Littletimmy

bicol-ini ~ Would the torque specs you listed earlier be the same for a 91 LS400? If not, do you have those? I would also need the torque specs for the upper control arm bolts. Thanks in advance for any info you can supply. P.S. I have an '80 Celica GT w/ 260k mi. It was my first car and always ran great. It is sitting in my dad's garage waiting to be fixed from my dad rearending someone in it when he borrowed it from me. I love the styling of the car and it was a nice first car. I want to customize it when I rebuild it. Don't have a plan yet, though. Kind of on the back burner right now.

I have wanted to look into this, but I haven't taken the time yet. Does anyone know what years have what features in regards to the power windows? Did any of the 2000 or earlier have all auto up/down window controls? From pictures, it looks like the whole module for power windows/locks is interchangeable between 1st gen up through the 2000 model year. I don't know how difficult it would be to switch out the switches on a 2001 or newer model with the earlier ones. I might have to look into that.

What did you need to do to reset the ECU?

I was thinking of possibly doing a modification like this. Why do you need to reset the ECU for this modification, especially every month or so?

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I wouldn't want to mess with the airbag, or not have one in front of me. It's kind of weird, I drove cars without airbags for so long and I didn't even think about it, but since my first car with an airbag, I would never buy a car without one (well, unless it is a classic that I wouldn't be driving much). Amazing the sense of security they give. Lexls ~ Thanks for the recommendation. I will check out american-stitches and see what they can do for me. (And thanks for your website, it has been very helpful!)

Hearing lots of horror stories about Lexus dealerships around the country, I feel very fortunate to have the 'Lexus of Portland' dealership near me here in Portland, OR. I am in my 20's, don't look rich, bring in my '91 LS400 and they treat me the same as I see them treat the 40 something guy with a $1000 suit on with his decked out LS430 or the 60 year old guy and his wife in their brand new Lexus that they're bringing in for the first time to be serviced. I never come in to the dealership dressed up (I wear jeans, t-shirt, hooded jacket, etc.) to buy a part or to talk to a service rep, and they are all very friendly and helpful. I have complimented the employees that work there on their non-discriminatory attitudes toward me and all of them accredit their attitudes and behaviors to the management and ownership. They rave about how wonderful it is to work there. This dealership has really done a good job of getting the right people together and giving them the tools they need to succeed. I feel so sorry for all of you out there who do not have a dealership that is run like this one. I also feel very fortunate.

Does anyone know how hard it would be to install a late model LS430 steering wheel, or even a late 90's steering wheel to an early model LS400? I have a '91 LS400 w/ blue interior. My biggest concern is dealing with the airbag and electrical wiring. I saw a 1st gen LS400 w/ a newer wood/leather steering and I really liked it. My next problem will be finding a used steering wheel in good condition for a decent price. Any help anyone can bring would be most appreciated. Thanks, Tim

Where did you get the bushings from?

Has anyone tapped into the stock stereo to add an additional subwoofer? I am looking to add an amp to power an aftermarket sub. I want to keep the stock sub and amp and add a sub and amp to the system. Is there a way to tap into the stock sub amp or something? Can anyone advise, please? Thanks!

Ebay is a good place to look. I see them there all the time. I will buy some for my LS400 eventually, just haven't gotten around to it yet. The front markers are extremely easy to replace. For each side, just remove one screw and the two pieces come out. The back lights are easy if you don't mind taking apart some of the interior in your trunk. It should be easy enough unless you are pretty mechanically challenged (which isn't a bad thing, just some people are and some aren't)

Thanks ec437!! I hope to have time this weekend to mess with it. I will let you know how it turns out.

ec437-I have the same problem with my driver's seat. I haven't taken the time yet to take the seat out and look at it, though. What is the "little turning bar thing" you described earlier? It the seat very hard to take apart to get to this or is it easily assesible once the seat is out?

I think the best security system is a vicious pitbull or something like that - not too good on the interior, though!

Yeah, you can tell the Bose system is set at a higher ride height than the stock system, which allows more suspension travel without moving the car. Also, I don't think my '91 LS400's suspension performs as sloppily as their stock test car and I don't even have the optional air ride suspension. Well, that's marketing for you! It is still an incredible system!

Bose, even if they were the first ones to think of it, are not the only ones to think of a suspension system like this. (obvious by Cadillac's system) I am sure not too far in the future you will see more and more systems like these on production cars, then we will see aftermarket systems to install on older vehicles. The same thing happened with air ride suspension systems.

Tread compound and tread design play a big role in tread life, how queit the tire is, and the performance of the tire. With a softer tire compound, you will have a tire that is quieter and better performing in dry weather(due to it being more "sticky" and adhering to the road surface better), but because it is softer, it will wear out quicker. Tread design plays more of a role in wet weather traction, trying to get as much water out from under the tire as quickly as possible. Tread design can also play a part in how loud or quiet the tire is. Air is passing between the treads of the tire as you drive and the way the tread is layed out on the tire can determine how much of the noise from this air you can hear. If you have ever noticed a big lifted truck with 'mudder' tires that have deep treads on the tire, how the tires hum really loud as it goes by, this will give you and idea of what I am talking about. Anyway, the things to look for when buying a tire is 1) research: find out what other people that own the tires you are looking at are saying about them 2) tire ratings: I think I have seen someone explain tire ratings in here before so I won't go into detail, but learn what all the numbers and letters on the tire mean and don't be afraid to go to several different tire shops and ask a bunch of questions.

I have found, when I am passing a car, I prefer to push the O/D button (turning O/D off) to shift the transmission down into third gear and then lightly push on the gas pedal to pass the car as opposed to leaving the O/D on and pushing on the gas pedal to have the transmission shift itself into third gear. I have found pressing the button and lightly excellerating uses less gas than pressing the gas pedal to shift (I have tried both methods each on a full tank of gas driving the same route in the same type of traffic everyday). Taking O/D off manually like this also makes the transmission respond faster as there is a delay when you push on the pedal and the transmission shifts on its own. F.Y.I. - If I am just cruising along on a trip and am casually accelerating on a multilane hwy or something like that, I usually don't worry about taking the O/D off, as the engine has plenty of power in 4th gear to moderately accelerate the car. I only use it when I need to accelerate a little quicker. (key word *NEED*) ~Littletimmy