PureDrifter

What is the need for upgrading if it's already upgraded I'm saying.

You said "they" (I'm assuming is a pronoun for the previous owner) already upgraded the calipers and rotors...

Are you wanting to upgrade even further?

Like Supra brakes? Or 2nd gen Brakes?

Sorry when I said they, I meant they upgraded they lexus model in 1993-1994 braking system.I brought they 1993- 1994 calipers dual piston but reading further in that upgrade for that year they also upgraded the rotors bigger rotors.What i am saying is will the 1993-1994 rotors fit my year 1992 as well??

yes, you can use the 93-94 rotors to complete your minor brake upgrade.

the difference, however, will be minimal. most in search of improved braking performance upgrade to the 95-00 LS400 calipers/rotors since they are HUGE and 4piston lightweight aluminum calipers. to do that swap you need 95+ caliper, pads, rotors, and lower ball joints, as well as wheels that wil fit over the larger calipers.

So a 1" drop to me is a waste of money! It's not ignorant just because it's not what YOU think.

I think if people wanted a sports car that rides on rails then the LS is the wrong car. If however you want to stiffen the ride up, and don't want to drop much, then by all means go for the H&Rs.

I personally wanted to go low and keep a comfortable ride... why is that ignorant??

and 954................... What!?!?????????

im not saying that you can't have your opinion, i said what i said because you seemed to be saying that any 1" drop is a waste of money, and the OP didnt say he was or wasnt looking for a sporty feel, so why put down one liable option because of your personal preference?

oh, and the H&R settle to ~1.3-1.5 inches from what my friends running it tell me.

What Up Thats For all the in for but i need more I got a 1991 ls 400 and i want to drop it sic!!!!!!!! real real real real LOW iam talkin negative camber on the back wheel you no the vip way how?????????? much should i cut i want to put 18"s on well 18x9 in the front and 19x9.5 in the back

if you want to VIP it then spend up the right amount of money and get yourself a set of coilovers.

Tanabes are IMHO only useful if you don't care about the way the car drives, and they will blows the OEM shocks quicker than any other spring, notnecesasarily make them ride poorly. really only useful for going low and getting a close-to-stock ride.

H&R are great springs, the only current equivalent to the ones Eibach used to make. the H&R springs have a totally different purpose than the Tanabes, so J, the Tanabes are made to go low and give a stock-like ride, whereas the H&Rs are made to give a moderate drop, but greatly improve the feel/handling of the car. so saying a spring that gives a 1" drop isn't worth the money is a pretty ignorant thing to say.

Won't HID's look horrible in the 95-97 housing?

I'd say just get some Silverstar ULTRAs

not horrible but will glare something fierce

Lol. footprints in the back window... What a guy! B)

There are far more important things than impressing girls and fellow school mates. FAR more important things.

If however it IS the case that "money is no object" then go right ahead for it.

The LS is definitely NOT the car for a struggling college student.

I currently daily my LS and i go to school full time while working part time.

all mods/maint. paid for and done by yours truly.

as long as you're handy with a wrench you'll be alright.

Oh yeah?........well.....................well.................

............ my wheels are nicer! haha :D

Yep, I like yours too...

mine is a coach, but my wife wanted the gold package, so I got the 2003 wheels with the gold center to match.

I still have the silver coach emblems, all but the LS400, if anyone wants/needs them

bp

how much shipped to socal for the front emblem?

I went 174 mph in my LS on an open stretch of hwy 1 at 3am during a full moon. here in cali.

kidding.

obviously.

Spray some kind of cleaner in the key hole to release the pin.

Thanks SK. I actually ended up trying your idea - it was the cheapest - and it worked!

I got some white lithium grease and sprayed the key lightly on both sides. After inserting and re-inserting the key several times the problem has not returned. I hope somebody else reads this someday!

for future reference, you generally don't wanna put lithium grease into locks since it tends to gunk up over time leading to expensive repairs, rather use powdered graphite lubricant.

Well, Spring Break is rolling around, and I'm preparing to the the LS for its first real road trip!

Should be about a 1600 mile drive from Durham, NC to Miami and back. It will be me and 3 others. The car runs in tip top shape (and I really mean it!), but I'm wondering what I should do to prepare for this trip. It has new tires and just got a fresh oil change. I'm probably going to get the windows tinted to 35% next weekend. I'll probably give it a nice detail and do an application of Lexol on the leather to keep it nice and soft!

One concern I have is related to the cigarette lighters all over the car (there are 3, plus one electrical outlet in the glovebox). If I ran electrical devices like iPods, laptops and GPS units from all of these outlets at the same time, would this cause any harm to my electrical system or place too much load on the alternator? I just had my alternator and battery tested at Advance Auto Parts and they said they were fine.

