Whitenoize

Hi all I am new to this Lexus club. Was wondering if anyone here has installed Vlamos original lower control arm bushes and what was the net result. My car has new 18's all around with 235's in front and 265's in the rear; Offset of the wheel is spec. But now my tramlining issue is really noticeable. The car practically yanks the steering out of my hand on poorer road surfaces. I've done extensive research on the subject and I have settled on the lower control arm bushes. I've had them inspected by a competent tech. He says changing them would make a bug difference. If anyone was wondering I’ve had the car 4 wheel aligned at the dealer and it is to factory spec right now. Any input would help. This is a grand repair and I don’t want to in without all the facts. Oh right the vehicle is a 92 sc400 UZZ30 with 146000km or 90000 miles on the odo.

Carpe Diem

I just recently went from 225x55x16s to 235x45x17s and have a noticable increase in tramlining. I think the difference might be the "hardness" of the rubber in the tires. The 16s were BFG G-force KDWS 400 AA A, a very hard all season tire. The 17s are Bridgestone RE030 140 A A, a much softer summer tire. It makes sense to me that the softer, more pliable tires would tend to be influenced more by irregularities in the road surface.

What make and model of tires are you running on the front?

George

Whitenoize

I've got Yokohama ES100 235/40ZR18 up front and ES100 265/35ZR18 at the rears. They are supposed to be a super tire. Thanks for the quick response.

Carpe Diem

The ES100 is a 280 AA A tire, kind of half way between my cases. I really wish some SC owner who has tried both extremes of the treadwear index with the same size tire and traction rating would chime in here. With your experience and mine, there are really too many variables to work out.

George

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

I replaced my lower control arm bushings a year ago with the Vlamos bushings. They are awesome!! Just like brand new!!

I had a lot of tramlining until I replaced them, but, I initially biught the wrong new tire and wheel set-up- That caused me lots of problems- tramlining, uneven tire wear, noisy ride, massive vibrations, etc. I was totally frustrated!!

I did not research the size and offset well enough, and bought Enkei CDR9 wheels and Kuhmo Ecsta Supra tires- about $1,300 for the whole set-up. First major error- the CDR9 comes in a max width of 18x7. This is not wide enough for the tire size I bought- 245x40x18. This caused alot of problems and the tramlining got real bad again- real quickly!!

I got rid of that set, and researched well, and got a high quality set of wheels and a much better tire- Altstadt Type 1 multi-piece forged wheels, staggered set up- 18x8.5 in front, and 18x9.5 in the rear. I put on Nitto NT555 Extremes on- 235x40x18 in front and 265x35x18 in the rear. Much better set up. Tramlining went away- mostly. I occasionally get a very slight amount of tramlining with a really bad road. I believe this is almost impossible to get rid of with such wider tires. I do know this- It is critical to get maintain proper suspension geometry and setup. Alignment needs to be kept in spec, and tire wear needs to be kept even and flat, as well as high quality tires need to be used. I will never buy Kuhmos again- could not balance them no matter what I did. All worn bushings need to be replaced, and I also got a much better ride after replacing my center main bearing on my drive shaft- this caused a lot of vibration that I thought was from the tires.

My coilovers will be in this week- TEIN FLEX. They will replace my 10 year old struts and springs. That should also improve my ride as I am still getting a little cupping on my front tires due to the weakness of my tired shocks and springs.

I will keep you posted as to the tramlining effect afterwards. At this point, it is almost non-existant.

Whitenoize

Thanks for taking the time to post a message. I don't believe it's my tire setup. I did an adequate amount of research on the topic and I was thorough with regard to selecting my wheels and tires. By the sounds of it SC400's have a somewhat higher than normal level of maintenance required to keep the suspension system at 100%. Or maybe it's just that all of SC400 owners drive the car real hard, no matter. I've ordered a set of Vlamos originals. They should be here in a few days (excited) I am anxious to get a handle on this tramlining issue. When driving a car in the class of our big Lex coupe you don't want to be making excuses for the cars road behavior. It should all be about poise, power, style and a bit of attitude.


Thanks

Michael

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

I do not think our Big coupes need any more maintenance and upkeep than any other vehicle, in fact, probably quite a bit less when it comes to the inherent reliability of Lexus. Consider this though, the newest SC400/SC300 was mfg in 2000. It is now 2004. Many of us have cars from 91. There are many parts that wear out due to age and use, as will on any car. I think one of the major diffs is that many of the people who own this coupe, take pride in its ownership, regardless of the age or their car or of their own age (teenager, adult, etc). This being the case, many appear to be willing to shell out the money necessary to restore the coupe back to stock new condition, or close to it, or even beyond it. This being the case, many parts have to be repaired or replaced. I know of many people with cars that are the age of our coupes and more that simply perform the mere minimum to maintain their cars, so it appears that they require less maintenance and less cost. I do not believe that. Take any luxury car that has been driven any significant amount of miles, and is several years old, and you will be spending some dollars to get it to new status. In fact, that is the case with any car. Enough said on that.

Now, on the subject of modifying the SC, well, anytime we change anything beyond factory specs, it changes the whole behaviour of the vehicle. I do not hear of nearly as many guys having tramlining issues with a stock setup that is in full factory spec, in fact, I have not read of one. When the bushings start wearing, alignment goes out, tires wear improperly, etc, this is bound to happen, especially if we modify the suspension in anyway, even changing tire and rim size.

I have a teenage kid that will be driving soon, and I still love my SC, and am as proud of it now, as the day I bought it. My son still loves it too

Ryan

SCV8

I've spent a fair chunk of change replacing steering,control arms,shocks,swaybar bushings, all with supra stuff where possible,and it all has helped to tame the tramlining from the larger tires/wheels.In all,it is better in that category than it was at 70k with the original sized tires,suspension while driving over the same roads.
I have the Kuhmos too,they're a bit noisy when worn down,but otherwise seem to work fine now with new, firmer/tighter suspension parts.

BLK13X

Whitenoize,
A lot of people here in Australia have replaced their bushes with Vlamos bushes, all I hear are rave reviews of them. Anyway, I was having some pretty bad tramlining so I had the car aligned to some different specifications (listed on Aussie and UK websites), they have eliminated most of the tramlining on my car (I've got coilovers plus a staggerd set up)... maybe they could be helpful for you.

Click here for the specs... just follow the 4.0GT alignment settings (UZZ30).

Hope that helps you out.

Jose

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

Jose:

How's your tire wear at those specs?

Altstadt

BLK13X

I've been using these specs ever since I bought the car (since November 2001), hasn't given me any problems before and I continue to use these settings with the coilovers in as well, doesn't seem to be a problem at all.