grouch

My prior post have complained about wind & road noise and steering. The dealer said it was "normal" and caused by the 18" tires.

Well, I had the tires rotated, balanced and 4 wheel alignment with no change to it's constant pulling to the left and right.
My mechanic took the RX for a drive and agreed that this is NOT normal Lexus performance and it's not the fault of the tires.

For the wind noise, he pulled the door panels and reinforced the inside rubber seal against the glass. This significantly lowered the amount of road noise.
He also shimmed the tensioner spring in the rack to firm up the steering. This helped a lot in that it's not a "white knuckle" drive on uneven roads. It still pulls to the right and left, but not as bad. I'll talk to him today to find out what to do next.

The best thing so far is that everything that he's done has cost me less than $200 bucks.

salimshah

Look in the GS4 section and if needed go back to year 99-2000 time frame. The tramline (or equivalent) is what you are observing. My problem went away by changing tires, but other members had to monkey with the tensioner.

Salim

grouch

I'm fairly aware of tramline and what causes it. I can never turn loose of the steering wheel on any roadway or it will go off to the left or right. Even if the crown rolls right, I may be pulling to the left. Go Figure?

rxpx40

iTrader: (1)

Hey Groucho,
I am not familiar with the tramline- enlighten me..
I do have a few questions for you:
1. What year is your RX?
2. What brand/model tires are you sporting?
3. Is your RX AWD?
My wife's '04 is an AWD model and I have never been in such a quiet vehicle.
Her steering is spot on- the car does not pull either direction.

Chris

grouch

For tramline go here;
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=47

04' RX 330 AWD

Michelin MXV4 235/55R18 (same as came on the car)

And I don't have a brother named Harpo.

AM1

iTrader: (6)

just hope your suspension doesnt start to bottom our or the shocks start leaking.

grouch

With only 43000 miles,it shouldn't

AM1

iTrader: (6)

hahaha mine leaked b4 40K, mechanics RX330 leaked already also, his rx330 only has 17K.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I don't think the shock leak is normal at such low miles. My 04 330 never had a leaking shock when I sold it at nearly 60K miles. Keep in mind I also had Eibach springs on those stock shocks and was running 20" rims with heavy 255/50/20 tires for half its life. Shocks held up well.


Wind noise and just general cabin noise I can belive the RX has it. My RX was definitely noisier than my LS400.

As for the tramlinning, not sure what could be the problem. Even after I lowered the car and was waiting for the springs to settle in so I knew my alignment was off, I just eyeballed it and could get my car to drive straight on the freeway/highway with my hands removed from the steering wheel. After proper alignment it was still good. Something is up with your cars suspension somewhere. My car was FWD model though and not AWD.