mafpolo

My car has leaned to the right for a long time (2002 model). Sensors were replaced, etc. numerous times. Lexus sent in their regional service guy who went through the system with a fine tooth comb.....told me that three was nothing wrong with the car. He told me that the reason it leaned is due to the steep incline and right turn of my driveway. And, if I let the car idle long enough, it would level.
It doesn't. I have also noticed that it leans even after driving it during the day and parking on level ground.
It is the right rear that is lower that the other tires and wheels. He checked for bag leak on all wheels, and said none were leaking.
Should I have the right rear right manually levelled, so that this problem goes away?
It just bothers me that the car leans.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

my car leaned for the first couple months that i owned it so i went and did my own adjustments and got it level, however when driving down highways where the road was slanted it would sometimes try to automatically adjust and when the road flattened out it would not go back to level again.

eventually my air went out and i replaced with coilovers and now my car is level... solution is to either molest it your self (which causes lots of even more mental anguish, this time its self inflicted though and much cheaper), or replace it with non factory air.

Ty419

The Lexus dealers have no idea how to get it right. I had the same issue. There are instructions and pictures in a thread in the FAQ and in my old thread called "I hate the dealer" or something to that effect that you can find by searching in this forum.

It is actually really easy to do it yourself. You don't need to lift the car or anything. Adjustment rods are easily accessible.

For just one wheel, you can adjust that one rod, but it may throw the others out, as you could create a "teeter-totter" situation if 2 opposite wheels are high. This prevents all sensors from ever being completely settled. You can check that all sensors are returning to center when you adjust them. You may be able to just adjust the RR and it could be fine, but check that all sensors are centered after making the change. If any are out of range, you need to start over completely. You'll see what I mean when you do it, and the pics from the FAQ thread will help you.

If you need to start over, which I would recommend due to the ease of doing so once you are familiar with the adjustments, there is a process that I found to be helpful. Loosen all four adjustment bolts (rears are under the car, fronts can be reached by turning the wheels, see the pics in the other thread), as they are not weight-bearing. Lower the fronts well past the point that you want them set (but remaining fairly even across) to eliminate any teetering, and start the car and let it go down. From there, adjust the rears to the desired level. You need to start the car after each adjustment so that it will attempt to center the sensors and shut it off to make adjustments. It moves much faster that way.

Once the rears are set and even, begin raising the fronts to the desired level. The RF seems to slightly affect the LF, so as you go you want to set the RF first. Make small adjustments and keep the car fairly level across the front as you go, so as to keep from putting too much weight on any one wheel. When the RF is at the desired level, make the final adjustment to the LF to make the car level. Remember to straighten the wheels when you measure the wheelwell-to-pavement distance.

Things that can mess it up are trying to do it on an unlevel surface, driving over rough pavement before or during leveling, uneven tire inflation, and not remembering to check each sensor at the end to ensure that each sensor is able to return to center. Your low RR could be a RR set too low or a LF set too high, so check them all.

Driving over rough pavement can change the computer's settings for the airride, which can sometimes result in height differences, so drive around on smooth pavement at speeds less than 50 mph for like 15 minutes before starting. That seems to put the car into it's "normal" suspension attitude. Driving over 50 will lower the car, and also could affect your ability to level the car. I'm not sure how long it holds memory for speed or rough pavement, but it does not always go away immediately by turning the car off and on, same as being parked on an incline.

When you are done, make any minor adjustments that are needed, tighten all the rods, and drive around on smooth pavement for a while. Check it again and repeat if needed. The car will vary in height under some circumstances and is normal, so if it moves after extended highway driving, rough pavement, or spirited driving, don't get too worked up. It should go back to normal once the computer gets over it.

You can also print this and have the dealer follow these steps, instead of just measuring the sensor output and making whatever random adjustments they feel like. I get the feeling they don't take into account one sensor's affect on the others, recent driving conditions, or that maybe the service manual is lacking in this area.

mafpolo

It just bugs me to see the car leaning all the time. My prior ultra sat perfectly square all the time.