ariasuriah

I am new to this forum and to luxury sedans. I have recently purchased a 1990 ls400 for 2900 with 124,000 miles. The car had two problems when I bought it. The car was shaking upon applying brakes, and white smoke on startup. I loved the ride so much I bought it anyways. I replaced the valve on the powersteering pump and replaced the front rotors and bingo good as new. I came from the nissan camp and sold my s14 for this car and all I can say is that I am in love with my choice. I need some advice on retaining close to stock comfort but lowered stance. I searched on this forum but have yet to find solid info on the best ride quality from lowering options. I think that a decent set of coilovers are gonna be the best bet but which are most comfortable???? Tein, Tanabe, Jic,Megan etc....best spring rates and best/adjustable dampening. I am planning on building a family car so it can't be too stiff. I need to reduce body roll big time. Also are there any areas where I can add more sound deadining material to quiet the interior even more??? Thanks in advance.

trukn1

For the first gen, you are not gonna have many options on lowering.

Springs,,, H&R, Tanabe
coilovers,, JIC Magics, Megan Raing (very popular on this forum), K-sport, buddy club(import), etc., pretty sure there may be a few more but not many.
Last option,, air suspension

Tein does not make anything for the first gen LS(89-94),, only the later models

As far as ride comfort, depends on how low you wanna go. I myself am on H&R springs with aftermarket KYB GR-2 shocks. Ride is only a littlestiffer than stock but still very comfortable. Drop is a little over 1.25 inches when car settles.

with such a big car you will never get rid of the roll,only minimize it. Alot of people here have found that replacing the bushings helped alot. There is a set made by Daizen which are polyurethane, which are effective. I have them myself and with my car being slightly lowered, body roll is not as pronounced.

Sound deadening,, just start taking panels off and Dynamat away.

Bradster

Front upper strut bar also

ariasuriah

Thanks for the info fellas. I was hoping there was an aftermarket sway bar for this car. It seems that aftermarket suspension options are limited for the first gen. Hey trukn where can I see pics of your car? What size are your wheels? offset? etc...I am planning on going 18's maybe 19's. Whats the spring rates on the H&R's vs stock? I will definately invest in polyurethane bushings. Thanks again.

trukn1

I am on 18" wheels with very conservstive offsets. Due to change my wheels sometime this summer (hopefully). Also riding on H&R springs with KYB GR-2 shocks.

Wheels,, 18X8 +40 all around
235/40/18 front,,245/40/18 rears(misalignment wore the rears out, and I needed tires NOW!!)





I had room to go bigger with my wheels, but this was the first set I had put on this car and was still learning about offsets and flushness. My next set will be a little more flush and still road friendly since the roads here in MD are not really too good.

ariasuriah

WOW your car is clean. I am looking into the Megans and hopefully the ride isn't to harsh on the softest setting. The wheels I am looking at are J-LINE 10sl2 in a flush offset with roll and slight pull. Thanks for the feedback. I still have to be able to haul the wife and kids around. Are there any interchangeable parts threads on this forum? Specifically calipers and rotors?

dfkd

I've been trying to get my H&R's installed on my fronts but I'm having the hardest time with the dumbest thing...I can't get the bottom strut bolt loose.

I have everything else loose and this big bottom bolt completely killed my project this weekend.

I've been using an electric impact gun that's rated at 240 lb-ft but that succa won't budge. Am I missing something here? How did you guys get it done?

Li Ls4

iTrader: (12)

i have megans on my car and cant say one bad thing about them, i have the dampening set at 17 in the front and 20 in the rear and the ride quality is not all that harsh, but its no oem quality ride

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

make sure you're trying to loosen the NUT and not the BOLT.

also, i broke a 3/8in breaker bar since my old electric impact didnt do crap, nowadays i just use my air impact

dfkd

I picked up an air kit too but the small compressor I got was only capable of 120psi and didnt seem to put out enough torque with that pressure to break it. The electric is rated at 240 lb-ft no matter what.

I'm thinking I was trying to loosen the bolt and not the nut so I'll hit it again tomorrow.
Victoria day holiday in Canada.

Pics later once they're on. I got rid of the "SUV'ish" tires I had on my rims. Now trying to get rid of the terrible gap.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

PSI on a compressor doesnt mean nearly as much as the amount of air it can move. (ie-SCFM) since THAT is what determines how much torque it can deliver to your tool.

trust me, those electric impacts don't even come CLOSE to the power of a decent air impact. for example, my air impact has a torque range of 40-400lb/ft with a max of ~625lb/ft. it makes doing suspension Cake.

dfkd

Took another shot today and got nowhere. Guess I'll take it into a shop tomorrow to get them to just break the nuts for me.

Still want to do the install myself tho.

What a pain. I've had a four finger gap in my fronts for a whole week now.

dfkd

So I ran out tonight and hit up a little shop near me.

What I will say is that there is no way in hell I was going to get those bolts out with the tools I have access to.

He literally had to hammer away at the bolts with the impact gun for about 10 mins per side ; first to loosen them up inside the bushing (cause that was pretty well stuck too), then to get them loose. My poor little electric impact warns not to run it for more than 20 seconds at a time.
After applying an oxy-acetylene torch till cherry red, we were able to get the nuts off of the bolts.

Like I said, no way I was getting them off myself. Best $20 I ever spent. Even got him to look over my engine mounts and bushings while she was up on the lift. Might need a steering rack soon. Inner seal is leaking.

Time to install some H&R's!

trukn1

Good deal. don't forget to do an alignment with ANY suspension work that you complete. Trust me, your tires will thank you for it.