Lynzoid

replace front and rear stab bushes... start from that

jayclapp

Did the car exhibit this behaviour before you bought it, or has it recently occurred? Could it have anything to do with the new tires? Might be a good idea just to swap the tires front to rear and see if that has an effect.

Lynzoid

I'd support that... I found out the hard way, that LS wants a tire, which have at least 4 straight 'grooves' in it (i use Primacy HP). This kinda gives it straight-line stability.

Stu

I am hoping everyone can help me with this, and I can leave this thread with a plan on how to resolve this, as I really want to keep the car and fix it.

Had the problem when I bought it. I replaced the tires twice.


May buy another set of new tires. I may replace the wheels too.

Lynzoid

Are you on stock alloys ?

Stu

yes, the cars is now on stock 18 inch Lexus wheels with new Continental ExtremeContact DWS in 245/45/18. Just to add, the car has inexpensive 17" aftermartket wheels for winter ( brand is Fast ) with inexpensive Firestone Winterforce snow tires 225/55?/17. The car is actually better on the highway on the cheaper winter wheels/tires.

Made me want to change the wheels, but I have had the wheels checked out by two shops and the place that sold me the two sets of 18 inch tires, and they are perfectly fine.

airtime

How about a road force balance? (where they balance the wheels on the car). Sometimes regular balance doesn't work. Could it be your rims and not tires?

Ty419

Do you have the air suspension? It will wander a bit unless the ride height is adjusted correctly. If not air, wandering would suggest one or more struts, so might want to take a look at those and make sure one isn't going bad.

Stu

I asked about road force balancing, but was told it only corrects for vibrations and I dont have that problem.

A couple places checked the wheels and they're OK. The shop said I could buy different wheels ( he sells nice wheels ) but he didn't think it would help. He's trying to find someone to buy the Continentals he sold me and thought a Yokohama Invigor (sp? ) in a 225/50/18 which has a softer sidewall may be something to try, and at $690 + tax I am tempted, even though its not as highly rated and the tires I have now.

its not an air suspention and the shocks were checked and are fine.

Ty419

A weak spring could also cause this problem. Measure the height to the center of the wheel well for each wheel and check that they each provide relatively similar resistance. It could be some odd anomaly like the prior owner always parking in an irregularly angled spot and causing one spring to wear faster than the others. Along the same reasoning, one particularly worn bushing could be the culprit, but you already mentioned that.

Lynzoid

OFF: Please DO NOT confuse 'road force' balancing and 'finish' balancing.
Road force use Hunter 9700 machine with a big drum thingie simulating the road (OFF-car);
Final balancing - is ON-car and USELESS

jayclapp

I would be a little leary with the shop you are working with. A good shop should take back the Continentals, give you credit after mileage deduction, and sell you tires that make you happy. Sounds kind of like he would like to just keep selling you something. Several years ago I purchased Bridgstone tires from Costco on my SC400. They picked up road dirt when you first started to drive the car and were noisy. I thought they'd wear in, but the didn't and they drove me crazy. After 10,000 miles I went back to Costco, they prorated the wear and sold me a much better set of tires. No questions asked.

Michelin Primacy MXV4 seem to be the tire of choice for owners in this forum. I have those on my car (from Costco of course).

Stu

He took back the first set I bought from him without question and replaced them with the Continentals for no charge. He is not willing to do it again and I dont blame him and I am OK with it. I just want it fixed.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

There are only 4 things:

Tires: New so they are good.
Shocks: Checked out to be fine.
Bushings: Your car don't have much miles, should be fine.

It must be the alignment then, A LOT of alignment guys are really incompetent, if a incompetent alignment guys tell you your alignment is good, it doesn't mean it is good. Go find a really good performance alignment shop to set up your alignment. Being the dealer doesn't mean anything.

Or one or some of your suspension bolts are loose, when you find that good alignment shop, have the guy go thru every single bolt to make sure they are all tight.

My LS430 got 84k miles on it, it goes in a straight line without needing any steering correction at any speed. It is one of the best car I have felt in this area, and I have driven pretty much everything that cost less then $400k.

Stu

3 different places did an allignment on the car. These were high end shops, not cheap dumps, lol. I am definitely going to take it somewhere else, after I do whatever "next repairs " are needed.