I recently bought a 94 SC400 and I've been chasing road handling problems ever since. The Lexus dealership aligned the car twice but the car still handles weird. It follows changes in the road and on a windy days it gets pushed all around. I got a response from the forum in England and they sent their recommended optimum alignment settings but the Lexus dealership felt it was better to set the alignment as close as possible to the middle of each spec range and weren't sure if the settings from England would work in the US. Are there optimum settings for driving this year car in this country? Here are the settings I currently have (in degrees): Left Front Camber 0.1, Right Front Camber -0.1, Left Front Caster 2.7, Right Front Caster 3.2, Left Front Toe 0.05, Right Front Toe 0.04, Left Front SAI 8.4, Right Front SAI 8.8, Left Front Included Angle 8.5, Right Front Included Angle 8.7, Front Cross Camber 0.1, Cross Caster -0.5 and Total Toe 0.09. Rear Left Camber -0.9, Rear Right Camber -0.9, Rear Left Toe 0.20, Rear Right Toe 0.20. Rear Total Toe 0.4, and Rear Thrust Angle 0.00.

 

Saying that it "follows changes in the road" is another way of saying tramlining. Search on "tramlining" and read up on how worn bushings may be the cause of your problem.

 

Recomanded settings really depend on suspension, wheel and tire setup you have on your car.
If you have all stock setup, computerised aligner will have manufacturer specs recomanded for your car alredy in memory..

If you have custom setup, even nonfactory offset, you need custom alignment. Plus with nonfactory offset and wide low profile tires some tramlining is to be expected.

Now, additionaly tire life expectancy and agressive settings promoting dirrectional stability are in collision course.
It is importand to strike proper compromise.

BTW, where in Florida are you?

 

Your front LCA (Lower Control Arm) bushings are shot. Ask anybody with an older car with shot bushings, the steering wheel has play and wanders with bumps in the road. I'm 100% sure this is your problem.

 

Heres a thought.... I had a similiar problem twice...
Most recently root cause was slightly worn tires (i believe on the inside) ... Also had a tire that was rippled on the outside causing both tramlining and shaking... This slight wear was odd because the car would pull violently on uneven roads both left and right..

I swore it was suspension or alignment related .... changed the 2 front tires and now the car is a new ride again...lol

Good tires make a difference and may not be a bad idea to have them mounted and re-balanced to check both them and the rims?

 

If your LCA's are shot your car will pull violently when pulling up to say a light or something under 20mph, it will pull, over 30 or so it will still pull but not nearly as much as if you were going slowly. It feels like the steering wheel has a mind of its own an dyou have to grip tightly.

 

Yep, this is what my car is doing and I KNOW it's lca bushings...I called Carson Toyota and can get the set for the front lowers for $140.

 

To answer EuroJulian's question, I'm in Melbourne FL
TMaxxTim and Mikeloc24: I had the LCAs checked by Lexus of Melb and by another mechanic. Both say my LCAs checked ok however, my question is, how did you find out the bushing were shot? Was it after you took it apart or was there a test (pry bar?) that indicated they were bad? Should I get them repalced anyway and should I get the rears done too? The threads on the LCA bushings is confusing - lots of choices. I think I saw one that said the OEM 97 SC bushing will work.

Silversprucec3 and PerryinLA: I have new BF Goodrich g force tires on the car (500 miles). They have an aqua tread center that could be causing some tramlining however, the problem is really evident when the road surface has slight changes in elevations (like a slight dip or rise or a change in the crown of the road). On a flap surface (such as a newly constructed road) the car rides fine - execpt if it is a windy day, then the car gets pushed all around.

So far this is what I have for suggestions:
LCA bushings
Steering Rack bushings
alignment
tires (tramlining)

What about shocks? The car rides fine (no clunking or squeeking) but the mechanic at the dealership said that these shocks have a combination of gas and fluid and sometimes the gas leaks out so that the shocks still work but not to their full capacity. Anyone ever heard of this?

 

Marcus, my buddy and I did a visual inspection when I started hearing the "clunking" coming from my floorboard. I also tried to have the car aligned twice and the guy said he couldn't align it to spec because the bushings were most likely gone...not "shot", but completely GONE man. I now have a very harsh ride and the car sounds horrible (to me at least). I hate it and plan to fix the issue asap. I'm trying to decide on whether or not I need to replace my entire steering rack because of the tie-rods and boots, because just replacing the bushings may not be enough. Steering racks cost about $200 from what I've seen...just great...

 

Check this out.
http://planetsoarer.com/alignment/alignment.htm
Also like everyone else said, check your lower control arm bushing. I have the same problem.

 

Mikeloc24. I found the thread "Bushings & Bushes. Whatever, mine are Bad!" and I was all ready to go with VFT Bushings but when I went to the website www.vftbushes.com, I was shocked at the price! They have gone up in price from your thread on 4/13/05. You have an email from Andrew that shows $79 (AUD) for 2 bushes (around $62 US). But the website shows $330 AUD for a set of four (4) plus shipping for a total of $397 ($310 US). Any idea what is going on?
Also, I sent an email to Carson Toyota and asked if they are selling the VFT bushings but have not heard back yet.

 

I'd forget about the dealership for alignments, they are likely going to another shop and having it done, and wouldn't waste my $$ on fresh bushings when it's going to be the balljoints going loose in the next couple years or so. Mine lasted six months after I replaced the bushings.

Go for a set of new Supra TT control arms, they have slightly firmer bushings that were engineered to work with a set of performance tires like most have. That way you don't have to pay for labor twice, two alignments, and twice the hassle.

 

The bushings in my email from Andrew which shows a price of $62 US are "steering rack bushings" the bushings for the control arms are totally different and serve a different purpose, those are the pricey ones which cost $310 US. Make sure you don't get confused

 

Marcus remember youre talking about a 11-12 year old car , so in all likelyhood theres multiple causes . And its quite possible you need not 1 of the things done on that list, but all of them, as well as the ball joints, tie rod ends, etc. I know thats not what you wanna hear but thats what alot of us have gone through. Myself included. The suspension on these cars is great when its all working right, but its probably the biggest problem for most of us.
Also the control arm bushings you will see very clearly if they are shot or gone. Take a flashlight and peak down there and if theres big gaps or you can physically spin whats left of the rubber there , wich i bet youll find. Theyre bad. -Good luck

 

Amen! I've just concluded that I'll need to change or replace damn near everything to make the car new again. Like he said, not what you want to hear but you're not alone...we all have gone through it.

I recently found out that a repair I thought I could take care of for $50 in parts will actually cost me $220 in parts because the problem is worse than I originally suspected.