PRSUIT460

iTrader: (3)

Sorry it took so long to reply!

Front Left Camber -1.8 /with +2mm bracket -1.2
Front Right Camber -1.8 / with +2mm bracket -1.4
(0.5 to -1.0)

Front Left Caster 8.1 /with +2mm bracket 7.8
Front Right Caster 7.6 /with +2mm bracket 7.6
(5.9 to 7.4)

Front Left Toe 0.03 /with +2mm bracket 0.05
Front Right Toe 0.05 /with +2mm bracket 0.04
(-0.04 to 0.12)

Total Front Toe 0.08
(-0.08 to 0.24)

Steer Ahead 0.01
(-0.05 to 0.05)

Left Rear Camber -2.1 /with +2mm bracket -2.0
Right Rear Camber -2.4 /with +2mm bracket -2.5
(-0.9 to -2.4)

Left Rear Toe -0.04 /with +2mm bracket 0.04
Right Rear Toe 0.08 /with +2mm bracket 0.08
(0.04 to 0.20)

Total Rear Toe 0.12 /with +2mm bracket 0.11
(0.08 to 0.39)

CJITTY

Interesting that your right rear camber is worse..thanks for posting!

I'm taking mine to a place here in ATL called Grand Turismo East..I hear they can work alignment magic. They will do it with me sitting in car and adjust it for whatever you wish..whether max tire life, max handling, for track..etc..of course I want max tire life

CJITTY

Update for Jan 17, 2012

Ok folks, I went to Grand Turismo East (GTE) here in Atlanta to get my car aligned today. I put my Tanabe springs on back in October and that is when the car had 20s. Now that I have the 22s and 3 months later of springs having a chance to settle I knew I needed a new alignment because i noticed some front tire inner wear. So I took it to GTE because they have an excellent reputation for doing alignments based on customer needs like tracking, optimal tire wear, etc. They specialize in high end sports cars and other cars with alignment challenges

As expected, my front camber did not improve mainly because there is just zero adjustment. Of course i have the +2mm Lexus camber brackets which help, but not enough to get within ideal number ranges.

So, the guy who aligned it and told me that my current alignment was in pretty bad shape, especially Toe which is a bigger killer of tires than camber. My front tires were essentially driving like this down the road... \\ // which means i was tearing up the inside edges of the tire more from bad toe than camber. He told me that he fixed the Toe and actually played with the settings to help reduce the effect of negative camber at the same time.

Bottom line is, we need a true adjustable camber kit to achieve excellent alignment results, primarily for front end. Now that my alignment is like it should of been the past 3 months, I will keep an eye on it. He also recommended to go with directional tires next time vs the Conti DWS which are asymetrical. Directional tires can be "flipped" on the rim and moved to the other side to even out the edges in an attempt to maximize tire life. I'll consider that next time I need tires, but i really love these DWS tires.

Here are my alignment numbers in PDF attachment and JPEG. I'll periodically report back on tire life progress. the PDF is probably much easier to read.

Trying to provide everyone with as much detail as possible about this setup to help you decide on what you want to do. I am still very happy with the ride quality and appearance of these Tanabe springs.

adamls2

Thanks for that^^^^ I also vouch for a adjustable camber kit for the LS. I still have not done a re-alignment for my car but I am planning on doing it soon...

Nash

Thanks for the additional info. Im just ready to knock the dust off my springs and wheels and put them on! Thankyou tax season lol

CJITTY

Everyone, I just posted up this online petition thread for Ingalls Engineering to develop an adjustable camber kit solution..I want to send them this thread and show them how much we need something like this..so sign up!!

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-lets-try.html

Lextrician

im on it!!!! need this figured out before throw them wheels on. or coil overs might be the way to go since they give you little adjustability as far as camber but might not be enough..

CJITTY

Alright folks, I promised I would keep you all updated on the experience. So, it has been several months since getting the Tanabes installed and I am still very happy with the ride, even on 22 inch staggered set up since about Dec 2011.

I have noticed in the past month or so, that the car has settled down even more since the original pics. I am also starting to notice the "butterfly" stance in the rear now starting to show..basically mean my rear wheel/tire is bowing inward at the top or (neg camber). I didn't notice it that much until the other day. My camber readings are still showing at the edge of the acceptable range, but any more lower and my rears will fall out of normal spec. My fronts are still out of spec in the front of course and I recently took my car to Gran Turismo here in the ATL area..they specialize in custom alignments for $100..they know how to play with the toe settings to help compensate from non adjustable camber setups like our LS's.

