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2002 Gs Won't Drive In A Straight Line


tehspanna
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Hi Guys!

A few days ago I managed to dump my GS into a pothole at about 55m/h - I wasn't very happy about it. Since then my steering felt quite light compared to before, and the car pulled to the left. The steering wheel wasn't straight any more either, and there was a bit of steering wobble when I got close to 60m/h.

I took the car to Lexus Hull to get sorted out (or so I thought - got wheel balance and tracking looked at), but the car came back only slightly better, and still with wobble. I've been back again, and they've told me there is nothing wrong (and didn't charge me for my second visit).

Have I done some proper damage here, or does anyone have any advice on what I can try next? Am I likely to ruin tyres driving the car like this?

I don't mind about having to do a bit of travelling to get it sorted - I do a fair mileage in the car already.

Adam :)

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Is this something Lexus can do, or should I be looking elsewhere? I'm currently a little weary of my local main dealer.

And is tracking and geometry not the same thing?

Go elsewhere. Tracking is a much more basic check than geometry. It's been covered on here, so do a search on WIM or geometry on here, and have a good read.

Here is a link to the company that does a lot of geometry for many cars on here. Give them a call and describe your situation, and see what advice they offer.

WIM

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Is this something Lexus can do, or should I be looking elsewhere? I'm currently a little weary of my local main dealer.

And is tracking and geometry not the same thing?

Tracking is part of the geometry set up, but only a small part. There is camber, caster and toe (the "tracking" part) and probably some other bits and bats that Tony will know. Tracking won't tell you if the rears are out of wack with the fronts etc, or if something has bent and put the camber and caster out of wack etc. You can book your car in for a full geo at Lexus but it is unlikely the actual job will be done by them, Lexus Derby outsource it to another tyre place. Who incidentally didn't know how to adjust the car until I provided the documentation on how to do it. Fair do's to Lexus and the other place in that they worked with me to get to a halfway satisfactory conclusion even though it is still not done completely (seized parts rather than a technician problem). So a lottery to say the least with the dealers IMO. Maybe Tony at WIM can recommend a place nearer to home or you could take a trip to Hemel Hempstead to see the man himself.

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Is this something Lexus can do, or should I be looking elsewhere? I'm currently a little weary of my local main dealer.

And is tracking and geometry not the same thing?

Tracking is part of the geometry set up, but only a small part. There is camber, caster and toe (the "tracking" part) and probably some other bits and bats that Tony will know. Tracking won't tell you if the rears are out of wack with the fronts etc, or if something has bent and put the camber and caster out of wack etc. You can book your car in for a full geo at Lexus but it is unlikely the actual job will be done by them, Lexus Derby outsource it to another tyre place. Who incidentally didn't know how to adjust the car until I provided the documentation on how to do it. Fair do's to Lexus and the other place in that they worked with me to get to a halfway satisfactory conclusion even though it is still not done completely (seized parts rather than a technician problem). So a lottery to say the least with the dealers IMO. Maybe Tony at WIM can recommend a place nearer to home or you could take a trip to Hemel Hempstead to see the man himself.

I hadn't realised there was so much that could be configured, or at least measured. I've had a couple of bad experiences with my local dealer now, and I've only had my Lexus since January.

I used to use a place in York who always did a good job, but they got bought out by a chain recently and I've only heard bad things about them since.

I had a look at WIM's forum posts, and at the site too - a lot of what was on there went way above my head, but there's a lot of recommendations on here and their own forums, so I'll likely give them a ring tomorrow. The drive to Hemel Hemstead doesn't scare me, it's only about three hours. Well worth it if they can get my car behaving even close to how it used to.

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Suggest also that if you can you take a photo of the offending pothole and if your car costs much to put back to normal you think about claiming the cost back from the relevant local authority. The roads are in such a poor state that I fail to see why "Joe Public" should continually pay to repair damage caused by poor or non-existent maintenance of our road network. Enough cash is taken from motorists already.

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I reads like the chassis is hurt... Good news is it is adjustable in most plains so should be retrievable.

From your post there is one particular angle that reads like the criminal and that's castor.... Historically an impact will reduce this and consequently the car will pull to the impacted side and the steering will feel light (particularly) at speed.

Unfortunately "Tracking" will not see this angle since trackings line of sight (reader friendly explanation) is left/ right whereas castors position is forward/ backward.

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