i am buying a GS400 in about 2 weeks and besides throwin some rims on the car, i also want to install a bodykit. however, i live in NY and the roads arent exactly what you would call ideal for driving on. I mean earlier today i was filling up my gas tank and across the street i was watching a honda civic (stock) enter into the 7 ELEVEN parking lot and even though the guy was going slow he still came about an inch away from bottoming out!!! in a stock honda civic!!! I cant even imagine what would happen if i drove a lexus with a bodykit over that. Would that destroy the whole kit right there?? 3 grand down the drain just like that??? There has to be some kind of way to avoid this. i refuse to let the roads where i live prohibit me from putting togeather my dream Lexus. What can be done to prevent this from happening?? any feedback you guys could give me would be GREATLY appriciated.
Also....i heard a rumor that it is possible to install some kind of metal plate underneath the front bumper so that when you do bottom out you arent damaging the kit...just scraping metal....is this true and if so is there a specific type of metal piece made specifically for this reason? if not am i supposed to use a certain kind of metal and where would i find it and whats the catch...as in why isnt everyone in the world with three thousand dollar bodykits putting metal plates under their kits to pevent them from being damaged?? i would like to thank in advance, anyone who takes the time to read this and is nice enough to write me a respone.

Evan

 

I don't think there's anything special you can do other than just be careful. My car is dropped and I have a TTE lip spoiler on it, and I have scraped it once or twice not being as careful as I should have. It's unfortunate about where we live not having the smooth as glass roadways, but if you are going to spend the money to do it, you need to also invest the time in being careful as you approach steep inclines and dips in the road. As far as the skid plates idea goes...probably wouldn't do much good, besides it'll add too much weight to the car if you really want to protect the kit, and how would you hide it?

 

what part of westchester are you from?? i live in pleasantville.....ur name wouldnt be Jason and by any chance would it?? drive a white gs400??
Neways....im not really sure how i would hide it...i was hoping someone else would be able to tell me that....i noticed you said you had the tte spoiler...isnt that higher off the ground then say...the WISE or WIN kits...? also im not sure if you are knowledgeable in thic subject but how much stronger is polyurethane than fiberglass??

thanks

evan

 

I used to bang a girl who lives in Pleasantville a few years ago.
Don't worry about hurting the bodykit.. And if you are really concerned go with a less aggressive bidykit like the L-Sportline.. I have the L-Sportline bodykit and I haven't scraped it yet... I live right around the block from you and I havn't had any problems at all... And also as for you question which material is stronger... The Fiberglass is stronger, but not ideal for bodykits.. With the poly it's flexable and won't splinter.... My bodykit is Poly....

 

Whats up man, I'm from Peekskill, I drive a 99 GS4 (White) anyway regarding your question.....TTE is smaller than most other lips or front bumper replacements. As for Polyurethane vs FIberglass, Poly is better because it can flex, but not to a major extent, just slightly. However fiberglass can be built just as strong, even though not flexible the better the fiberglass the more durable it becomes.

 

Unfortunately there is NO WAY around it unless you can live with driving 5 mph everywhere you go. I have 20's on with over a 2" drop and its already a mission for me to get around places. Though not nearly as bad if I would have a bodykit on. Believe me, if there was a way around it I would have gotten some kind of bodykit 2 years ago. . This is why you HARDLY see any GS's with bodykits in NY, let alone 20 inch rims.

 

there is a way around it: get some VERY NICE air-suspension. Like Canovers. Those'll cost you about 5k but it's instantly adjustable and still performs great (unlike crappy airbag suspensions)

 

From White Plains...not Jason, Johnny like the tag says. mrsypher's car is the most slammed with a bodykit in our area (at least on CL). Not sure where you were planning on getting your kit from, but if it's GT Autosports, I'd do a search here and re-think my decision. Definitely keep your eye on the NY meets info and try to come by we usually have alot of fun and a good crew of guys/rides. My TTE sits just less than 4" from the ground.

 

AMEN to that big Brother.....

 

i actually was considering buying a bodykit from GT AUTOSPORTS and maybe a set of rims too. whats wrong with the store?? and isnt the only way to get bodykits through club lexus by a group buy? i know steve ganz is definetly the right man for the job but i also know it takes a while for the order to go through and if they arent buying the specific bodykit i want, it takes ever longer. do u know anywhere else i could get a kit?? also is there any way to find out the dimensions of the kit...like how far from the ground the WIN kit sits, as opposed to say the WISE KIT or LECS front bumper?

and what is an air bag suspension and how much does it cost???

 

I 've got custom skid plates built for my RMM front spoiler. I passed on the design to Gunnermac to duplicate a similar set up on his kit. Don't know if he ever completed it. Had the skid plates for over a year now and it works great. It adds about 6 lbs to the car and is strong enough that I can jack up the car on the plate support. I haven't found a driveway yet that I couldn't climb without fear. I always hit the skid plate before it even touches the lower air dam. The skid plate is made of high strength delron, a kind of self lubricating plastic which is supported by rectangular tube steel attached to the cars frame. I'm about ready to change the plate since it's been worn down after about 18 months of use.

I don't have a complete set of pics but we are duplicating my set up in Jawnthen's car as we speak, so we will shoot pics of his install and post this as a DIY article in the near future. We also have another CL member lined up to perform the same mod for his TTE spoiler. I don't expect the DIY to be ready for atleast a month.

Stay Tuned, I'll try to post a few sneek pics soon.

 

this is most likely going to be a dumb question and once i ask it im sure i will regret it but what is DIY ??? also how much does it cost for a skid plate? how much to install? does it fit any kit? where do i find one? and if anyone out there knows what an airbag suspension is id really like to know....and if its expensive or not. thanks

evan

 

On a DIY degree of difficulty from 1 to 10, I'd say this is an 8. You'll need tools or resources to cut steel and perform welding. You'll have to take off the whole front end of the car off (atleast for my body kit) and unless you have my same body kit, you will have to redesign it, measure and re-calculate the clearances.

I'd say the most competent shop to do this type of work would be one that does race car fabrication, builds roll cages, a metal fabrication shop, or a hard core car audio shop.

I put in maybe 20+ hours into design time, fitting, testing, fabrication and assembly work. Probably not cheap if your going to pay someone to do it, but probably pays for itself many times over in replacement of broken front spoilers.

When it comes to steep driveways, I have NO FEAR !

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=25140

One of the many problems we have seen in the past. Very difficult to re-gain credibility after something like this. You've been made aware.

 

RMMGS4,

Post some pics. I have exact the same setup as yours. So I can just copy your design. If I can see some pics, I'm sure I can do it myself.

Thanks.