Jackco711

Ever since I got my car I havent been happy with my suspension and have always considered upgrading. The reason is no. 1 its very loose but no.2 is whenever I go over bumps, even small ones, I really feel it too much. Its like my steering wheel is an extension of the wheel too. I was expecting more of a luxury feel out of this car. Im thinking that something might be worn out. I recently replaced my ball joints and this feeling improved a lot but I still feel as though it is not where it should be. Now I am about to order the L-tuned suspension from Carson Toyota. So now I have a couple of questions:

What determines the cofort of the car the shocks? struts?

Do you guys think that something is worn or is that just the suspension on the car?

How would you describe the comfort of your car's suspension?

If I upgrade to the L-tuned suspension will it be stiffer where Id feel a lot more bumps?

Thanks a lot for your input....

Jack

rominl

iTrader: (4)

first off, if you already think y ou have too much road feel now, upgrading the suspension won't get you anywhere imho. the whole point of upgrade the suspension is to stiffen things up and give you MORE road feel.

1) the shocks will determine comfort more. but things like tires, springs, will contribute too
2) could be something is worn, hard to tell though @_@
3) the stock set up was very loose, the body roll was horrible and i couldn't feel any of the bumps. very comfort ride. but quite a bit noise from tires.
4) if you get ltuned, it would be stiffer and yes you will feel more bumps

wineohs

Jacko,

Try doing a search for L-Tuned under the suspension forum and their will be a ton of comments from other users who have this suspension. I just put mine on yesterday and I really don't notice alot of ride degradation. What kind of tires, and size, do you have on your car. That could be causing the problem. Take the car to the dealer, or mechanic, and ask their opinion. The stock suspension with 16' or even 17's should be far from harsh.

I bought the L-Tuned b/c I didn't like the way the car performed at highway speed. There was a tremendous amount of float which made me feel diconnected from the car. The L-Tuned seemed to fix this. It also makes the car less skiddish going over bumps/potholes at highway speed. As I told you in a previous post, I also had the Daizen bushings put on the car. WOW...I can only imagine how tight the car would feel with the Daizen or TRD sway bars. I put the bushings on to reduce body roll, and they helped quite a bit. The car handles crisper on turns and corners.

Believe me, trying to keep as much of the luxury ride, while improving handling, was very important to me. This seemed like a senseable solution for me..

Scott

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

not trying to flame anyone , but i hear so much talk about oem ride comfort on the gs400.

this is weird because we are looking to complete what lexus started out to do with this series , but why so many worried about luxury feel. if it is luxury you want , go for a rolling livingroom called the ls 430


gs400 is made for performance , get the suspension right to handle the bullet like engine and you have complete pkge. i am not saying to drop by 3inches or anything which would be extreme.


one can find a happy medium which is called L tuned . i did mine also with fron and rear bracing and running staggered 18in ride is firm and very controlled (not ls 430 floaty) which is what was meant for this series. not harsh and backbacking like a race car like others have done with extreme set up coilovers , 20 in ,all kind of bracing would give.


if you want to control that 300 horsepower Ltuned baby and front and rear stress bars and daizon sways and you are done

SLVRGS4

Jacko,


All of your issues are the EXACT issues I'm having with my GS to the tee, granted my previous car was a 540i Sport 6-speed, which was FLAWLESS. I was really disappointed with the GS's road mannors, and I'm taking my ride to the dealer to get the following components checked/replaced:


1.) check ball joints
2.) check steering pre-tensioner (I believe others have tightened 1/8 turn for less play)
3.) l-tuned shock and spring upgrade (some say coil-overs are better, but I'd like to keep the warr. valid)
4.) trd sways
5.) and obviously a 4 wheel alignment


I'm hoping this should cover them all, along with checking the steering fluid levels, etc...

If anyone else has some other ideas on what should be checked, I'm SURE many will find it useful. Good luck, and let us know how things have changed-I'll be sure to do the same.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

What year GS do you have? How many miles?

