Jeremiah87

So I recently found a nail in my rear passenger side tire today. I took off the wheel and brought it to my mechanic to get the nail removed and hole plugged. Before that I had a heck of a time locating my jack point. I had to resort to the owner's manual, since it seemed the sideskirt/body was covering the point and realized there are two dips on each side.

Well I thought it would be a good idea to paint the jack point in a bright yellow, green, orange, etc. whatever color to help locate it much easier the second time around. Maybe even glow in the dark paint? So if you ever get a flat tire out driving at night, you can find the point much easier.

Anybody done this and what paint did you use? Its a good idea, practical and easy to do.

Also another tip is to keep surgical gloves in your car for if you ever have to change that damn flat. Your hands will stay clean for when you get back in the car, no mucky hands to soil the interior.

Also I plan on disconnecting my steering wheel tilt motor function (goes up and down when key is inserted/removed) because if it were to get stuck in the up position...that would be poo. That would feel like driving a bus. And plus since I never need to adjust my steering wheel, I don't need the future issue. I know to take out the 3 screws but does anyone know which plug/wires and what they look like that I will need to disconnect?

Anybody got any other common sense tips that can make life easier in the LS?

P.S. Keep a breaker bar in your trunk, use it with your lug wrench when needed...you will be glad you have the extra leverage.

UNCNOR

iTrader: (1)

AAA is only $5.00 per month on a yearly basis.No muss no fuss.

deanshark

This has to be top 3 best advice I ever read here. We are driving 20 year old cars, alot over the 200k mark. Something WILL go wrong sooner or later. I always have it so my kids are never stuck out at night.
Thanks for reminding me, mine ran up a week ago.

LScowboyLS

I wish someone would bring back the service of towing it back to my home, regardless of where I break down. - I would pay a premium price for that!

Like AAA with no mileage limit

When I am out on the road, the last thing I need is a free tow to the local incompetent car repair thief! - lol

EmpPenguin

Take it to the dealer if you want to fix the tilt position, but beware. For a moment I thought about setting the steering wheel tilt to a fixed position, but the more I thought of it, the more I realized I should not do it. First of all, you may have someone drive your car for you. Secondly, you may want to change your seat position, and any slight adjustment of your seat will alter the steering wheel's appearance in front of the dash. Third, you may find that your posture may change from time to time, thus altering your perspective. Last, by setting the tilt permanently to a certain position you may regret it later on for whatever reason, and you will feel the pain when you return the car to the dealer to reactivate it.

Jeremiah87

1. I have the AAA roadside assistance and yet here I am thinking of being the one to change a flat.

2. Agreed, that would be a good thing.

3. I inquired last time and they said its $85 to plug in the S2000 scan tool to disable it. That was very discouraging lol. Knowing it will take 5 minutes to just plug in the tool, punch in some code and be done with it all for $85.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

AAA is useful and all but if you ask me to wait 45minutes to have someone else come out and change a tire that I can do on my own in 10-15mins, i'm going to hang up the phone....

UNCNOR

iTrader: (1)

I would add.Mandatory flat bed "tow"truck and up towing distance to 300 miles.I too would pay a premium price.

usoff89

iTrader: (2)

I used to have AAA, and the only time I used them was when I bought another project car and needed it towed home. lol. I was a gold member and got up to 100 miles free towing. This came in handy a lot.

But now, I would be very worried with as low as my car is they could not get a jack under it anyway.

door331

AAA doesn't cover much unless you pay for one of their higher tiers. However, if you pay for roadside coverage through your auto insurance you can likely get much better coverage for cheaper cost.

My StateFarm coverage is an extra $5-10 every 6mo for roadside- 2 years ago when I had to use it they covered up to $250 for a tow (it might be less now). You had to pay yourself and send the receipt in for reimbursement. Geico will actually call the tow company for you and pay over the phone- no reimbursement necessary.

That said, nothing will offer tow service for hundreds of miles if you break down out of state haha

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Depends where you are with AAA. They've changed the tire twice and the call out was sub 15 minutes. Yeah, I can do the drill and sometimes I just don't feel like doing it if dressed up. The spare was a bit low so he got it up to proper pressure and I was on the road. If I did it, the next hunt would be for a gas station with working air pump.

You can also request a flat bed. Any required tow I've told the rep that and sure enough, a flatbed shows up. One of the operators was good at towing lowered cars. I thought he'd gouge the bumper but he angled the truck and had wood planks to make the whole ordeal a non issue of any body part being scraped.

As for trips, I have Toyota and Lexus dealers programmed into the GPS. I had a gas station fix the Cressida when it the fuel pump decided to go south. They did the job correctly but the cost was $650. There went the Vegas fun money that trip.

As for making life easier in the LS400:

Toyota had given the engine ~300HP & ~310ftlb torque, that would be liveable. Other than that, I'm pretty pleased. Well, one touch moon roof closure but I understand the safety aspect. In all, the 98+ got the nice features.

A breaker bar is good. The wimpy lug wrench is about 4" short to apply reasonable amount of torque to get 75ftlbs on the nuts without using your leg. What were they thinking to fit it in that side mounted tool kit. I have regular Toyota lug wrench in the tire well. That handle is about 14" long.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

dailly I keep an 18" 3/8" breaker bar and appropriate socket in the car.

on longer roadtrips a small toolbox and electric impact come for a ride.

deanshark

Good to keep a 1/2" breaker bar and 13/16" socket in there for those pesky lugnuts. (you know we all have them) I keep a full set of metric ratcheting wrenches, 200 piece socket set, one jack stand, and a portable 3/4 ton hydraulic jack in the trunk at all times. That's so when one of my kids breaks down I can go straight to them from wherever I am. (common occurence)

Alot of talk about AAA here. I love it. I pay $69 a year for me and my daughter. My son and my other daughter just use our names. That way we're all taken care of. Each of us get 4 roadside assistance which includes tows for 100 miles. How many more miles do you need to actually get the car home, or just to a parts store to get what ya need to fix it on the road?

UNCNOR

iTrader: (1)

Try breaking down in southern Utah about 50 miles north of St.George.I had two choices;Tow to Miller Lexus in Salt Lake City or tow to Las Vegas.I chose to tow to Salt Lake City.A "free" towing range of 300 miles would have saved me a bundle.I would pay a yearly premium for that service through AAA.

LScowboyLS

If this exact scenario ever happens again, you are in luck, the best Lexus mechanic I know in the U.S. just moved to St. George!