Any suggestions or recommendations? Thanks!

electrical issues shouldnt be a problem, buy a couple extra 5, 10, 15, 20, and maybe even 30amp spade fuses to keep just in case someone overloads/shorts something during the drive. make sure the coolant and trans fluid levels are correct, and that the tires are inflated to ~33-36psi. windshield wipers, and wiper fluid, blinker fluid, and the AC/Heater should all be in good shape.

Which Lexus model wheels are internchangeable with the 95 LS400?

I assume all LS400 wheels are...but what about others such as GS or LS430, etc.

Thanks

only 95+ LS400/430 wheels are interchangeable due to the massive front brakes on the 95-00 LS400 and all LS430s. any 89-94 LS wheels will NOT fit.

IS, SC, ES, and RX wheels will not fit at all, neither will 1st or 2nd gen GS wheels (up until 2006). 3GS (06+) wheels will fit DEPENDING on year, size (generally only the 18" wheels) and if they came off of a 430/460 or a sport packaged 350.

Also, 88-98 Supra Turbo (that's mk3 and mk4) wheels will fit and clear the brakes (although the mk3 turbo wheels are imho ugly as sin) and the 18"s off of the LS430 are a popular upgrade.

the fluid is nearly Identicel to my PS fluid. I will check the shocks and boot for leaks today. How would I check the rack? and how in the world would I go about taking it out and replaceing it? I was planning on replacing the tie rod ends, should I do "inner", "outer" or both? Also is there a DIY on that? I let you know what I find as soon as I can. THX

if its the rack just replace the whole damn thing from a salvaged car, tie rods and all.

I don't like the Xenon kit. Honestly... it looks cheap. And so do the wheels. The two tone is tacky. ( In my personal opinion )

I'd say get a set of 19" Full face, machine finished wheels. And look for a different kit.

But if you have your mind set on those wheels and that kit.. then go for it.

for the wheels i think i have changed my mind to go with all black.

and the kit.,im not really sure what other kit to get.. you have any suggestions?

try looking into some of the better known kits, WALD, Junction Produce, AutoCouture and etc. are all pretty baller status companies that make incredible kits. there are a good few japanese companies that make cheaper kits but if i was about to spend at LEAST $1500 on paint, i'd rather have a kit i'm not planning on changing anytime soon.

the wheels, imho, look like they came off a mid nineties riced out civic or accord, and don't fit the LS at all. better off imo spending money on a set of nice used wheels than cheap new ones.

first off though, what suspension do you plan to run to make a kitted car right?

not really much of a "trick". all you did was program the alarm on the 95 to use the remote from a 97. that's fine because the system on 95-97 cars is all the same, and FYI, this won't work ALL the time, you just got RIDICULOUSLY lucky that both your cars ran the same FCC frequency. (look at the back of the fob, see that number that says FCC ID, yeah, there's about a dozen or so different varieties of those for 95-97 MY cars, give or take a couple)

It could very well be the ps boot. The fluid is the same color as my PS fluid. I hope that I didn't damage the rack but if I did how would I be able to check. Is there a DIY write up on the boot and tie rod ends or should I just pay to have that done? THX alot KF

If i were you I would just jack up the car and get under there and check it out. Maybe just the boot is torn. Rebuilt rack and tie rod ends are not too expensive and you can install yourself. Bleed the system and get allignment done.

depending on the consistency of the fluid and the severity of the impact it may very well be leaking hydraulic fluid from the shock absorber.

if it's rather thick, likely the rack got internally raped, if it's lighter its likely shock oil, feels heavier (think more like astroglide vs. ky jelly) it's likely PS fluid.

Thanks, these are not wired with both style plugs on the harness', correct? bp

No, there are not connectors in your car for both standard and Nak systems.

I don't know about the 95-97 standard and Nak, but it was explained to me by an audio shop tech that the architecture of the two systems on the 98-00 is very different. Some functions that are controlled by the amp on the standard system are in the head unit of the Nak system and vice versa -- don't know if that is really true but that's what I was told.

it is true, the Pioneer system controls the CD changer via the amplifier (which is relaying the control from the headunit while at the same time processing the sound and sending it out). in the Nakamichi system the CD changer output and data is going directly into the headunit, and the amplifier's only duty is to process the FINAL output sound from the headunit and send it out to the speakers.

thanks guys

go and check the wiring behind the fuel release/trunk release switch before replacing the actuator.

if you need to hold off on it there should be a manual release in the trunk.

ive had a quite a few people that I ran into at my lexus mechanic that say that the fogs dont run when the HIDS are installed...

