jonathancl

You may recall my L-Tuned installation thread.

I've observed that the car appears to sit a hair lower in the rear on the left side.

What could cause this?

sockfocks

iTrader: (1)

the passenger side rear or front spring could possibly not be seated against the spring stop on the perch. Which would lift that particular wheel and push the opposite side down, which would be the left rear wheel your talkin about...or if they are all seated against the stops...its just the way your car sits. Spring could be out of spec.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

or it's just inherent problem. the left and right side of the gs (and most lexus models) doesn't come even from factory. of the 3 cars i have (gs400, is300, sc430), i have coilover systems down to no finger gap, and left and right side height settings are all different

DoubleWhoosh

Pretty much how it is, especially with the ltuned springs. We've had the most problems with those ltuned (for whatever reason probably fat chance, as there IS no reason to specifically have a problem with those over any other springs).

If you really really really want to fix it, you can compress the spring a little and turn it so it doesn't sit fully at the end of the spring perch on the drivers side. It'll take some experimenting, but usually if you back it up around 2" that'll usually fix it. This is all trial and error though.

This is info that I normally don't share, so don't blab it to the whole world

jonathancl

Clever. Is that a safe solution? Is there any risk of the spring turning, trying to find its lowest point under certain stressful conditions?

DoubleWhoosh

Yes, one of the many tricks that are outside of the thinking box I have more but I'd have to shoot you if I told you any more of them

Yes, it is safe, the only general caution is if you go too far you won't get a full seat for the spring, but on these cars it goes pretty far around before it lifts off of the perch, probably on the order of 300 degrees or more, so you should be ok. If you go too far, it might start making noise, but there is a lot of seat there to keep it from "falling off" or anything truly dangerous like that. As far as trying to sit further back down again, it would have a hard time turning like that because the upper rubber mount keeps it in place. There is also quite a bit of pressure with those particular springs, so that also helps to keep them "stuck" in whatever position they might be on the perch.

This is the inverse of a lot of cars I have fixed with botched installs Usually I end up putting the end of the spring back where it is supposed to go, as a sloppy installer might not get the spring clocked all the way where it has to go.

Couple things though, be SURE that the bottom of the shock is oriented correctly for the lower shock bolt, you don't really want to be having to turn it to force the bolt in. This is the cause of a lot of noises and other problems (once again with sloppy installs or people not familiar enough with Lexus stuff). Also try to be sure that you either a) Put the springs at the top into the same spot on the rubber seat or b) Make sure they are on new spots. In either case, make it the same on both left and right springs. Otherwise it will also make the car sit slightly crooked and this is what you are trying to fix in the first place!

DoubleWhoosh

Just to be clear, the 2" was for the rear spring, the front has a smaller diameter perch so obviously it wouldn't be like 2" of clocking. It is all trial and error though, somewhat time consuming but worth it if you have the time and inclination.

jonathancl

I got it. I'm gonna try doing it with the shock on the car. There's enough room to get the compressors in there without removing the shock, and the rear doesn't need to be compressed that much to reduce the pressure enough to turn it.

It's a tiny difference, so it shouldn't take much to fix it. I just have this overwhelming need to fix it. Damn OCDs...

DoubleWhoosh

Yes, try the back first, it's much easier!

It might lift it enough to fix the front too, or at least make it 1/8" or less compared to the other side.