smooth1

I've been doing alot of R&D, and trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my ride. As of now it's bone stock and that will just never do. So, after being extremely patient, I decided I would start with suspension and rims first. On my IS 300 I went with the Tein CS coilovers. They were great, I loved em. But, I didn't really like the EDFC system they have. You have to bring the car to a stop, enter the dampening change, then drive the car to feel if that is what you wanted or not. Kinda lame if you ask me. So, I looked at a bunch of other coilovers on the market and it really comes down to some trade off's. Like the Megan LP's are a really nice coilover! I don't know why I don't see those on more IS'! The only thing is they don't offer the electronic adjustability. So, I decided to go with the Tenabe Sustec Pro 5's and the TEAS controller. Especially after really looking into this. The TEAS is a fully active suspension system. You can tune the suspension to be softer at low speeds and stiffen up as the car speeds up. Nice! Here's a link if you want to read up on it for yourself: Tenabe TEAS active control Suspension I have the coilovers here. I'll post pics later. As I do this install, I'm going to make a "How to" and add it to the sticky at the top here for everyones info later. So' I'll be sure to take lots of pics do a step by step. While I am on this subject, I'm also going to paint my calipers, and I have already purchased new rims also. (OH YEAH! ) I swear, I spent 6 months looking for the right set. I looked at everything, and then looked again! And when I saw the Work Varianza T1S's, with a polished finish, I knew I found the rims for me! So I went with 19x8.5 in the front and 19x9.5 in the rear. I also went with a more aggressive offset. I measured the well and the tires a few times, I'm pretty certian I got it right. The only thing is they have to make the rims as the Varianza's are a custom rim, and the offsets. So I have to wait like 6-8 weeks for them to be delivered. I actually got them about 2 weeks ago, so another month maybe? I'm thinking about going with the GoodYear F1 Asymetrics also. But I haven't made up my mind yet on that. I may just get the Michelin PS2's again. I'm also looking at getting the Tenabe Medallion exhaust system, but I saw JoeZ just came out with a true dual, so I was going to wait until I get more info on that system. And I'm signed up for a group buy to get the rear window spoiler. Hopefully that will pan out. $150 bucks shipped! I haven't seen any better prices than that one. After all that I think I might, and I say might, look into a lip kit. It depends on how far I drop the suspension and all. I'm also going to do a small audio upgrade. I was thinking about pulling the bass speaker from the back and putting in a stronger one like an 8'' JL Audio W3, and just bump up the amp to that. Anyone with advice, opinions, tips or tricks I might not know about, please post up. Help is allways appreciated.

I don't think 3.05 is cheap by any stretch, but it's going in the right direction for sure! If we could get to 2.50(ish), I think I could live with that. I honestly don't think we will ever see under 2.00 again. We were living a fairy tale before.

You could visit the "How To" thread at the top of this forum.........

Holy Capoli!!! I just saw 3.17 here in Florida!!!! I didn't have a camera with me, or I would have taken a pic of it. So I talked with a few other people and in Orlando they got it for 3.07 also!! YEAH!!!!!!

She must be dragging the brake pedal alot with alot of stop and go traffic. If you have to replace the rotors also, I would go to Power Slot and get the Cryo treated and slotted rotors. Don't get drilled. The reason I say this is because Cyro treating the rotors will make them last alot longer, and the slots will help dissapate the outgassing and help keep the rotors cooler, again, making them last longer, and you'll save some money at the same time. You can still use the OE pads if you would like. I've used Power Slot many a times, and I swear by them. I have never had an issue with them. And for the calipers, I didn't mean rebuild them yourself, I meant purchase rebuilt calipers and then send them back your old ones. As you probably know, the only real waer is on the pistons and pins.

Yeah, I try to stay away from all commercial car wash places. You just never know what soap they use. The soap I use at home is designed to condition the paint and not to remove the wax I spent 2 hours putting on the car.

Good job. It's nice to hear you finally got this addressed and corrected. And the fact that you were able to do it yourself makes it that much better. It's too bad you didn't do the before and after shots. That would have been very interesting to see!

I don't know who everyone is, but they are not correct. Even in a case where all four tires are the same size, you should allways put your best tires on the front, as they are responsible for 80% of your braking power, and also provide all the turning traction. Hydroplaning is allways the biggest issue in wet weather, and the front tires are allways the "plow" and remove alot of the water before the rear tires get there when traveling in a straight line. In a staggered set up, I have pretty much allways gone to 2 front sets of tires for every 1 set in the rear. I have a Suzuki 1000 and on DOT tires, I usually go thru 2 back tires for every 1 front tire. And you should use the same tire Mfgr and make until you do a all four tire replacement. So this time just replace the tires with the same ones, and next time, you'll have to replace all four, then you can switch to whatever tires it is you would like. If you do change to a different mfgr for the fronts, it won't be a big deal, so long as they are the same size and aspect ratio. But I wouldn't go with an all season if your running summer or performance tires on the back.

