gottahaveit2

I've seen many posts and experienced annoying vibes on my 2nd Gen GS's, like everyone. Passing along what I learned from experience to help out others.

I've owned 2, a 99 GS400 and an 01 GS430. I've had stock wheels, aftermarket, TRD's, and 3GS of many types on the 2 cars. I've driven a 2GS since 2004, and total mileage considering both is over 170,000.

I've tried many things to eliminate the vibration, having wheels rebalanced, watching torques and sequence, cleaning the mounting surfaces, centering rings and so forth. Most of the time I could eliminate just plain awful vibes by these basic things, as in down to a 10-20% annoyance let's say. But never to 100% smooth and perfect day in and out.

Here's the things that got me to 80/90%:

1. factory wheels are better than the aftermarket ones I had.
2. torque is key, don't overtorque, that warps the rotor and can lead to imbalance.
3. torque sequence is basic but often overlooked, it's important.
4. torquing in steps to seat the wheel can help, ie go 30, 50, then 75 ft lb.
5. be sure the wheel/tire doesn't have load on it, so it can seat properly. And the wheel to hub interface is clean and true.
6. the obvious stuff like proper lugs for the wheel, a good torque wrench, true wheels, good tires, etc.If afternarket, be sure the lug nut spec is correct and if centering rings are part of the fitment, they are correctly sized and properly installed. They can hang, twist and be damaged contributing to incorrect wheel seating.
7. a good wheel and tire balance that's properly done of course.
8. suspension must be proper, that's a given, tie rods, struts, bushings, all that basic stuff has to be checked and in good condition, and a good alignment> I credit Davenport Motors in Dallas that did a great job for me.

But to get 100%, here's what I found out. At front brake pad replacement, I would have the rotors turned. and I would use OReillys premum Wagner pads. That would improve the balance a bit actually. I didn't think much about it. After the 2nd turn, it didn't seem to help very much though. At the time, I was running OE chrome 3GS 18x8's. It was barely livable and frar from 100% at that time.

So the last time I did the brakes, I replaced the rotors w/ new Bosch Quietcast rotors at about $55/ea. And went back w/ Lexus pads, no autoparts stuff. Not to plug Bosch or any other brand, the point is just that I replaced the rotors instead of turning them.

You would not believe what a difference the new rotors made. I have since put over 40k on the set up, and the imbalance was gone and stayed gone, I would call it a 100% smooth new car ride and drive. and it didn't degrade over time, over mileage, it was just plain right.

Here's my conclusion. The OE rotors are fine, but when you turn them down (even staying well within the minimum thickness allowed) - pretty soon they warp and can contribute to imbalance that can't be overcome no matter how well you balance the wheels and tires. And I suspect the possible more abrasive parts store pads (they have a warranty but it's not worth it imo) may contribute to the issue slightly.

My suggestiong is if you are having imbalance issues and have careully gone through steps 1 thru 8, and you have over 60k on the car, replace the rotors instead of turn them, and stay w OE Lexus pads. I bet you will have smooth ride! That made my car totally enjoyable every day, so I hope this helps someone here on CL!!

sicklexo

Where did your buy the bosch ones at?

gottahaveit2

O'Reilly's Auto Parts: Bosch QuietCast™ - Brake Rotor Part # 50011248 .

And I also had minor or no brake dust on wheels issues, which was a side benefit.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59123601@N04/8373665385/http://www.flickr.com/photos/59123601@N04/8373665385/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/59123601@N04/, on Flickr

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...s%21s%21rotors

Brand Information

Bosch QuietCast Brake Rotors are recognized by professional installers as OEM and can be assured Bosch QuietCast Premium Brake Rotors provide the highest quality to the aftermarket, from the company with over 70 years of OE braking expertise. Bosch castings provide strength and durability not found in competitive products. Bosch QuietCast Brake Rotors provide consistent, safe, and long lasting performance. ClearLook coating protection prevents rust and corrosion, adding to a clean look on today's vehicles with open-wheel designs. Factory engraved edge code and minimum thickness specifications allow proper identification and easy discard reference to simplify installation. 100% mill balanced for smooth operation. OEM-Style vane configuration reduces operating heat to optimize performance, reducing vibration that can cause noise.

