DJT

Judging by state of our roads up here having studded tyres or winter tyres won't make a blind bit of difference. Far too many pot holes. Thinking of moving on to a military off roader of some description. #£@#*! off with trying to find a way to work without tackling something resembling no man's land in WW1. Garages are booked up for weeks to repair cars damage from appalling state of roads.

Bigboomer winter can last up to 5 months. All seasons beat summer tyres when temp drops to 7c. A hot summers day is 20c. My Michelin cross climate I've got on my renault scenic RX4 are very quiet compared to the riken tyres. They excel in snow don't how they perform on ice. Riken on LS with black ice are OK. Acceleration is fine braking is another story. Get no feed back from front of LS430.

Hi malc not as good as Michelin all season tyres. Riken are fitted to my mondeo. On both cars are quite noisy. Have a very good milage life.

Hi am on what previous owner had fitted Riken all season tyres. When these need replacing I'm going to a top tier all season tyre. As winter weather can last up to 5 months.

On my 2004 LS430 I only have 2 brake wear sensors. One at front and one at back. Bought a set of 2 of Ebay for £22 delivered. Front and rear brake wear sensors are different lengths

Hi has anyone actually changed their rear upper control arms. This is on a 2004 LS430 with air suspension. Is there a guide to fitting replacement arms. Any pointers on how to will be gratefully received.

Bigboomer I never use anything but Philips or Orsam for light bulbs. When disconnecting battery is there anything to worry about such as radio codes etc.

Hi was going to change dip bulbs today on car. Once bonnet lifted there is two yellow labels warning of high voltage. See attached photo. Do these labels apply to main beam or dip beam. My handbook does not mention anything about hids

Hockeyedwards you mentioning exhaust tips reminds me I need to sort out my exhaust. Have a single 3" pipe from y section to rear off car. Two 3" straight through silencers. It is quite loud on start up. From inside car when I move off it sounds quiet 🤔. Due to amount of soundproofing fitted by lexus makes hard to detect actually sound level. Guys at work say it sounds really good. That's not going to help me if local traffic police decide to do a decibel test 😬. Have found some 3" silencers and resonater on a JDM tuning site. Not cheap but quality is very good. Claimed to lower sound while not restricting exhaust flow. Think these are aimed at track days as lot of tracks now have very strict noise levels. I know cars used on track days are decibel tested before being allowed on track.

Hi hasxanyone used Yoshi parts to get cheaper oem parts

Bigboomer my engine braking mode comes in automatically. Do use the manual selector when I need too, either for over taking or hold a lower gear for a twisting climb up hill.

Bigboomer yes my lights go up and down. Dipped beam is poor but high beam picks up on reflective signs from quite a distance. Was wondering how old the bulbs are and are they failing slowly.

Hi now its getting dark in my part of the world. Dipped beam has very poor range. Has anyone replaced their dipped headlight bulbs. My 2004 LS430 according hand book new bulb should be a D2S. When reading about light bulbs for cars a reflector type headlight needs a D2R. My dipped beam is a reflector type. See attached photo. Does anyone have a confirmed type of bulb to use. If not it will be remove bulb, see if there is any markings on bulb to see which type it is.

I get 35mpg driving to Inverness or Edinburgh. Scottish mountains make mpg drop a bit. Wick to Inverness is worse bit. No dual carriageway plenty of turns and hills to negotiate plus using overtaking ability to pass tourists admiring view of highlands. Leave gear shift in sport mode for hills to save on multiple gear changes. Have noticed that when going down a 5 in 1 hill if you tap brakes and get speed below 40mph my LS430 goes into engine braking mode. Means im not riding brakes down the hill like most other drivers. Have been using Tesco's 99 momentum when I get to Inverness. Car feels so much livier.

Would lanoguard be better for chassis. Just remove loose rust and spray on. Has very good reviews.

Steve 2006 that is brilliant thank you very much.

Malc LS430 is probably at its cheapest now before serious car enthusiasts catch on to how good they are. Another way of looking at it is. Car is paid for so only need running repairs maintenance. Add these costs to purchase price and spread it over a couple of years and it's still a cheap car to run compared to a 3-5 year car loan plus all the maintenance and repairs on top of repayments. Lexus OEM parts are expensive but life span is phemonal. How many cars apart from Lexus and pre 90s Mercs are built to the best spec possible. When Merc ditched there pre 90s standards they almost went to the bottom of reliability table from the top of table.

WMalc not planning on selling my car as its scratching an itch I've had for years. The desire to own a V8. If I hadn't of bought a Lexus V8 then it would of been a chevy V8 beast. Parts would be cheaper but quality would not of been in Lexus league. American domestic cars are not built to European or far east standards. Nearly bought an AMC eagle which took jeep 4wd system and stuck it under a normal car body.

The-Acre I have air suspension but wouldn't of thought that would make replacement any more difficult.

Malc1 the ball joints where an advisory on last MOT. Got impression from lexus dealer to replace ASAP. Worn ball joints might explain the very slight knocking sound/vibration going over rippled tarmac.

Hi Malc1 they might well of been replaced but have lasted well. Roads up here full of potholes small large deep and shallow even with careful driving you still can't avoid them. ☹️

The-acre I've used rockauto for parts when I had an american RV. They are very good and efficient. Only took 2 days to reach UK. Then another 3 weeks to get to me. Stuck in a customs warehouse until carrier picked them up.

Hopefully be able to take a photo and post tomorrow.

Howplum injecting ball joint sounds an interesting option. Would need to speak to garage that would be removing and refitting parts about sending them off for refurbishment. They might not want an immobile car for a few days/week. Have another car to use while this work was carried out.

Malc1 yeah going to cost ££££. Lexus quoted me £1600 fitted😥. Steep but should out last me. 300k miles and 20 years of use original parts have lasted very well. Seen wishbone with ball joint on Ebay very cheap . Cheap means issues and buy twice. 2 wishbones for £120 delivered has set of alarm bells to avoid at all costs.