outareach

I have a 98 Lexus gs400 with the stock Lexus 17'' 5 stars. I like the look but hate the wheel to fender gap. I've been debating on how I am going to go about this. Get new 17'' rims with bigger tires or go with the 20's..... In fear of sounding stupid.....
I had a 98 s10 and when I put on the 20'' rims on it threw my speedometer way off and lifted my truck. I do not want this happen to my Lex.....Ive seen the debate of coilover vs. springs. Im only looking for a 1'' drop. Would it look right with 17'' rims and a bigger tire? And would that solve my issue? Then again if I go w/ 20's i could go with a body kit and it wouldnt look so high correct?? I've seen a bunch of amazing cars here and I figured I'd throw it out there for opinion. This all stems from the stupid wheel well gap which leads to a million different questions and ways to go about it. If at all possible the newbie needs alot of help.

BayAreaLex

You are all over the place.

If you want a modest 1" drop, I would do the Tanabe NF210 springs on stock shocks and be done with it. Those will give you a 1" drop and ride quality that doesn't deviate too much from stock.

And remember, whether it's 17's or 20's, if the tire height differs from stock, then your speedometer will be off. There's ways to address that problem though.

LexRuger

If you get 20s, the low profile tire will give an illusion that the wheel gap is larger than it really is. If you're that concerned with wheel gap, I'd get 20s and lower it.

outareach

Thanks guys..... I know I'm a little all over the place. I've never had a car that has been anything other than stock except rims I got off my buddies p.o.S's. I want to do this 1 right. I went 2 3 different shops today to get opinions on suspension rims etc...... all told me to leave it as is or I would be dissatisfied w/ the ride. Another told me that if I dropped it even an inch it would throw the camber off. I also asked about the ball joints and was told oh don't worry about them you will be fine. Sometimes it doesn't pay 2 live in a small city. Thanks for the info on the 1 inch drop springs.

outareach

Any opinion on the Megan drop springs??

BayAreaLex

First a mechanic should be able to verify if your balljoints have play.

Personally, if the car has high miles (over 90K for instance), I would go ahead and replace the balljoints since they are cheap and not overly difficult to install. The outer tie rod ends could be done at the same time. Although neither of these parts had any play on my car, they were dry and replacing them really improved the feel of my steering wheel our on the road.

Next, you will have no problem aligning within Lexus specs with a 1" drop.

Like I said, you want a 1" drop while maintaining close to stock ride characteristics, then there probably isn't a better option than the Tanabe NF210 springs.

gs400rpg

First question should be whats your budget?

To do everything right with some 20" a nice drop and your looking to run into several thousands of dollars done right.... and alot of time figuring out the offset, poke, flush or sunk in, width, size; amount of drop, type of drop, static, scraping bother you, go air or cups; how much camber, will you use the figs drop arms and some rca's or not; will you used the stock the FUCA and deal with the angle, and will it bang with your amount of drop; will you shave, roll, cut, or leave stock; are those wheels you really like available within those specs; what size tires, fat or stretch, 20" are oversized and will raise the car so are you better with 19" or is it really an issue; what other suspension components are in bad shape for when you do the alignment, control arm bushings, LBJ, toe links,... the list goes on and on.....everything works as a system. If you think you have everything figured out and the descide to drop it another 2"s you wont have the same look you had planned your offstes for before.. the lower it goes the faster the wheels sink in...


Throw on some spring clamps at 5$ a wheel, and some wheelspacers for your stock wheels, and for under a grand you could get what you want......but not done right...

outareach

Thanks again guys for the help. I know I wants the rims flush with the wheel well. Scraping is kinda an issue for me cuz every drive way here in the country is a 45 degree angle.Thats why I was thinking just lowering opposed to both lowering and a body kit. I'd love a real low profile tire, but thats where I would probably need to go with a 2'' drop with the wheel gap issue. I know my thoughts are jumbled and all over the place. Since I've gotten the car I've already made sure it was mechanically sound. Oil changed tranny flushed, new radiator, plugs, wires. Need a tiny bit of body work but heres where i'm at. Just trying to put it together. Probably going w/ the tanabe df210. Now I just have to figure out the offset on the rims. I'd love to upload pics to show but my upload always fails.......????