Lowering 2004 LS430 Ultra
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 28
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From: New York
Lowering 2004 LS430 Ultra
Hello my fellow CL members,
I have a Silver 04 LS430 Ulra with air suspension and I love the ride on the 17's. I was looking to upgrade from my Dunlops to Bridgestone Turanza LS-V. The problem I am facing is the gap in the front tires. It is more than 4 inches from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender and that just drives my crazy. Is there anything I can do about this?
I have searched the forum and a number of people suggest an air suspension controller, but I notice most people using that have rims greater than 18inches. I really don't want to lose the great ride that the 17's provide.
I would greatly appreciate any assistance that you could provide.
Thank you
I have a Silver 04 LS430 Ulra with air suspension and I love the ride on the 17's. I was looking to upgrade from my Dunlops to Bridgestone Turanza LS-V. The problem I am facing is the gap in the front tires. It is more than 4 inches from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender and that just drives my crazy. Is there anything I can do about this?
I have searched the forum and a number of people suggest an air suspension controller, but I notice most people using that have rims greater than 18inches. I really don't want to lose the great ride that the 17's provide.
I would greatly appreciate any assistance that you could provide.
Thank you
Could you clarify a bit more on what you're asking? I understand that you want to switch from Dunlops to the Bridgestones and you want to minimize the front fender/wheel gap while sticking with a 17" wheel. The part I don't understand is why you think 18"+ wheels are necessary in order to go with the air suspension controller. 
Assuming you don't want to switch out the air suspension for coilovers or a shocks/springs combo, here are your options to minimize the fender/wheel gap:
1) If you want to stay with 17's and don't want to get an air suspension controller, you could go with a thicker series tire which will minimize the gap, but probably won't look as good as lowering it.
2) You could just get an air suspension controller and stick with the setup you have now...the controller will give you the flexibility to lower however much you wish while maintaining the ride.
3) You could upgrade your wheels to at least 18's and get an air suspension controller. The difference between 17's and 18's is very minimal especially if you're on stock suspension.
Assuming you don't want to switch out the air suspension for coilovers or a shocks/springs combo, here are your options to minimize the fender/wheel gap:
1) If you want to stay with 17's and don't want to get an air suspension controller, you could go with a thicker series tire which will minimize the gap, but probably won't look as good as lowering it.
2) You could just get an air suspension controller and stick with the setup you have now...the controller will give you the flexibility to lower however much you wish while maintaining the ride.
3) You could upgrade your wheels to at least 18's and get an air suspension controller. The difference between 17's and 18's is very minimal especially if you're on stock suspension.
Last edited by BR1AN; Jun 1, 2005 at 01:49 PM.
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
From: New York
Lowering 2004 LS430 Ultra
Hello Brian,
Thank you for yor reply. The reason why I chose not to go with 18's is because I was told that I should go with a staggered setup:
2-18x8.5
2-18x9.5
So I decided to investigate this a liitle more. After speaking to someone at tirerack.com they said that I would loose the comfortable ride that 17's provided. Also I do sometimes drive my car in the snow and the tirerack rep said that the 18 which are summer tires would prove to be useless in the snow. I do understand that my car is rear wheel and that it difficult to drive in those conditions. I am a novice to this and any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Thank you for yor reply. The reason why I chose not to go with 18's is because I was told that I should go with a staggered setup:
2-18x8.5
2-18x9.5
So I decided to investigate this a liitle more. After speaking to someone at tirerack.com they said that I would loose the comfortable ride that 17's provided. Also I do sometimes drive my car in the snow and the tirerack rep said that the 18 which are summer tires would prove to be useless in the snow. I do understand that my car is rear wheel and that it difficult to drive in those conditions. I am a novice to this and any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Originally Posted by sp85800
Hello Brian,
Thank you for yor reply. The reason why I chose not to go with 18's is because I was told that I should go with a staggered setup:
2-18x8.5
2-18x9.5
So I decided to investigate this a liitle more. After speaking to someone at tirerack.com they said that I would loose the comfortable ride that 17's provided. Also I do sometimes drive my car in the snow and the tirerack rep said that the 18 which are summer tires would prove to be useless in the snow. I do understand that my car is rear wheel and that it difficult to drive in those conditions. I am a novice to this and any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Thank you for yor reply. The reason why I chose not to go with 18's is because I was told that I should go with a staggered setup:
2-18x8.5
2-18x9.5
So I decided to investigate this a liitle more. After speaking to someone at tirerack.com they said that I would loose the comfortable ride that 17's provided. Also I do sometimes drive my car in the snow and the tirerack rep said that the 18 which are summer tires would prove to be useless in the snow. I do understand that my car is rear wheel and that it difficult to drive in those conditions. I am a novice to this and any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 31,944
Likes: 2,737
From: North Carolina
Steve,
I'm in a very similar same spot as you.... Lowered my LS (LS400 though) and want to put aftermarket wheels on it but do not want to lose much in ride quality as the LS is my daily drive / beater car. I have upraded the wheels on my GS from 16 to 17 to 18 to 19 and there is an impact in ride quality and a greater propensity towards bending wheels with the larger sizes (although the bending could come from my choice of lightweight wheels).
