Alignment Question

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Jan 16, 2012 | 09:09 PM

neomedic

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Alignment Question

Recently spoke with Mike at LTS Mastertech. He said that the IS350 naturally has a slight camber in the front, thus will have faster wear of the front tires on the inside of the tires.

Then he mentioned that he saw an aftermarket ball joints that can be adjusted, thus correcting the camber. Anyone seen what he is referring to? And is it worth getting to get more life out of the tires?

Image of a the ball joint I'm talking about. This is not the aftermarket part. I'm trying to find out about the aftermarket part.

Last edited by neomedic; Jan 16, 2012 at 09:18 PM.

Jan 16, 2012 | 09:36 PM

projectdna

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this is what mike was talking about:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...amber-kit.html

Jan 16, 2012 | 10:37 PM

neomedic

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^^^ Nice. So what is the proper specs with this adjustable ball joint? And lastly, since this is not OME spec, if you were to bring the car into Firestone for alignment, will they know what to do with it since it's not how the car came originally?

Be nice to get the max life out of the tires.

Jan 16, 2012 | 11:13 PM

Fizzboy7

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Wouldn't getting the proper alignment, going in the opposite direction to compensate, do the same thing? That's what I did with mine a year ago and the inner wear stopped.

Jan 16, 2012 | 11:18 PM

Sango

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Also depends on the experience of the alignment tech. If they can correct the geometry of the vehilce, the camber can be indirectly adjusted even thou camber does not have any direct adjustmetns.

I had my car aligned and the camber was fixed when the geometry was adjuste on my two cars - ie IS250 AWD and RWD were done. No tire wear issues.
-----

I notice you have the F-Sport acessory strut. What spring are you using?

Last edited by Sango; Jan 17, 2012 at 05:31 PM.

Jan 17, 2012 | 02:23 PM

Gville350

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Just my opinion, but if Lexus set the stock suspension at a certain camber/caster/toe on the car I would figure its best leaving it at that setting for your normal DDing. Now, I have heard others having horrible inner tire wear, but that's probably due to the lack of having a proper "OE" spec alignment. When I purchased my '06 IS350 it had 31k miles on it and the OE tires from back in '05-'06. Yes, it did have more inner tire wear when compared to the rest of the tire...but the 30k mileage attained on those Dunlops was done right impressive with a 240 (maybe 280?) tread wear rating.

Jan 17, 2012 | 03:21 PM

neomedic

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^^^^^^I have been asking around regarding the adjustable ball joints. Was told by a few that the slight camber is designed for better handling and correcting that might cause over/under steering problems. Best is to leave it alone and if I really want to get extra life out the tires, to "flip" the tires around 10K so that edges are flip and will even out the wear.

Since I'm not slammed, the wear is only noticeable after driving 5K or more on the tires.