mannye

Stop getting mad at your car! Maybe someone else will chime in here, but in my experience any time you need to get into the center console of a Lexus. Toyota or even Honda/Acura requires removing an amazing amount of stuff. If I were you I would look for a radio install guide for your car and I'll bet that the removal instructions will be included in that.

If you look at my "Arrgh" post, you will note that my dealer has let me down on the alignment of my 04 LS. That's not a warranty item, however, so paying astronimical dealer hourly fees which are multiplied by the incompetence or laziness (idon't care what the cause is) is not something I will accept. I don't mind paying for quality work, but I can't stomach being bilked by sub-standard shops. So if anyone can recommend a place that takes the time to do the job right in (alignment) and is familiar with Lexus, I would really appreciate it (perhaps with a bottle of scotch?). Also, if you live ANYWHERE in Florida and have a good dealer or shop to recommend, please let me know. I have often found it neccesary to leave this area to get good work done on my cars. God knows I won't let anyone but Harbor Auto touch my cars for body work and they are a couple of hundred miles away. (that's how far I had to go to get show quality body and paint work done on my Roadrunner)

WOW! Now THAT'S what I call a response.. lol Thanks for the advice! Ever since I moved to South Florida I have been struggling with the absolute lack of skilled labor in the area. Anything, and I mean anything, from installing drywall to changing brakes, that requires even a miniscule amount craftsmanship is sure to be done so badly that I have become gun shy about doing anything if I can't do it myself. Unfortunately something like this requires equipment and knowledge that I just don't have so the search for a competent shop begins... that's going to be my next post. Somehow I feel that like body work, I will have to take a weekend and drive out of South Florida to your neck of the woods to get the job done right. (yes... it's THAT BAD down here.)

41 views and nothing? So maybe I'm the only one with alignment problems? Did I miss something on the search? Someone want to pint me to the thread?

I changed my own A/C filter a couple of weeks back (took all of 5 minutes) but I can't find how to reset the alarm that keeps reminiding me to change it when I start the car...

My dealer gave me some !Removed! and bull story about a bent rim and then a blank stare when I asked if the could just put the "bent" one on the back and get that freaking right-hand pull fixed... Very annoying. Is there some kind of secret to getting a 2004 LS 430 aligned? I keep the tire pressure at 33lbs on all 4 and I have the 18 rims with the sport suspension (not the variable height one).

Thank you for the information!! I will do it as soon as I find a good deal on two rear rotors. I was gonna give Ebay a look, but not if they have good rotors for sale. Anyway thanks again for the help!! Steve :) WOw! That is a fantastic tutorial! I wish there was something like that for the 430! If there is anyone in the South Florida area that wants to start one, I'll pony up the parts, the car, the camera and the bandwidth (I have a web page that I'm doing nothing with). All I need is someone that knows what they are doing. My brakes are not quite ready for a change, but I'll do it anyway. Who's game? PM me!

Anyone?

Wait... can this remote start thing be retro fit onto any older model? Like for example my 04 LS 430?

MY LS 430 does not have this feature, and the other day I saw the radar module for sale on ebay... Is it possible to add it onto the LS? Has anyone done something like this?

Great information guys! Thanks. I should mention that treadwear isn't that much of a concern. If I can get 20K miles out of them, that's almost 2 years for me and I'm fine with that. I really like the look of the 18s, plus I see the whole replacing with 17s as a hassle, what with the expense of the 17s, getting rid of the 18s, etc. But never say never, once I wear the off-brand crap that the previous owner put on there, I'll try something with a softer compund and less agressive pattern and see what happens.. If I am still bothered, then switching to 17s might be an option. Back in 95, I bought an Impala SS brand new, and I was having the same problem with the 17s that came on that car... a decade or so later, same problem, one more inch! In the case of the SS, headers and cat-back exhasut took care of the tire noise problem And by the way... almost 80 deg F today.. HA AH HA HAHAHAHAHAHA aaaaaa

LOL Looks like we'll never know...

