Kowalski

Don't you just hate those pylons that jump out in front of your car. :chairshot: Been there, done that. Merry Christmas

I guess I assume that the simple things like tire pressure and the like have already been checked if someone goes as far as to seek out a posting board. But all of those tire related problems will have an effect on steering wheel wobble.

If it is wobbling when you take off then it is probably worn bushings, tierods, or ball joints. If it wobbles when you stop then the rotors could be suspect. Worn front end components will make the steering in any car or truck feel vague and will make the car want to wander as it encounters irregularities in the road.

Dash kits usually look cheap and cheesy. I was thinking of using some kind of faux technique or hammered look paint because it gives the look of a textured surface. The wood does look classy but I am partial to the metal look trim in sporty cars.

I am not really digging the wood trim anymore in my ES and have been thinking about painting all the wood trim pieces, but I'm not sure what color would look best with my tan interior. I've searched and can't find any posts about other people doing this but I'm sure some of you all have. So all I really need is some sugestions about what would look nice. I already know that I want the trim to have a satin finish rather than a high gloss one. Other than that I have no real direction. Thanks.

Mine are 16 rear and 17 front if Im not mistaken. I dont know where you can get any cheap but if I where you i would order some energy suspension polyurethane bushings. They will squeak more if you dont keep them lubed but your car will handle sharper.

I used white lithium on the bumpstops and some liquid wrench on the top of the mounts. I jacked the car up and then sprayed the LW all down inside the top of the mount. Next time I will probably use something thicker on the mounts so it will last longer. Its only been a few days so far, but one day was better than nothing.

I have read numerous posts about lubing or greasing the strut mounts and the bump stops, and honestly I thought that it was probably a croc of *BLEEP*. But man I was wrong. It makes sense to me that the stuff needs to be greased; but I had TONS of noise coming from the front struts and had come to the conclusion that I was just going to have to replace everything. But a little grease on the bump stops and some spray lube on the top of the strut mounts and POOF, no more noise whatsoever. Out of every tip or trick that I have read about on the LOC this was the most unbelievable, and amazingly, the most helpful and rewarding. It is so nice to drive around and not hear all the clunking and rattling every time I hit a bump. Thanks LOC

I agree. But if he gets angry or something try to nail that mother in court.

Dang man! Unfortunately there is not a whole lot you can do unless you and your mechanic signed a contract or an agreement. We have all been nailed HARD at least a few times. This might be something that you have to stomach and hope never happens again. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

"You are asking a stud to hold a wheel against a hub it cannot touch but with a 1/4 inch stud. It is the difference of holding a 5 lb shopping bag with a pencil to hold it up only or holding it with your hand. Which is in effect what you have done." I told you all from the very beginning that the wheel IS still sitting on the hub, just not as much as without the washers. Here's a little story for ya.....My other car is a 91 Nissan Pathfinder with aftermarket 15x7 rims with 31x10.50 tires which weigh about 60 pounds each. One day as I was putting the tires back on I only used my impact wrench to torque the lugs and meant to go back and use a wrench to make sure that they were on good but forgot to. Well my compressor was not running up to full pressure and unbeknown to me the lugs didn't get torqued anywhere near what they should've been. After a few days I was on the interstate going my usual 80+ mph and all of the sudden the whole truck began to shake and rumble like mother! I nearly !Removed! my panties because I didn't know what it was. I adjusted my mirror down so I could see the tire and it was wobbling like I have never seen. So I pulled over, grabbed my lug wrench, and checked the lugs on both sides. To my horror, 3 of the 6 lugs on both sides had 1 turn left until they came off, and the other 3 had about 3 turns left on the lugs. 80 MPH!!!! in a 4000 lb truck with all the gear I have in there plus me at 275 and my girlfriend at (undisclosed for my sake) less than 170. Imagine the hell that put on those lugs (6 of them), and had been putting on them for a couple of days without making any real noise or vibration. And, amazingly not one of the lugs was bent or even had marred threads!!! Just sit back and imagine that...........Now think of my car with the rim still sitting on the weight bearing hub and not weighing nearly as much as the Pathfinder and with nuts that are good and tight. I speak from experience when I say that they probably aren't going to break off all of the sudden causing some catastrophe. The lugs can take more abuse than you give them credit for SK.

