Changeing my suspension.

[Foulsbane]

I own an LS430 Premium, an absolute joy of a car.

However, recent events have caused me to consider replacing my Air Suspension with coilover suspension.

I've read up lot's of comments on this forum, as I always do ! And have bought a full set of coilover springs from BC Racing, supplied by Apex Performance, at a cost of £769 for the full kit.

Contacted my local garage and they're going to fit them for me on the 17th.

Did contact Lexus who declined to do the job !! No surprise there ! But they did confirm that the mechanism for the height adjustable suspension had no link to the self leveling headlights, good news.

I'm going to remove the rear seating before it goes to the garage, to save money and mitigate any possibility of damage to said seating.

My only issue now is that of warning signs from the ECU, but I'm doubtful I'll get a warning message because last time the suspension dropped by 90mm when it was stood for two days , there was no sign of a warning message.

Anyway, I'll report back on progress and / or problems in due course.

 

[The-Acre]

We'll certainly be watching this with interest.  I think I've got the link somewhere from a US site on how to disable the warning because when you've disconnected the air setup you will get the warning.  I believe it is only a case of removing the correct fuse. Are the new shocks height adjustable and did the kit come with top mounts?

[Foulsbane]

Apparently they're set for the correct ride height but one can easily adjust the ride sensitivity, ie. Hard or soft ride.

[messi]

All you do is take the air Suspension fuse out and you won't get any warning signs on the dash. That's what people do when they put coil overs on an ls430.

[The-Acre]

So looking at the photos these are made specifically for the LS430?

[Foulsbane]

Absolutely !

[cruisermark]

Please do report back with total costs and  your opinion on the ride - thanks

[Foulsbane]

That is my intention 😀

[GrahamG]

Good luck Ron and I will certainly follow your progress and look forward to a successful outcome.

Based only on what I have read on the US club site may I suggest you initially leave the ride height sensors in place. Of course there will be nothing to connect them to but tying them up in a neutral position might be necessary [in addition to removing one or two fuses] to prevent the dash warning light.

Interesting Lexus say the ride height sensors do not provide info to the self levelling head lights but if that is true what is the relevant sensor?  On my RX350 [without air suspension] there is one sensor, identical in appearance and location to the air suspension sensors, which does control the head lights. Just asking.

[The-Acre]

I thought the arm like the one shown in this picture, being part of a height control sensor was necessary for headlight levelling.  This is just a picture found online but you all know the part I mean.

 

[Foulsbane]

Well, here we go with the after fitting report having changed over from Lexus Air to Coilover suspension.

Firstly, I removed the rear seating to save money essentially.

The first photo shows a seating nut, if it's this shape remove it, if it's a standard nut, leave it alone.

The second photo shows a bracket, with my finger pointing to it, no need to remove that. ( See rule 1 😃)

Third photo shows the old suspension ready for the tip.

So, what's my reaction to driving the car with Coilover suspension ?

As I drove home from the garage, I was appalled ! Truly, I thought I'd made a huge mistake, the ride was as bad as my wife's little Peugeot.

So, the first thing I did was to turn the rear adjuster to maximum soft, a ride through the village told me it was a lot better but not quite right.

I reset the front suspension to max soft, and that made a massive difference for the better.

So where are we now ?

Lexus didn't fit Air Suspension because it was the cheapest option, they fitted it because it is the best.

With my coilovers fitted I would estimate I have 90+ maybe 95% of the original ride comfort, it's acceptable.

The total cost of parts was £765 plus £275 for 5 hours work fitting them, total = £1040

Set that against a cost of £3675 to replace air suspension ( which is probably the market value of the car)

Given that I only needed to replace the rear suspension, on reflection, if I had to do it again I would have replaced the rear with new Air Suspension, it just has the edge that delivers perfection.

[RgrWynne]

Thanks for sharing your experience, with an honest conclusion with which I concur. I hope you continue for many more miles to enjoy your LS, as I do with mine, cheers, Roger

[Foulsbane]

I drive my old Lexus every day, and she always thrills me.

I recently left a garage to join a Motorway and decided to "Put foot" to avoid inconveniencing other motorists, my wife was flabbergasted, " How many Gs did we pull then" she said.

😂😂

[noby76]

hi @Foulsbane which garage in Leicestershire fitted your suspensions for you. i'm considering getting the rear ones replaced on my GS. cheers..

[The-Acre]

It'll be interesting to hear from you in a week or two after you've really got used to it.

[GrahamG]

Ron, many thanks for your report and the honesty therein. 

If I end up in your position I will fit two new Lexus air struts and if at the time money is short I would fit second hand units.

As Phil says your opinion after a period of time will also be worth having.

[Theresa Davez]

To lowering the centre of gravity,I changed my Lexus IS250 with SCC air suspension and AccuAir control system.

That improve the handling ,more stability with a low ride height. 

Mint blue matches well in summer.

 

Replace the bonoss sky-blue lug nuts.

[brendangeorge]

On 9/19/2019 at 12:21 PM, Foulsbane said:

Well, here we go with the after fitting report having changed over from Lexus Air to Coilover suspension.

Firstly, I removed the rear seating to save money essentially.

The first photo shows a seating nut, if it's this shape remove it, if it's a standard nut, leave it alone.

The second photo shows a bracket, with my finger pointing to it, no need to remove that. ( See rule 1 😃)

Third photo shows the old suspension ready for the tip.

So, what's my reaction to driving the car with Coilover suspension ?

As I drove home from the garage, I was appalled ! Truly, I thought I'd made a huge mistake, the ride was as bad as my wife's little Peugeot.

So, the first thing I did was to turn the rear adjuster to maximum soft, a ride through the village told me it was a lot better but not quite right.

I reset the front suspension to max soft, and that made a massive difference for the better.

So where are we now ?

Lexus didn't fit Air Suspension because it was the cheapest option, they fitted it because it is the best.

With my coilovers fitted I would estimate I have 90+ maybe 95% of the original ride comfort, it's acceptable.

The total cost of parts was £765 plus £275 for 5 hours work fitting them, total = £1040

Set that against a cost of £3675 to replace air suspension ( which is probably the market value of the car)

Given that I only needed to replace the rear suspension, on reflection, if I had to do it again I would have replaced the rear with new Air Suspension, it just has the edge that delivers perfection.

Interesting first views Ron.  I changed my old 430 to coil overs and did not see any difference in handling, ride or performance - I think I posted about it on this forum.  The guys who fitted them may have diddled with them before I got it back but I don't think so.  The air suspension on my 430 was FUBAR: the rear ride height sensors kept failing - the bits of Meccano that is not the pots - so the back end kept dropping.  The rear struts had leaks and the compressor was very noisy.  I think I had more than 230K miles on the old beast so my impression of the coil-overs may have been biased by the state of the air suspension for a few years.

Good luck

Bren

[H3XME]

And there I was thinking nobody buys coilovers to chase comfort 😁. Sure, sometimes they improve comfort if they are good (adjustable and low spring rates), but the main purpose is to lower the driving centre of gravity and improve cornering ability and reduce body roll. BC Racing coilovers usually come with stiffer spring rates than other brands such as TEIN. When I fitted my Tein coilovers to my IS250 which covered 120k on stock suspension, it improved the comfort, handling,  the whole lot, but it's a different story if your car has factory air suspension. However, I didn't buy them for comfort. I wanted to get rid of the awful boat-like feeling. I remember a few years ago when I put coilovers on my '91 Soarer with factory air suspension, you could definitely tell it wasn't standard by how it drove and it by no means improved the comfort, but the car felt more "with it" if you know what I mean. Definitely a proper driving mod rather than comfort.

I'm not sure where I was going with this, but as you can see the common misconception of coilovers "ruining your car" isn't true. It really depends on what you get and how adjustable they are. Suspension is a wizardry! So many options and other supporting parts that make the car feel the way it does.