Reconsidering the Factory Alignment
#76
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I did go with the same Bridgestones. If things go the way I expect, this will be the last set of these I run. I'll likely run something higher mileage in the future as I'll have a set of wheels specifically for track duty, and I really don't need all the performance (or cost) summer tires give me for street driving.
I turned the rod ends 1/4 turn on each end for a total of 0.75mm more toe-in from the previous setting. Since Gran Turismo showed me each turn is worth 1.5mm of toe, I figured I could easily do it myself and save $100. I'll continue to post what I discover in this thread with the new tires. I have confidence it is possible to get this right - my IS350 wore the fronts perfectly evenly down to the wear bars. I just want to have the same tire life with my F.
I turned the rod ends 1/4 turn on each end for a total of 0.75mm more toe-in from the previous setting. Since Gran Turismo showed me each turn is worth 1.5mm of toe, I figured I could easily do it myself and save $100. I'll continue to post what I discover in this thread with the new tires. I have confidence it is possible to get this right - my IS350 wore the fronts perfectly evenly down to the wear bars. I just want to have the same tire life with my F.
#78
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Barely 20k. One track weekend.
#80
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I'd go for closer to zero on the front next time. I tried a small amount of toe out and still got excessive inside edge wear.
#82
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The rear is fine. The car should turn better with those settings.
#83
So the general rule is more-or-less as close to 0 on the TOE - Front and Rear - as possible, is what I'm gathering?
I'm going to the tire shop tomorrow to replace my fronts. I'm tired of this uneven wear.
I'm going to the tire shop tomorrow to replace my fronts. I'm tired of this uneven wear.
#84
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I know my car is not IS-F might may provide some insight.
I get my alignments done by Byron from Tru-Line in Bellevue.
I'm not sure if this is correct regarding total toe being close to 0 or dead on. For me when I found a good alignment place (Tru-Line), the "Steer Ahead" and "Thrust Angle" is 0. Notice the Total Toe is not 0.
I had an alignment done for my 07 IS250 AWD last year and corrected everything supposedly factory aligned. Steering was off and the car could not quite keep straight. No problem with my tires and had them rotated at 12K and still looking good (currently about 17K) since the alignment.
I also had my 08 IS250 RWD aligned today as well (I got the car from Lexus 10 days ago). After the alignment, the car felt solid and can feel the car because I mentioned to Byron before he aligned it that it drove fine but felt like the car floats as if it was lacking grip and feel. It was aligned at the dealership too before I bought it (verified through the service history).
My car checked every 4-5K miles by Byron so he can inspect and feel the tires as per his recommendation track the progress of the tire and also give recommendations if necessary.
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4034/align.jpg - 07 IS250 AWD
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2629/align2.jpg - 08 IS250 RWD
This was a good read. It sounds like I'll be getting my car in for re-alignment soon.
For you Seattle area guys, I go to Speedware Motorsports in Redmond to do my alignments. They do prep for race cars and I've always gotten good advice and results from them. I've also heard that Fordahl in Bellevue is good too. I haven't been there myself.
I'll be calculating and posting the 1/32 to 1/16ths toe out to an equivalent degrees pretty soon. It's still dark out and I can't get an accurate measurement on the OD of the front tires.
For you Seattle area guys, I go to Speedware Motorsports in Redmond to do my alignments. They do prep for race cars and I've always gotten good advice and results from them. I've also heard that Fordahl in Bellevue is good too. I haven't been there myself.
I'll be calculating and posting the 1/32 to 1/16ths toe out to an equivalent degrees pretty soon. It's still dark out and I can't get an accurate measurement on the OD of the front tires.
I had an alignment done for my 07 IS250 AWD last year and corrected everything supposedly factory aligned. Steering was off and the car could not quite keep straight. No problem with my tires and had them rotated at 12K and still looking good (currently about 17K) since the alignment.
I also had my 08 IS250 RWD aligned today as well (I got the car from Lexus 10 days ago). After the alignment, the car felt solid and can feel the car because I mentioned to Byron before he aligned it that it drove fine but felt like the car floats as if it was lacking grip and feel. It was aligned at the dealership too before I bought it (verified through the service history).
My car checked every 4-5K miles by Byron so he can inspect and feel the tires as per his recommendation track the progress of the tire and also give recommendations if necessary.
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4034/align.jpg - 07 IS250 AWD
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2629/align2.jpg - 08 IS250 RWD
#85
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#86
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I know my car is not IS-F might may provide some insight.
I get my alignments done by Byron from Tru-Line in Bellevue.
I'm not sure if this is correct regarding total toe being close to 0 or dead on. For me when I found a good alignment place (Tru-Line), the "Steer Ahead" and "Thrust Angle" is 0. Notice the Total Toe is not 0.