For the LS, the wheel weight isn't a big deal as it isn't a race car, but I do want it to look nice. I also am targeting (preferrably 18s with no or little lip to make them look bigger, or possibly 19s with a fat tire setup for more rubber if I can get it past WAF (wife acceptance factor) which is very resistant to losing ride quality. I also plan to go with a non-staggered setup so I can rotate my wheels/tires as well.
I'm in a very similar same spot as you.... Lowered my LS (LS400 though) and want to put aftermarket wheels on it but do not want to lose much in ride quality as the LS is my daily drive / beater car. I have upraded the wheels on my GS from 16 to 17 to 18 to 19 and there is an impact in ride quality and a greater propensity towards bending wheels with the larger sizes (although the bending could come from my choice of lightweight wheels).
For the LS, the wheel weight isn't a big deal as it isn't a race car, but I do want it to look nice. I also am targeting (preferrably 18s with no or little lip to make them look bigger, or possibly 19s with a fat tire setup for more rubber if I can get it past WAF (wife acceptance factor) which is very resistant to losing ride quality. I also plan to go with a non-staggered setup so I can rotate my wheels/tires as well.
if you don't want much ride degrade, imho get the 19s and put on fat tire setup. the speedo is off a bit coz' of the overspec diameter on the tires but the ride will be pretty darn good
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 770
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From: Massachusetts
Originally Posted by sp85800
Hello my fellow CL members,
I have a Silver 04 LS430 Ulra with air suspension and I love the ride on the 17's. I was looking to upgrade from my Dunlops to Bridgestone Turanza LS-V. The problem I am facing is the gap in the front tires. It is more than 4 inches from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender and that just drives my crazy. Is there anything I can do about this?
I have searched the forum and a number of people suggest an air suspension controller, but I notice most people using that have rims greater than 18inches. I really don't want to lose the great ride that the 17's provide.
I would greatly appreciate any assistance that you could provide.
Thank you
I have a Silver 04 LS430 Ulra with air suspension and I love the ride on the 17's. I was looking to upgrade from my Dunlops to Bridgestone Turanza LS-V. The problem I am facing is the gap in the front tires. It is more than 4 inches from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender and that just drives my crazy. Is there anything I can do about this?
I have searched the forum and a number of people suggest an air suspension controller, but I notice most people using that have rims greater than 18inches. I really don't want to lose the great ride that the 17's provide.
I would greatly appreciate any assistance that you could provide.
Thank you
I can tell you first hand that myself and others here have gone to 18s and the difference in ride quality is that you feel more planted on the road. you DO NOT NEED TO LOWER YOUR AIR SUSPENSION. that is ridiculous. the style of rims you buy is up to you but the continental extreme contacts that I got took me thru a massachusetts winter last year with no problems. I dont know about gaps but my car sits low over my rims with the air suspension.
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Originally Posted by lexusondubs
just curious with the air suspension controller can you lower the car to the floor ?? like while parked !!
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