Hi all,
I am a new member and we run two 1998 LS400's. Both absolutely fantastic vehicles with the textbook 'magic carpet' ride and phenomenal reliability.
At its M.O.T. one of them showed excessive tyre wear on the inner edge of the rear nearside tyre.
I put the car into a reputable Company in Worthing that has the state of the art tracking equipment, who said that they could not adjust the settings because the bolts had siezed up. I returned the car to my mechanic who insisted that both adjusters were free and demonstrated the fact to me.
Back to the Company in Worthing who still insist that they are seized and they mark the offending bolt with a chalk mark.
Back to the mechanic who once again demonstrates that the bolt moves but decides to replace it with a new one anyway.
For those of you who have access to a Lexus parts display diagram these are bolts 48190R & 48198R which shows an exploded diagram of an offside suspension system.
These bolts have a large cam on the head and nestle down in a recessed area on the subframe. When you adjust them the cam strikes the side of the subframe and the resulting pressure moves the arm that it is linked to thereby adjusting the wheel.
Back to the Company in Worthing who insist that the problem is that as the mechanic tries to adjust the bolt, it rides up over the subframe negating any adjustment he tries to make. Obviously this looks ludicrous and comparison with our second LS400 shows no difference in the set up whatsoever.
It is now booked in to Lexus Portslade who also find the problem hard to explain but obviously need to see the car and the problems before pronouncing judgement.
Has anyone else heard of this problem?