i just got back from an automotive shop that deals with lexus as far as suspension and alignment is concerned. i was sent there because when i went in for maintenance, lexus said 1 of the 2 sidewalls that hold in the front cam adjustment nut/washer thingy was bent out. when i took it to back for readjustment (i just went there less than a month ago for alignment because i just installed tokiko/eibach setup), they said they adjusted it but it won't stay because the sidewall is bent out. so basically, i have to either get a whole brand new sub frame because this little piece of metal is bent out or try find someone to weld it back and reiforce it. both lexus and the shop said this about lexus cars(the interesting part):

the subframe is made out of aluminum and they've seen lots of subframe cracks on lexus cars. by putting the tokiko/eibach setup, i introduced more stresses on the subframe. if it was made out of steel, it would just bend though no one could explain how the front cam adjustment on the subframe got bent. they always point to the tokiko/eibach setup though i can't see how it would affect it.

anyone have similiar experiences??? i think if it really needed to take that much stress they would have engineered it better. plus, it could have been damaged awhile back but it didn't really matter till they had to adjust it and they might have screwed up????

or there could be truth to this and the any suspension upgrades could make the subframe crack or bend at the wrong places???

97 sc400

 

If you are talking about the crossmember subframe under the engine...I had mine welded with 1/4" aluminum stock after I put my strut bar. Cam bolts have to be really tight. and Yes it is very weak!

Mind

 

i believe we are talking about the same thing... here are some pic(how do you attach more than one file???).

 

You could try uploading the pictures to the picture gallery. That picture looks interesting, you have brought to our attention a possible future problem. Please post more pictures. Thanks in advance.


Abdulrahman

 

you got mail 303state...

 

mind-
it could very well be the alignment shop not tightening the cam bolt tight enough. after i got my alignment, i went to lexus for maintenance and they said the cam nut was loose. so it could very well be not tightening it enough leading to it knocking around (over time that is). since you have oem suspension setup(and yours also broke off), and i just put my tokiko/eibach and strut tower bar on, then it very well be not tightening it..hmmm... you would have thought they would have reinforced that area better!!!

when you said it must be very tight...did you mean make sure they torque it to 166ft-lbs (lexus specs) or it doesn't matter and it'll loosen up no matter what??? and did you fix yours our you just had them tighten it down really tight ??? i found someone that can weld aluminum so hopefully, they can fix it somewhat(i hope).:eek:

 

yeap. I suggest that if you really are worried about this problem appearing again to use some threadlocker compound and tightening the bolts a bit more than factory specs. Welding the aluminum sttoper/guides will help too. But like I told ya don't worry about it too much as long as the bolts are tight and hold their alignment position you should not have any problems in the future.

That goes to everybody. Enjoy your suspension mods.

Mind

 

update... the machine shop was successful in fixing the right(passenger) cam alignment seat(?)... anyway, here is the udpated picture of the fix(compare it to the before above).

now if only someone came up with a fix for that rattling in my front end without changing out the lower control arm (since they don't sell those damn bushings by itself!!!)

 

What do you mean they dont sell bushes by themselves? Any good tire/suspension shop should have heaps of types of Bushes etc to replace your worn joint.

Here's an Australian site worth looking at.

www.whiteline.com.au

who stock almost everything to do with suspension. Do a Search on Soarer to see what they have.

Cheers,

Toan.

 

Sorry Toan I'm outside US and labor is very cheap and I still had to replace my control arms too...it is impossible to replace the bushings. It's a single unit.

Buy the whole control arm it is worth it.

Take care.