kctiger75

Hi all,

Just about at my wit's end here.... My LS will not stay in it's lane, especially when in the center or left lane of a 6-lane freeway or in the left lane of a standard 4-lane freeway.

The car has about 38,000 miles on it (I bought it as a CPO with 33K) and it has been back to Lexus three times for this problem. They insist it is in spec, alignment-wise and are attributing my problem to the crown of the road. (If that's the case, why won't it drift right when in the right-hand lane? The drift is much too pronounced to be caused simply by the crown.) Constant pressure needs to be applied to keep the car straight.

The car has the 18" wheels and low-profile Dunlops with good tread remaining.

I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this and if so, what have you done to correct it? Would new tires help? (Is this a common problem with the low-profile 18" tires?)

Thanks!

Playdrv4me

My 2004 came from Kansas as well (Wichita) and even with nearly 100k on the clock I have no problems with the car drifting off center on K-96, the Turnpike, 54 or any other highway around there or here in Saint Louis. I did have a 1998 LS400 with the same problem on the right side but I got rid of it before I ever got a chance to find out what the issue was. I had a 2003 Escalade right before the LS with the exact same issue though, and I found it damn near impossible to get anyone to go beyond "well, its within specs" no matter how many times I brought it back to Sears to be aligned. That truck was a theft recovery and I suspect there was suspension damage on that one.

It is certainly possible that your tires could be contributing to, or causing this issue. A simple way to tell, and probably the easiest thing to start with, would be a tire rotation from back to front in a criss-cross pattern (rear left to right front, rear right to left front). If it still does it then it is less likely your problem is tire related and you will need to seek out a quality alignment shop to really take their time and figure out what is wrong. The dealership is likely never going to go beyond simply telling you that everything is within spec. Good luck.

fergo308

Did you ever get a printout of the alignment specs? Road camber will not need to be allowed for to the extent you're describing,and if it's only drifting one way regardless of what sort of road you're on,I'm inclined to dismiss that anyway.

I'd take the car to a proper alignment place (i.e. somehwere that works on race cars and not just the local tyre shop) and get before and after printouts done,getting them to pay particular attention to the camber and front castor angles.
If you can swap another set of wheels onto the car and see if it's any different before than,that would be worthwhile as well,to at least potentially rule that area out as a cause.
If you can't get your hands on another set,try swapping the wheels from left to right and see if the car drives differently afterwards. if so,it's tyre issue. if not,it's in ther suspension and you'll need to check alignment first,and look for any damage second.

Justin...

jimbosr1

if your alignment is all good ,check to see if all your vin tags are on your car.if you bought it used it may have been in a crash.even cpo vehicles slip through.i bought a 98 gs400 that had damage in the front and rear and carfax showed a clean fax.bought it from lenstoller lexus md.and of course thy denied knowing it had been hit even though most of the vin tags were gone! i have heard that no more then 1 body panel can be replaced and it can pass as a cpo vehicle.i would love to see the inspection list to cpo a lexus.

alanchad

iTrader: (1)

My 2001 did similar to this and it ended up being a bad tire with radial pull.

You can rotate tires as suggested above, or swap the spare in, starting on the front.

My bad tire was almost new.

Good Luck,

Alan

kctiger75

Thanks to all for responding. I'm going to get a second opinion on the alignment and other suspension items suggested and see what happens. If it turns out to be in spec, I'll go for new Michelin Primacys and see if that takes care of it.

abs

You may want to review the info in this thread including the .xls of tire tested by TireRack I posted.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...5-ls430-3.html

kctiger75

Problem update:

After reading the suggestions, I took the car to a local mechanic who rode with me and immediately said we should try crossing the front tires over. That eliminated most, but not all of the problem.

At that point I thought it best to go ahead and replace the tires. I was set to buy the Michelin Primacys until I started hearing more and more about the Continental DWS. So I though I'd give them a try.

And a good decision it was! Not only did it save me a couple hundred bucks over the set of Michelins, the tires are incredibly smooth and quiet. I am very pleased with them and appreciative of the suggestion to check them out.

The only caveat with these tires is that they may be a little too soft for more spirited driving. But I didn't buy an LS to run at LeMans. I bought it to be a comfy, smooth-driving car. And now it is. Thanks!

warminwisc

Mint Bar a happy ending!!