Alignment Nightmare

[kinggrimwood]

I own a 1991 Lexus LS400. I bought it in LA, and i drove 1000 miles home without any problems. After a few weeks i noticed a terrible mis-alignment, and so i took it in to Firestone, they re-aligned everything, but a couple days later it was out again. They told me i needed different tires because the ones i had were worn unaligned.
I was upgrading to larger rims anyway, so i got new tires, i took it in for alignment and bought a lifetime alignment service.
They just can't seem to get it right. I'll take it in, and a few days later it's bogus again. This is on-going. the car will not stay straight.
ANY ADVISE?

I've heard that somethings like wheel balancing, only LEXUS can do it correctly because it has to be so precise. Is this the case with my alignment, is this a common problem, and does anyone know a way to correct it.

If you know the exact numbers for the alignment, posting them would be helpful. Anything would help, i love my car, but if this persists, i'll have to sell it because it drives me insane.

 

[Celsiorous]

I havnt had any issues with alignment on my 1st gen Celsior, its lowered on JIC coilovers and 18 inch rims. In the last 6 months I would have had 3 alignments because I keep adjusting the ride height. Two alignments were done by the same outfit one was done by another and strangely they both commented that this was the first ls400/celsior they had aligned. I had no issues with either and im running about 12-13 degrees camber and 1 degree toe in.
My general feeling about the alignments was that the people doing them thought it was a straightforward car to align.
I might have the alignment print out from my last alignment, if I can find it ill post the details when I get home.

 

[Lambo]

hi maybe this might have a print out direct from an alignment machine it is the factory default values. For a SC400/Soarer, not sure if its the same as a LS400 but most likely close enough ,if you PM me an email address i'll send it over it's to big to post here

Best Regards
Lambo

 

[sleeperz]

if it works good for a while and then its off something might be shifting around/rack bushings??? my 90 ls400 has bad control and trailing arm bushings does the same find loose item....

 

[kinggrimwood]

if it works good for a while and then its off something might be shifting around/rack bushings??? my 90 ls400 has bad control and trailing arm bushings does the same find loose item....

I assume something must be loose, i forgot to mention that often times i hear a strange rattle from my front-right and i don't know what it is, but i guess perhaps it's connected with my alignment problems.

 

[Peewee]

As said above, if it keeps shifting around, you either have a bad bush (or bushes), or soemthing is loose.

Alignments should last as long as a bush. Only when you replace a stuffed bush with a new one, or after you hit multiple kerbs should you need an alignment.

Lexus won't have anything more than a tyre shop will.
Maybe take it to a suspension shop and get them to go over the whole suspension system.
Be wary though, don't get taken for a ride.

 

[SC400TT]

Check the control arm bushings as well...

 

[sniper]

You amy also want to check and see if the rack has been replaced. Mine was and when Lexus did it, they never centered the rack properly and i had the same type of situation as you are explaining on my 90 LS. Be sure all the bushings and ball joints are good.

 

[BillH2]

I recently purchased an 01 GS430. One of the conditions of the sale was the replacement of the two front tires. I took the car into a local Brigstone dealer and had the tires replaced. I had it four-wheel aligned at the same time. It drove fine before and it drives fine on a perfectly smooth road, but the slightest un-even road surface causes the car to follow. Is short, it now handles like a pig. I took it back, they re-did it. Not much change. Talking to some friends in the service industry, there are some people who just can't get it right. I have located someone who is generally recognized as competent in this area. This really does not make much sense, the alignment equipment is designed for accurate fast readings. You would think that only an idiot would not be able to get it right, but apparently that's just what's happening. I would check with some of the performance and body shops in your area. Most likely you will hear about a certain guy who a lot of people recommend. These are too nice a car to put up with that s***t.

 

[Lambo]

Hi Billh2, I have had the same problem with alignment shops, so i talked to a friend who had 28 years doing alignment, he said it's not the guy doing it usually it's the alignment machine, my friend used to set up the computerised machines, some of which cost a 100,k he said that in a busy alignment shop the machines get a hard life, with the different operators, you only need one of them to drop a wheel mounted sensor asembly, from the wheel to the steel drive on ramp, and not let on, and alll the cars that went out of the shop would be miles out.And you would not know until owners started returning cars.
He found all the machines were miles out after just 1 month, but as he said they did not have the time to adjust and calabrate each machine on a regular basis, as he said with some systems it can take 4-5 hours to correctly setup a modern computerised system, so the hard part is finding a alignment company that actually does regular calibration of their machines.

Best Regards
Lambo

 

[stevechumo]

I own a 1991 Lexus LS400. I bought it in LA, and i drove 1000 miles home without any problems. After a few weeks i noticed a terrible mis-alignment, and so i took it in to Firestone, they re-aligned everything, but a couple days later it was out again. They told me i needed different tires because the ones i had were worn unaligned.
I was upgrading to larger rims anyway, so i got new tires, i took it in for alignment and bought a lifetime alignment service.
They just can't seem to get it right. I'll take it in, and a few days later it's bogus again. This is on-going. the car will not stay straight.
ANY ADVISE?

I've heard that somethings like wheel balancing, only LEXUS can do it correctly because it has to be so precise. Is this the case with my alignment, is this a common problem, and does anyone know a way to correct it.

If you know the exact numbers for the alignment, posting them would be helpful. Anything would help, i love my car, but if this persists, i'll have to sell it because it drives me insane.

My SC400 had a hard time for the alignment, too. However, the mechanic found out it was the bushing for the steering rack & pinion. The rubber got worn and loose so after every turn, the alignment went bad again. So he just cut a piece of flat rubber and push it on the old bush and tightened it. That way, the rack stayed firm and doesn't affect the alignment anymore. You may find the steering rack & pinion bushing on Ebay real cheap.