IS220D after lowering and wheels

[Pagnobito]

Tony,

 

I will probably need to book in sometime in the next few weeks, having covered 1K or so miles since lowering etc.

 

Tyre noise is an issue, now this may just be down to the Falken tyres FK452 model as they are on the budget list, maybe I should have gone for Bridgestones again, or is it making more noise because of geometry, is that a symptom or just crap tyres?

 

I will post some pictures from the rear of the car, something that is noticeable is the attitude of the rear wheels, I can see that they are out vertically (they angle inwards bottom to top), is that something that can be addressed and corrected?

 

When I changed the springs, there was no D washer just a bolt and circular washer on the lower arm just behind the brake disk, and that seemed to go back together as it was before.

 

I also get some vibration now and again at motorway speeds, which I feel through the seat. wheel balance or geom, need to find out.

 

How long does it take to do the geom/check balance, as I would have to drive some way and would like a while I wait pitstop.

 

Thanks

Mike

[Tony]

How low did you take the car?... The front and rear camber positions would have changed. Although it shouldn't be alarmingly visible as you describe....

 

On average a calibration takes 90min and needs to be booked...

[Pagnobito]

How low did you take the car?... The front and rear camber positions would have changed. Although it shouldn't be alarmingly visible as you describe....

 

On average a calibration takes 90min and needs to be booked...

 

see here for my car;

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...?showtopic=1366

 

Busy couple of days, but I will try and get some images of the rear done on Sunday.

[Tony]

How low did you take the car?... The front and rear camber positions would have changed. Although it shouldn't be alarmingly visible as you describe....

 

On average a calibration takes 90min and needs to be booked...

 

see here for my car;

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...?showtopic=1366

 

Busy couple of days, but I will try and get some images of the rear done on Sunday.

She looks a "babe".... Any more images would be nice but at the end of the day i think a calibration is required....

[Pagnobito]

How low did you take the car?... The front and rear camber positions would have changed. Although it shouldn't be alarmingly visible as you describe....

 

On average a calibration takes 90min and needs to be booked...

 

see here for my car;

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...?showtopic=1366

 

Busy couple of days, but I will try and get some images of the rear done on Sunday.

She looks a "babe".... Any more images would be nice but at the end of the day i think a calibration is required....

 

The images are just to see if you can see from them how the rears are angled, or if it is just me! (If the camera lense does not distort the picture)

 

I agree a calibration will be required, I don't pretend to understand the geometry and what adjustments the IS may or may not have, I will leave that to the professionals.

 

Do you have any opinion on the tyre noise, can that be caused by bad adjustment?

 

I don't think I notice any strange handling apart from maybe the rear inside lifting in sharp corners as the electronics cut the power in that situation. Something I wish was on the 928 as I accidentally slung it out sideways over a junction the otherday, lucky it was a wide road, although I caught it and carried on.

[Tony]

How low did you take the car?... The front and rear camber positions would have changed. Although it shouldn't be alarmingly visible as you describe....

 

On average a calibration takes 90min and needs to be booked...

 

see here for my car;

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...?showtopic=1366

 

Busy couple of days, but I will try and get some images of the rear done on Sunday.

She looks a "babe".... Any more images would be nice but at the end of the day i think a calibration is required....

 

The images are just to see if you can see from them how the rears are angled, or if it is just me! (If the camera lense does not distort the picture)

 

I agree a calibration will be required, I don't pretend to understand the geometry and what adjustments the IS may or may not have, I will leave that to the professionals.

 

Do you have any opinion on the tyre noise, can that be caused by bad adjustment?

 

I don't think I notice any strange handling apart from maybe the rear inside lifting in sharp corners as the electronics cut the power in that situation. Something I wish was on the 928 as I accidentally slung it out sideways over a junction the otherday, lucky it was a wide road, although I caught it and carried on.

 

All the symptoms you describe suggest the chassis is compromised.... Until this is addressed don't worry about the tyre situation... Next Saturday there is a Geometry calibration and dynamic indexing meet at TDI south. The meet is free so you could have the car imaged with the TDI team and wim to determine the extent of your issues....

Details here>

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...ic=1384&hl=

[Pagnobito]

didn't get the chance in the end to take some pictures, and I wont be able to get to TDI as I am nights over the weekend it is on.

 

I presume you do precision wheel balancing as well as chassis geometry?

