anil1225

My 02 SC430 from last 3-4 months has been ripping tires from inside, i did alignment and still tires were ripping, specially front ones. Then I took to another shop for alignment chk and they said we have not seen soo much toe and cam ... then another shop tells me that front ball joints needs to be replaced.

So I took to dealership, and they seem to not want to own the prob so said we cannot fix it but car has been in accident so needs frame adjustments first. It has been in one minor accident like 5 yrs ago, simple rear ending to another car. How can that be the cause for misalignment now. But ride lately has been very rough, bumpy and sometimes when i back up car i hear crackling noise from front near tires.

What should be my course of action? Does this sound like body frame work as recommended by dealership?

OBP

How long does it take ( how many miles ) for a new set of tires to "rip" ? Our cars are known to have much negative camber and you can ask a good tire/wheel shop to help you make it more neutral. But if you still have uneven wear, then the frame situation or the ball joint situation will need to be addressed.

V300Graham

These cars eat suspension joints with monotonous regularity. Get all the joints checked by a independent specialist in Japanese cars. Only replace the worn ones. I got my SC430 with about 80,000 miles on her and she needed nearly everything replaced on the front suspension and steering rack. Lexus prices would have been in the thousands for all parts changed. I used FIGS engineering p[arts, RockAuto, and Lexus Seawell for one of two OEM bits as well, which kept the costs down to a fraction of dealer prices.

See my previous posts on here for details of that.

If you cannot still get satisfactory adjustment after that, then you'll need a pair of NON OEM adjustable top wishbones for about $300 for the pair. Our cars seem to need them to give owners an extra option of adjustment once the cars move into their middle years. I have avoided getting a pair myself, but are the very next thing on the list if she starts mis-behaving herself again.

Many SC's are sold over here because they start to rattle and shake and eat front tyres even after a geometry check to bring it as close as possible to factory spec's.

Fact is the cure is lots of tight new suspension parts with no single part being singled out as being able to cure these issues by themselves.

anil1225

OBP: Within 2 months, hardly 1000 - 1500 miles ... that's all they last.

Thanks V300Graham: SO if I understand your recommendation, (as i'm a software guy) you are saying start with the suspension joints prob and only replace the one's which are worn out. The dealership guy wrote down this for me:

1) Left front and rear suspension have sustained damage.

2) Left front strut is leaking fluid

3) Left front and rear out of alignment.

SO step 1 is what you are also recommending? though dealer said step 1 is body work.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

sounds like you have a bent frame that wasn't take care of when you had that accident. I have 74k and no problems with the car. my alignment is front -02 and -02 rear -07 and -07 toe each side I think is 0 and 0 any good mechanic can check the front end out and tell what you need to do.

Need4Speed

Agreed,

Bent frames can cause wear and tear beyond joints being

My car got taped in the front when another vehicle backed up into it and it caused a slight bend that needed to be adjusted

Slingshot1

Post the numbers are you getting from the alignment shop,that should let us know where you are aligned, and if it is way out of specs. I had to tell an Indy shop to take all the negative camber out that they could. If you don't tell them what you want they will align it to Lexus specs which will wear out the inside of your tires. Hope it is not your frame!

anil1225

here are the alignment info from lexus and something written about height of right and left side ...

OBP

If you are running only 1500 miles before your tires show serious uneven wear, it is not just a camber problem that our cars are famous for. That would be more like 5-15K miles. Frame damage and alignment look to be possible problems. Better get those fixed. Indept shop with a good trustworthy tech can tell you if struts/shocks need to be replaced.

anil1225

Thanks OBP. V300Graham & Slingshot1 what is your read on this now after i posted the lexus alignment report? I hate this, i have Es300 with 180K miles and all her life she got $20 oil chg and brake pads ... yesterday one shop tells me replace all 4 struts, 2K minimum.

anil1225

Another shop today took a look at whole car and said we should just do the Front left control arm replacement part no 48630-39055 bec res to fstuff is not looking that bad and see how alignment report comes out.

he quoted me the part for $360 but

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/catalog.php

has it for even $100. ANy recommendation on which brand to install this part from?

sc430faste

If you are redoing your suspension try to use MOOG or AC DELCO Professional grade (if OEM is same price, go with OEM, but if not then Moog or AC delco professional grade is best bet) , just redid my whole front suspension, inner tie rods, outer tie rods, control arms, ball joints. Was a pain in the *** but after allignment my car feels like new .. so smooth

sc430faste

Also , it is weird your left front is out of spec and also leaking/possibly bent is noted on the sheet, was your sc430 hit on the left front before? Or maybe hit a very big pothole/curb left side?

anil1225

can anyone explain to me why the notes from lexus says LF is 3/4 inch low and RF is 1/4 inch low. WHat does it means and what does it takes to fix if needs to be fixed other than the upper control arm which i'm planning to replace now. Thanks for guidance all.

DarthSid

It states that the left front (LF) is too low by 3/4" and the right front (RF) is a 1/4" too low.