2018 GS350 RWD with RWS. After my tires are changed do I need to take it to Lexus to do a specific type of alignment for the RWS?

 

I prefer to use Lexus for wheel alignment.

I suspect local tire guys use different settings such that my steering wheels are always offset.

 

Since the car has RWS I would take the car to a Lexus service center for the alignment. A trained and experienced Lexus alignment tech at your local Lexus service center should be able to do a perfect alignment job. He'll have all the alignment specs needed to do anything special your RWS requires.

I think there's a lot of alignment shops that employ people that simply aren't trained and qualified to do a proper alignment. When you get a botched alignment every mile driven is a tire chewing dilemma.

That's why when I get new tires I always take the vehicle to a seasoned alignment specialist I've used and trusted for years. He's always dead-on-the-money with alignment, the vehicle drives and tracks dead straight and the steering wheel is perfectly aligned. Anything less is totally unacceptable to me.

 

They shouldn't need aligning unless you've run up a kerb but is still a good idea with new tyres.
For a non DRS rear toe alignment, there are 3 steps. With DRS there are 9. Generally relating to keeping the electric rack relatively centred.

 

East to clip curbs with these long wheelbase cars. The short sidewall tires don’t help either. I’ve read many Carfaxes on these cars that list installation of 1 or 2 new tires at fairly low mileage.
I also have an LS430 with 16” wheels. Tires and alignment last forever on that car.

 

The only thing adjustable on this car is toe, any competent tire shop can easily do that.

 

The way the alignment is done, is that laser targets are mounted on each wheel's lug nuts, not on wheel or tire itself. That directly bypases any interference with different rim or tire size.

 

I got a set of new Pirelli AS+3's and a 4 wheel alignment for my 2015 GS350 F-Sport at an independent tire shop six months ago. Driving the car, the tracking and ride seem just fine, but my rear passenger is complaining about a rough ride. Could the alignment be off? Also the lip on one of my rear rims has been slightly bent for more than a couple of years, but I would have expected that the wheel balancing would take care of any wheel-induced rumble. Thoughts?

 

You just self-admitted to what your problem is! Balancing the combination of a tire mounted on a bent wheel cannot magically 'take care of' (i.e. fix) the action that a bent wheel causes.

 

Correct, he can have it re-balanced conventionally or road force balance, but it will never fix the imbalance caused by the bent rim. It will be less noticeable on the rear axel, but much more prominent on the front. Solution is to have the bent rim repaired or replaced.

 

Thanks. Not disagreeing with you, but I don't recall any rumble when that wheel was mounted upfront before the last rotation. I'll check for threads on wheel repair.

 

I had this happen a couple of months ago. The rumble was noticeable on the highway only, starting at about 70mph. I brought it to the dealer and they found that one rim was slightly bent on the inner side and the Road Force Balance found 3/4 tires with high/low spots. Their rim repair man is at the dealership on Mondays so they kept the car for the weekend. They repaired the rim for $150, although I was originally quoted at $200. I also had them replace the Dunlop tires that came with the car when I bought it last year with some new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 A/S tires. I had the new tires balanced plus an alignment. The car now rides smooth and quiet on the highway well past 70mph. Good luck!

 

Absolutely, even a slight dent on rim can cause a vibration. Make sure to pick some reputable shop to fix your rims otherwise you end up like me.

 

For what its worth, my car had a noticeable vibration which went away after doing my last service (Oil change, GS-F Front LCAs, Front Motor Mounts, Rear Trans Mounts, Alignment). Per discussion with my local shop, we found the rear trans mount to be completely shot, front motor mounts were on their way out, and my original LCAs were cracked /indented.

My car does have 130k miles though, so it was about time to have the bushings/mounts updated. Car now handles so well, very tight and vibration has gone away; night and day difference. I originally thought the vibration was coming from the wheels (couldn't of been rotors as I recently upgraded to the OEM GS-F Brembo Calipers / Rotors) but after having the wheels rebalanced 2x time with roadforce the vibration persisted so I had the cars bushings inspected/mounts inspected.

 

Alright alignment guys was my tech just lazy?