I had an alignment done for my 07 IS250 AWD last year and corrected everything supposedly factory aligned. Steering was off and the car could not quite keep straight. No problem with my tires and had them rotated at 12K and still looking good (currently about 17K) since the alignment.
I also had my 08 IS250 RWD aligned today as well (I got the car from Lexus 10 days ago). After the alignment, the car felt solid and can feel the car because I mentioned to Byron before he aligned it that it drove fine but felt like the car floats as if it was lacking grip and feel. It was aligned at the dealership too before I bought it (verified through the service history).
My car checked every 4-5K miles by Byron so he can inspect and feel the tires as per his recommendation track the progress of the tire and also give recommendations if necessary.
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4034/align.jpg - 07 IS250 AWD
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2629/align2.jpg - 08 IS250 RWD
I get my alignments done by Byron from Tru-Line in Bellevue.
I'm not sure if this is correct regarding total toe being close to 0 or dead on. For me when I found a good alignment place (Tru-Line), the "Steer Ahead" and "Thrust Angle" is 0. Notice the Total Toe is not 0.
I had an alignment done for my 07 IS250 AWD last year and corrected everything supposedly factory aligned. Steering was off and the car could not quite keep straight. No problem with my tires and had them rotated at 12K and still looking good (currently about 17K) since the alignment.
I also had my 08 IS250 RWD aligned today as well (I got the car from Lexus 10 days ago). After the alignment, the car felt solid and can feel the car because I mentioned to Byron before he aligned it that it drove fine but felt like the car floats as if it was lacking grip and feel. It was aligned at the dealership too before I bought it (verified through the service history).
My car checked every 4-5K miles by Byron so he can inspect and feel the tires as per his recommendation track the progress of the tire and also give recommendations if necessary.
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4034/align.jpg - 07 IS250 AWD
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2629/align2.jpg - 08 IS250 RWD
Your RWD printout looks weird. The before numbers are way off in every respect. I have no idea how they got to the final numbers unless your tire pressures were bad on the initial reading, then fixed for the final printout.
#87
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No one here has run toe out in the front and not had inside edge wear. 2WD models do not have the adjustments available on the 4WD models. Steer ahead doesn't mean much for inside edge wear on both sides.
Your RWD printout looks weird. The before numbers are way off in every respect. I have no idea how they got to the final numbers unless your tire pressures were bad on the initial reading, then fixed for the final printout.
Your RWD printout looks weird. The before numbers are way off in every respect. I have no idea how they got to the final numbers unless your tire pressures were bad on the initial reading, then fixed for the final printout.
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/4407/img0678t.jpg - Front tires (which were at the back initally before first rotation at about 12K, this is about 2K after)
I barely have any sign of inside wear from the pics - it does show signs on the outside (cupping), but was confirmed as normal wear from city driving and steering.
As for the RWD car which appears werid, the tech did say he worked on the geometry of the car.
#88
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So problem 1 - AWD geometry is completely different from the F or the 2WD 2IS, so comparing them is very much apples to oranges.
Problem 2 - the initial settings on the 2WD compared to the final settings look very suspicious. "Working on the geometry" could mean a lot of things, but to fix camber is next to impossible. There isn't any appreciable slack in the bushings to exploit. The only thing we've seen is moving the front subframe, and this only corrects camber imbalance from side to side (it does also affect caster, but doesn't usually "fix" it without the caster correction bushings Lexus sells.) Your tech may have done a combination of things, but I'd still bet you'll have inside edge wear issues with as much toe out as you have. It won't be obvious until you've put at least 24k km on them.
Problem 2 - the initial settings on the 2WD compared to the final settings look very suspicious. "Working on the geometry" could mean a lot of things, but to fix camber is next to impossible. There isn't any appreciable slack in the bushings to exploit. The only thing we've seen is moving the front subframe, and this only corrects camber imbalance from side to side (it does also affect caster, but doesn't usually "fix" it without the caster correction bushings Lexus sells.) Your tech may have done a combination of things, but I'd still bet you'll have inside edge wear issues with as much toe out as you have. It won't be obvious until you've put at least 24k km on them.
#89
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Oh ok, I'll be on the look out on how the tire wear goes since the tech does recommend seeing him about every 8K KM so he can track the tire wear patterns and give advise if necessary.
Since I just got the RWD 10 day ago and has brand new tires, I doubt I'll hit that high KM that fast!! In fact, my dad said for my trips between Canada/US (which I do often), use the AWD (which he actually bought off me) to save mileage (odometer) on the RWD (my car). I will see how this plays out.
Since I just got the RWD 10 day ago and has brand new tires, I doubt I'll hit that high KM that fast!! In fact, my dad said for my trips between Canada/US (which I do often), use the AWD (which he actually bought off me) to save mileage (odometer) on the RWD (my car). I will see how this plays out.
Last edited by Sango; 08-11-11 at 10:58 PM.