Here is a pic of my car on 20s when I had it dropped in Oct and after about 10 miles of driving..lower than stock, but no where near as low as now



Here are a couple photos from yesterday. Now, my big bro Tee finally has his new wheels and he is getting his Tanabe drop very soon..but for illustration purposes while his car is still stock, you can see the difference with Tanabe vs Stock in this pic after months of Tanabe settling:






Also, compare my car with 4 months on Tanabe's compared to our fellow member AdamLS2 who has the same model car, wheels and drop as me (pictured below)..but had his springs put on more recently. Notice his front end sits a little higher than mine at the time of this pic. I believe in a couple months and a few thousand more miles..he will settle out where I am now..



Now, even with the add'l settling, I am not noticing a harsher ride and I am still in love with how the car handles. After driving Tee's car on stock suspension and 22s for a good amount of time yesterday, I still believe the difference is minimal and my car simply feels less "boaty" but still very comfortable.

I really try to provide solid feedback for my fellow CLers, hopefully it helps someone out!

adamls2

Great update^^^^ I need to shoot some fresh pics of my car but iv'e been so damn busy lately... I'm getting a few things done and some little touches. My car sits a little lower now but I still don't think it's as low as your car though.

CJITTY

Here are some additional pics to help show the settling in the front and rear.

Up front, you can see that there is really no gap at all now..the steering wheel is straight by the way! Another note, this front left wheel pic is the same corner that recently had the strut replaced, so the settling is due to the springs and not because of a weak or failed strut..the new strut is less than 2 weeks on the car!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6790550292/http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6790550292/ by , on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6936665639/http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6936665639/ by , on Flickr


For the back, here are the pics showing the "butterfly" // \\ stance aka negative camber..aka cammbuhh that is starting to show now that the car is settling. Just had an alignment last month and it still shows in acceptable range for rear camber...but I wonder how it will be in another 6 months or so

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6790563306/http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6790563306/ by , on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6790548580/http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6790548580/ by , on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6936662447/http://www.flickr.com/photos/71780827@N02/6936662447/ by , on Flickr

adamls2

Thanks for the pics man!! I'll try to shoot up some pics tomorrow of how mine is (even though the car is dirty like a bishhh) I'll also throw up my latest alignment sheet so we can compare

BTW I'm very jelly of your clean car

Lextrician

any tire wear that is noticable????? making me worry about the tanabe's

CJITTY

Inside edge is 1/32 less than outer edges..but, according to the speed shop alignment guys who specialize in lowered cars, my previous alignment was not correct...so I will have to wait and see how the more correct settings do and provide you all updates. I am getting a tire tread gauge soon and will track inner and outer treadwear each month...a little extra but worth it to keep track if there is alignment success

CJITTY

Ok, more specific update. Attached is my most recent alignment back in January using a well known speed shop here in ATL called "Gran Turismo East" These guys are supposed to be experts in aligning lowered cars. Although they cannot change camber, they did adjust Toe to help compensate as best they can. I noticed the left front seemed to have the most adjustment, but 3/10s out of spec for camber on front right and 8/10s out of spec on front left..not sure why it is so dramatic between the sides, but now i wonder if that bad strut i had on that front left contributed to such a difference..i plan to get aligned in a couple months again.

see attached PDF for all the raw alignment details.

This alignment was done appx 3 months after initial Oct 2011 install.

CJITTY

Correction: I used the wrong column of numbers on the gauge, so corrections are below, basically increasing by one number. Ex: 7/32 is now 8/32

April 2012 update:

OK, just trying to really provide real time updates on how tire life has been on the 22" Vossens and dropped on the Tanabe coil springs.

Most of us on dropped LS's are concerned about tire wear, so I just bought a treadwear depth gauge from autozone for $3.99 and will track tirewear each month starting here in April.

Rear 295/25/22 Continental DWS tires installed in Dec 2011 @ 62,100 miles

April 2012 measurements @ 66,500 miles:
Left rear tire tread:
Inner - 8/32nds
Middle - 8/32
Outer - 8/32

Right rear tire tread:
Inner - 8/32nds
Middle - 8/32
Outer - 8/32

Front 245/30/22 Continental DWS tires installed in Jan 2012 @ 64,200 miles . 265/30s were rubbing and had to switch out to 245/30..luckily for free.

Left Front Tire Tread:
Inner: 8/32nds
Middle: 11/32
Outer: 11/32

Right Front Tire Tread:
Inner: 8/32nds
Middle: 11/32
Outer: 11/32

So, good news is rear tires are wearing evenly across inner, middle and rear tread grooves despite the appearance of the wheels/tires being bowed in since the springs have settled.

Bad news is the front tires are wearing unevenly as expected and will need replacements sooner. The DWS tires are asymmetrical and not "flippable" so I can't maximize tire life. Next tires will need to be either symmetrical or directional so I can flip the tires to use both sides of the tire and perhaps double tire life if done properly.

I will post up measurements in June to see if they are holding up. For the first 1000 miles I was riding on a less than perfect alignment so I lost some valuable mileage during that time on the rears.