intimidator3

Is there a special method to balancing tires on the GS series. I have had 3 different people try to balance my tires and between 60-75 miles an hour I have gone from what I think is a dynamic imbalance(steering wheel shakes back and forth) to a static imbalance (car vibrates), to a combination of both. I have aligned the car and even gone so far as buying 4 new Yokohama AVS db tires(they are much quieter than the stock Goodyear Invictas and handle like a dream) but still vibration. The car has always been a bit touchy when it came to tire balance, but never this bad. Any suggestions?

RealMarty

The GS can be a bit touchy to balance, but nowhere near what you've gone through.

Have you had the wheels and the rest of the suspension checked for damage/ weak/ broken components?

You've got a 99. Still under warranty? Had the dealer look for the problem?

aggeeess

iTrader: (1)

intimidator3,
I have a similar problem. going 58-62 mph, I get a steering wheel shake. been to dealer too many times, with no real luck. they switched the front tires to the back. I think some tires may be less concentric than others. Also, I wouldn't over inflate your tires. It all helped to alleviate the problem. Just my opinion...

gravy

I get the same thing on my 93 gs 300. I bought the car from my brother and he though it was casue the ppl who replaced the tires, used a impact wrench to tighten the lug nuts. this cause the rotors to warp. I get it at 60 and it stops at 65. I also get it under breaking at that same speed.

I hope it's the rotors, I just ordered some new ones. Can anyone tell me how hard it's gonna be putting the new ones on? I have never pulled one on a Lexis/toyota. Can I repack the wheel berrings while im in there? Anyone put Autospeciality Power Stop rotors on a GS300?

thanks for any suggestions/help.

gravy

JacobT

Replacing the rotors on GS is very streight forward. the front brake rotors are held in place by the calipers only. So after you remove the caliper, the rotor will fall off easily. Remember to hang the calipers on the suspension after removing, othedrwise, you'll damage the brake lines.

gravy

hey thanks Jacob, i know they aren't brembro's or anything, but any comment on my new rotors? are they worth a crap? i got them cheap, 150 for both...

also if you know of any place to get inexpensive rims please pass that along.

thanks again.

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JacobT

Never deal with PowerStop rotors, so I have no idea about them. But why don't you get the stock ones. You can get both front rotors from Steve @Carson Toyota for about $150. Or you can get Brembo cross-drilled or slotted rotors for $150 each. Are you replacing pads too?

Check out the classified section for rims

SpectraGS3

If you replace your rotors with cross drilled, won't you need different pads and calipers to take advantage of them? I know this was the case on the M3.

lexguynj

2001 GS430 - 2 weeks old, had to have all 4 tires balanced, due to the crusing on a smooth highway at 40-50mph only and the steering wheel would on and off vibrate significantly. I think the combination of the soft ride of the Lexus and the 17" Summer Tires, just needs to be balanced properly. So far so good, but it's only been a day since they did it, but the steering seems more solid now. We'll see!

gsfour

I've had the same vibration problem for a while and I finally took it in for high speed balancing. I went to this highly recommended place called Custom Alignment in Mt. View, California. They had this machine called the Hunter GSP 9700 which they used to balance my tires(Nitto Extreme 555 18" on Weds Farmas DP-V11. Anyways, so far so good. The GS400 rides really smooth with no vibration at all. Should have gone to them a long time ago. Great service and very professional. So if you can find a shop that specializes in alignment/balancing like these guys, try them out.
For those of you in the Bay Area, book early since this place is usually busy 2 weeks out.

I remember before getting the balancing done my GS would ride fairly smooth during low speeds on a smooth road. Now it's even smoother...silky smooth man! Makes me want to drive the GS every single day just for the fun of it.

However, I will continue to monitor the vibration problem since I've heard that it can creep back soon on the GS.


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2K GS400 Crystal White Pearl/18" Weds Farmas/Nitto 555/Steering ECU/Bilstein-Eibach

gsfour

Update!

I did feel some vibration the other morning, but it only happened when I first took it out to the freeway. I didn't drive the car for a whole week so I guess the tires were out of shape or something. It also seems to happen more often when it's cold. Anyways, so far so good.

Princeton

Depending on the material used in the tire, it can get a "set" after sitting for a while. (I seem to remember that nylon does this.) Then, when you drive the car, you get vibration until the "set" is worked out of the tires. This is why you notice vibration when the tires are cold.

tmasta

HEY everyone... i think i might have an answer to all of your questions!!! i had to balance my rims 3 different times and it was NEVER correct. i was so pissed off and was wasting much money.. to make a long story short i think u guys need to have a road force analysis done. the mechanic explained that tires arent perfectly round.. so i think he was tryin to say.. for that reason rims r not always 100% round.. so what this procedure does is to find out where the bumps r and match the bumps in the tire to the bumps in the rim. im in the metro DC area and most ppl do not have this machine.. i think thats why everyone i talked to said..ummm yeah i think your rim is bent.. or something stupid like that.. so DEFINITELY try this. it worked for me

and as far as the cold weather thing.. my car still kinda shakes when its cold..i think this is because its real hard to match the tire to the rim PERFECTLY.. so its still goin to shake a litte.. but the reason its not as bad when its hot is cause the tire should expand ( hot air expands stuff.. hey i did learn something in school.hehe) so that should fill in the imperfections a little better then in the cold.. anyways.. FOR REAL try this and see if it works before u waste anymore money balancing your rims.. hope this helps everyone!!!

this is the same machine that gsfour was talking about.

RON430

gsfour - You found one of, if not THE best place for suspension work in the bay area. Can't count the number of cruddy setups I have had (going back to the late 70s) that they made work tolerably well (most people here too young to know about Firestone Super 500s, the Wilderness wasn't their first screw up). When I went through the bimmers, Custom (Bob Strain owned it then) coined the term "bimmeritis" to me. That wonderful steering wheel shake at around 60. BMW dealers were totally unable to make it go away. Combination of high speed super balance and tire truing, Custom used to be able to true tires, would make it go away. That's the good news. The bad news, on bimmers, is that it comes back after 5,000 miles or so. I think the modern strut suspensions are very critical on balance and tire trueness. As the tires wear, they alter the balance enough to start the shimmying. Lots of discussions here about wheels but to me a wheel should be strong, true, and light. Because of Customs' racing orientation, they have very good advice in those areas and in some instances, you don't have to spend a lot to get good components. Haven't noticed "bimmeritis" yet on the GS430 but Custom will get the nod for some suspension work for me.

RealMarty

When you let your car stand for awhile the tire will develop a "flat spot" on the bottom. The longer it sits and the lower the tire pressure the "flatter" it will get. All tires will do this on all cars. Some types of tire construction will do this more than others. High performance, wide tires seem to be more prone to it.

When you start to drive and the tire heats up the flat spot eventually turns back to round. The warmer the tire the faster it will roll out the flat spot. Thus, in cold weather it takes longer to smooth out because it take longer for the tire to heat up.