set them to almost zero preload or perhaps a 5mm preload.
PM if you have any questions
With a GOOD set of coilovers your ride quality will be better than stock if you lower it because the shocks are designed to dampen at lower ride heights. In my car, i went from 3.6kg/3.2kg front rear tein s techs to 9kg/7kg coilovers. I thought my quality would worsen but to my surprise the ride quality was much better (better dammpening).
What I would recommend is for you to get a good set of coilovers that come with helper springs for the front and rear. Also, make sure when you install the springs you set them to almost zero preload or perhaps a 5mm preload.
PM if you have any questions
agree. my friend has these on his 08 gs350
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