LS460 - wheel alignment recommendations?

[donkmeister]

Given the LS460s rather complex suspension set up, has anyone had any issues with getting the alignment done at their local laser alignment place? Or is it a job that ideally requires someone with experience of it?

I recently had my wheels refurbished and the chap highlighted that the way the rear tyres were wearing indicated that the car would benefit from an alignment. To rule out worn joints I'll check for play next time I have it up on ramps but... If I need to replace anything I'll still need to have an alignment done anyway!

[Malc1]

Donk hi.
 

Out of interest, what’s the mileage and repair schedules like on your Ls460 ? 
 

Can’t think  for another moment I’d ever change from my Ls400s 🤔

Malc 

[donkmeister]

I bought the old bus around 70-something thousand miles and I'm up to 103k miles now. It has almost complete service history on the Lexus app before i owned it, I suspect at some point the owner went overseas or died as it didn't seem to be used for a couple of years fairly early in its life.

Repairs... Apart from replacing a door where a bollard ran out into the side when Mrs Donk was leaving a parking space (can't blame that on Lexus!); 

I replaced the rear brake calipers around 90k miles. One was bordering on seized on the inboard side, the other was sticky, and I didn't have time to rebuild them. Checking the service history I should have expected that as the previous owner had only got 20k miles out of the previous set of rear discs and pads.
I had all five wheels refurbed recently because they were looking flakey and horrible.
At the same time I had all 5 TPMS replaced as one had recently gone (so the other 4 probably weren't far behind!) and the wheel caps (Good old Amayama!)
I replaced the radiator around 90k miles, along with waterpump, belt, the coolant pipes ("whilst I was in there") - amazed that I only had one corroded fastener, everything else was like a 1 year old car.

Everything else has been standard oil and filters. Next summer I think I'll do the spark plugs, and reboot the cables. I might even replace the VVT filters if I feel brave but there's no real need apart from "because it's there". I'd like to get the ATF replaced too, however the jury is out on whether that is a good idea or not. 

Oil changes are surprisingly expensive - even DIYing it, it's getting on for £150 (10 litres of Mobil 0w20 ESP, plus the filter), but it's cheap compared to rebuilding the engine! I also rent a 2-post at a local garage when I want to do the oil - only costs me about £40 for an hour, makes it so much more pleasant.

Altogether reliable. I am concerned that good ones will become harder to find; I checked on the Lexus app today and a service is now £770 so I can imagine now they're a bit cheaper some will skip maintenance unfortunately. So I'm keeping a log of what I do in case I want to sell it on at some point.

If you're ever around the Beds/Cambs border let me know and we can compare and contrast!

[Malc1]

That sounds a “ plan “   Where are you …… just in case ! 
 

I do ( rarely ) visit my nephew nr. Newmarket 🤔

Malc 

[GEN]

Since you are persuaded that the 460 and 600 are so similar try Lexus for wheel alignment - they did mine at the beginning of the year - and the oil change (all included: labour, oil and filter, coffee/tea and biscuits) is only £184 at Lexus.

[donkmeister]

That's a good shout - I assumed that alignment would be one of those jobs the main dealers would "farm out", but clearly not. Quick check of the part numbers shows all adjustable parts are the same for the 460 and 600 so the alignment job is the same.

(for interest, the only parts where there's a difference are the front knuckles - no surprise given one has a driven front axle and the other doesn't, and the rear cylinders - presumably the 600 ones are valved at a different rate due to the Battery weight. All the multilink arms, joints etc are common to both models. Given it's a fantastic design I think they'd have struggled to add any improvement. Always surprises me how the car hides its weight in Sport mode, hustles better than my old E-class which had a 400-500kg weight advantage)

[Chris Skelton]

Yes,there IS a place that PROPERLY sets up -not only the wheels -but the whole car.

BUT I can’t immediately recall the name. Ithink it was in St Albans……..

if it springs to mind, I’ll be back. There are a few proper places but a lot of duffers.

[BigBoomer]

If yer anywhere near Essex I can recommend Protyre in Maldon (was SuperTyres). They have the equipment and skills for complex alignments.
They did my Honda Legend after a pothole damaged my front linkages. The Honda dealer replaced the 2 damaged parts but couldn't get the alignment right.
Protyre nailed it first time.

A friend has an MX5 with multi-adjustable racing suspension and he takes his there as well. Not cheap mind you.