kutscher

Hey,

I would like to purchase eibach and bilstein but the wife does not want me to lower the car since she likes its smooth ride. My problem is cornering and the body roll.. If I just purchase strut tower bars and sway bars will this help the issue enough. Does any one have suggestions?/

Johnny Mo

I'd get the L-Tuned setup...she won't notice the increased firmness in the ride, but you will notice the improved feel, less body roll and it's only a subtle 1.25" drop.

RON430

kutscher - I modified my suspension without replacing springs or dropping. While dropping can have an impact on handling, my opinion is that the first stage drops are far more for looks than anything else. I put the Bilstein sport shocks and TRD sways on my GS and, as I have posted, I am very pleased with where the car is now. The over all feel is much tighter and just about all the freeway float is gone with still a very reasonable ride. You do not need Eibachs to put the bilsteins on. I would very strongly recommend them and they are usable if you go to the Eibachs later on, as opposed to the stock shocks. I did the bilsteins first and the improvement in ride was very noticeable but I still wanted things a little flatter in turns, hence the TRD sways. This combination is great for anyone that wants to tighten up the handling without dropping for whatever reason. The other option is, if the budget permits, the bilstein adjustable coilovers. I am pretty sure that they can be setup for very close to stock ride height. Then, if you feel you would like to lower the car, and the wife agrees, you can slowly dial down to whatever height you are comfortable with that is within the range of the coilovers. I think it depends on your handling/ride desires but with the bilsteins and the TRD sways I think you have five series handling covered with virtually no compromise on ride (if anything it is better) and still can get over speed bumps and up driveways. Come on Lexus, wake up will ya. Even us old farts don't like the stock handling.

whitels

LOL

kutscher

Thanks

Wake up lexus is correct. I was at my dealer talking about this and looking at the new gs4. They could not believe I wanted to upgrade the suspension. They stated lexus has designed it to not roll at all? I think they are confused and should drive a 5 series or another competetor for this feel

RON430

kutscher - I have posted before that I replaced the shocks on my 2k1 GS430 with about 1700 miles on the car. Back in the good old days, like the 60s, I was a lot closer to the factories, OK, so it was GM but we raced their products, and at that time, they were paying around $.25 apiece for OEM shocks. I got used to believing that OEM shocks would barely get you through a year but the shocks on the GS are horrible IMHO. The bilsteins alone make such a difference that you will really be shaking your head at how bad the stock ones are if you go that route. The stock rear sway bar is, well let's be kind, a joke. Nothing wrong with the mounting or links but the bar is just not up to the task.

Just as an aside, and not to start the bimmer wars again, but a friend has a reasonably new 5 and wanted to improve the handling. Same reasons you hear here, not flat enough in the turns. So, he got a couple of beefier sway bars. Ends up, the engine has to be dropped (?) on the 5 to get the stock bar out and the new one in. It took a bimmer dealership one full day with two techs to just replace the front bar. Didn't have the nerve to ask how much he paid for that. I replaced both bars on the GS on a Sunday afternoon in about two hours that included a lot of dead time. Most time consuming part was the twelve gazillion screws holding on the under engine cover in the front. Otherwise, it is a very easy swap and a world of difference in handling. I hate to say it but the good news is that almost anything you do will improve the handling of the GS. I firmly believe that Lexus could improve their product with a better controlled suspension and actually increase sales. I think the tiny minds at Lexus are of the opinion that their target market is Cadillac owners and they really want a gut turning float on the freeway to make them feel luxurious. I think I better stop now....

nudderGS400

Just my two cents.....

If I read RON430's posts before I installed Eibach springs (1" drop) and Bilstein Sport shocks, I probably would have not dropped it and gone with Bilsteins and sways instead.

Dropping it has reduced the body roll, but not like I expect the sways to, so.... I am getting on a wait list for TRD sways now.

My advice, go Bilstein (Sports or Coilovers) and sways. Oh yeah, TRD front STB and L-Tuned ECU are must haves.

Shinchan

Installed the Sway will make the ride harsh... I done my sway mod before the suspension mod.. man.. that stuff make my car feel the bumps.. and suspension upgrade after the sway.. can't tell much diff (degrade in ride quality)... (Yeah.. I am not talking about corning capability.. just straight line highway ride).

///MDex

Simply put, yes.

First, try the sways; the sways only.

then, c.) STBs

and 5th, then consider the shocks.

kutscher

Thanks for the advise.

I can not seem to find a place to buy the sways. (via search) TRD I thought had them as well as the FSTB, am I mistaken. Any suggestions on where to get the sways, FSTB and bilsteins for a good price?
I found eibachs for 225, but may wait on these for now.

Thanks again

///MDex

Steve Ganz
CarsonToyota/Lexus Parts
TRD/L-Tuned/TTE
Tom's Racing/L-Sportline/Tein coil-over
gonzo4u@earthlink.net
1-800-908-6968

RON430

kutscher - I have read the post before about the sways decreasing the ride quality and I have to say, at least with my setup, I did not notice much, if any, degradation in ride. The sways have some effect in straight ahead but they really don't do anything for forces that affect both sides of the car. They start working when one side of the car is doing something the other side is not. As far as what to do first, how many miles do you have and do you have the stock shocks? The sways are going to make cornering flatter but I don't think they will do much to the freeway float. That is primarily addressed by the shocks.

As far as where to get the, Carson Toyota got me the TRD sways. I think Mean Gene posted that he had the RMM sways and that the rear was adjustable. If that interests you, you might want to check it out.

kutscher

I have been driving like crazy, I have 62k on my 1998.

oldguy

I recently had installed the Bilstein sport shocks, TRD STB, and TRD LCB. Have sways on order with Steve Ganz. The comments of Ron430 (I'm an old fart also) could have been mine. Even cornering, in fact all body motion, is much improved. Expect the sways to do just what he said. Hard to know if the braces do much, but am taking on faith that TRD has spent some time deciding they are helpful.
When RON430 gets on his soap box, he saves me the trouble. I agree and hope someone from Lexus reads these things. They have so much right it's a shame they stop short of making the suspension and steering what a sports sedan needs.
Also, I bought my Bilstein's from e-shock.com for about $450 delivered.

RON430

kutscher - Unless the shocks have been replaced you are going to need to do that anyway. Five years old and 68K is time. I think you really should think about starting there. If you can get your head under there and see anything that looks like water stains, thats leaked oil and the cartridge is definitely gone.