LukeG

meh

Tire Rack has some really nice 18" BFG tires on sale right now so I pulled the trigger. I didn't want blinged out wheels and was looking for something with more of a factory look, just more modern. I am EXTREMELY happy with this wheel and tire combo. The ride quality was hardly affected and the car feels slightly more stiff (an improvement to me). The new wheels and tires are really close (within .75 of an inch) to being the same overall diameter as the factory wheels and tires, so not much changed. Stock: 225/60/16 Now: 235/50/18 Tire Rack was awesome and I can't say enough good things about them. While I wasn't thrilled about paying $100 for shipping, I did get the tires and wheels (mounted and balanced for free!) next day because they were shipped from Georgia.

The water control valve for the AC has gone out and is making a really annoying clicking noise. With the labor involved to take out the dash it is pretty expensive to fix (about $1,000). They told me how to make the sound go away though until I want to have the part replaced. I don't have heat for the time being, but you don't really need heat here anyways. I am also taking my wife's 2007 civic there now and they did a great job on her 30,000 mile service. Saved us over $100 from taking to the stealer.

I searched for a while trying to find a Tampa area Lexus mechanic and finally stumbled upon one on a Toyota forum. The shop is called Toy House of Tampa. Kind of sounds like a !Removed! shop name, but they are GREAT! I'm very picky about my mechanics and these guys are top notch with a very nice facility. I was extremely pleased with them and best of all, they were honest to me about what needs to be fixed. I saw a lot of posts on here in my searching asking about Tampa area mechanics and no one ever responded with any. So I figured I would post up my experiences with them. They are in the USF area south of Fowler and I75 off of 301. Toy House of Tampa Cheers.

I've done a ton of searching on here and Google and haven't been able to find anything on this problem even though from what I am told it is pretty common. I added a few words I was searching for in the title just to make it easier for anyone looking for info on this problem to find the thread. The car is a 94 LS400 and the AC is making a knocking/thumping sound. The colder I make the AC, the worse it gets (faster thumping). I can get it to go away if I make the AC pretty warm or I turn it off, but it is hot as hell here and I need the cold AC. A friend said it was some sort of actuator causing the noise and I've heard they are pretty pricey to replace because of the labor involved. I was hoping to get a bit more info if anyone is familiar with this problem and at least get a better idea of what parts need to be replaced and how much of a pain in the butt it is to do. The repetitive thumping is going to drive me crazy. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I did some searching and read about some of the newer Lexus wheels (SC430) not mating up properly with the older LS400's because of the caliper size. Figured I'd ask before dropping some money on new wheels that don't fit properly. Will the 2005 LS430 18" factory wheels fit correctly and clear the calipers on a 1994 LS400? Thanks ahead of time.

Hi Guys, I've searched and seen that a lot of wheels won't fit the LS400 because of the calipers. I have a 94 LS400 and have been looking at these Sport ST3 18" wheels. I like the subtle look of them, and I haven't been able to find a reasonably priced set of 18" LS430 wheels. LINK For the price they seem like a good deal, and I can get them with 235/50/18 tires for about $960 shipped from TireRack. Should I hold out for a set of LS430 wheels? Has anyone ever had any luck hitting up the dealers for LS430 wheels that someone had taken off for aftermarket wheels? Thanks for any help ahead of time. - Luke