Jackco711

Bit,

1999 about 50k miles. I just got back from Lexus, the tech drove the car and heard the noise said I need new shocks cause one of em is shot. Anyway, Im gonna order the L-tuned suspension from Carson on Monday or Tues hopefully and have it installed. BTW, FYI the stock springs and shocks are a couple of hundred dollars MORE than the L-tuned from my local Lex dealer. I was surprised.
The dealer is also charging me 5 hrs of labor at $90. A little steep dont ya think. I may just have my local mechanic install em. Plus Im gonna need an alignment. So the total cost from my Lex dealer on the L-tuned shocks and springs come to about $1100. Getting the parts from Carson saves about $150 and getting it installed elsewhere prob saves about $150-200 so Im looking at a total of $800 (hopefully).
Will keep u posted.
Thanks
Jack

whitels

The GS suspension was never comfy to begin with. It is stiffer than most cars.

But stiffer as it is, the "controlled" ride feeling is just not there. I had more feeling of control in my LS than in the GS. So basically, something in the design of the springs/shocks did not really provide the amount of control you would want to have in a car with a relatively stiff suspension like the stock GS.

I have driven the IS300 and that is what I would say the best balance of comfort, control, and stiffness. It could go over speed bumps in much comfort than a GS, it could do high speed S-turns more flatter than a GS, and go over potholes in more comfort than a GS. Mind you, it has a low profile 215/45-17 tires which is thinner profile, and therefore, less pillowy than GS' 235/45-17.

I replaced my suspension with the Eibach/Bilstein. Ride became more controlled, very firm, but lost a bit of comfort. Road noise increased, cabin creaks and rattles increased. Most people would love this setup. Being older now though, I felt the need for the silky Lexus smoothness and comfort I have grown accustomed to.

So, I took out the Eibachs and put the stock springs in...leaving the Bilstein to do its job.

I believe I have accomplished a ride that now suits my taste. BUT, the darn thing is now too high off the ground. For some reason, the Bilstein appears to be partly lifting the car! I guess, it will be like this until I have found another spring that will lower it a bit but retain the same stock spring rate.

Just an FYI, the stock spring in the rears have 7 spirals. The Eibachs have 9. The stock has a noticeably thinner iron.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I don't agree. I've driven Buicks that handle better.

whitels

I agree with the above statement, Bit, and it actually reinforces my observation about the LS which I described earlier (more comfy yet handles better).

As I said, the GS suspension is stiffer than most cars (including ALL Buicks, of course). But stiffer suspension doesn't mean it can make a car handle better.

dipstick

Maybe this is too late, but I think you would have been happy with the L-Tuned suspension. It fixes the "riding high on small wheels" look and improves control and handling significantly while maintaining a smooth (but not LS) ride. I also swapped my stock sways for the TRD Sportivo sways which also improved stability and conrol but didn't degrade comfort. My wife's car is a '97 Riviera, and she recognizes that my car doesn't ride as soft as hers, but she likes it. Too bad you're in California. If you were around the Southeast, you could drive my GS430 and see if this is what you are looking for.

whitels

I am kind of leaning towards the L-tuned now but I've got to ride with someone with that setup first. Hello, Southern California, I think most of these guys have gone to adjustables ;-)) Thanks dipstick for your offer. By the way, your setup seems to be a great first start (to finish)!!!

Previous posts indicate that there's not much difference between the L-tuned setup and the Eibach/Bilstein, with the latter known to be on the stiffer side, but not by much. Some people even said it is about equal and you won't notice the difference unless you do a back-to-back test drive. Maybe the L-tuned is it but we'll see. For now, I am really happy with my ride until I can find a spring with the same rate as OEM and a tad lower (1"-1.3"). Then, I should be thrilled!!! Up next should be a TRD Sportivo

Jackco711

I took my car to Lexus Service to install shocks and springs after another diagnosis they determined that my car already has aftermarket suspension. it turns out that as I had originally suspected the guy who owned my care before me put in aftermarket suspension. But even so they said that the car feels really good for a Lex with aftermarket suspension and doesnt need anything. I told them I wasnt happy with the steering feel so they tightened the pretensioner and what a diff. this thing makes. I am so much happier with the steering and the overall feel. I dont feel the clunks when I go over bumps anymore and its seems to have reduced the steering wheel vibration.
Best of all they did this free of charge. I love Ray Catena lexus in NJ.

Jack

BTW. HOw could I find out what kind of suspension he put on?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Jackco - what year is your GS? When people mention about getting the pretensioner adjusted, I just want to mention that I've heard that this 'fix' only applies to '98 and '99 models.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yes that's right, and it's only PART of 98 and 99. coz' my car didn't fall under that tsib