norviewguy

So let me start by saying it is an honor to be browsing this website as an owner instead of a window shopper.

A little history

I took it in to Charles barker Lexus (our dealer here) and they said the water pump was leaking $698, the front struts were totally blown out $1708, and the 2 belt tensioners had some free play$844.

Got the dealership I purchased from to pay for the water pump but they would not cover the struts because they said the car pass inspection so they don't believe they are damaged.

Got and independent shop to replace the front struts with kyb 551122 for $400 parts and labor. While they were under the car they said the upper and lower control arms looked newer as if they were replaced recently

Got all wheels balanced at a little small used tire shop small change. The vibration that started at 60mph now starts at 65.

Question is are all tire balancers created equally?

greg3852

As someone who went through this recently, without a doubt, NO they are not. The more technical guys will explain it better, but there is balancing, then road force balancing. Road force puts pressure on the tire to simulate how it reacts when being driven, and then they balance it. Also some people just suck at balancing tires.

How do the tires look? Worn evenly?

norviewguy

Yes they are newer Michelin pilots and they seem pretty even from what I can tell but they haven't been driven on enough to display odd wear

NickTee

1. Who knows the quality of those KYB struts. Just because they make OEM shocks and struts doesn't mean that their any-fit OE struts are the same quality, or even properly valved for the vehicle. I've seen so many complaints with their Lexus-fit struts that I'd rather shell the money out for OEM ones and not sacrifice ride quality.
2. Take your car to a reputable shop with a road force balance machine, or the dealership, and have them road force balance your wheels. Doing this will be able to show any issues with the tires or wheels and will give it the best possible balance(with a good tech).

There is a difference between being cheap and being smart with your money. Being cheap can often end up with you paying double to do it right the second time. I'm all for independent shops for lower labor costs than the dealership, but you need to know when to draw the line. Balancing your wheels at some cheap shop does not bode well. If the road force balance comes out with nice low numbers, 10 or below, and the issue still exists, then you will have to continue hunting.

norviewguy

Hey thanks for the reply. I understand about going cheap but the car was vibrating before the strut replacement and start vibrating at the same speed afterwards so I know that's not the problem. The car rides like a tomb below 65 mph so I'm very happy with the struts. You are the second one that recommended the road force balancing so I'm going to get that done after my alignment on Friday and check back in.

waynedog

I had the same problem with a 2009 I purchased. Had the Michelin Pilot tires. Could not get rid of vibration after several road force balancings at Lexus dealer. They put a brand new set of Michelin Pilot Sport tires and still had the vibration. Several trips to dealer to check everything else (i.e. drive shaft, etc). Everything was fine. They talked to Lexus corporate and was told many dealers were having problems with Michelin Pilot tires (flat spotting, hard to balance). They put OE Bridgestone Turanza EL42 tires on car (based on corporate Lexus recommendation) and vibration went away. In the past, I owned a 2007 and had 2 sets of Michelin Pilot tires with no problem. Lexus believes something changed in the Michelin Pilot tire design/production that are creating these problems. They said the LS460 suspension is very sensitive and will pick up slight imperfections where other cars will not. Not sure what the real story is - all I know is after 2 sets of Pilot tires with vibration, the Bridgestones did not vibrate.

Doublebase

Honestly I don't think it's your tire balance, I think despite the mechanic thinking your control arms look new, they might not be. These control arms are hard to look at (some of them anyway), and a sign they are going bad is the vibration you are feeling at that speed...and a slight pull. Could be the arms. From my personal experience tire balancer machines...once it says it's balanced, it's pretty balanced.

And those prices you are getting at the dealer??? Wow! I mean even for the dealer, wow!

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

I have an 09, brand new control arms in front in June, the Michelin Pilots and a vibration between 70-80mph. It's slight but it's there.

I will say that I had my 18" oem wheels swapped out for the chrome version a couple months ago and I noticed the vibration after that. I did indeed go to a little Indy tire shop because they are all over San Diego. He had what looked to be a road force balance machine but it looked old and he was balancing them real quick. He did comment on his own that the wheels/tires were very balanced and didn't need much adjusting. But something tells me they may not get their machine serviced very often...and it looked old. In gonna try going to the dealer or discount tire or something for another balance. I'll be shopping for tires in the next year or so as these tires have about 10k on them.

NickTee

It could be suspension related, but assuming that he does not have the ability to jack the car up and personally inspect the bushings on the arms a road force balance is a good step because it eliminates the possibility of the issues being the tires or the wheels, and it's relatively affordable. You can double this up by having the shop clean the brake hat and wheel mating surfaces. I actually eliminated a maddening vibration that started at 65mph by cleaning the mating surfaces with a wire brush.

CRowe14

I just wanted to add this additional information to what both of these gentleman have stated. More so, regarding what Doublebase has mentioned, but indeed a quality RFB should be executed before anything else to eliminate that as a possible issue.
Below is an entry from caha14 regarding his past control arm experience:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ol-arms-3.html

Entire thread is great, however, caha14's is page 3, post #36.
For the record, I have yet to address mine, and the symptom's are pretty much the same, smooth ride but at between 70-75mph, in comes the vibration.
But I will be having this repair done shortly.

tbilisi79

New control arms in mine, Same thing here. I got a set of new michelins at home, will mount them at some point.
I'm thinking it might be the rear tires as I have yet to balance them, did fronts once and that did nothing.

dal20402

Is the vibration always there?

I have a little bit of the same thing (with brand-new control arms and tires) but ONLY for the first mile or two after getting on the freeway. The tires (Continental DWS06) apparently need to warm up a bit to get in round. After a mile or two the vibration subsides entirely and the car drives like it's on air.

Nearly went ballistic the first time I got on the freeway after getting the tires... and by the time I started thinking straight I realized I couldn't feel any vibration anymore, at all. Since then it's consistently repeatable.

norviewguy

Thanks for the info and yes the dealer is extremely expensive here because of the donuts and free car wash

norviewguy

The car was up all the way, I know because i remember commenting that the car looks like a hot wheel underneath lol never seen any other car like it...no rust on the mating surfaces

Kennyr44

In my 91 I used to have to tell them to use the double weight system. Stick weights on the inner and outer part of the inside of the wheel. If the tech sets the machine to the single weight setting (which is what they like to do) and just puts them in the middle it never works even when it reads all zeros. I've been through this a lot. I would make sure you tell them this because single balance point ain't gonna cut it. They also have to make certain the stick weights clear the control arms and brake calipers so they don't just get knocked off. Usually ok if they don't stack them. Steering wheel shimmy is almost always incorrect tire balance.