For anyone bottoming out try adding washers to the bracket, it'll make a world of difference! I had some free time today and picked up some .20¢ 8mm washers from Ace. The ride now is like a night and day difference. I no longer bottom out over speed bumps. I can take them as fast or as slow as I want and the airbags and Bilsteins soak the bumps right up. I still slightly bottom out on that one dip but it's not a normal dip and pretty much every other car bottoms out too but the difference now is it's not jolting as before, it's tolerable, even my wife was amazed and she said it's perfect.

When my front Icon coilovers get here in the next week or two I'll raise the back even more and then we should be literally riding on air. It's amazing how just lifting the rear 1/2" makes such a huge difference.

Parts needed:

• Washers: 8mm: 1 washer = 1/16" thick / 2 washers = 1/8" thick
• Bolts: M8 (8mm) coarse thread / 1.5" in length; you can use 1" but I went w/ the longer since I'm going to lift it more once I get my coilovers on. Even 1.5" in length will screw all the way into the frame without any washers so you're fine using longer bolts.

I added 2 washers to each of the 2 bolts and I got 1/2" of lift.


Great post! Thanks for the info.

 

Cool, one thing confuses me though: why didn't you max out the adjustment slot on the height sensor bracket before adding spacer? Seems like they'd do the same thing? I'm guessing you're future-proofing for a further raise when you get the Icons installed?

Also, another thought: does anybody make a spacer for airbags? What I mean is: as airbags are inflated, they get stiffer as well as taller (I think). As you raise it beyond engineered spec, I'm guessing it's going to be pretty stiff. A "spacer" above or below the airbag could allow the same height w/a softer bag, if that makes sense.

 

Seemed like a hassle. Adding washers accomplishes the same thing and I know exactly how much lift to expect so I don't have to go adjust, come back, adjust some more, come back. I know that 1 washer will give me 1/4" of lift. If I needed less than 1/4" I'd find some thinner washers but 1/4" increments is good enough for me.

Several people have talked about airbag spacers and possibly making them but tricking the sensors work good enough so nobody has really went that route. It wouldn't be a simple drop in since you'd need to make custom brackets for the spacers to sit in since we don't have spring cups and then you'd need a way to mount the spacers and still have a slot for the airbag pin to fit back in. Not easy.

Most trick the rear airbags because they're lifting the front. For the average GX owner that's wanting to stay at the stock height but fix the bumpy / harsh ride out back I'd say 1/4" - 1/2" will be perfect. Just the 1/2" on my GX made a world of difference. Today I got to really test it out and I couldn't be happier.


EDIT:

 

I realize this is a necro post, but it's an important consideration.

The difference between C and D is not affected by tire size. The actual dimension of D being 3.56" higher than C means that the rear suspension was adjusted too low (saggy rear). So, he actually went back to within .02" of the actual Lexus spec and that seemed to correct the problem. (not .5" higher as thought)

(Reasoning: Subtracting .5" for the tire radius would not apply since it affects both dimensions C and D equally) Lexus just tries to make it easy since ground (level) is an easier control point for measuring.

 

Right. As long as they're running the same size tire/wheel combo on both front and rear (and you REALLY should be to avoid 4WD system damage) then the measurement in the doc is correct.

Chip H.

 

Can anyone here advise whether or not 4 hours is an appropriate amount of time to charge for to change out front and rear struts and shocks?

 

Two people have given you answers in two different posts.

 

Thanks, just looking for some additional input.