jklinz2107

Hello all. This is my first time around here. I have a 1997 LS400 with 215k miles on it. Starting about 6mo ago the rear end sinks after the car is turned off and parked. The sinking occurs gradually over time after the car is turned off. When fully settled it looks like the back wheel wells are on the tires... When I go to start up the car I wait for about a minute for the rear suspension to rise up to normal driving level. Is this something I need to fix or be worried about? Has anyone else had this problem?
Thanks for the help!

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Welcome to Club Lexus.

The rear air suspension is leaking, you did well at 215K miles . The fix is $ and you may want to read this thread in the 430 section about a traditional spring and shock conversion.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ion-infos.html

The parts will be different obviously but this thread will give you an idea of the process. For about $1,100 including install and alignment you can convert yours over.

hlovepenn

Check out the following: https://www.arnottindustries.com/par...id7_pid47.html
They offer replacement air struts that are much less expensive than factory and also coil-over struts to convert from the air system which also appears to be a lot less costly than a lot of the other systems on the market. Good luck! I had a '91 LS400 with air struts and the factory fronts were $1250 each and the rears were $750 each plus installation--a very pricey situation. I now have a '96 LS400 with regular coil suspension!

j2b4o

One or more of your rear air bags are leaking. Same thing just happened to my 90' with the same symptoms. Thought it was a sticky valve because it only happened while sitting and stayed inflated the whole drive but than after a week of that the rear started dropping and re-inflating while driving which was a pain.

IMO the easiest cheapest way to replace everything is getting a set of coilovers(650$-4k$).
You can get the strut masters or Arnott or seisen conversions but none are very reputable and the quality is suspect at best (especially Arnott). The conversions are also about 600-800$ anyway so why not just get cheap coils. You can piece everything together buying KYB, Lexus, H&R and so on but the cost is right up there with the coils also.

jklinz2107

Hm... This is a tough decision. Is it dangerous to drive the car as it is now? I am wondering if it can last a little longer and maybe get a newer model. Is it worth putting ~$1k into a car that is worth only about $3k.

j2b4o

Depends on how long you plan to keep it. You almost certainly won't get the money you put into mods back.
For me, it was a no brainer.
-I plan on keeping my LS for a few more years,
-800$ is way cheaper than another used car, and another used car's worth of problems
-I know my LS inside and out so I know it's history already
-I hate shopping for cars
-my wife loves the LS and would make me get another one anyway.

It's somewhat safe to drive but will drive like crap and beat the hell out of the rest of the suspension once it drops and stays there.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

The cost is worth it if the rest of the car is in good shape. A replacement car is going to cost thousands and depends what you want. Then there are the unknowns when buying pre-owned that always take extra $ to fix something. If buying new no big deal. With the car in need of maintenance, this will hurt trade-in/sale value.