jar2000

I want to do a suspension upgrade. I,m thinking Bilstein, H&R, TDR Sway, STB, & Steering ECU. ?? Any imput? Anyone in the NY area with a similar set up?

Vlad_Stein

Hey, Smokin' Joe!

The following things determine your suspension upgrades:
1) Driving preferences.
2) Local road conditions.
3) Warranty considerations.
4) Visual preferences.
5) Money$$$.

You've got to chose wha't more important for you and then see where you fall (mild to wild).

I have Bilsteins dampers with Eibachs. I like them a lot.
The car is more taut and doesn't float around that much. There is a little more ride harshness, but it's very bearable (your passenger will only wander whether your car is stock if you find some serious potholes ). There is a bit more road noise as well (less clearance between the tire and the fender).
I am from California, though, so you may have rougher roads.

L-tuned, as you know, has Lexus warranty and is a bit smoother than my set up.

Good luck.

oldguy

My question, aside from warranty issues, is; Bilstein's are supposed to be very long lasting. Essentially the life of the car. What do we know about the L-Tuned? And does anyone have Bilstein HD or just the sport?
oldguy

meanboy

Dumb question, don't we have the worse roads in the nation? I thought I heard that somewhere recently.

jar2000

NY & Ca have the worst roads...
NY & Ca have the Most $$
Concentration of People

meanboy

Recently, a proposition past requiring that the money collegted from gas taxes be used on california highways. I don't know if that is the issue with the poor condition of the roads in Ca but people voted for the prop and it passed overwhemelingly. (sp)

itsallgood

Have you guys seen the roads in Hawaii? If you want to call it roads. Guys in the Aloha state, you know what I mean.

Johnny Mo

SmokinJoe,

welcome to ClubLexus. I am in the NY area and I have an L-Tuned suspension kit with the TRD STB. No ecu or other mods you mentioned an interest in. I love my L-Tuned suspension definitely tightens the handling, and the lowered more aggressive look is an added bonus.

Before:
https://www.clublexus.com/cgi-bin/ph....pl?photo=1078
https://www.clublexus.com/cgi-bin/ph....pl?photo=1079


After:
https://www.clublexus.com/cgi-bin/ph...x.pl?photo=820
https://www.clublexus.com/cgi-bin/ph...x.pl?photo=821
https://www.clublexus.com/cgi-bin/ph...x.pl?photo=822

Oso

L-tuned springs and shocks or possibly just shocks. 2 questions.

Are you satisfied with ride firmness or harshnessr?

Any inner tire wear issues?

Thanks.

HOTLEX400

Smokinjoe,

I live in Queens, I have the L-tuned/ Eibach setup. I might change to Bilstein shocks or coilover system. I think the L-tuned shocks are good riding but I'm looking for more performance. And I think the Bilsteins are a better made shock. I get that floating feeling at high speeds and hopping feeling on turns which scares the ****** out of me. Read my signature below for other mods. Also what part of LI are you from? I'm going to west Hemstead today.

John

RON430

I wasn't all that unhappy with the stock spring rates, yeah California roads may not be too potholed but we have cruddy pavement and lots of big rolling undulations to deal with, and also not very interested in dropping but I hated the float and roll in high speed turns. I have stock 16s with the stock Michelins. First change was to the Bilstein Sport. I am really not like most of the people here and while I know OEM shocks are normally the pits, I still can't believe I put shocks on a car with under a 1000miles. Net result however is dramatic. Word to Lexus, get rid of the guys designing the stock shocks and buy bilsteins, everyone will thank you for it. Second change was the TRD sways which I did about two weeks ago. There has been posting that the sways degrade the ride and if they do, you better stick with the stock setup because I can't really feel any difference in ride harshness but I will say that they make a very noticeable difference in both straight ahead and turning performance. I will credit BMW with a lot of things, past bimmer owner of several 5s and 7s, but the GS is now very, very close to BMW handling and ride in my opinion with maybe just a tad more roll stiffness. The car just has that planted feel without becoming jarring. To my uncalibrated butt I would say the handling/ride with these two changes is just about perfect for me, slightly more controlled than a bimmer with no increase in harshness. The caveat is that ride/handling needs to be approached as an entire package. When I checked into the shocks and possibly lowering springs, the Eibach and L-tuned don't appear to be very different than stock rates, they just progress quicker because they permit the drop and reduced spring travel. If you tend to the boy racer side, you will probably want a harsher ride. I may or may not get into any of the braces but I view them as style items more than anything. I sincerely doubt that there is enough rubber here to make chassis flex noticeable for the vast majority of street situations. I didn't post after initially putting the TRD sways on because I wanted to just drive with them for a while. If anyone from Lexus ever gets to this post, please toss the stock shocks and put the TRD sways on as standard. While the front TRD bar is noticeably heavier than the stock, my guess is that the biggest effect is from the rear bar. Chassis flex is nothing compared to the flexing that must be going on with the stock rear sway bar. Now, if we can just get some of these chassis bar guys to skidpad test their parts like we want the intake guys to flash the dyno numbers, maybe we can see what of all this stuff is worthwhile...

