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Rethinking the "Load carrying capacity reduced" yellow sticker

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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 06:44 AM
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Default Rethinking the "Load carrying capacity reduced" yellow sticker

This is the sticker that is pasted inside the driver's side door of third generation RX 350's and the RX 450h. There has been some comment on these lately to perhaps being related to newer, softer springs being installed to reduce the harshness of the ride perceived by some people. Yet the sticker reduction weight seems to be a different number for each vehicle. Shouldn't the rate of reduction be consistent if this change were due to softer spring dampening and therefore the total lbs. reduction the same for each vehicle?

In rethinking this, I think this number is uniquely derived for each vehicle based on the weight of options installed either at the port of entry or during final assembly based on the unique options on each car and has nothing to do with modified spring rates designed to soften the ride. This would explain the variations of each yellow sticker based on the added weight of the particular options installed. Just a thought.
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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 07:05 AM
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I noticed the sticker the other day. I must not have any "heavy" options. The sticker says, "0".
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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 07:49 AM
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I never noticed that. Great observation.
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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 02:14 PM
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Originally Posted by DunWkg
I noticed the sticker the other day. I must not have any "heavy" options. The sticker says, "0".
I just looked at mine. It says that my capacity was reduced by 2 pounds! Maybe that was just for the added weight of the sticker!!
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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 04:48 PM
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My 2011 RX options are shown below and the sticker reads 6 lbs. Very strange.
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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 05:12 PM
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The sticker on my 450h says 2 lbs. Believe it was put there about two years ago. I have the sport suspension so no softness there
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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 05:18 PM
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My 2011 RX350 is 22 pounds. I'm going to be very careful in the future. What a joke.
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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 06:43 PM
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The sticker on my 2012 450h is 90 pounds. What option would carry this much weight?
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Old Jun 10, 2012 | 07:08 PM
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Who gives a rip, unless capacity is reduced more than a couple hundred pounds? This is meaningless noise.
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Old Jun 11, 2012 | 07:31 AM
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Originally Posted by 2011RX350
Who gives a rip, unless capacity is reduced more than a couple hundred pounds? This is meaningless noise.
I believe this is a useful thread. I too don't care about carrying capacity itself unless it were a lot... My take is the original intent of this thread is trying to tie some independent thoughts together (running in other threads) about if the reduced carrying capacity "yellow sticker" is part of the puzzle correlating to a noted improvement in the ride many have found on 2012 and 2013s with 19" wheels. Like others, I suspect seeing what's different on the 350/450h and different MY stickers may be part of the answer determining what Lexus did to the 2012s and if there have been further changes to the 2013s.
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Old Jun 11, 2012 | 07:49 AM
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Exactly Bert. That was the intention of the post. I know nobody cares about the reduced load carrying capability of the vehicle, myself included. The post is an attempt to discern whether Lexus modified the springs to soften the ride based on feedback by some owners regarding a perceived harshness in the ride. My yellow sticker says an 11 pound reduction. The range seems to be 0 pounds to 90 pounds, with no two alike between the extremes.

My conclusion is that the wide discrepancy with no two being alike is a function of unique optional equipment added to each vehicle and has nothing to do with any suspension modifications on the part of Lexus. For some reason, owners of the hybrids seem to have a larger load carrying reduction.

Last edited by Paul B; Jun 11, 2012 at 07:53 AM.
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Old Jun 11, 2012 | 07:52 AM
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Originally Posted by 2011RX350
Who gives a rip, unless capacity is reduced more than a couple hundred pounds? This is meaningless noise.
I believe it is significant enough for me because it has reduced my capacity to 795 vs 885. That could mean the difference by one less occupant.

Last edited by VVRX; Jun 11, 2012 at 07:55 AM.
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Old Jun 11, 2012 | 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Paul B
Exactly Bert. That was the intention of the post. I know nobody cares about the reduced load carrying capability of the vehicle, myself included. The post is an attempt to discern whether Lexus modified the springs to soften the ride based on feedback by some owners regarding a perceived harshness in the ride. My yellow sticker says an 11 pound reduction. The range seems to be 0 pounds to 90 pounds, with no two alike between the extremes.

My conclusion is that the wide discrepancy with no two being alike is a function of unique optional equipment added to each vehicle and has nothing to do with any suspension modifications on the part of Lexus. For some reason, owners of the hybrids seem to have a larger load carrying reduction.
My 2010 RX sticker is 11 lbs. I am runnig with Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires and still experience some harshness in the ride. Lexus Rep has driven it on two occasions and finds nothing wrong, something is wrong - I have driven loaners that were smooth!! I have all options available.
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Old Jun 11, 2012 | 01:51 PM
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The load carrying weight reduction of the yellow stickers should not be significant for most drivers. The following represents the headroom available, that is, the weight payload for the 2012 Lexus SUV's obtained from a google search. The weight payload is the difference between the GVWR(Gross vehicle weight rating) and the curb weight of the vehicle:

2012 LX 570 - 1384 pounds
2012 RX 450h - 1322 pounds
2012 RX 350 - 1301 pounds
2012 GX 460 - 1260 pounds

These numbers are before car option weights and occupant weight and do not account for weight distribution.
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Old Jun 18, 2012 | 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by VVRX
The sticker on my 2012 450h is 90 pounds. What option would carry this much weight?
VVRX, the yellow sticker on my 2013 Rx450h says capacity is reduced by 91 lbs. Do you have the Tow Prep Pkg like me? I also added the hitch. The tow pkg adds some extra stuff including heavy duty alternator and radiator, aux transmission cooler.

Last edited by TexasRxh; Jun 18, 2012 at 01:32 PM.
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