BayAreaLex

Hi folks,

I recently lowered my 2001 GS430 with Megan LP coilovers, got new (expensive) Continental tires mounted on my 7 series wheels, and pretty recently had a fresh alignment done. There is about 1-finger gap between the fender and the top of the tire. It’s low, but still a functional daily driver, nowhere near as low as some of the cars I see here.

The front tires probably have about 5000-7000 miles (top of the tire is at about 40-50% tread) and the 4-wheel alignment was done about 4 months ago. The shop that I had the alignment done at said everything was fine and it all aligned within spec.

I’m driving into work this morning and the steering starts to feel loose and I hear a noise from the front end. I get out and find a flat front/passenger tire. When I get the wheel off, I see severe inner wear and the inside of the tire is split around the perimeter. Luckily this happened at 5mph and not highway speed.

When I look at the car, I don’t see any obvious severe negative camber in the front end which makes me think it would have been a toe issue, where the toe was severely off causing the tire to actually drag when heading straight.

With the height of the car, should I be able to get the front end aligned to factory spec? I don’t want to have to swap tires every 5-7K miles, and more importantly, the safety concern.

SprtDesign

iTrader: (21)

The alignment shop is blowing smoke. The alignment "may have been in spec" w/ factory settings but was probably on the extreme end. (like right at the cusp of being in spec)

The census from many threads I read is when lowered, esp. when on coilovers its almost near impossible to get zero'ed Toe settings on factory adj. I'm at the same ride height as you, (on Megan EZ as well) and have maxed the toe settings on the factory adj. Your best bet would be to get rear adj. toe arms & adj. upper control arms for the front. Possibly if you have not changed the caster arms, they may have caused the shift in the frot alignment.

brooklyngs

wow glad ur safe

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

BayArea i thought you changed just about every suspension part on the front end? I just replaced my two front tires as well and had inner tire wire but not nearly that severe... I only got about 5k miles on them as was very disappointed.. I still have plans to change a few other parts and agree with Joe that one bump and it seems like the caster arm #2 takes everything out of whack..

RikTT

iTrader: (2)

I'd look into a set of upper adj control arms such as the SPC ones with camber & caster

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

Even the Megans Adj. ones are pretty nice.. Seen them on Ebay for $278 shipped...

BayAreaLex

HI guys, thanks for the reply.

Yes, within the last several months, I did replace most of the front suspension, new poly caster bushings were included in that.

Another thing that I'd like to clarify, is that this problem is with the front. Someone above mentioned getting rear adjustable toe arms, but the rear tires are wearing just fine, completely even in fact.

Can someone confirm that the aftermarket upper control arms int he front will only allow additional camber adjustment and not additional toe adjustment? My gut is telling me that this is a front toe problem, more so than an excessive negative camber problem, but I could be wrong.

Usually the eye can see excessive camber pretty easily. Even a degree or two negative is visible to the eye. The eye cannot see toe problems as easily since the front of the car tapers. Also, if you look at that tire, there is a severe drop off in tire wear towards the inside edge which isn't consistent with camber. Of course it could be a combination of the two.

New tires are on and I have an appointment at the Lexus dealer on Thursday to square away a fresh alignment. I will be asking for the current alignment specs to be printed out for me so I can see how bad things were off.

One more thing... With a modest drop like I have, is the front expected to have limited toe adjustment too? I can't imagine this to be the case??

Thanks guys.

SprtDesign

iTrader: (21)

Yes. Anything over an 1.5 inches lower than factory settings pretty much maxes out OEM settings.

BayAreaLex

Just to clarify, aftermarket control arms will allow me to adjust the camber/caster, correct?

Then what do I need to be able to further adjust the toe in the front?

youngs3oo

iTrader: (1)

I believe SPC uca's will adjust camber and caster while Megan uca's is only able to adjust camber. I am pretty low on the same wheels and just got an alignment on Sunday. My toe for the fronts were within the specified range and I have no suspension mods there besides coilovers. I've yet to see how fast my tires wear though.

SprtDesign

iTrader: (21)

That's the sad part about the GS, a lot of things come into play when lowered and aligning on oem parts. Being in the specified range would be acceptable on oem ride height but when lowered, it's optimal to get the toe to zero out for decent tire life.

I may be wrong. but won't a front RCA help with camber & toe being that it would help bring the OEM suspension geometry back close to stock, and allow for more adj. on the factory arms.

I'll be following this thread as I drive 100 mi. a day and looking to see any results on factory setting before I go adj.

TimWalker

Well i just purchased my own set of these megan uca's in an attempt to fix my alignment issues as the inner edge of my tires wear out really fast and the alignment shop said my camber adjustment was already maxed out with the eom adjuster.
Has anyone else been having good luck after installing these?

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

how many miles and if high miles, have you replaced your bushing?
Alignment most likely will go out of what you dialed in as if your bushings are shot.

martin2301

I have the same problem

TimWalker

Yes I do have high miles 204k but I've already replaced the lower arm bushings