deusex

Believe it or not I just discovered the button that turns on easy access featureon my 2014 model. Which basically lowers the car every time you park and then height increases to "N"ormal as you drive. Questions is, will this feature impact the suspension after prolonged use? Should I turn it off or am I good to use it.
Thanks!

SaintLexus

iTrader: (4)

REDHORSE

I've had 3 LX's, 470 through 18 570. Traded the first with 75,000 miles, the second with 130,000 miles, and the only time the auto lowering off was when going through a car wash. Never had a problem.

Reggie1

On my first LX, a 2nd generation, I used the lowering feature full-time, as my wife was a frequent passenger and she is short and was recovering from a spine fracture. At about 35K miles, the feature began to malfunction. It would lower down onto the stops just fine, but the trip back up to "N" height became bouncy, like a ball being dribbled. Once it finally made it up to normal ride height, it was fine. The dealer was unable to fix the problem. We tried flushing and changing the fluid, and various electronic things. We even considered swapping the system for the Land Cruiser setup.

So I traded it in on a 3rd generation, and let its next owner deal with the problem. I figured there was little chance of anyone trying out the system on their test drive anyway, and if the dealer didn't disclose it to the new ownner that was the dealer's problem. They were obviously aware of the problem when they took the LX as a trade-in.

On the new LX I very rarely use the height control function. For 2 reasons - 1. .I had been burned once, and 2. keeping the feature on turns on a bothersome instrument cluster light. The new LX has 70K miles has no height control problems yet.

samuraj

fosterelli

We use the auto suspension lowering on our Range Rover and LX. Our previous Range Rover had bags that would crack and need replaced (easy DIY job, cheap). Since we've moved to newer rigs w/ auto-lowering suspension/access we've never had a problem. My theory (correct or not) is that the rubber on the air struts crack over time from lack of use. I only guess this as the two I had to replace both had cracks in the bags themselves, and it was on a 2007 version with no auto-up/down when parking...so we rarely used the bags for major adjustments. Second part of my reasoning is that if something was going to wear out from over-use, I would suspect the compressor to fail before the bags, and I've never lost a compressor either.

samuraj

Gordj

samuraj

deusex

Interesting, in that case lets turn it back on and see how long it will go. Thanks!

fosterelli

I think the concern from some was more focused on the longevity from going normal to access height, not the minute/incremental adjustments of everyday use.

Gordj

mmalik

I would not worry about it if I were you. It is a pretty nifty feature and I use it all the time. Also notice that while the vehicle is going down, you open any door, it will stop the process - and as soon as the last open door is closed completely, it will resume the process and will continue going down to its intended height. (this doesn't work if you open the trunk as well after opening the door, for some reason it forgets to go down if the trunk is also open).
Having this featured turned on, i towed about 6000lbs on my LX from Virginia to Florida and 1500lbs in the cabin and ACH held pretty good. A few times when i stopped at rest areas, i forgot the easy access height control was active and the vehicle went down when i turned it off, but will come right back up when i will start the vehicle.
To conclude, its a pretty nice feature to have and don't shy away from using it. Lexus are built to last for a long time.

PS - you can look at my 'LX570 Long Distance Towing' thread to see my tow pictures and compare suspension height differences.

Enjoy!

fosterelli

Showing how much I know about my LX compared to our other AHC vehicles, I had no idea the LX was hydraulic. For the OP deusex, I'd be even less concerned knowing this versus pneumatic AHC systems. Hydraulic fluid power is very well developed and extremely reliable. Thanks to Gordj for the link to educate us.

lexusrus

The AHC in the LX is indeed a very well researched and developed system. My previous old 2000 LX470 had some 280+K miles on the odo when I traded in after 13+ years for a brand new LX570 had no problems at all with the AHC. I used the AHC often by lowering it when picking up our kids when they were little to facilitate getting them into the car seats in the back.