nostalgi

My -93 LS400 has the air suspension, a feature which is new to me. Where can I learn more about how this works, how to trouble shoot and repair? No, I don't currently have any problems but it's never bad to be prepared when driving a 20 year old car.

deanshark

Use the search feature at the top of the page. Put in "stock air suspension" in the LS400 forum and you'll get reading material for a week. It was one of the best options, for the time. But no good after so many years. You'll see alot about converting it to spring/shocks when something goes wrong with the system b/c of how expensive EVERY part is. You can get all 4 conversion shocks for half the price of 1 new air shock. Anything you need to know about any part on your car you can find with the search button. If not, just ask. Alot of knowledgable members here that are glad to help with any problems. Welcome to CL

Sc0pe

iTrader: (1)

Well, here's a start:
Air suspension (or "pneumatic suspension", if you're fancy) in the LS basically adapts to the style of driving you select. It does this by increasing/decreasing the pressure of the air in the air bags. The air bags sit in place of the usual coil spring that you would find on your average strut. For repairs, be ready to empty out your pockets, as one air strut comes in around ~$1k per strut. You can replace the air suspension system pretty easily with standard coil struts. You just need to remove a fuse so you don't get any errors from the onboard computer (there are tutorials for this on the forums). You can also add an aftermarket "controller" from JDM-land, which basically allows you to go lower than the allowed threshold of the bags, which in turn reduces the life (which, being a 20 year old car, days are numbered at this point) causes them to blow and leave you with an awkward imbalance in your car and probably have you waiting for a tow, if serious enough.

nostalgi

Thanks!

Well, for my car I guess that rust might kill it before anythings else.

PlotPoint

I tried searching both the ls400 forum and the search bar at the top and nothing came up (this post and I think one other). Something isn't working because I am sure there is a ton of info on this.

Arnott in Florida either still does or used to make replacement air shocks for the first gen LS400 for far less than dealer pricing. Like $350 each. They also sell a conversion kit for the LS -- all four coils -- for around $700 (plus s/h). No special tools required for installation. If my air shocks ever blow (and I still have this car), I am keeping those in mind.

I have replaced the front shocks but the rears are original and I am in a first gen LS. It's only a matter of time.

nostalgi

Plotpoint I had the same search problem. When googling I found more links though.

Thanks for the other pointers though. I'm gonna check of conversion to regular suspension is legal in my country without massivie administration.

This old car I bought needs tons of attention, but as I normally work in front of computers it's kind of satisfying to work with your hands.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

There are a variety of threads but nothing that has been grouped together for ease.

To simplify:
If there are any wear issues/broken: least costly fix is the swap to a spring and shock unit. All four springs/shocks will cost as much as one new factory air unit. Stateside an air shock is about $1,100/each.

Here is one of Dean's threads on his air suspension:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-problems.html

*This will be on my list for a FAQ addition.