martman

I took my IS200 to WIM in Jan 2010 and now suffering worn inners again (approx 9000 mls) i think i have a problem with the camber lock, does anyone know if there is a fix for this? notices that blackboots are now local so will gove them a visit i think. No issues with WIM as the car was transformed after Tony weaved his magic, tyre wear was perfect for several months but recently i have noticed the inners wearing again, i am sure that the camber has slipped. this seems to be something that has happened before and tony actually said that the locks were loose when he looked at mine.

Thanks. Pardon my ignorance, why go to him instead of the local geometry specialist or the local Lexus stealer ? I live in Cornwall and thought perhaps i could get a local wheel alignment specialist to set up mine to Tonys' settings. Several attempts later and several different places visited and none of them got anywhere close. They were more than happy to take my money but less than happy to help when 3500 miles later my new set of tyres were down to the canvas. I have visited Tony this week after deciding that throwing my money away locally was a false economy. I only wish i had visited Tony in the first place. My car has been transformed from a nervous handling beast that would eat tyres to a car that sticks to the road like poop to a blanket. It rides far more smoothly and is now a real pleasure to drive. Tony said that my car was one of the worst he had seen in a long time. One of the rear wheels wad been adjusted beyond the limit of the cam adjuster so any adjustment was making no difference. BOTH front camber locks were loose and all 4 wheels were pointing in different directions. The company that had set it up before had taken 3 attempts before telling me to get lost. The moral of the story as already stated is find the time to go to Tony and rest assured that the job will be done properly. I for one will not hesitate to make the 550 mile round trip again should i need to.

Thanks for the replies. Sorry for the late acknowledment, I have been working away in Ukraine...I guess it will be a trip to WIM for me then. Don't think i want to risk another bunch of cowboys snatching my money and not giving me what i paid for.

Sorry not that competent with posting.... I think you can right click and save the image then view in full size

Hi all, In june i took my IS200 to a local wheel & tyre centre who have a 3d alignment set up. I asked them to set up the car to Tony Bones settings (Big thanks to Tony). I picked the car up and drove away and the car felt completely different. Not right but different. My house is all of 400 yards from this place so i drove home and though no more of it. I then had to go out in the afternoon and again was surprised at just how different the car felt (in fact i went and had brand new tyres put on). Then i tried to negotiate a mini roundabout.... at a paltry 10-15 mph the front tyres were squealing. Oh dear. Unfortunately by this time the shop was closed. I had to go away for work that week and on the drive to work (about 15 miles) even in a straight line i was getting squealing tyres. The following weekend i went back and complained. The shop agreed to have a look. When i returned they told me that the o/s/f wheel was 'way out' and they had reset it. I asked what was way out and they said that the camber had moved. I drove off and all felt ok. It certainly felt much more planted on the road and overall i was feeling much happier. Last week however, i though i should take look at the tyre wear just to keep an eye. I was stunned to see that the o/s/f tyre worn down to its canvas and the n/s/f not too far behind, this with 3,500 miles on the tyres. Now completely incensed i returned to the shop who had done the alignment. They ar first tried to claim that it was my fault, i must have kerbed the car or something. I dismissed that as :tsktsk: as 3,500 miles was a ludicrously low mileage for the tyes to be in that state. He agreed eventually... and agreed to have another look. He once again said that the camber had dropped. and that the car must have a problem with the camber lock. To be honest at this point i was completely out of my depth and had little idea what the camber lock was or how it worked. I understand camber but not the cars mechanism for locking. It also transpired that during the second time they looked at it they set it up to lexus eom specs and not tonys. In other words not what i had asked for. They are dnying any responsibility and seem uninterested in helping any further. I did not have anywehre near this problem before i took the car there, the last set of front tyres lasted about 14,000 miles and wore the inners. Is there anything i can buy that will lock the camber into position? Although i live in Cornwall i am seriously contemplating making the trip to Tony to get this done properly. What mileage should i expect from a properly set up IS200? I do have print outs from this garage but am not at home at the moment, i will upload them as soon as i can. The shop refused to give me a printout for the last time they looked at it so i have no idea what the final settings were this time. Any help or advice would be very gratefully received, i am virtually at the end of my tether! :duh:

No it doesnt seem to. Definitely seems more composed through the corners and under braking. Although the whole reason i wanted it sorted was to prevent tyre changes every 8000 miles, bugger!!! I think you are right about the inability to convert the measurements to minutes as i mentioned this when i went to pick it up and the guy seemed not to understand! Oh well, live and learn i guess! And if i know i am going to be in your neck of the woods anytime Tony I will definitely get it booked in. Thanks for all your help and input you are a gent.

Living in the west of Cornwall it isnt really possible for me to visit WIM without a major effort. So Tony very kindly gave me the settings i needed for my IS200. After checking around i found a local business with a 3d wheel alignment service so i phoned them and they talked a good talk. When i went to pick the car up though, the guy who did the work told me that he couldnt set up to the settings i gave him but he set up to 'within specification' He started to blind me with science (or baffle me with bull, i'm not sure which!!!) But i do remember something about the n/s/r being at the end of its adjustment. Driving the car away the was a small difference and certainly throught the bends and under heavy braking it does feel better but i was wondering if they had done a good job or not so if anyones feeling inclined to give their opinion, i have attached the printout they gave me. They used a John Bean V3D Visualiner img003.pdf

Many thanks, i shall do that.

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I have had my '99 IS200 since November 07 but it is apparent that my front tyres are wearing quite excessively on the inside. From reading a few posts on here I am guessing it is down to the geometry (and in particular the camber) However, living in west cornwall it is not really an option to go to WIM (600 mile round trip and probably 2 days off work) Does anyone know anywhere in the south west that can offer a set up service or does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks