96 LS400 Suspension Upgrade - How To?

The 1UZFE EGR Delete Kit is available for sale here.

V883

New Member
Howdy, I am a brand new owner of a gorgeous 1996 LS400.
http://www.onedaywealth.com/lexus/


What springs and shocks commonly used to lower these cars and improve moderate speed (less than 100mph) cornering?

What Springs? How much to lower?
What shocks absorbers?
What sway bars?

I'm leaving on a many thousand mile journey around Australia to visit my clients. I expect a few dirt roads will be encountered but for the most part I'll be driving on sealed roads at higway speed.

Having just bought the car I thought I might start off with a Lexus "A" service (a "B" was done last service and despite my insistence they convinced me that the car was fine and didn't need one - which was a $1,000 saving so I'm ok with that). One thing they did mention was that the shock absorbers (though not leaking) were a bit soft and could probably do with replacing.

I live in Adelaide South Australia which is not known for it's massive parts support for modified LS400s so I have to look interstate or (hopefully not)overseas. No one in Adelaide gives me anything but blank stares so as usual I have to start trusting people I don't know. Fortunately I am a member here so I'm not totally alone.

We have a company called Industrial Springs who can re-set my springs which I don't mind as I figure it'll keep some of the ride quality because it'll keep the stock windings but being slightly more compressed should stiffen the ride a little in the harder corners. They just have to know how much I want to lower the car and they'll do it in one day (in the morning - out the afternoon). I am not after a hard as stone handling car. I'm just after an improvement. I like to improve all my cars and very few of them have escaped some improvement in either looks or performance. Case in point my supercharged 1UZ powered Cressida some of you might remember (now for sale if anyone's interested).

This car already has the looks and great paint (I still marvel at the quality of paint in the door jams - this car is in very good condition - Lexus said it's the best example they've seen in a long time - looks like it just came out of the factory they said) but it needs slight lowering, a nice set of wheels and some sportier suspension to suit my driving and conditions.

I love totally slammed cars - don't get me wrong - but this car only needs sensible improvements in ride appearance and handling. I was thinking this the other night and thought I'd have a look on ebay for some wheels and low and behold only put up for sale a few minutes before was a set of 5 spoke factor mags for an LS430.

lexus-ls430-wheels-1.jpg

lexus-ls430-wheels-2.jpg


I liked the look so I used "Buy It Now" and they are on their way. I plan to fit Goodyear F1 Tyres (good choice or is there a better choice for tyres). The wheels are 18x8 38P. I took a bit of a punt not knowing for sure if these will fit my 96 but the previous owner had them on his Gen1 LS400 and said they would fit and look great. $200 each ($2,600 as an option for the LS430). I also confirmed it with my tyre dealer and he said they "should" fit no problem.

These should give me a wider footprint and less sidewall movement while exposing me to greater damage potential from pot holes...etc. I think I'll take the chance for improved road holding and the car rides so well that a bit of a reduction in "comfort" will be an allowable sacrifice.

So how much lowering do you think I'll need to make the car look perfectly proportioned? What springs would you guys fit and what shocks are suitable (or even available) for my car? What about sway bars? What about just sway bar bushes? I've heard that replacing and firming just the sway bar bushes will result in more control and less...umm...sway - I guess. However none of this stuff is available locally except for one bloke who has a full set of fully adjustable coil overs and no car to put them on but doesn't want to sell (what a tease). What's the story with these coil overs anyway? Very expensive I imagine but is the news all good with these units? Remember, I want to improve the general performance of the car not go as stiff and low as I can. Mild is the key word here.

I should also note that I am hitting the road in about 10 days so I don't have too much time to wait. The springs can be done in one day so it's just a matter of choosing the right shockers (if I have a choice).

Thanks for reading this long post. All help and comments appreciated.
 
second gen's seem to be alot easier than 1st gens for suspension parts. Im pretty sure you can even get bilsteins for them. If not you can get kyb gr2's i think they are from most spare parts shops they are still a tad soft but there better than standard and last longer than pedders or monroes and should be $600 a full set then lovells springs stock 30mm lower springs that are 20% stiffer
 
Man,

I saw one of this on sale locally and felt in love with that color. It was as clean as your. Beauty mate... beauty...

DSC01243.jpg
 
Where do we get Lovells springs from? I've rung around and found that no one has anything. Pedders have one set of lowered rear springs and a set of gas shocks for the front. Is there a shop I can go to right now that has them?
 
I agree Lex, she's clean as a whistle. It will look better with the larger wheels and a bit of lowering. Don't want to come down very much so I can still drive in all conditions but an inch I think will do it nicely. The diameter of the tyres are the same (1mm over) so the gap will still remain the same and it needs to be minimised.
 
Ok, not one to muck around dilly dallying I ended up getting the stock springs reset at the local spring maker (they went too low 40mm [1 3/4"] instead of 25mm [1 inch] as I asked). They decided on KYB inserts. I asked for harder sway bar bushes but they said that none existed (just like no LS400 lowered springs existed (in the country)). They fitted Yokohama Advan Tyres all 'round to the LS430 wheels and voila!...

lowered-before-and-after600.jpg

lowered2-600.jpg


I like it but what is about forums? I couldn't wait to get it home, park it in the same spot (for comparison) and upload to images to here. We are strange social animals.

The plush Lexus ride is gone replaced with a firm ride but that is to be expected and I like it firm anyway. I only have one bend on my way home but I threw the old girl into it and she handled it just fine.
 
Spacers aren't allowed in this part of the planet but I never noticed the gap until you mentioned it. I'll have to look at it all day today with your suggestion on my mind.

Next, it's off to the exhaust shop for some tones. Apparently if the rear muffler is replaced with a high flow you can get some sound. Not looking for racey loud just a V8 presence
 

Attachments

  • smilies.jpg
    smilies.jpg
    109.5 KB · Views: 3
Spacers not allowed in Austalia ?...how funny....or maybe not...
It might give the LS just that better look, filling the wheel space...

On my Lexus GS300 I currently "have" to use 25mm spacers since I am still looking for the right wheels to choose...and want to wait with better wheels that can clear big callipers...
Now with Supra TT brakes it looks like this:

2002209687382406770_fs.jpg


...and the 25mm spacers:

2000270897640325335_fs.jpg
 
They look pretty cool. Aussie authorities are worried we will put too much stress on the bearings.

However the fun never stops with me and cars. I took my car down to get the registration changed over and they refused to pass my car because it was too low. It seems that the springs were lowered too much by these deadheads. Despite my giving them exact minimum legal measurements they just told the spring guys to lower them 40mm but they lowered them much more than that. I called them and they said there is nothing they can do. It is a real shame that murder is illegal in this country.

I am over 30mm lower than the maximum lowered so now I'm after a set of correct springs. All I need is 1" lower than stock. Does anyone know where to get some 1" lowered springs in a hurry and can be shipped to Australia overnight? Or, if anyone has any old stock springs after lowering their car I will buy your stockies and just return the vehicle to stock height and be done with it.

sigh...
 
Thanks. I agree. The whee;s could have been in better condition (some of the paint is blistering and there is some weird surface damage so they'll need a re-paint one day but I like having factory optionable wheels - keeps it all Lexus.

I decided to buy some H&S 1 inch lowered springs from www.allsprings.com and am having them flown in on the next plane (which cost more than the springs). I should have them within 7 days.
 


Back
Top