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STEERING WHEEL SHAKE ON 99 GS400 AT 60 MILES PER HOUR


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Hello,

I have a 99 GS400 with the stock 17 inch wheel and tire combination. The tires are brand new, with less than 100 miles on them so far. They are the Bridgestone RE-730's, and the first thing I noticed about them is that they are NOISY in comparison to the stock Bridgestone RE 030 tires.

I also notice a distinct vibration at 55 to 60 miles per hour, and it disappears at about 80 on the high end. It does not vibrate at any speed slower than 55 or 60.

I have heard that there is an adjustment to take out excessive slop in the rack and pinion, but can't remember where it is I saw it. I wished now that I had the 16 inch wheel and tire combination. It is not as sporty looking or handling, but the ride is supposed to be smoother, and tire life is supposed to be considerably longer. An website called www.aaarims.com is supposed to have the stock 16 inch wheels in stock. I might just buy a complete set of these to augment the 17's I have on the car now. I called a local Lexus dealership, and the service department did NOT know of an adjustment of the type I described.

I would appreciate any comments or advice that anyone can give me in that regard.

Thanking you in advance,

GSEREP1

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  • 2 weeks later...

  • 4 weeks later...

I have a 2000 GS400 Platinum Edition. The Plat Edition included the 17-inch spoke wheels and Bridgestone tires. Within the first 3 months the dealer replaced all of the tires twice and the two front tires once more. I had a vibration in the steering column at 60mph. The tech said that the tires were "out-of-round", but was puzzled as to why this occurred so quickly. So, the dealer replaced the tires with Eagle GT's. (The dealer didn't charge me for any of the tire changes.)

The Eagles are rougher riding, but I haven't had any problems per se.

However, I have experienced plenty of other steering problems since. The steering in the GS has the same reported problems as their other models. The dealer tech "can" make an adjustment, "tightening up the rack", to reduce steering vibration and body roll. He can also increase your tire pressure that make a difference as well.

This is the only problem that I have with this model, but when BMW releases the 2004 5-Series, it'll be gone.

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The Lexus dealer went over the car thoroughly(6 hours) the 2nd time I brought it in. They checked suspension and rack & pinion components. They didn't mention if they checked the rotors, but it isn't a braking issue, and my pads aren't wearing like they would with warped rotors (normal life and even wear). Thanks for the suggestion though.

I stopped by the dealer yesterday to pick up a bulb, and one of the techs told me about a problem he thought was in a bulletin - something about a component in the r&p steering that was flawed in design - and they had a fix. I'm not so sure he 'was supposed to be talking' about this, so I'm going to ask about it later with the service advisor(I don't want to 'tell on him' and give him a bad rap for being honest)

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For what it may be worth let me tell you what a service manager told me.

We were talking about the steering and suspension on my 2002 GS300 and he volunteered that earlier GS300s had a steering vibration or shake problem. He said the problem was worse with the 17 inch wheels. He said that Lexus changed the design of the steering pinion in 2001 which fixed the problem. The new design stopped the transmission of vibration from the wheels to the steering wheel.

Thats all I know.

Larry

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I have also found that the factory wheels are some times not perfect. This come directly form the Toy/Lex copr. offices. When i first had my GS i had this same problem. I went through the multi inspections, then the head at the lexus dealer i go to had an idea of looking at the wheels. Sure enough, one of the wheels was not completely round. They replaced my wheels and the problem was solved. Hope this helps. :cheers:

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One of your wheels weren't round?? Damn now that's a mishap.. Atleast you found the problem and had it corrected...

Ya, it was the strangest thing i have ever had to encounter with in the automotive industry. The service guys were trying to give me a bunch of crap of how my driving style would cause this and all sorts of things. Ispoke to the service Mgr. about that and he said he was sorry. Oh, after the last post i checked to see how long i had the car befor noticing the porblem.. 2 weeks...But long story short the replaced the wheels and tires at no charge. and i lived happly ever after...lol

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I just got a new set of tires for my 2000 gs400 to replace my stock 16x7.5s. I had the same problem this past week and a friend told me to get the wheels rebalanced. I took it in today and the problem is cured. It was the exact same problem, steering wheel shake between 50-60 mph. I felt like I was forced to drive faster just to get rid of the problem. Make sure you have your new wheels balanced.

Kevin

L-Sportline 18 x 8.5 w/ 245/40 Potenza S-03

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Hello,

I have a 2003 GS430 w/17inch tires(this is my second. First was 99 GS400). I've had it for about 7months now. Recently I've started noticing the steering wheel shake at around 60mph. My 99 Gs had the same problem, couldn't do anything to fix it. Dealer told me the same bs about the tires being flat or irregular. I guess this issue wasn't fixed in the 2003 model either.

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I have had the same problem on my 300, especially every time the dealer balances them (especially between 50 and 70, but not over 70). I have aftermarket wheels and the problem was so bad that I considered selling the car. Yesterday I had a specialty shop rebalance the wheels and add centering rings. The problem is completely gone. I am not selling the car now, and am adding more mods.

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I have had the same problem on my 300, especially every time the dealer balances them (especially between 50 and 70, but not over 70). I have aftermarket wheels and the problem was so bad that I considered selling the car. Yesterday I had a specialty shop rebalance the wheels and add centering rings. The problem is completely gone. I am not selling the car now, and am adding more mods.

Now this is a common problem with people when they buy aftermarket rims.. You see most aftermarket rims are not hub-cemetric and therefore if they are mounted without centering rings the car will shake.. And also if you drive around for a while with the rims not on properly the bolts will start walking around the rotor and start to cause serious problems. For anyone getting new rims make sure you get centering rings... If you guys want in a couple of days I have to take my rims off to clean them down and while there off I'll take a couple of pics to show you guys what they look like....

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The following is a is a tech letter by Gary Whisler. It explaines what hub rings are used for. I hope this answers some questions soem of you.

THE VITAL ROLE OF THE HUBRING DURING INSTALLATION

by Gary Whisler

Hub rings serve no purpose after installation, their entire job is to hold your wheel perfectly centered while the lug nuts are being installed.

The hub rings sole responsibility is to take up the space between the center bore of the wheel and the hub of the car. For example: the center bore of all 4x100mm and 5x100mm wheels is 64mm. However, the hub diameter of the Honda is 56.1mm. Therefore to take up the space between 64mm and 56.1mm a hub ring is used.

All wheels are classified as being either "Hub Centric", or "Lug Centric." The term Centric refers to the way a wheel is centered. In other words a hub centric wheel centers on the hub of the car, if you put the wheel on the car without lug nuts the wheel would be perfectly centered. On a lug centric wheel, the wheels are centered by the lugs as they are tightened down. Manufacturers build wheels lug centric to allow the wheel to fit a wider selection of vehicles.

I cannot stress enough how essential it is for you to be certain that the installer of your Performance Wheel has used the correct hubring. Statistics show that the most common cause of a car vibration is a wheel that is off center slightly. For example, with lug centric wheels vibrations commonly occur when an installer tightens the lug nuts incorrectly, such as when they tighten one side before the other the wheel can be "pulled" to one side. This common problem could be prevented if the correct hubring was used during installation."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hope this helps, but on my 99 GS300 I had the same problem at exactly 60 mph. Ok so I go to the dealer and have them rebalance. Same problem. Again rebalance. A little less. Got tired of the looking at the factory chrome 16's so I replaced with a VAPC 18 w/245 40 18 Nitto 555's. You'd think that something different would occur? Nah. At exactly 60 mph a slight vibration. It is so slight that I figure since it's mechanical, it's a car, I live w/it.

Ciao,

Jl

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