FALCON1

One of the major gripes I had in 2002 with the SC was the amount of cowl shake when the top was down...........with such a great build it boggled my mind and the service techs as well.

Problem solved- NO more RF tires and today the top was down and it rode shake free as it should.

Anyone who has the RF tires and has the same problem the solution is simple..........real tires............

FALCON 1

marin007

We just got our 430 yesterday and I did notice that the windshield "cowl" does shake with the roof retracted. You say that RF tires are the culprit for this ride variation? When I put the windows up the shake goes away as if it were getting more reinforcement and only when we are going over bumps that it would shake.

I will take a look and see what the tires ratings are and I will get back with you on this.

Thanks

Marin

FALCON1

Marin- Congrats on the SC 430 purchase. Coming out of a Porsche 911 I found no shake and lo and behold I was agast going over some secondary roads in 2002-2008 that it was almost buckboard shakes. Top up was OK but still a bumpy ride when on other than freeway roads..........Now with the RF tires off and a new set of Toyo tires it is almost glass smooth on the same roads top up or down...........I will spend more time now enjoying top down driving.

If you have RF tires it is worth the expense when the time is right to pull them off and leave them off.

Now after 6 years with the SC I can say in retrospect I should have done this 6 years ago.

FALCON 1

buddhi

My 2003 has lots of cowl shake, rattle really, with the top and windows up
over small bumps and while light braking. Have regular tires too. Will try
softening my adjustable coilovers but I don't expect much.

Caflashbob

my similar 08 hardly moves body wise. Sway bars and coilovers and no noises. Soft frame? Yes. Flex? Pretty sure.

”its good enough” in this case is applicable. I can turn it up suspension wise and drive it very aggressively.

A lot of ;people made replacement suspension parts and braces if memory serves me.

I had read about the flexing issues on early cars.

S\

buddhi

From what I understand the older model SC has a stiffer suspension.
Mine has all new suspension parts everywhere including MeisterR coilovers.
Just got the suspension and had an alignment done. Also have a strut
tower bar and 255/40/19s. Today i adjusted the suspension (32 adjustment
clicks) 12 off of all soft and the cowl shake is much better but still present.
I tried a piece of cardboard between the windshield and dash but that did
nothing at all. If I go softer there may be less rattle, but I do not want a
softer suspension. My thought is I should have no rattle at all at any
suspension setting. What exactly is doing this? My Prius makes no
noise whatsoever and it has a fairly stiff Touring suspension with
225/50/16s. Maybe it is flexing, but the Lexus of that era is known
for stiff frames. The 2003 GX frame could supposedly be held by one
corner in a vice and the frame would not deflect, or only by millimeters.

jimisbell

I dont know what the problem is, but your cars are not normal. I have a 2006 with 178,000 miles on the struts and have NO Cowl shake. I have other problems like it needs new struts as it "hobby horses" after a high speed dip, and needs new wheels as it shakes the wheel at 55mph, and needs new tires because the low profile tires ride like a buckboard. BUT, NO COWL SHAKE.

buddhi

Well, I guess I'm glad my car is special and others do not have
these problems. My car has 152,000 miles and came from CA
with good roads and mostly flat highway so wasn't run on fire
roads most of it's life. Had rock chips on the front bumper which
I like to see as it means highway miles and those are about 10%
of the wear of the non-highway miles. Engine and trans run smooth
and the top is fine, the ML stereo and speakers are all good, too,
surprisingly. Have read 60% of ML speakers go bad after 18 years.
No rust either. Interior is close to new, just one driver seat rip I fixed.
All the lights work. Need to replace antenna that does not retract,
it's either the involved or the easy fix. Could use a paint correction
and ceramic coat for swirls in the black paint. Finding my 255/40/19
front tires stick out a bit and rub with a lock-to-lock turn so need to
replace with 245s as I have no camber kit up front. Those tires came
with the car. Car sounds great with just the Injen intake and stock
exhaust but will get Vibrant ultra quiet resonators to replace the
mufflers for a more authoritative V8 effect. This car turns heads
Far More than the dime a dozen $120K plus European cars in my
town - which is every other car. So far I've paid about $16K.

I've read quite a few others mentioning cowl shake, some say
also with a strut tower bar and top both up and down.

Here's the cowl shake from last night, with Injen intake, strut bar,
coilovers half between soft and hard, with top down and a completely
stock exhaust.

Turn it up.

Caflashbob

car was redesigned for the 2006 model