I don't think you can get direct OEM calipers other than from the dealer. And those are brand new, and usually cost around 350-450 bucks each. The A1 Cardone is a an OEM remanufactured caliper. They will send you rebuilt calipers, and then you send them your old one's and get your core fee back. Iv'e used them alot and never had any issues. You can save a ton of money going this route. And yes, OE brake pads will still fit. Question though, you have an 04 RX330? And need new brake calipers? no warrentee either?

Maybe the new battery is dead or bad?

are you putting the battery in upside down? Also, some times they put a clear piece of plastic or blue film on one side of the battery. You pulled that off?

Yeah, those are a definate upgrade!

the battery is a CR1616 lithium. You should be able to find it at any Walmart or Radio Shack or wherever has a bunch of watch and calculator batteries. Just use a pin to pop open the key fob cover and you'll easily see how to replace the battery. It should only cost around 3 bucks to do it. If for some reason it's not that, then it could be a faulty switch. You have 4 pin switches for each door, a trunk pin, and a hood pin. Now factor in that the alarm also monitors the door lock lines and if you try and unlock the doors manually it to triggers the alarm. A dealer scan tool may be able to tell you what it is thats tripping the system so I would take it in to find that out.

I only asked about the aftermarket rims because most aftermarket rims are not hubcentric and need to use centering rings. That can explain the slight wobble sometimes. So that leaves the tires themselves. There could be some other factors, but they aren't very common, such as if the place you had inflate your tires had alot of moisture in thier air lines, and you have an excessive amount of water in your tire, that could cause the wobble more when it's cold than when it heats up. I would take the car to the tire place that installed your tires and have them roadforce balance your tires. Just to make sure and eliminate those as the possible culprit.

Have you changed the batteries in the key fob?

Show off! :P

You should be able to get there from here. And to get here from there should only be a matter of direction. But I live somewhere down here, so to get out and go all the way up to here would take more time than I have right now. And I can only go there, which is nowhere near here, So dcfish, can you just bring a bunch of gas down here instead? :)

I already replaced my Flux capacitor with a new HD Super Viper Doppler 9000 system. or( SVD9-HD)

3.09??? That's it, I'm going Here. :)

I had my service tech put it in my file, No Wash!!!!! Ever!! inside or out. LOL!!! At this dealership they have a laminated yellow sign that says "No wash" and they put that on the front dash. MAybe check if they have that also and just make sure they put it in the car. before you hand over the keys.

It may seem like a vibration, but what I think you may be expereincing is more of a light wobble. Do you have aftermarket rims on the car? How many miles do you have on the tires themselves approximately? I don't think it's driveshaft related as it would happen all the time then and be more pronounced as the speed increased.

Yeah, that very well could be also. Some tire mfgr's are turning to the Silica compounds so the performance holds up longer thru the life of the tire. Note that most "performance" tests on tires that are used for rating them are for new or freshly broken in tires. But the second half of the tire life can be no where near as nice as the first half. Road noise and sidewall performance are the most notable changes. So, even just going to new tires can seem like an upgrade. Do you have the Turanza's, the Potenza RE760's or the Potenza RE050's?

Man, that has got to be one of the cleanest 9 year old, 167,000 mile daily driven real cars I've seen. Even the dash and the buttons are immacculate! The pedals don't even look used! You can really tell that the owner of that car loves his ride! Great job. Very nice.

It's easy. Do it yourself. the only special tool you will need is a spring pretensioner that you can get as a loaner from any Auto Zone or Pep Boys. I would check Sewell Lexus for parts prices. 2004 RX 330 suspension components But before you go that far, it's a 2004 and you need front suspension work? That seems a bit overstated? Do you have some really rough road conditions there?

Yeah, I think you have some of the info reversed. On a 17'' rim, you would have more sidewall than on an 18'' rim in order to maintain the same outside diameter of the tire itself. But did you put the same brand and type of tire on that was on the car before? For example, I have the stock Bridgestone Potenza's on my IS right now. (They suck!) I hate em. On my IS 300, I switched to the Michelin Pilot Sports, and those tires made a huge difference in handling characteristics. I loved the Michelins on the IS 300! And both the Potenza's and the Pilot Sports were on 18'' rims. SO just changing tires can seem to make quite a bit of difference in ride feel, road noise, and turn in response. Also, just changing the offset of the wheel can make the car under or oversteer alot differently. But I don't know that you did or didn't change the offsets any. I am more inclined to beleive you just have better tirees on the car now than before.