Johnny Mo

Oso,

ride is very similar to stock from a comfort/smoothness perspective, but the handling is very much improved. Not an extremely noticeable degradation in ride quality, but a very noticeble handling improvement. No inner tire wear to speak of, its only a 1"-1.25" drop it requires some changes to the stock alignment settings but nothing major...in some cases I've heard it is still within spec using the stock settings. Bear in mind I am riding on 245/45/17's not 235(stock size). I actually would like to go to 18's but my wife'll freak since I started to mod my Expedition also and I'm bugging her about a dual exhaust setup for that. Well you know what they say "you can tell the men from the boys by the price of their toys."

whitels

RON430-

Thank you, thank you. I share the same ride philosophy as you do and thought about the Bilsteins, too. I haven't done any mod yet that's why your comments are greatly appreciated.

I'm assuming that you changed all four shocks and the two sways, right? Also, to be sure, what part number Bilsteins did you get and how much did you have to pay for the material and install if you don't mind me asking. I'm also in California and share the same kind of freeways our beloved Caltrans people made (hope there is no Caltrans GS4 people here

RON430

whitels - All four shocks and both sways. Let's see, I got the bilsteins from gs4will and it seems like they were 425 or something. If William is around he will probably respond as well but I don't think he can get them anymore. I don't remember the part numbers but they are the same as off of the bilstein site. Even though they didn't list the 2k1 GS4 at the time, there were no changes from the previous year so they fit just fine. The install was around $425, I think, at Custom Alignment in Mountain View and I got a four wheel alignment and balance (I think the alignment was around 160 but it was six months ago - Why do I remember? because I had the work done on 9/11, hard to forget). So buying and installing the bilsteins was around $1K. Someone will probably post a cheaper install price but I have used Custom for over twenty years, through two owners, and for suspension work I have found them to be very cost effective in the long run because they do things right. Got the sways from Gordon at Carson Toyota (works with Steve) and put them in myself. Sort of a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours total. Ramps give plenty of room to do the swap. I haven't wanted to post this but, while it is possible to put the front sway in upside down you really have to be asleep to do it. The bend in the bar at the engine only goes down one way. If you install it upside down you are going to come awfully close to some AC hoses let alone clobber that sensor at the wheel side like happened to bitkahuna. Straight bolt in with a little Loctite thrown in for good measure. It is difficult to be objective, we all think our mods have made much more difference than they probably have, but the bilsteins were a dramatic improvement over stock and the sways just seem to have really given the car that planted feel without undue harshness. When you are on 101 southbound by Moffett and are just going over Ellis Street, that dip at the start of the rise was stomach turning on the stock suspension, now it is a non event. If I sound pleased, I am. I am back to thinking about just getting wider 16" rims and going 245/50-16 to get a little more rubber but not add harshness. While I like the extra footprint, I am not anxious to either increase ride harshness or slow the acceleration time down. Anyone notice the Centerline ad where they say their new rotary forged wheels are the equivalent of a 4 to 6 hp gain on a Honda (I think that is right but don't have the mag here)? While I am not a big fan of the wheel designs, I just have a very difficult time liking anything on the GS - not sure why, it will probably be a Centerline or Volk Racing. Just can't kick those go fast genes.

GS4Will

whitels,

try www.shox.com

their price is good and these are what you need:

BE5-2802F
BE5-2803R