GrahamG

Hankook Ventus ST on my '06 RX350 for last two years [18000miles] and liked them the moment they were fitted. They are quiet and now showing minimal wear. Remember reading tests had shown them to be better than average in the wet and slightly less good on snow. I would have to be seriously convinced of superior performance of some sort to pay any more for future tyres given that I am always prepared to pay whatever is necessary for good tyres. Bought a fifth tyre off Ebay from Germany very cheaply and it was delivered in a few days but must admit did not check the manufacturing date. When offered cheap tyres it is always worth looking at the date which appears on the side wall in a four number framed date group, month/year or week/year. The original fit tyres were changed because of hair line cracking on the tread blocks not lack of tread depth. From what I have read 5/6 years is the life of a tyre depending of course on various conditions.

A problematic aspect of making such a change for me is that of insurance. We are all obliged to tell our insurer of any changes to the stock model and a different suspension system will surely count as a substantial change allowing the insurer to walk away in the event of an accident. I wonder if any of those who have fitted coilover kits off Ebay have advised their insurers. Putting myself in the shoes of an insurer I would not provide cover for any such modification because the risk cannot be assessed.

I have to give trying to upload the photo referred to above. Although it is only 218Kb and apparently up to 2Mb will be accepted I get, 'File too big to upload'.

It is an anti rust perforation guarantee, no hole no claim. Only after buying my '04 LS430 did I read about the door and boot horrors. Immediately had mine up on a lift, door cards and number plate off and borescope in voids of the wings and sills. The photo shows the plastic stud holding the decorative 'chrome' strip in place on the inside of the door. The dribble running down is ACF-50 just applied to the outside the week before, so it does penetrate. [sorry, I need to reduce size of photo file before it will post here] No rust whatsoever in doors, sills or wing voids. Just factory fresh sealant in the internal seams. The plastic bolts holding the number plate screw into plastic bushes and there was no rust whatsoever. No metal screws self tapped into dealer drilled holes in the sheet metal which I feared. Surface rust on the rear sub frame I treated and the only rust needing immediate action [but no where near perforation] was the outside under surface near the rear jacking points.

Mark, As you appear pro active and capable about forestalling problems could I suggest you check there is no rainwater ingress at the rear of your Rx. Simply open the rear most storage compartment and remove the central black plastic tray thereunder. You can then see under the two side corner trays and that is where there might be water. It can be so bad that it runs forward to both the front and rear seat wells and saturates the carpets. There are accounts of numerous causes and accompanying remedies here and on the US owners site. This I would advise all Rx owners to do.

Michael, the cost you mention would be about half that of renewing all four corners with air struts depending on the state of the ride height sensors [£300 approx. each]. In the US someone has removed the redundant compressor and sold it for spares defraying the cost of the change over. If it could be done for half cost with Lexus parts that would be worth while for me especially to end up with what I would consider a superior car. A floaty ride for me means motion sickness. Jake at Lexuspartsdirect.co.uk is hopefully to email me back on this.

Just to finish my line of thought on changing air to metal suspension. As we now believe the early LS430s were offered in this country with coil springs then part numbers for UK cars must exist and the components presumably be available. I am surprised no one has gone down this route. My '04 car with 83k miles is OK for now but I want to know which way to jump when the air fails. My '95 LS400 and '06 RX350 SE have traditional metal and air offers me no advantage whatsoever.

Michael, thanks for finding that thread. Unfortunately the conversion therein used an Ebay coilover kit and not OEM parts for an early LS430. I would only modify my '04 LS430 if I could use Lexus parts and repeat a different version of the same model. I have been assured on the US Clublexus site that a retro change over is straightforward [ they give the part numbers and they are available from various suppliers over there] but the doubt lingers in my mind as to whether the UK spec cars might be different.

I thought the coil spring suspension was only offered on early LS430s in the USA. On the US club lexus site the coil suspension is retro fitted to the second iteration of the LS430s ['04 to '06] as a cheap solution to failed air suspension. Has anyone done that in this country?

ACF-50 is primarily an aviation protection product, popular for marine application in the US and for motor bikes here in the UK. After losing a superb '95 LS400 to rust hopes now rest with this product to protect my '06 RX350 and a '04 LS430 but have only just applied it so can give no reports on its effectiveness. It comes in a thicker form called Corrosion Block for under body application and lasts for 12 to 18 months. I am happy to treat my cars each year. Have opted for this approach because obscuring everything in a thick wax worries me and ACF-50 can be applied to all components including electrics, rubbers and painted surfaces. Rather like WD40 it is a water dispersant but unlike WD40 it does not with time become hygroscopic and promote rust [if you doubt this statement please refer to the engineering section of the CAA]. It is also sold under the name Corrosion Block as a water proof grease.

Thanks Peter. Reminded me of a B4 I had a share in at Lasham some years ago.

Thanks for the effort Chris. Perhaps someone knows how to gain access to those fixings.

Advice please on removing my tail light which may be letting in water. Removal of the access hatch on the curve of the corner inside the car exposes one 10mm hex nut on a long stud but I cannot see any other attachment. I suspect the vertical black plastic trim in the gutter between light assembly and tail gate may need to be removed but I can only see one Phillips screw at the top. The trim is very reluctant to come away except a little at the top and I fear breaking it if pulled any harder. Any help appreciated.

