hi all,
been looking to get a lexus for ages, finally found one locally and went for it! it's a '98 ls400 and wow, what a car, i've made a few personal changes to the car in the 2 weeeks i've owned it, i have big plans for the car, paintwork is next. would like to say thanks for all the information i gathered from this site before i made the decision to buy, very helpful. cheers,
stuart.
how i got the car,

then made the mistake of calling an old friend Ray (Rayvern Hydraulics) who just happened to have an air bag kit on the shelf! unfortunately, the phone call resulted in this,



wheels are borrowed from a mates supra, cant decide on 19"s or 20"s yet, any help or advice would be appreciated.

Welcome to the club matey Quite like that, very low indeed

Hello & welcome to the loc.

thanks, thats on full drop, the tyres were sitting on the front wiring looms! had to do a wire tuck to avoid a disaster! it drives better than stock too!

Welcome to the club matey.

Looks great.

My first Lexus was the LS400 Loved it to bits, Great motor

thanks guys, going for the VIP look, want to keep the car clean and up to date. thinking about pearl black with a de-chrome, what do you think?
stuart.

Only if you want to be on first name terms with policemen everywhere?
Does it REALLY handle better with big wheels? I'd expect the ride quality to be harder (coming from someone who likes the comfort, not the racing capacity!)
Cream, pearlised for me.......leave the chrome.

Well each to their own. And all I can say is that if this is what people are going to do to their LS400s, I'm off...

Ha ! I agree. A Lexus is not a car to be Kev'd up.

Before anyone called Kevin gets touchy about this I believe down south they call it Gary'd !!!

Sorry buddy but the first picture is the best!

I like the well modded motor as much as the next guy....but to drop a LS that much is a bit OTT! Visually, give it a 20-30mm drop to keep the class, keep the rims tasteful and a slight tint to the windows is all this car can take without looking like the owner tried too much. A "performance" car look does not take to the LS very well, and there are some dog rough examples throughout America.
Having said that...Welcome to LOC!

hi,welcome to loc. like it mate..you say thats on full drop have you any pix of the ride height you would normaly use on our perfect roads, at the setting in the pix you would never get out your yard remember if you change the colour to black it will be a bitch to keep clean

lol @ the barry boy comments! will get some pics of the car at its "driveable" ride height, not really much lower than stock, the beauty of air bags is the total control over the ride quality, more air in= higher up and stiffer ride, very similar feel to a coilover set up, take air out and ride hight drops but ride becomes much softer and more forgiving on lesser "quality" road surfaces. plus, dump all the air out and the car lays on the deck. covers all bases for me, i'm well chuffed. cheers,
stuart.

Hi & Welcome 2 LOC Very Nice Lex

looks great in first pic...................... please get it back to that look.................. it looks awful on 2nd and 3rd pic ... not really what lexus are about,
lexus spend millions developing cars for comfort handling luxury etc..... i dont think you are better equipped than lexus so please put it back to its original beauty............................or buy a citroen saxo to pimp

Has he got the ultraviolet lights fitted to the underside yet ?

Now I do like American Custom and British Custom cars (not the Escort/Saxo ideas of customising),Drag racing ,Low-Riders aren't really my thing but I quite like it the way it is,as long he doesn't take it to far eg: 40 spoke Chrome or Gold Low-Rider wheels ,silly body kits ,Link Chain steering wheel or as you say Neon lights underneath then it's OK as I don't think there's much difference in his LS as say some of the IS's in the club and yes Lexus did spend shed loads of money in developing the LS ,but if we are saying that, then are we saying all cars should stay as they came from the factory and remain unchanged and unmodified ,each to their own,plus it doesn't make us LS owners seem very welcoming when its actually the opposite Sorry for the rant

You guys haven't heard of the VIP "look" from Japan have ya.

VIP cars

Well done matey for not conforming to what folks expect from LS400 owners..

Hi & Welcome 2 LOC

People who don't own a Lexus should not be allowed to be subversive!

I had a 1998 black LS400, which I tinted the windows on and chromed the LS400 wheels.
It looked amazing and totally classy.
One day when I was stopped in traffic, it was spotted by a person who loved it so much, they phoned the dealer and told the dealer they wanted the car.
The dealer phoned me, told me what had happened and that the person was going to pay over the odds for it. Hence I traded up to a 2001 LS430 for very little money and this guy got my car which he wanted so much.

The chrome and tint was done by Lexus who made sure it was done with class...
I have not made any changes to the LS430 as I consider it to be perfect as is and any changes takes away from the car rather than add to it.
I miss the old LS400 as it was a serious head turner and always had a crowd around it in parking lots and people taking photo's of it. I kept it immaculate as I do with all my cars. Black is the nicest when it's clean, but it is so so hard to keep clean. It is unlikely I will ever have a black car again for this reason.
I will get a picture of it up here for you.

Here is a link to some Lexus Photo's

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulyandlinda...57606211137189/

they do look good in black! been playing with the air system today and got it to 3 wheel at the rear, its a bit of a lame effort and i cheated by parking downhill more air pressure is needed i reckon,





really enjoying the car, makes red lights and roadworks more of a laugh!
as a side note, has anyone changed the bulbs for the clock and left and right heater readouts? they look a bit of a game to do.
stuart.

Love it. Its your car. Your choice. Its great to see something different.
I have a Stag as well as the Lex and if I so much as tell someone I put different oil in it, then the originality brigade spit there dummy out.

I think the 400 looks soooo much better lowered.

thanks, got any pics of the Stag?

managed to get the front indicators sorted out. had read up on how to remove the inner orange lense on various forums (use heat to separate the lense from the lamp etc), bought a spare lamp from ebay and set about it. after scrapping the spare lamp, figured there must be an easier way to do it and voila! job done.