LSRIDER

I just got a new 2008 LS 460 and am thinking of buying 20" wheels for this car. So, I have a number of questions to which I have received conflicting answers from a local Lexus dealership and some places that sell aftermarket wheels. I would really appreciate it if anyone could share any relevant knowledge in response to the following questions:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the cast, forged and 3-part wheels?

2. If I have 20" wheels installed by a wheel/tire place, will the Lexus warranty be adversly affected?

3. What effect will 20" wheels have on the quality of the ride and handling of the LS?

4. Is there any truth to the claims that installing 20" wheels will negatively impact some of the systems, e.g. that the the speedometer reading will no longer be accurate or that the transmission will not shift properly.

If you have any other advice regarding 20" wheels and tires, that would be great too. And finally, if you have installed 20" wheels on an LS460 and are happy/unhappy, I would appreciate your sharing what specific wheels and tires you have installed.

Many thanks!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

1) forged, depending on the exact type of forging, can be stronger than cast. also, they are usually lighter. i have had both, but i have yet to bend any of my cast wheels

2) depends on what warranty. if you have aftermarket wheels and then the wheel stud broke, they can deny warranty. but if your engine has problem, they will warranty it

3) with 20s, tire sidewall becomes shorter, so ride will generally get harsher and you might hear more road noise. of course the brand and model of tires have effect too

4) negative. as long as you get the right tires and the overall diameters of the wheels are close to be the same as stock, you are fine. none of the systems will have issues. of course, the wheels have to be picked correctly so there is no vibration or rubbing. tranny will have no problem shifting

it really depends on the style you like, and your budget on wheels. that will greatly affect the kind of wheels you can afford. i have 22s on my ls460l and i have zero regret

btw, welcome to CL!!

LSRIDER

rominl,

thanks much for the reply! do you, by chance, have pictures of your LS460 anywhere on this site? I'd love to see what it looks like with 22" wheels.

also, I noticed that you are in OC; I am too; do you have any advice as to where to take my LS460 to get the new wheels and tires installed?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

here are some members here that i recall with wheels

22s
my car
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=323141
gsxotic
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=325602
alsilverbullet
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=333909

20s
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=318964

i will reply your pm tomorrow with more details

ISmy350JDM

some great info to know!

acecert

Rominl provided a link to the pics of my 20's above. I haven't had a significant amount of increased road noise or even any marked decreased ride comfort. I have the SWB which is important to remember since the LWB has air suspension vs. my spring suspension and the ride would be more significantly impacted with larger wheels. Hope this helps!

LSRIDER

Guys -- thanks a million for sharing all that great info! Very helpful. I'm sure I'll have more questions - in addition to the wheels, I plan to do the navigation (and, hopefully, phone) override, window tinting and something to protect the beautiful paint on the car. I will search for the relevant threads here to get educated, but if you can quickly point me to the right threads, I'd appreciate that. Also, if you have recommendations for competenent Orange County shops who can help me with the above modifications, please let me know. Thanks again!

acecert

I'd suggest you protect your paint with a clear bra. There is a place over here in La Verne which is in LA County (Aerotech) that does a great job and if you do the entire hood and fenders, no one will even know that it is there. Don't have it done anywhere else...this place has done a lot of Lexus models and their work is nothing less than fantastic.

I have the override as well and the man to talk to after you get the unit from Prestigious Society is Rominl. I had him install mine and it works great...and worth every cent. Btw, the phone and nav override handles the override for the entire system so you'll have access to both. (I wasn't clear if you thought you had to have separate overrides by the way you listed nav and phone separate in your last post). Last I heard, they didn't have any units currently and were planning for another future bulk order. Call them and see where they are at with this if you'd like...here is the info for that:

Sales@PrestigiousSociety.com
Phone: 562-644-3268

Several have had their windows tinted, but since you too are from Southern CA, I can recommend the Tint Man in Walnut. Just make sure you go to a place that has done the LS 460 before...the front windows has a place in the front corner that is difficult to get to with the door panel that covers a portion of the window. I've had 2 LS 460s now tinted and my first one I learned the hard way that some shops don't do a great job with those front corners. I had a recommendation from the dealer to The Tint Man in Walnut and they re-did my old LS 460 and my new one. Both were done perfect. As far as tint depth, that's a personal preference. I went with the middle % (forgot the number, sorry). You can see pics of the depth with black in my pics posted above where Rominl gave you the link.

