Gville350

iTrader: (10)

So after I installed BCRs on my ride I decided to get a Lexus 4-wheel alignment. Previous to the install and right after I had no issues with the alignment or drifting. Fast-forward to now...the car drifts to the right; nothing extreme, just say if I'm cruising down a flat road and take my hands off the wheel it would take 5 seconds for it to drift into the other lane. Like stated...not bad, just annoying that I have to drive around countering the drifting in the steering wheel constantly. So today I was at Lexus and had them re-test the alignment and they tell me all specs are fine. Uhm, ok? They show me the print out and the #s do look good for my level of drop.

So I'm left wondering, what besides the alignment/tire pressure/ remaining tread life could affect the car in this matter?

BTW, the car is not tramlining...it does it on all roads. The service advisor was amazed I knew that term too. Lol!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

No posts because I didn't have pictures or something? LOL!

kamileon

need to see the specs. if you pay for alignment the specs need to be givin to you. If not the tech should of attached it to the RO and is in their database. without the specs ask for refund. you might have a cross camber and caster issue. There is no adjustment for caster or camber on is350 but there is for is250. i adjusted mine by unbolting the subframe and shifting it over. Also there are caster bushings that can be changed depending what needs to be done. About $75 a piece. Without the specs, cannot be guess what you need.

dmvp29

Are you sure it's not just tramlining?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramlining

It's very rare for me to find a road that's completely straight and completely flat.

At higher speeds (70-80 MPH), you also have to take into the effects of wind gusts. Wind gusts + tramlining usually is enough to explain why my car won't go completely straight down a seemingly straight highway if I completely let go of the steering wheel.

I'm obsessive with my tire pressures and alignment, and it's still very rare for me to find a road where I don't have to make small continual corrections. I also have low profile tires which further contributes to the tramlining problem.

I know there's at least one person on these boards who couldn't put up with tramlining due to low profile tires, but of course low profile tires also help tremendously with high speed cornering, so if you're going to go with a "softer" tire to eliminate tramlining, your car won't handle as well. There's a tradeoff there.


Edit: Just saw your last sentence where you claim it's not tramlining lol. That's fine, but how can you be sure? MOST public roads will have tramlining issues.

dmvp29

Go to a wealthy neighborhood and drive your car down a straight away at 20 MPH. High end neighborhoods tend to have better roads, and wind gusts aren't a problem at such low speeds.

If your car drifts to the left or right within a wealthy neighborhood setting like this, then you can consider alignment issues.

From what I've seen, a majority of people who complain about drifting to the right or left are really just complaining about common tramlining/wind gust issues.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

I have the print out from the initial alignment, but this last alignment check they did was free and they didn't give me a copy of the print out.

I'm post up a pic of the original alignment specs tonight.

But keep in mind that before and right after the alignment I did not have this issue. This "drifting" issue only arose within this last month. Alignment was complete the first week of Jan.

IS300_white

Is it possible they didn't make the steering wheel straight before they started the alignment process? So now when you keep the steering wheel straight your IS350 will drift to the right.

Considering the service was free, they could've half-assed the job and forgot a simple thing like straightening out the steering wheel.

typhoon44

Had the same issue when I put on my Continental Extreme Contact DWS. It may be the tire as it was in my case. I put my summer tires and the problem went away.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

The thing is that the alignment was cherry right out of the dealership. Month and a half later I am now having this "drifting" issue.

The secondary visit they only checked the alignment and pulled the numbers...no actual "work" was performed.

Here's the sheet from the first alignment. *Note that I am dropped 2.5" on BCRs are understand that the negative camber is there...but again, the car drove straight as an arrow after the actual alignment.



Thanks for everyone's input!

skottydznt

iTrader: (11)

you need a camber kit PRONTO

My0gr81

Camber is off, but at least it's somewhat equal on both sides, even wear on the inside of both tires. Toe is right at the extreme on the right side, where as it is fine on the left. This could explain some of the drift.