Can anyone recommend a non air suspension replacement for my face lift LS430 without changing the ride height and giving an approximation to the original ride stiffness? I have researched this forum and the US Club Lexus site but all cases seem to involve ride height changes. Also in the US the first version of the LS430 was offered without air and it seems there owners are changing over to the OEM coil springs but it is all rather confusing as to what might work here in the UK. Bilstein tell me their kit will lower the car.

To answer my own question a Continental chart gives 76ftlbs / 103Nm for all Lexus models both steel and alloy. Same value given elsewhere on this site.

Does anyone know the correct torque for LS430 wheel nuts? I have a torque wrench but never dreamed of using it on wheels.

Here is a report on the corrosion on my recently bought LS430 2004 82k miles which recently replaced my rusted out 1995 LS400. My inspection included a £16.99 endoscope from Amazon and it is a fun bit of kit. With its own variable light and colour image [also waterproof] it connected by USB to my Macbook Pro and was immediately found in Photo Booth. I drilled a 10mm hole inside the top of the wheel arch and introduced the scope into the void to find pristine metal and shining black mastic in the seems. Not a trace of rust. Corrosion Block was sprayed into the void. FLY-Shop® 2 Million Pixels Cmos 5m/16ft Waterproof USB Hd 6 LED Borescope Endoscope Inspection Tube Pipe Camera This was the same result in the doors after removing the door cards. Where the lower 'chrome' strip on the outside is secured through the door shell with plastic pegs there was no rust whatsoever. The upper trim strip is secured by mastic or double sided tape and again no corrosion as was the case at the bottom of the door void where I would have expected something at least. All was so clean I even decided against spraying any ACF-50 into the doors. Underneath the car across the 'back axle' area all components were covered in rust except of course the stainless and aluminium items. Nowhere is it more than superficial and I have now treated it with Rustbuster fe-123 converter followed by Corrosion Block which will last about a year. Also where the rear number plate retaining bolts enter the body there is no rust. I have yet to investigate the door sills and the front wheel arches but I am feeling much better about the LS430. The only area of rust really needing Rustbuster's two part epoxy mastic [on top of the converter] was forward of the rear wheel arch at the bottom, both in the arch itself and the horizontal surface just forward of the arch. I can recommend the endoscope for the price and although it is not sold for 'medical use' I am sure I will find out things about the wife I didn't know when she comes out from behind the sofa.

Paul, Thanks for posting the photos of your ATF cooler. Above all you can now enjoy peace of mind knowing cross contamination is impossible.

Under the Rx section of this community Forbesy has posted a fix for his Rx300 Sel ride height sensor. He shows photos of the sensor taken apart and how to test the resistance for correct operation. If these £300 sensors are essentially the same for the air suspension LS series then his contribution is very interesting. I spray the exterior of mine with ACF-50 Corrosion Block in the hope of keeping water out.

Paul, well done taking such positive action by way of preventative maintenance. May I ask how you decided which/what size cooler/radiator to fit because obviously too much cooling would present a problem just as would too little. I see various after market radiators in the USA for sale for the LS430 in two versions, either 'with or without towing' and the difference is either 1inch or 5/8inch thick radiator cores.

Devastating point Malcolm, I never thought of zero faults because the insurers simply refuse to pay out. We need to know but will never be told how many claims. After 10years Lexus no longer offer an extended warranty and I considered an independent insurer but after looking at the exclusions decided against it even when they phoned back after my initial approach and offered £100 off. The radiator failure is alarming because even if you detect contamination early on by that time the transmission is U/S so there is no effective early warning and nothing to be seen from the outside.

Yes Michael, I am also interested in that radiator problem and at eleven years/83k miles am considering renewal by way of preventative maintenance. Isn't it a pity we cannot get actual data of failures such as this to be able to judge the risk. Warranty Direct reliability survey gives zero per cent for 'gearbox/transmission' failures for the LS430 and if that seems suspiciously low the rest of the percentages do add up to 100. Also the percentage for my other car the RX is 1.8% for that category.

Simon, What are the gearbox problems you refer to with the LS430?

I cannot see how M13 BOS is a Northern Irish registration. The car was sold to me by Lexus Leicester with that number in 2000 and the previous service history was all in the midlands. Have spent this afternoon under my LS430 up on a ramp with rust converter liquid. We concentrated on the structural elements particularly the sub frame. The very experienced mechanic with me commented that even the thought of dropping such a sub frame to carry out any remedial welding made him feel poor. When you are faced with MOT advisories, 'severe corrosion to rear sub frame', 'rear coil springs corroded' and when my own inspection showed the sills were starting to rust I did not for a moment consider welding repairs a viable option.

That gold LS400 [M13BOS] was my car for fifteen years until recently. I considered the car at the end of its life because of rust, particularly underneath around the rear sub frame. Bubbles also starting to come through on the rear wings and sills. If not for the corrosion it would have remained in the family as it was one of the finest pieces of engineering I have ever experienced. Now involved with extensive research on rust proofing [ok, reducing] the 2004 LS430 which takes its place.