Hey Guys
Im new to the forum but I own a 2006 IS250 SE in South Africa.
I bought the car second hand recently and I'm having problems with the cars steering and braking . First the steering was very light and the car was swerving heavily on the motorway and felt generally unstable.I took the car to lexus who informed me the power steering rack needs to be replaced.This was done by lexus and the car returned.The steering is now heavy,but still pulls slightly to the left or right randomly.Then my brakes,they seem inconsistent and rough.The rotors and brake pads were replaced before i bought the car ,when lexus inspected them they found them to be on order .they told me they cleaned and checked the brake balance.I'v found that when i increase my tyre pressure the brakes seem softer .This also is only at motorway speeds.. some help please guys??

 

Welcome to ClubLexus mate. To address your concerns in order, your first thing to look at getting checked is your alignment, after that checks fine you want to see if your tires might have uneven wear. Also what brand of tires are on the car, there could be a chance that those particualr tires tramline a lot (The term "tramlining" is being used to describe when directional control is disrupted by the vehicle's tendency to follow the longitudinal ruts and/or grooves in the road. It's name could be compared to the tram or trolley driver who does not steer because his vehicle follows the path established by the tracks.) Those could be first potentials to get checked. Under "maybe" I'd get the suspension and swaybars checked as well as the boots. Next up brakes, there's a chance that the brakefluid might be bad, although that would all be judging from the fluid itself and how much you have to press to get your car braking. Generally speaking though brake assist sometimes kicks in and make the brakes seem firmer than other times so you could be experiencing that. In any case get all those things looked at and let us know how everything turns out.

 

the light steering is actually... normal... the Lexus has a very light steering... dpending what you'll be comparing it to.

Andre

 

New steering damper? A lot of people are doing it to change steering feel.

 

Thanks for all the Help
The alignment was ddone by lexus after they replaced the steering rack so i assume its correct..the tyres fitted to the car are the factory spec Bridgestone Torenza 17"..with regards to even wear wouldnt that result in a more constant pull?

 

I am having the same problem with my 07 is250. Tires are new and I had new rims put on at the dealer (I assumed the tires were balanced when they did this). Car does not seem to be out of line, but when I'm on the highway approching 55+ the car just swerves all over the place, I check the air pressure constantly and it's at the reg pressure; what else could be going on?

 

It's the tires. Tramlining as stated above. I got rid of my Bridgestones for that exact reason and replaced them with Michelin's.

 

I had a similar problem, got 4 new tired that were balance and mounted and the problem went away. No alignment. My steering is a lot more stable on the same road that was causing the pulling.

 

Thanks, but I just brought the car a month ago and they came with new Pirelli 4 Seasons, are these tires known to perform poorly, what type of tires can you recommend?

 

Look them up on Tire Rack and read the reviews

 

The car is back and is improved,they say they found no fault on the brakes but cleaned them anyway..with the steering they say they recallibrated the steering rack and did the wheel alignment and balancing.The steering is now much lighter and swerves LESS but still does swerve sometimes .Im assuming its the tyres.