The density of nitrogen compared to oxygen makes the difference. No gimmick. SK, What facts made you decide to change to nitrogen ? Hey welcome back DC!!! :D :D :D :D I don't know but this looks like it will save some money!!! http://www.getnitrogen.org/sub.php?view=cheaper If I didn't think nitrogen was a gimmick before I read this, I am sure of it now. Just replace "nitrogen" with "properly inflated" and you get the same result. Do the bigger nitrogen molecules take longer to escape the tire? Yes. But you still have to monitor tire pressure, and you still have to refill it once in a while to keep proper pressure.. JUST LIKE AIR. Except with nitrogen, now I have to go to a special place to get my tire inflated insteadof just pulling over to the first place I see. Maybe now I don't have time,,,maybe I'll go tomorrow...oops no time again...one more day ... Now what happened to my 3.3% better milage and tire life? Oh and that stuff about being less damaging to the inside of the tire? When is the lat time your tires dry-rotted or "wore out from the inside" before the TREAD did? This might make sense for a million dollar 'Cuda riding on 2 thousand dollar NOS Polyglass radials that sits for years, but not for a daily driver. Bah... pass the foot pump.

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'm on a quiet 18 inch tire hunt now.. lol

Hmmmm I do believe I might have the 18 inchers... darnit. I will have to go and take a look. Here's a picture of the rims. This is actually exactly what my car looks like . I can spend my whole year on summer tires, so that's not really an issue.

I want to know if anyone has information on what is the quietest tire we can get. I HATE road noise and it is the single most important reason I bought the LS 430. I would have bought a 460 because I hear that it reaches new heights in the quiet department, but I can't afford one of those at the moment... SO.... If your first and only requirement was that the tread design be quiet and as free of road noise as possible... what would you go with? Are invo tires outrageously priced? i don't want to spend more than 250 bucks a corner...

i don't think it's junk at all...in FACT it shows just how compatible synth and dino really are! Is it junk? Probably not, but as to better than one or the other? I can't say. Anyone?

bumpity bump bump bump...

Hey! Nice to see a fellow miamian on here! Lots of Lexus running around here, but I just went to the dealer service department in Kendall today and they need a month almost if I want a loaner!!! That's insane! I also have a 1969 Roadrunner that probably used dino for 20+ years and is now running very happily on Mobil 1. For about 7 years now.. With no leaks or other issues. It actually seems to run better... (note this is not a scientific, but rather a SOTP type of thing...it probably runs absolutely the same...)

That's cool. Hey... you should sponsor the forum, I would have probably bought stuff by now. Just got a new (well...almost new...'04...lol) 430 and I'm itching to put stuff on it. I especially would love to know if there is a book with LS 430 serets and easter eggs. I swear this thing has so many computers and electronic toys, there must be secret voice activation words or phrases and all sorts of touchscreen hacks!

I have the exact same shimm on a "new" LS 430 i bought last week. The vibration starts at about 63 and goes to 70-something. I too have noticed that the advent of larger wheels and tires has made vibrations harder to eliminate. (it xeems that way anyway). I purchased a new 1995 Impala SS that came with what back then were huge 17 inch wheel that were almost 11 or 12 inches wide and it took many different trips to at least three different shops all using the Hunter system to get the vibrations under control at high speeds. My theory is that the craftsmanship needed to do the job right has risen a few notches and the quality of the workers at these places has fallen several notches. The Hunter machine takes a little more care and attention to do the job right despite all the automation it brings to the table. With a careful operator at the helm, it is capable of perfection, but with a minimum wage monkey doing the button pushing, you can't expect much.

bumpity bump

Have you changed your own oil? I just got an 04 LS and removing all that stuff underneath looks like quie the chore. I am probably going to take it to the dealer this first time and bend over and take it like a man. But 100+ for an oil change is high high high and I will probably decide to do it myself. Has anyone posted a pictorial of the procedure? I searched but can find nothing.

I just bought my 04 LS 430 and I was playing around with the radio controld and noticed that when I use the fader (NOT THE DSP CONTROLS) to move the sound all the way to the rear, the volume is MUCH lower than what is happening up front. Almost as if the phase was shifted or there was some sort of attenuation. Is this some Levinson "sound design" thing? for those of you that have the 430 with Levisnson, does your stereo sound the same? I find that while the front part sounds oustanding, I can't help thinking how much better it would sound if the rear was going as strong as the front. I had some passengers back there today and they were complaining they could not hear the music. Note: These were not youngsters back there and we were listening to jazz...

Is it possible to retrofit the laser cruise control into the 04 LS? It's the one option I didn't get with the car that I would really like to have. I know that soemtimes it can be easy to install some options becuase most everything is already there... anyone ever try this? Seems like if I already have cruise control, this might be just an extra sensor...