713gs430

For awhile, I could not figure out what was causing my shakes between the 60-70 mph range. Then when i'd speed up to 75 it would be fine. When I did do the alignment, wheel balancing, etc it did not help. I had 19s on, and removed them and currently have my stock wheels and it did stop the shakes. But your information would be helpful since there are A LOT of threads pertaining to vibration issues w/ the 2nd gen. thanks

sicklexo

Thanx alot i appreciate it.

Sevenevez

iTrader: (2)

good post. most of us may know this but to keep it in your head is important

BayAreaLex

Thanks for sharing.

Like many of us 2GS owners, we've tried a lot of things and have unintentionally become experts in steering wheel shimmy and shake, despite many of us never fully 100% curing it.

When I first got my Lexus GS430, it had a noticeable vibe at 60mph or so. Here are the things that improved it:

wheel balance (I'm on 19's)
hubcentric rings
new caster arm bushings
MOOG balljoints
MOOG tie rod ends
new steering rack bushings
fresh alignment -> this one had a very nice improvement in overall feel of the car

I would say that cured 90% of my vibes. The last time I did brakes, I had the OEM rotors turned. I wonder what the car would feel like with the Bosch replacement rotors?

Less common things that people have reported to have an effect on the shimmy:
- Motor Mounts
- Sway bar bushings/links (also check the bracket bolts that go above the bushings)
- Upper/lower control arms
- Inner tie rods

Most of us get to the point where it's liveable without every 100% solving it because after you get 90% there, it's hard to justify continually throwing more money at it when there are no guarantees.

These cars seem to be more sensitive to vibes than most others and it doesn't help that many of us are on aftermarket wheels with larger than 60.1mm bores... The centering rings are critical with aftermarket wheels. And you are absolutely right that they can slip or hang. For example, if I put the ring on the brake hub, and then install the wheels, I've gotten vibes. If I stick the ring inside the wheel hub as far as it will go, then install the wheel, no vibes. Aftermarket wheels can be tricky sometimes because the ring and the wheel bore must match. I've seen wide tolerances between this combination before.

And yes, I always try to torque as much as I can with the car in the air (i.e. suspension unloaded).

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Keep in mind, a HUGE contributing factor is the tire and wheels. I've had the problem in the past as well as most people here. If the wheel is out of balance or isn't manufactured properly, it will shake....period. Also another thing that a lot of people overlook is how well the tire is balanced from the factory. Many times it is not very good! I've bought many brand name set of tires that were $$$. I've tried many different kinds ranging from $300-500 per tire. They all have some kind of imbalance. Some worse than others but this is all on expensive tires, not the cheapo special.

So one way to cure it is to have a REAL road force balance. It involves spinning the wheel/tire combo on the machine once to determine the total imbalance of both. Then they dismount the tire from the rim, re-align/rotate the tire at the corresponding balance point, and then re-mount the tire onto rim at exactly that point. This way the imbalance of the wheel is counteracted with the imbalance of the tire. Thus canceling out the vibration. This does not always work, especially the the wheel or tire is severely bad. Some places claim to do a RoadForce balance and do not dismount the tire....that IS NOT a real RoadForce balance! It is obviously more labor involved to dismount the tire and realign it, so many shops do not do it. They just run the tire on the RF machine, throw wheel weights on it and call it a day, and tell you it's done as good as it gets.

DriftChris

This is all really good Information because Ive had mine alittle over a year and its gotten to the point where im going to replace every single suspension component and bushing on the car. Ill be watching this thread for solutions to my vibrations and noises and maybe even make a thread once I start fixing stuff.

NorthStyle

iTrader: (16)

Beautiful car big guy, and thanks for things to look at (noticed mine has been vibrating a bit as of lately as well)

BayAreaLex

Well, you convinced me. I went ahead and ordered these Bosch rotors for $59.99 each from Oriellys since my stock resurfaced ones look to be causing a slight steering shake on the highway when hitting the brakes.

gottahaveit2

Good deal! I miss my 2nd Gen GS, they are awesome cars...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59123601@N04/8347909489/http://www.flickr.com/photos/59123601@N04/8347909489/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/59123601@N04/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59123601@N04/8374739924/http://www.flickr.com/photos/59123601@N04/8374739924/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/59123601@N04/, on Flickr

Acer

iTrader: (3)

updates?..........

SprtDesign

iTrader: (21)

He sold his 2GS and brought a 3GS.

DosyBoy

iTrader: (1)

Damn that was a clean gs...