hmt

OK. My car wander problem never ends and yes I’ve read and read and read many posts regarding this problem. Read almost every single post from these threads below.

It’s ’01 GS430. Bought it last year with 41K miles on it (it now has 55K miles). Car is 100% stock on 17 manufacture rims. When I bought the car the I noticed it was shaking and wandering. Thought it was because of the tires (it was unevenly worn when I bought it), so I replaced with 4 Conti Extreme contact DWS about 6 months ago. Took it to the Lexus dealership to have it aligned. No help. Recently I noticed my car has not of road noise and I can smell the tire rubber when I part, I checked it out and noticed the front tires worn oddly (you can feel it’s rough like fish scale) on the outside and inside of the 2 front tires.

I’ve been reading and reading a lot and the most common problem I’ve seen is caster arm bushing. I decided to replace that. I’d like everything stock so I spent extra money on the OEM caster arms (instead of the Daizen one) from Sewell Lexus. Replaced it this last Saturday and took it to the Lexus dealer again afterward for an alignment as everyone suggested. Still wander. They said everything is in spec. I asked them to check all the front end parts and they said “everything is tight and perfect. Nothing seemed wrong that causes the wander”. Now I have no idea what the problem is anymore. I can't just throw parts and labor at it since it's too expensive. Since the new tires, the car doesn’t shake or vibrates anymore. It just wanders. I had a hard time keeping it straight. And every time I park I can smell the rubber of the front tires, that tells you how much it’s being worn.

What is other possible things that can cause wander while everything we could checked have been checked by Lexus and a very good mechanic that I’ve known for a long time?

Can someone please shed some light? I would hate to let this nice GS go for this problem (the car is in pristine condition), but so far it’s cost me so much money and frustration.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...and-facts.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...ead-final.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...aster-arm.html

starfyrels

iTrader: (2)

Change your front sway bar end links and your rear end links. You wont know if the end links are bad until you are able to see the chassis or steering of the car shift from side to side and up and down. You can possibly tell if they are bad by checking the joints and boots.

Also check your upper control arms both front and rear, also your ball joints.

Next up is steering rack.

You could have also bought a bad set of tires.

hmt

I have lower/upper control arms and ball joints checked 3 times by 2 different places and all results came back fine. Haven't checked the sway bar though....

Bad set of tires? I was afraid somebody gonna say that....

Thanks for the response...

starfyrels

iTrader: (2)

If your rear tires are good -- something has to be worn on the front end or loose. If your tires aren't balanced correctly they could cause issues with the tires and steering issues. Can you report back with some pictures of your tires?

Do you have any shaking or vibrating?

Sick03L

I'm betting on sway bar bushings or sway bar attachment points.

kamlung

iTrader: (8)

do you still have the shaking issue you mentioned? or only wandering issue now?

richie3888

iTrader: (9)

Are you a heavy set guy? If you are, ask them if you could sit in the car while they do the alignment. It solves a lot of problems.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

strange to hear how you smell burnt rubber even after an alignment. Do you have the alignment sheet?

are the steering rack bushings worn? (55k is not a lot i know).

Outter Tie rods still good? cant really think of anything else.. besides maybe something is bent. but i dont think it is

hmt

starfyrels and kamlung,

No vibration since the new tires (3, 4 months ago)...still no vibration now...it's hard to see with picture...but you can definitely feel it....

richie3888,

I only weight 140lbs....

I am not a expert with cars so let me ask this stupid quest...are the sway bar end links (from starfyrels) the same as bushing (from Sick03L)....I guess not???

hmt

I agree....but the problem is there're too many possibilities...

BTW....Lexus blamed on the Conti tires....

lexybaby77

You pretty much checked the most common ones, but also check the steering rack and pinion mount. I had the exact same issue you had on a different car.

milellie11

iTrader: (5)

Hey man, sad to say to this, but i've experienced the exact same thing. Bought my 02 GS430 with 41,000 miles on it, now it has 109,000 with stock 17's. Car has wandered from the get go. Changed all control arms to Daizen bushings and daizen steering rack bushings, sway bar bushings, multiple alignments.....car still wandered. Ended up going back to all stock, OEM steering rack bushings, Lexus Upper Control arms, Lower Control Arms, Caster arms, new ball joints, outer tie rods, shocks, brand new Michelin Pilot Sports A/S tires road force balanced, Lexus alignment....car still wanders.

The steering wheel also seems very disconnected from the road when going over bumps, car tracks every single groove in a bad road like no other. It's almost like i have to fight the car from going off the road on some roads. Listening to some suggestions here will have you aimlessly throwing parts at the car spending thousands just to get the car to drive dead straight and not cause driver fatigue to no avail.

When i read your post, it's a mirror image of how i feel. My wife's Toyota Echo drives better than my GS430. Sad. I don't see how many can say the GS is the best car they've ever had or they love it so much. I've been waiting for 5 years to feel that way and to have a car that doesn't wander. Something is seriously wrong. Or i'm beginning to believe that this car drives like crap with low profile tires and needs fatter tires with more sidewall to compensate for the extra soft suspension.

I would like to see how this car drives with the 16's vs the 17's.
But what's even worse is that Lexus never seems to be able to diagnose issues with the GS. Always seem to be a mystery to them as well. Never heard of anything like that before.

LuxuryGS3

iTrader: (12)

I hate to say this because just about everyone might go against it, but my car wandered bad when I hit a hard bump or when it was raining and it was slick. Ended up being my REAR toe links that were the problem. Changed those and everything was a-ok. Of course that probably won't fix your tire wear problem, but it could be the reason for your wandering that there is something wrong with your rear toe links. There should NOT be though because you hardly have any miles, but it's just a thought...

DeanGS

iTrader: (8)

Sounds like you are either seeing feathering of the tires which is caused by a toe problem. Out of spec toe can definitely cause wandering. Inner and outer tir rod end wear can cause this problem.
If you are seeing cupping on the tires then that is usually caused by worn struts.

YviE

iTrader: (3)

Bushings and end links are different things. The end links attach the sway bar to the suspension arms, whereas the bushings hold the bar onto the chassis.