sgi

Lexus has a TSB to replace the steering rack which should eliminate the virbrations at the steering wheel on gs cars w/ 17" factory wheels/tires. the deal also includes 5 new michelin pilot tires to replace the original bridgestone tires. My gs was fixed and runs perfectly smooth after the replacements.

RacingAristo

What suspension set are you running? I had the same vibration problem on my GS from 50mph to 60mph and dealer couldn't do anything about it. They told me during their testing, everything was smooth. When I asked the mechanic to ride with me, he said we couldn't go over 40 mph cuz it's illegal at local street and it's traffic time on the freeway so forget about it.

Later when I came home and checked my TEIN HA coilover set. I found out one of the stiffness adjustment was off 1 to 2 clicks (no idea how this occurs). After I reajusted the stiffness, the vibration went away.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

As one who has had 'vibration hell' with after market rims/tires, I'd like to say that it is possible to get rid of all but the slightest vibrations... well it was in my case anyway.

1) Get centering rings if your rims are not hub centric (prob. 90% of aftermarket rims are NOT because they're not designed for specific axles/hubs) - they're only about $20 for a set of 4!

2) Get the rims/tires speed balanced on a Hunter machine at a shop that does HIGH END CARS. Don't bother with local Joe 6 Pack tire place.

3) Have a 4 wheel alignment done.

4) Replace the front tires if you still have problems. Expensive I know, but I'm convinced that if you drive for a while with vibration problems, then the tires become bumpy, out of round, or whatever. I may be wrong on this, but I dumped the Nittos and got the Toyos and things were MUCH smoother after that. Of course, when you get the new tires you want to do #2 and #3 above again.

5) Put more air in the tires than you think. I was running 35-36 until recently when I upped them to 38. 38 is MUCH smoother.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

To add to bit's point 5, I recently wet from 32 (L-Tuned form the factory) to 35 and now 38 and things got smoother with each increment. I am pretty happy with the ride at 38.

CSHFLW

I have done all of this...some of them up to 4-5 times and I stil vibrate at 59-63mph.

RON430

CSHFLW - I think we are repeating an old thread but I am curious. I haven't had the problem on my GS (stock 16s with stock Michelins) but you have replaced the tires and the vibration still hasn't gone away? Man, if new tires don't markedly smooth things out for at least a short time, my guess is you have something (or several somethings) bent (wheels) or worn out (wheel bearings, bushings, etc.). bit - you got anything to add?

oldguy

Ron430 and others
Back on page one of this thread, I reported the comments of my service manager and the head tech. This problem exists only on '98-'00. They told me all cars have it, but only a few of us get upset about it. They could get my 98 smooth, but only for about 3000 miles at a time. Then it needed balancing ( on the high priced machine) again. My '01 has no problem.

RON430

oldguy - Glad to hear there was something that got fixed. Through a lot of bimmers over a lot of years, they never fixed it. I think part of the price you pay for that great steering feel in the bimmer is a much greater sensitivity to the balance issues. As soon as people mentioned steering wheel shaking between something like 50 to 70, it was like deja vu all over again. Bimmer couldn't fix it and bimmer dealers did nothing as well. There are some pretty old threads where we talked this through but as long as people still run into it, probably worth refreshing. To also second bits' comments, it is not just Hunter equipment. You really need to find someone who knows what he is doing. Awfully hard to make things right without the right tools but the tool can be used a bunch of different ways. I give credit to the guys who do their job well. And for the last rehash, on the bimmers you never got rid of it for long, it was a recurring problem. You just had to go in for a super balance and alignment very frequently. This is too depressing, I hope you guys with the problem can get it straightened out and I hope it doesn't show up on 2k1s.

alexus

iTrader: (1)

i would also check if wheels needs to be align

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

He has 20" rims! Slight difference from 16's.

First off, 20's are really heavy, which probably makes them harder to balance. Second, CSHFLW - if you've done all I said and have no relief I would say either your rims are damaged (not always visible) and the shop didn't tell you, and/or the shop is incompetent - try another one.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Thanks, that was point 3 in my post.

Kbueno

You guys are scaring me...I've noticed a vibration in the steering wheel right around 60mph as well. I haven't had it aligned since the previous owner just put new tires on (probably a bad assumption that it was aligned). -guess I'll have to see if the alignment fixes it

CSHFLW

My rims are not bent and my tires are perfect.... I have had this checked by at least 3-4 different professional tire/wheel shops....plus with the amount of people complaning, it's obviously a problem with the car....so it's the car if you have 16's but it's the wheels if you have 20's?

RON430

CSHFLW - To tell you the truth, I like my car and I know how ticked off I would be if I had a vibration that no one can find so I am really trying to figure out what it is. All I can figure is that if you get down to San Jose, I'll put mine up on stands and put my 16s on your car and see if that makes it go away. I don't think 20s inherently cause problems but I do believe that they magnify problems. I really don't want to believe that a 20 bends easier than a 16, either in tire mounting or driving. Most other people can either get rid of the problem or at least reduce it dramatically. Maybe we can't diagnose it over this board but I sure would like to know what it is and banish it forever.

CSHFLW

It was alot worse and I found out that I was missing the hub centric rings...it fixed 65% of the problem