runsgrateasanut

Andy, If you still own the Lexus, what did you finally do about this situation which is a blunder I've just fallen foul of? Did you use the Car for Offroading??? LOL Did you change the Springs

Thank you Phil. Oh how I wish I'd read that thread before. Having had these Springs since 2015 and only now after a second attempt have they been fitted "by the book". and left me with a Dragster Lexus. I'm going to have to run with these for the foreseeable future but they are definately NOT the correct size Spring for this model. I think I made mention elsewhere of having recently looked on Rock and seen a diagram for Moog Springs that don't seem to have flat ends, at all. Just my luck to get screwed by KYB bad information. I'll have to weight the Car down next MOT to get the Lights to pass the test. It will be loaded for our next trip abroad and I've got an LPG Conversion kit and Toroidal which may make some difference if and when fitted. BU**ER !!

Shirish, I yesterday had the rear springs replaced with KYB's and frankly I'm a bit troubled. First impression on seeing the Car was that it had converted into a ~Dragster. There is about four inches clearance above the rear tyres. Now either its normal or the Springs that KYB claim are for all LS400's from 89 to 94 (No RD5979) are not correct for the Car, or they've put the wrong Springs in the Boxes.? I'll have to live with it for the moment and not driven anywhere to see what the driving experience is. The fronts now have about three inches clearance. As long as the Light settings will still pass the MOT and l ensure I can see ahead in darkness then perhaps I'll get used to the opposite of Low Rider?

I've placed a piece of black insulating tape about 1.5 inches behind the perspex where the bulb is brightest and it has made a difference. Unfortunately my Camera's disposable batteries are very low and for some reason they darken the room background, but this my last photo (I promise) and I think gives as best I can get. The reason for this saga is partly to give a more modern blink to the indicators (so I imagined) but also the Amber bulb is not that bright in daylight in Clear Housing. So its a sort of safety addition. Won't be done until I'm in a garage abroad some weeks away. I've left sufficient cabling as the indicator units have to be pulled out at almost 90 degrees. I'm planning a drive down to Frejus so it may not get done at all. C'est la vie.! Another attempt at the rear Springs replacement taking place tomorrow by my Mechanic. Good luck with that!

The Camera image detracts from the actual visual effect. Poor Camera? or it just enhances the brighter light to the detriment of the LED's seems to be what happens. Below is with a 5w bulb and it looks exactly the same as the 21w bulb. Fitting resistors would be a pain I suspect, as they'd have to be screwed to metal which is too far back to reach from outside the car. Although I've bought a couple I doubt I will use them. Heat generation with the 21w bulb in situ and the Q. if 9 LED's will produce heat sufficient to melt perspex are my only concerns. OK they are intermittant, but if I broke down and they had to become hazzard lighting, would they burn out?

Fiddling whilst Rome burns to coin a metaphor. Messed around to see outcome of LED's as indicators. 1) Strip with bulb still in situ. May avoid need for load resistors and stop hyper flashing?? 2) LED's on their own. Perhaps putting a 12v 5W bulb in there with them to trick the flasher unit is a better idea? Sorry no photo but will take one later, maybe. 3) LED's stuck to perspex strip and see entry point. Would be sealed with clear silicone should I decide to put these into my Clear indicator units. Not checked for certain that there is room for cable to run up to the bulb unit cable. It may be very tight and I'm surprised by how thin the wire is to the LED's. About a fifth of a millimeter single core. Too cold to check today. Comments advice always welcome. An unnecesary and pointless addition perhaps but it occupies my tiny mind whilst more important World matters play out. Not sure about this new Defence Secretary.. Bit of a howler me thinks!

Here's a thought. You can buy a new Sensor or there is a Lexus LS400 Throttle body on the Bay which has been cleaned and has a sensor for about the same money. A quick swap with new Gasket and you may have fixed two jobs - cleaning (which after 110k miles is I can confirm necessary) and Sensor to see if fixes problem.

deleted

Reading up, it would seem that Load Resistors may be necessary to stop hyper flashing. I'll check out what happens indoors when connected to a 12v battery using an Amber unit. Hyper flashing when the indicators are controlled by being power on/off may be barely noticeable? But it may be necessary for safe use? I'll put up a photo in due course.

I've got clear fronts and so I'll just experiment with the old Amber Units. It seems to be no more than splicing into the pos and neg leads to the holder and then inserting the strip through the hole into the unit. I'll keep the holder free just in case I have to return to a bulb. Not being electrically minded I'm making an assumption that the low voltage or wattage of LED's will not need a Relay and because they generate no heat (and will operate intermittantly) then they won't need to be away from the plastic front of the unit, where they will work best. Will the system work with these or throw up a bulb fault or even act as though a bulb is out? Who knows? Ordered a pair of Motorcyle strips for £4.39. Cheap experiment. Will let all know in due course.

I've always thought to make Boot/Bonnet struts last, you should never slam them down. Tell that to the Wife or Sons and they just give a quizzical look of scorn. I like the sidelight brightness improvement. Been looking on e-bay.com to see if I can buy LED striplight indicator units to replace bulbs but only seem to sell daylight/indicator lengths. Would not work for the needs. Pity, as I rather like the idea of the whole Orange plastic housing lighting up (as well as the wingside repeaters) to modernise the car slightly. I recognise I'd have to make a change to the way the two parts connect to one another. They would look a bit like the Audi I suppose.

ps to last - I should say I was playing Music via the bluetooth and clarty was superb. Never used a phone in a Car but bluetooth could (if unlikely) to be useful, I suppose. Personally I hate mobile phones and as my last months Virgin bill was £1.50 (no monthly contract) it shows I'm in the Billy no Mates team.