 

I reckon on booking in for geom and balance sometime over the days of 10-12th July, so if you can give me a time on one of those days I can plan the drive up.

[Tony]

didn't get the chance in the end to take some pictures, and I wont be able to get to TDI as I am nights over the weekend it is on.

 

I presume you do precision wheel balancing as well as chassis geometry?

 

I reckon on booking in for geom and balance sometime over the days of 10-12th July, so if you can give me a time on one of those days I can plan the drive up.

12th at 10.00am is good for me.... Shall i book you in?

[Pagnobito]

didn't get the chance in the end to take some pictures, and I wont be able to get to TDI as I am nights over the weekend it is on.

 

I presume you do precision wheel balancing as well as chassis geometry?

 

I reckon on booking in for geom and balance sometime over the days of 10-12th July, so if you can give me a time on one of those days I can plan the drive up.

12th at 10.00am is good for me.... Shall i book you in?

 

Ok book me in, but bear in mind I will be travelling from almost exactly the opposite side of London, I may struggle for 10am as when I set out it will be the latter part of rush hour. Directions say 1hr 12min 72 miles, I think it will more like be 2hrs 12min!

[Tony]

didn't get the chance in the end to take some pictures, and I wont be able to get to TDI as I am nights over the weekend it is on.

 

I presume you do precision wheel balancing as well as chassis geometry?

 

I reckon on booking in for geom and balance sometime over the days of 10-12th July, so if you can give me a time on one of those days I can plan the drive up.

12th at 10.00am is good for me.... Shall i book you in?

 

Ok book me in, but bear in mind I will be travelling from almost exactly the opposite side of London, I may struggle for 10am as when I set out it will be the latter part of rush hour. Directions say 1hr 12min 72 miles, I think it will more like be 2hrs 12min!

Shall we make it 12.00pm then... Maybe miss some of the traffic.

[Pagnobito]

oki doki, see you then.

[Pagnobito]

Maybe you can see the camber (is it?) from these pictures, certainly the first one anyway.

 

 

And one more just for fun.

 

 

:king_right:

 

Excuse the dirty dull wheels, it has been rather bad weather (if you didn't know).

Still a fair bit of air above the rear wheel after lowering and 1.5K miles, I see other IS' on the road and when I look at them they seem as low as mine even though I am guessing they are not lowered! I think with this style of wheel 19" may have looked better, because of the lip the spokes don't go to the edge of the wheel therefore don't really look like 18"

[Tony]

Personally i think is all fits very well... Nice drive mate!... Additionally i know i will need to calibrate your car more than once? reason being the coils will keep relaxing :king_right: Tango's example is a superb guide with his IS250.... I suggest you look back at some of his related threads here and in LOC. You will be surprised how the suspension has de-evolved into the position you expect.

[Pagnobito]

Personally i think is all fits very well... Nice drive mate!... Additionally i know i will need to calibrate your car more than once? reason being the coils will keep relaxing :king_right: Tango's example is a superb guide with his IS250.... I suggest you look back at some of his related threads here and in LOC. You will be surprised how the suspension has de-evolved into the position you expect.

 

I think I have read most of the threads relating to Tango's car, it led to me getting the springs in the first place, and now the car seems to be sitting where it should be rather than the higher setting as standard.

 

Drive? do you mean the actual surface or the cars on it? (you can just see the 928 at the back) :ph34r_anim:

[Tony]

By saying "nice drive" i mean the car..... Nice driveway as well though.... :king_right:

[Pagnobito]

aaah ok, thanks!

 

I have discovered a side affect of lowering, and particularly cars with the HID i-AFS headlight self levelling system, like mine..

 

There are two sensors fitted by links to the suspension front and rear, and this is what decides the headlight height, mine has been affected by lowering the car meaning that the lights are higher than they should be, and as I am sure you know HID lights are quite bright. I checked into this as I was getting flashed quite often by oncoming traffic or following the cars in front have flashed hazards.

 

Tony do you have the kit to check headlight alignment?

 

I think I will have to check myself to make sure I have not bent or damaged any of the linkeages to these sensors, I spoke to the Lexus service centre I get my servicing done at and they told me about the sensors (although I had made that guess) and that the lights can be adjusted.

 

You would have thought that 30mm drop all round would result in the same headlight level if it is using the front and rear sensors to calibrate, but something must have gone wrong.