Hope this helps..and congrats on your new car!

bsims_01

Hi LSRIDER. I've got some 20" Vossen wheels on my LS. Run a search under "bsims" and it will pull up the pics of my car. As for my review of the new look vs ride quality, here's what I wrote in another thread:

Ironhorse, I just put the 20" Vossen 078's on my SWB. I purchased them from D2 Autosport. There are photos of my car in a recent thread. You should be able to locate the thread quite easily as the title has my name and Vossen 078 in it. The Vossens have Falken performance tires on them. My car came with factory 18" wheels and Bridgestone Turanza tires. Here's my thoughts on ride quality difference:

The Good: Handling, road feel and body roll improved dramatically.

The Bad: As expected, the ride quality was reduced a bit. Not too bad, especially compared to other cars. I recently drove a 2008 RX350 loaner and the ride quality doesn't even come close to the LS, even with the 20" wheels. Additionally, you can expect a bit more noise depending on the tires you buy and the road surface you are driving on. IMO, the stock Bridgestone tires were noisy to begin with, so the slight increase in noise level did not bother me.

Overall, I achieved the result I was looking for. I love aftermarket wheels and rarely leave any of my vehicles stock. I think the car looks great with the Vossen wheels and the ride quality remains very supple. Derrick at D2 is great to work with and will steer you in the right direction.

Cheers and good luck with finding the right wheel and tire combo for your car!!

ironhorse

I have 20 inch wheels on my Ls and love them, I put the stock wheels on for the winter and to be honest I think the car rides a lot better with the 20's I can not tell the difference in road noise at all. They really handle better and the ride is softer. I went with the Michelin All season Pilot"s and really like them. If you looking I would talk to derek at D2 Auto Sports he is a great guy and will help you make the right choice....

I had my dealer do the tires and rims so if I ever had a problem they would cover it, if your dealer is like mine they will give you something in writing saying so. They are also doing the body kit I just got from D2

LSRIDER

thanks ironhorse . . .

I have been getting a lot of helpful information here; and, as I continue to learn more, I am now thinking that I'd like to explore installing 21" wheels; have you considered 21"? If you have and decided against that, was it because of aesthetics or some other reason?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i think one "problem" with 21s are the limited choices out there

audvid

I have a 2007 ls 460l with the optional touring package (comes with 19" wheels and air suspension).

I am trying to buy wheels from discount tire.

They say the wheel size suggested is 20X9.5 5-120 40C (does it mean 40mm offset?)

I am more comfortable with tire rack. they suggest wheel size of 20X8.5 50-120 with 35mm offset. But I prefer to buy the model from discounttire.

I assume 8.5 and 9.5 are wheel widths. Would 9.5 with offset of 40mm work?
Thank you.
Also, has anyone bought after market tpms units? What is the message on the car if we dont' use tpms?
Thank you..

rominl

iTrader: (4)

welcome to clublexus.

i don't know enough details but i will share some points

1) i don't know what 40c means (did you mean to type 40mm offset instead of 20mm?). i assume it's 40mm. that's very high offset for the wheel. my 9.5 front has offset in the 20s if i remember right. with the wheel stick IN for another 20mm, i don't know if you will hit any suspension inside. keep in mind 9.5 is pretty wide for the ls460 front

2) 8.5 35 will probably fit ok, but as mentioned above, still stick in a bit, and of course 8.5 i think it's too narrow for a huge car like the ls460l

3) you really have to be careful on the brake clearance. the front calipers on the ls460 is huge, and of course you have larger diameter brakes as well with the touring. you need to make sure the wheel spokes clear the calipers

4) if you don't have tpms, you will have a light on the dash

audvid

You are correct. I meant to say 40mm offset. You have 9.5 width wheels on your ls460? Is yours sport (yes, you are correct that it has larger calipers). Tirerack says 8.5 mm is OK and they are experts. They do have 8.5mm wide and 40mm offset tires but they don't have any 9.5mm wide 40mm offset wheels listed on their website.
I have not spoken to discountire yet. Are you sure your 9.5 wheels have 20mm offset? I assume these are positive offset numbers - which means that the center of the wheel is located either 20mm or 40mm closer to the outer surface of the wheel - meaning as you wrote, the wheel would be located 20/40mm closer to the suspension. I am concerned if 9.5 wide and 10mm offset might make it hit something.
Also, is lesser offset number preferable - to the extent that the lip would be broader?

If anyone else has used such wheels, please post.
Thank you.