As a member of this board do the rules state that I Must accept your recommendations? I don’t think that they do. Just because I or someone asks for advice doesn’t mean that we have to accept it. Many people post here just to tell you’ all what they have done and how they did it, whether or not you like it. They’re not asking for advice and don’t have to take advice that is given. I know that I might be putting a lot of stress on the lug nuts but I seriously doubt that suddenly all 5 are going to snap off and my ES will go out of control. Maybe one would break and then put more stress on the next and so on and so forth. But by the first one or two, if they did break, you would feel it and stop the car. The chance that all 5 would break and the wheel would fall off and cause me to lose control is 1 in a million.

Oh I am definitely going to get wheel spacers. As a matter of fact I have already ordered them and had always intended to (H&R 5mm) but the washers are on for now and doing just fine. I know that I might not be making the best decision, but that is the way I live my life, by trial and error. Telling me that I am making a stupid decision is one thing, but reacting the way some of these guys have is just damn ridiculous. Their reactions, and trouble here at home, prompted me to overreact and get real *BLEEP*ed. For that I am sorry. But just as I have told my parents my whole life, "they are my decisions, let me make them and deal with the consequences."

To whom it may concern, I twice told SK exactly what I thought about his last post and your moderator deleted them both because he couldn't handle everybody here knowing and possibly agreeing with what I said. I thought this was a posting board rather than a deleting board.

SW30ES My plate number is RHQ-859 and I live in Tennessee. Turn me in because I don't give two sh*ts if you do. SK Any board where a moderator would say "Have fun grinding to a halt”, basically wishing destruction on someone's car, had better look into getting a new moderator. I have been looking at this board for over a year now and have noticed that you, SK, go off half cocked, and while giving factual information, do so in a smarta$$ed way. All you had to do was leave out all that smug smarta$$ talk and I would have had a better time stomaching or "heading" ,as you say, your advise; the word is Heed not Head, and you call me a moron? I might not be making the best decision but I am no moron I assure you. So hasten back to your computer and continue writing garbled unreadable posts that make close to no sense whatsoever and heed this; a 14 year old with C's in spelling could easily call you a moron and be comfortable doing so.

you increase the pressure on the lugs if the rim is not sitting on the hub, but if you would have read my post you would have seen that my rims ARE sitting on the hubs. here, i'll make it easy for you to read this. READ BEFORE YOU FLAME!

A couple of small washers from The Home Depot placed on each lug and no more rubbing, and the rims are still sitting on the hub. So, until anything unusual happens like vibrating, I will hold off on any spacers. These rims look soooooo sweeeeet on an ES300. As soon as I get a digital camera I will post some pics.

First of all they look AWESOME. But with 225/50 tires they rub the strut just the tinyest bit. The smallest spacers would work - and i mean 1/8 or 1/4 at most, or do I have other options? What if I just use some small washers, one per lug, will that pull the rim off the hub so far that it will cause problems? I just want to hurry up and put them on without having to buy expensive spacers. The rims are 17x7.5 in case someone needs to know.

Thnaks Guys. The spacers are for an ES300.

I just want to know if there are any other good Hub Centric wheel spacers other than H&R. I found some that fit our bolt pattern but they are made for a mustang and I dont know if we have the same hub size as the mustangs. Any knowledge would be appreciated. I get my 2006 GS300 rims tomorrow and just in case they dont fit on the rear I want to know everywhere I can get spacers. Thanks.

Thanks khhoang, that link summed up my questions exactly. Just to update, I bought a set of four of thoes GS rims brand new with Dunlop tires, lug nuts and center caps for $1024!! Thats less than 1/4 the price the dealer asks for these rims.

will 17 x 7.5in 2006 GS300 rims fit on a 98 ES? I have the chance to buy some and think that they would look great but want to make sure before I buy.

Is the bolt patten on the 2006 GS300 17in rims the same as all other lexus cars. And what about thier offset. I have the chance to buy some for a 98 ES300 and want to know if they'll fit before I purchase. Thanks

does that 150 include shipping, a warranty, negotiating room....or what. Forgive me, but 150 seems Q U I T E steep and I love to negotiate.

dcfish how much is your sub? PIONEERSUBY, is the sub that you have really a sub or is it a midbass speaker? The reason that I am asking is that this new Cerwin Vega Sub that I put in isnt punchy at all and reproduces all of the low tones that my stock speaker never did. I know that the stock speaker must be a fancy unit with a high SPL but $150, damn that sounds expensive.