Problem With Ride Height In Loaded Lx470

[gage]

i recently had my 03 lx470 loaded with say 800 pounds in the cargo area on a drive from okla. to north carolina. about 3 times i noticed the ride height was on low while cruising down the interstate at 75mph. flipping the switch did nothing but cause the light to flash till i pulled over ,stopped and repeated the procedure. at this pont it would go to the normal position. after unloading the vehicle when i got home the problem has not resurfaced. has anyone had this problem before?

[Jim_Chow]

I thought the ride height defaulted to "normal" beyond a certain speed. I wonder if you exceeded the capacity of the AHC shocks and they default to the low position? When in "low" position, the vehicle weight is completely on the rear coil springs and front torsion bars.

[lexus411]

There is a problem with some of the suspensions on the LX 470. I have heard similiar stories to yours. See the dealer.

[lx470]

The System will default to LOW when a system malfunction occurs or the weight exceeds the Maximum weight.

At or close to Maximum Weight the system will sometimes moce to Low when threshold temps arer detected in the system. Pulling over and letting the system cool will reenable the Height to Normal.

All this info is in the Manual.

I find that with 6 adults on board the system goes to Low after about 40 miles of Highway driving.

[cfbrenton]

If your system is going to low with six adults, it is not functioning properly. I have had far in excess of that in mine. I put tons of bricks for a retaining wall in mine. It had to be a couple thousand pounds (yeah that was dumb.) As soon sa I closed the door, the car moved to its proper position (which impressed the Home Depot guy, who said "I hope you are not going far, because you are going to bottom out all the way home")

I wonder if it has to do with the fluid level?

on another note, my local lexus mechanics, who are terrible, once did something with the suspension, and while on a trip, a pressure valve or sensor came undone. The fluid leaked, and obviously, the car went immediately into the low position. The Mechanics in Boston knew reight away what it was and called my "home team" mechanics a bunch of idiots.

I think if you live in a city outside the coasts, fewer people have these, and the guys are not trained on the 4wd and the suspension.