 

Do we know if any of the other Lexus cars with these type of headlights have been affected, does Tango have them on his?

[Tango]

You would have thought that 30mm drop all round would result in the same headlight level if it is using the front and rear sensors to calibrate, but something must have gone wrong.

 

Do we know if any of the other Lexus cars with these type of headlights have been affected, does Tango have them on his?

 

I do, but don't have a problem. However, this may be because I have the American spec Eibachs so my front end is lower than the back by 10mm. My back end is slightly higher than yours (by 4.6mm) but the negative camber was still noticable after the drop. After the geometry check and minor toe adjustment it drives a lot better and the tyres appear to be wearing evenly from the checks we have made. Will know more after Saturday :king_right:

[Pagnobito]

I wanted to find out what was causing some vibration, so I put my old wheels on and the car is much smoother, especially at motorway speeds, no vibration at all now.

 

I also found the adjusment for the headlight level, there is a little arm thingy on the N/S/R suspension arm with a nut on a slider so moved it a little, but not sure if made a difference, I need to do it at dusk so I can park the car with lights on and put some tape on the wall to mark the headlight height and then see if it makes a difference adjusting the arm.

 

Tony, I will have to cancel my visit, unitl I get my wheel balance sorted out. I have emailed the supplier to see what they will do about it.

 

The car looks pretty good lowered on the original wheels, far better than the oem setup. I am also making enquiries about trading the car for a petrol auto SE-L MM , but that may not happen if the figures are not acceptable, and I will have to loose my fuel card which might be the killer.

[Tony]

I wanted to find out what was causing some vibration, so I put my old wheels on and the car is much smoother, especially at motorway speeds, no vibration at all now.

 

I also found the adjusment for the headlight level, there is a little arm thingy on the N/S/R suspension arm with a nut on a slider so moved it a little, but not sure if made a difference, I need to do it at dusk so I can park the car with lights on and put some tape on the wall to mark the headlight height and then see if it makes a difference adjusting the arm.

 

Tony, I will have to cancel my visit, unitl I get my wheel balance sorted out. I have emailed the supplier to see what they will do about it.

 

The car looks pretty good lowered on the original wheels, far better than the oem setup. I am also making enquiries about trading the car for a petrol auto SE-L MM , but that may not happen if the figures are not acceptable, and I will have to loose my fuel card which might be the killer.

Canceling is not a problem.... I fully understand you have other issues at the moment....

[Pagnobito]

The 250 auto is a no go, just too expensive to change, so that will wait for the time being.

 

Having to check the motor into the Lexus dealer on Monday as the headlight adjuster potentiometer seems to be broken as adjusting the control arm makes no difference to the headlight level, in fact I can no longer drive the car at night because it is like having high beam on, other drivers no doubt cursed me, and then thought I was nuts for driving on forward fogs and sidelights! I am wondering if they will carry out the work under warranty when they notice the different wheels and springs, the former obvious, may not spot the springs, depending on how they look at it.

 

I got the new wheels sorted out though, I had them re-balanced as they were all out, which is a bit poor, but the supplier paid for the balance costs. They are back on the car, and it is now smooth again. I get quite a few comments on the car and the wheels when I pull up at different places.

 

I am getting quite excited as I am taking the Porsche to Castle Combe this week for some track day fun, along with some other 928 owners and some fairly exotic cars to fill the gaps from people that dropped out. I haven't had a chance to change the rear shocks yet, the front have been done so I am hoping it will not be too out of balance (the geom and ride height was done after the front shock and spring replacement).

[Pagnobito]

My headlights were wrong because of the link on the rear suspension. Basically there are two arms connected by ball joints to a sensor thingy and when the suspension was lowered the arm went the wrong side from the middle joint. It should be vertical from the suspension arm to a horizontal arm to the sensor and it had gone horizontal and vertical. Oh well, all sorted now.

[Tony]

My headlights were wrong because of the link on the rear suspension. Basically there are two arms connected by ball joints to a sensor thingy and when the suspension was lowered the arm went the wrong side from the middle joint. It should be vertical from the suspension arm to a horizontal arm to the sensor and it had gone horizontal and vertical. Oh well, all sorted now.

I assume they didn't mention the cars lower suspension..... You was worried about this?