I saw ONLY one person with them running and he says that the person who did it knew a lot about them and a relay had to be put in or something like that.... but the person that does the installation doesnt like to do it because its " dangerous"

maybe something is disconnected when the hids have to be put in i guess and thats why it doesnt cut on with the fogs

The person you spoke to doesn't like to use relays with HID kits? I suggest you speak to somebody else and do some - no a lot of - reading on the subject. The power for HID kits generally comes from the battery; a relay is used to turn the headlights on when the headlight switch inside the car is turned to the ON position.

Here is a web page with basic information about HID installs: http://orca.st.usm.edu/~jmneal/tiburon/hids.htm

Gen 1 LS400s OEM headlights do not have sharp low beam cutoffs or an automatic or manual beam control. An HID kit in a gen 1 LS400 can provide dangerous glare for oncoming drivers and you might have to have your headlights aimed so low that they won't be all that useful.

Most U.S. spec cars made after about the mid 1990s had headlights with a sharp or at least sharper low beam cutoff -- HID kits work better on them but can still blind oncoming drivers since they don't have an adjustable beam control and if you are carrying a full load that causes the headlights to point upward.

fogs will not work on 93+ USDM LS400s since they used H4 (9003) low beams, you can work around this by using a relay kit for the headlights.

I can't seem to find the Daizen kit for sway bar bushings for a '97 LS400 online. Does it not exist?

I guess I will stick with genuine Lexus parts! Maybe I'll even have the Lexus dealership do it!

amcdonal86, I didn't mean to make it sound like the Daizen bushings are the only good ones out there. The OEM ones will do just as good, if not a better job. They are just more expensive.

If there are no Daizen bushings available for your car, I would just stick with the OEM ones and stay away from "universal" aftermarket parts.

A Lexus dealership service writer once told me that they never replace the bushings alone, only the entire stabilizer bar assembly. I would purchase the OEM bushings from the parts department yourself and bring them to a mechanic of your choice. They should be no problem for any competent mechanic and much cheaper than a Lexus dealership.

do some research buddy ;)

Energy Suspension makes quality stuff, and the sway bar bushings i recco'd are Polyurethane, they aren't meant to be a replacement for OEM, they are an UPGRADE for someone who wants less body roll than the flimsy OEM rubber pieces.

Do I assume correctly that the IS250 engine is an interference engine?

no idea, COMPLETELY different engine line.

you did see the title of this forum right? :P

I have seen threads referencing www.techinfo.toyota.com. What would I find there? Does it have better information than the factory repair manual?

This web page has a summary of what is available for Lexus vehicles: https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/...&_nfpb=true

As you can see, the repair manual is a small part of what is included on Techinfo. Perhaps the most important information on Techinfo are the electrical diagrams. The electrical diagram manual is separate from the repair manual set. Now that the audio system diagrams have been removed from the Auto Repair Reference Center, available through many public libraries, Techinfo is now the only place I know where they can be viewed.

I bought the hard copy two volume repair manual set for both of my previous 90 and current 00 LS400. They are useful but certainly not the best in comparison to what some other manufacturers offer.

hey KANSAS (:P)

you can get the OEM wiring diagrams for ~$40 off ebay :)

Find the dealer and call for more info.It can mean anything.

generally in the US you have to show proof of ownership for a vehicle in order for most lexus dealerships to give you the detailed service sercords.

But, the lexus dealerships will likely have a detailed description of what work was done on your car.

also keep in mind, carfax only sees what was reported to the insurance companies, if accident damage was repaired without going through insurance then it's kinda hit or miss.

there are a lot, but rough idle is kinda normal in cold weather, especially if you live in hot climate (like, the deserts of socal) since the ECU isn't used to the cold air.

i'd check fuel filter/pump, then plugs/coils/ignitors/wires/caps/rotors/etc, and MAYBE the fuel injectors.

It is printed right beside the main body colour on your door jam vin plate

SK, could Canadian spec cars be different? I don't see the cladding color code beside the body color code (062) on the door jam label on my U.S. spec 00 LS -- only the interior color code.

Excuse me, I meant "colour"! -- "Two peoples separated by a common language."

iirc my 99 DOES have the color code but i'll check tomorrow :P

I can't seem to find the Daizen kit for sway bar bushings for a '97 LS400 online. Does it not exist?

I guess I will stick with genuine Lexus parts! Maybe I'll even have the Lexus dealership do it!

doesnt exist, but you can use a set of universal energy suspension polyurethane bushings with minimal modifications, and even get them with zerk fittings to make greasing easy.

link is somewhere in this big 'ole FAQ i made years ago over on CL.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264122

most likely strut rod bushings are causing the clunking, or the lower ball joints. honestly, i just put the car up on stands and wiggle the wheel about, if it moves, CA bushing or upper/lower ball joints, if it doesnt, take a pry bar and put some stress on the strut rod and keep a light on it, you'll instantly see any tears/cracks in the bushing.

95+LS (and iirc 96+ SC4) were interference motors.

the end.