I bought one of these and I must say that it bluetoothed perfectly to my Android Mobile phone outside my house. What I'm not so sure about is if my old Sony MP3 A1000 player will work via the Aux input on the unit. I've lost my connecting jack to jack cable at the moment and although it refers to MP3 in the Ad, it suggests MP4 in the little booklet that came with it. Is there an MP4? I'm not au fait with audio. The only other thing I'm waiting on an answer from the seller is, the fact that they say in the Ad that the contents include a Remote. Not seen in the box, though also not seen in the visuals for the Ad. Works better than some other FM Tranmitters I've tried. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FM-Transmitter-Bluetooth-5-V-Wireless-Radio-Modulator-Car-MP3-Player-USB-Charger/183070632650?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

There's a Febi Bilstein on ebay for £200. Not sure if they have both sides. I've used cheaper Arms not from Rock, and as I said the only thing I needed to do was replace the rubber Boot over the Ball joint before fitting. Has passe two MOT's since. Rock does have Moogs for sale, I believe.

Sorry yes thats correct. They are under Ball Joint & Track Rod end Boots. Not Car specific. Or you may be able to retain whats on your existing UCA's and transfer them. Don't always match.

If replacing front UCA's with a cheap Chinese or Taiwan brand I suggest that you buy new Ball joint covers and replace the existing Rubber which disintegrates in less than a month or as someone said when "just hanging on the garage wall" The unit will then be OK for a while. www.southwalespropshafts.co.uk posts quickly once you've got dimensions.

Bizarre update. I purchased the new springs K-FLEX KYB RD5979 several years ago and at the same time bought two new Rear OEM Upper Control Arms from Amayana. - just in case of an MOT fail on these parts having had a nightmare with the fronts when I purchased the Car. Only the Springs so far have been mentioned, so I stored everything. Only now have I checked the Springs against these new UCA's to find that there is no way they will go through the centre hole. So, even if the originals had been lowered they wouldnt have been extractable. Or, KYB have sold me the wrong Springs (Sorry revised this sentence as the guy didn't take the whole unit through the hole in the UCA - Anno Domini affecting my thinking Doh!) See ebay ref for the same spring advertised as for Lexus LS400.. Just looked on Rock Auto to see if they quote KYB springs but only Moog seen and at £85 to import a pair is an OK price but looking at the image, it suggests that there is no flat bottom to the springs. Why is that?? different Diameter I have no way of knowing ? https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=7111356&cc=1187489&jsn=327&jsn=327 Next time I have the wheel off i'll have to try to measure the diameter of the existing Springs to better understand what is going on here?

and this sa-96.pdf sa-63.pdf

Having just bought the Workshop manual in pdf for £9.99 the Bible says, remove Drive Shaft, Exhaust etc. sa-97.pdf

Postscript - you can get these at around £38 a pair. Also under 1997 listed http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/lexus,1999,ls400,4.0l+v8,1356083,brake+&+wheel+hub,hydraulic+hose,1792

Nice to know you have instant stopping power with the miriade of young people these days stepping into the Road with their mobile phones glued to their ears and their Brains somewhere else! Having changed the Rotors and pads (to Mintex) at the time its not easy to determine if they make a difference, but the car was lethal when I bought it. Now, its the best stopping power I've ever experienced.

I'm very confident of this mechanics abilities. How many mechanics can there be in their late thirties who've worked on changing springs on old Lexus's which seem to last the Cars lifetime? We had that upper control arm up and down like a fiddlers elbow but still couldn't get the thing completely out of the holder and no clearance at top or bottom of the spring to the inner wheel arch housing. Maybe, if after rotating the Spring, we had re-applied the clamps it would in hindsight have given a bit more top clearance but not at the bottom. Was persuasion in the form of leverage used by you, Steve? Its back on the drive now until the Ice Age is over and then I'll rethink if he or this other mechanic want to make further attempt. Bu**ered if I'd want to work in a cold Garage doing this sort of work.

Thanks Malc. I’ve no plans to scrap her and am only changing the springs because they’ve been an advisory more than once owing to rust. Just collected the Car back without the change being made. Contacting an ex- Toyota dealer mechanic and waiting for him to call me back as to what the Bible says about Spring replacement. If the cost is too high it probably would be cheaper to get two rear Coilovers and cut out the rear springs etc so avoiding the drive shaft etc., removal. Not that I particularly want to change the nature/ ride of the beast. 2nd Alternative is to rust kill , paint and continue to take with me the set of new springs on my 600 mile journeys into France and keep my fingers crossed. They’ve done the trip quite a few times. Roads better over there, mind you. When Springs can sometimes go with the Car parked at a Supermarket I prefer to try and circumvent such happenings. They’ve done sterling service if originals – 25 years this March! Time for their retirement!

I'll just update my own last contribution to this old thread. I went to the workshop to see why there was difficulty in doing this supposedly easy Strut removal. I tried with my Mechanic to remove the strut and I couldn't do it. There is insufficient clearance in the upper tunnel and I couldn't fully release the lower part from the housing sufficient to drop it away from the Drive shaft Gaiter and to the right of it. Even if it could have been done, the length of the Strut, the inner wheel arch and a Strengthening panel in the Tunnel don't allow for wiggle room to angle the strut. I have checked all vutube vids on this and each time when you get to the part of removal, there is no actual footage of a Strut being removed. Perhaps the 91 model had a different upper tunnel housing? We've had to abandon the repalcement and short of cutting out the Spring and repalcing with a modern Coilover (different diameter strut spring) I'm not going to imagine the cost of replacing with removal of Drive shaft etc. More than the Cars worth?

Interesting - if a bit pricey