Ls460 Vibration - Solved

[k1elliott]

Hello all. 

I've owned my 2007 LS460 for approaching 2 years now (which is reasonably long for me) and my view is that it's a phenomenal vehicle. 

I owned an LS400 some years ago and I must confess that I missed it when I acquired the 460.

My first experience of the 460 was one of awe but some of its weaknesses started to come to light as I got to know it and piled on the miles. It had a reported 80k miles on it when I took ownership. 

I'm glad to report though that she is running as sweet as a nut now. First, I swapped out the front upper control arms. Not having a press at the time and reading a lot of posts, I decided that aftermarket would be okay. 

I was trying to diagnose a front end knocking but ended up making the ride far superior after the control arm swap. Not having a sorted 460 to compare to when buying can give one a false sense of security! 

Next was a swap of the air shocks up front for the strutmasters equivalent. I have yet to swap out the rears. This made huge gains in the ride once again. 

Next was a rebuild of the lower suspension with febest bushings after I invested in a hydraulic press. This was as transformational as the first project. The car was no longer afraid to launch off the far side of a speed ramp without feeling like something waseft behind on the road. 

The weird thing about making all of these improvements is that while they obviously sort out the localised problem, they can make certain aspects of driving worse. For example, going over ramps and coming off the far side was never a problem until I tightened up everything aside form the lower bushings. 

Anyway, to the point. I recently shod my 460 with Bridgestone weather control A005 and immediately suffered from severe vibrations at various speeds. It was horrible and like most of you would do, paniced. Despite the fact that there was a direct correlation with the tyres in terms of timing I had read all the posts about vibration and even thought I'd have to strip the roof liner. 

I had it aligned. I had all wheels balanced 4 times. New dics. New pads. Prop shaft checked. 

Finally I was advised to seek out a Hunter Roadforce balancing shop. One wheel on the rear was out 10g at the wheel when force applied. 

Problem solved. She runs smoother then ever. 

I think after all my investigation that these motors are extremely sensitive to unbalanced wheels especially when other factors such as tired diff mounts (mine was seriously poor when I inspected it when lifted at the rear diff) and other perishables (pretty sure my motor mounts are a bit jelly too) are factored into the ride quality. These components can tolerate a certain amount of wear and still provide a smooth ride, but if your wheels and/or tyres are off in the slightest then prepare for a terrible ride!! I also think that the totality of a vehicle suspension such as this wears as one and should ideally be fixed as one in a perfect world.... A world in which of course we'd all roll in an LS 460.

I hope this helps some of the many folk that search out this vibration related topic. 

50 quid for 4 corners was a very welcome fix. 

Make sure your front bushings are sorted and that your wheels are 100%. That said, I have only 100k miles on mine and will no doubt run into other lexisms in time. 

BTW I still have a slight metallic knock over certain surfaces which I'm confident is due to the front lower ball joints which were a little bit loose when I dismantled the front end. I'll do them when everything else is so perfect that this annoys me enough to bump it up the list of priorities. 

Keep the faith. 

[The-Acre]

An interesting read.  I'm very interested to know about your suspension replacement. So did you buy Strutmasters coil struts?  If so, how would that work with one half air?

[Malc]

Ken hi  glad you're sorted now

Did you deal with the potential radiator issue too ?

Malc

[k1elliott]

On 2/23/2020 at 9:10 PM, The-Acre said:

An interesting read.  I'm very interested to know about your suspension replacement. So did you buy Strutmasters coil struts?  If so, how would that work with one half air?

Hi there.

Yes, I got the coilovers. I have a thread somewhere on here about the shipping options. Went with a shipping agency in the end. No complaint with the kit thus far.

As you noted, I've got the front end only done at this stage. The ride quality is the same as 'normal' setting on air shock and therefore they are working very well with the rears still on air. No errors because the ride height sensors are still attached and working up front. I have the air lines tucked away at the front but no air is being delivered of course.

I'm definitely happy that I swapped out the air shocks because I was worried that they would give up and leave me stranded. The rears sag every so slightly overnight so I will swap them out over the summer.

ping me if you need more info.

Regards,

Ken.

[k1elliott]

On 2/24/2020 at 7:25 AM, Malc said:

Ken hi  glad you're sorted now

Did you deal with the potential radiator issue too ?

Malc

Hi Malc.

 

Rad is all good thanks. I have an intermittent annoying squeak from a pulley. Think it's just the belt tensioner. It's on my list.

Does anyone know of a guide to replacing the engine mounts ? I have a feeling that mine are a bit soft or broken.

Cheers

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, k1elliott said:

Hi there.

Yes, I got the coilovers. I have a thread somewhere on here about the shipping options. Went with a shipping agency in the end. No complaint with the kit thus far.

As you noted, I've got the front end only done at this stage. The ride quality is the same as 'normal' setting on air shock and therefore they are working very well with the rears still on air. No errors because the ride height sensors are still attached and working up front. I have the air lines tucked away at the front but no air is being delivered of course.

I'm definitely happy that I swapped out the air shocks because I was worried that they would give up and leave me stranded. The rears sag every so slightly overnight so I will swap them out over the summer.

ping me if you need more info.

Regards,

Ken.

Thanks for that.  I'm curious because I very nearly bought Strutmaster replacements but in the end I went for four new Arnott air struts.  It's good to know they give a good ride though, it may help someone in the future.

[Malc]

6 hours ago, k1elliott said:

Rad is all good thanks

that's good BUT has it actually been changed during it's life ?

If it has fine BUT if not then it will need to be quite soon to prevent that probable catastrophic gearbox failure

Malc

[k1elliott]

On 2/25/2020 at 6:19 PM, Malc said:

that's good BUT has it actually been changed during it's life ?

If it has fine BUT if not then it will need to be quite soon to prevent that probable catastrophic gearbox failure

Malc

Gotcha, thanks. On the list. I had read about that and forgotten it.

[skyway]

On 2/25/2020 at 12:05 PM, k1elliott said:

Hi Malc.

 

Rad is all good thanks. I have an intermittent annoying squeak from a pulley. Think it's just the belt tensioner. It's on my list.

Does anyone know of a guide to replacing the engine mounts ? I have a feeling that mine are a bit soft or broken.

Cheers

i changed the engine mounts on my old ls430,,,,, got to be said they were no fun at all to do like really no fun.

I think its a job that would send me rocking in a dark corner muttering to myself

[k1elliott]

It's not one I'd be looking forward to I must admit. 

I was thinking to myself on the motorway lady night that I'll have to strip the front end down again to do the ball joints. There's a strange rumble or droning sound at speed from front that also happens coasting in neutral at speed.... Once the wind noise is sorted and I do the ball joints she'll be whisper quiet. Except of course for that lovely v8 hum.