[Pagnobito]

Actually they did mention it, and that it wouldn't be under warranty, well I was chancing a bit to see if they noticed, as it was it cost me half hour labour so not too bad considering I had not spotted what had happened to the sensor arm, but as soon as they told me, I thought Doh!

 

They also insisted on replacing the front seatbelts which was a bit odd, some sort of recall, but they could not tell me the reason.

 

I was concerned about the chassis balance, but after the wheel balance the car feels a lot better, so I will monitor the tyre wear for the time being I think. All I have noticed really is the car cuts power in sharp corners so the back inside must be lifting more than before causing the traction control to come on, and it will twitch sometimes, however I am not really surprised with the torque the engine puts out it is bound to happen. I don't really have to think too much about corners and power because of the electronics.

[Tony]

Inside rear "lift off" on a turn is common with a ridged chassis.. The seat belt replacement is interesting.... Since you weren't notified directly it's not a recall. More a replace silently when the car is available type of recall

[Tango]

Inside rear "lift off" on a turn is common with a ridged chassis.. The seat belt replacement is interesting.... Since you weren't notified directly it's not a recall. More a replace silently when the car is available type of recall

No, it was a recall. I was notified by my local stealership to take mine in to have the front belts replaced. It depended on your VIN as a batch of recoils apparently had incidences of hang ups where the belt wouldn't consistently reel out or in. Didn't have a problem with mine but they changed them anyway. The new ones have a slight striped pattern to the weave of the belt material which is hardly noticable unless you compare them to the original rear belts. We discussed it on LOC a while ago. I guess some were missed.

Think it was technical bulletin BO010-05 OCT 05 Restraints - Seat Belt Extenders, but the date doesn't make sense unless it takes an awful long time to get through the system.

 

Re. Is250 Technical Service Bulletins here's a list of all the TSB's issued by Lexus for the IS250 for 2005/2006, but includes the Yank spec too so be wary.

 

TSB Number & Issue Date TSB Title

EL013R-06 DEC 06 Navigation System - Shows Vehicle In Wrong Location

EL016-06 DEC 06 Starting System - Vehicle Start After Battery Depletion

EL015-06 DEC 06 'Smart Key' ® - Specifications

EL014-06 DEC 06 Cell Phone - Bluetooth® Compatibility

NV005-06 DEC 06 Body - Upper/Lower Windshield Ticking Noise

PG001R-06 NOV 06 Battery Maintenance for In-Stock Vehicles

SU001-06 OCT 06 Suspension - Shock Absorber Replacement Criteria

TC010-06 OCT 06 A/T - Reman A/T Serial Number Location

TC009-06 OCT 06 A/T - Serial Number Locations

TC008-06 SEP 06 M/T - RA62 Fluid Requirements Requirements

EG019-06 AUG 06 Engine - MIL ON/Possible Multiple Misfire DTC's Set

EG017-06 AUG 06 Exhaust System - Excessive Sulfur Odors

NV001-06 MAY 06 Interior - Front Seat Squeaking Noise

AU001-06 APR 06 Audio System - Quick Reference Troubleshooting Guide

ST004R-01 APR 06 Steering - Vehicle Pulls To One Side Manual Supplement

EG007-06 MAR 06 Engine Controls - MI ON/DTC's P0172/P0175 Set

EG006-06 MAR 06 Engine Lubrication - ILSAC GF-4 Oil Recommendation

BO007-06 MAR 06 Body/Lighting - Headlamp Support Bracket Installation

EG001R-06 JAN 06 Engine - ILSAC GF-4 Engine Oil Standard

EL002-06 JAN 06 Keyless Entry/Antitheft - Smart Key Supplement

SS003-05 NOV 05 Audio System - CD Player Skip Verification

BO012-05 NOV 05 Interior/SRS - Seat Cover Replacement Recommendations

BO010-05 OCT 05 Restraints - Seat Belt Extenders Available

CRIB151 OCT 05 Paint - Paint Codes

PD043-05 SEP 05 Body - Power Window Initialization Procedure

PD044-05 SEP 05 Tire Pressure Monitor - Sensor Activation Procedure

PD040-05 SEP 05 Instruments - Compass Calibration Procedure

BO004-05 JUL 05 Wipers/Washers - Wiper Blade Cleaning/Maintenance

EG012R-04 JUN 05 Engine Controls - Entering VIN After PCM Replacement