First car show of the year: San Diego Auto Show January 1-5, 2014

2013 is about to come to an end, and what a great year it has been.  We welcome 2014 with the first car show of the year:  The San Diego Auto Show.  It will be held from January 1st to the 5th at the downtown convention center.  We will be there to take some photos and provide you with some information of the new car models. 

Tickets for the event can be found here:  San Diego Auto Show

Discount tickets are available for military personnel, and some 7-11 stores also have discount tickets available.  Sunday, the 5th is a family day, and children 12 and under can attend for free, otherwise only children 6 and under are free on the other days of the show.

We wish you all a happy new year!  

DIY Fix: How to Remove and Replace Steering Rack Bushings (Lexus GS300 / Toyota Aristo)

This the is the bag that contained our urethane steering rack bushings.  We got them from Sewell Lexus.

The 1998-2005 Lexus GS (Toyota Aristo in Japan) is a great luxury car that is quite affordable now on the used market for many car shoppers.  The car was billed as a sports/luxury sedan, and if it was optioned as a GS400, it was one of the quickest mid-sized sedans at the time in 1998 with a 1/4 mile time in the low 14 second range.  Straight line prowess aside, the car was also quite capable of tackling winding back roads too.  The Lexus did have to make compromises though, especially in the area of steering feedback.

To keep drivers who prefer luxury comfort happy, Lexus chose to use rubber bushings in the steering rack.  These rubber bushings do a commendable job at keeping vibration and harshness to a minimum.  However, they also dampen out most of the information the front tires give to the driver during cornering.  To make things worse, as the bushings age, they allow quite a bit of flex and movement of the steering rack.  This flexing of the rack gives the steering wheel a "dead zone," an area where even if you turn the steering wheel, nothing happens.  The dead zone lasts for a split second or so until the car will actually begin to turn, but it's enough to reduce driver confidence.  In worse case scenarios, the bushings can degrade to the point where the steering wheel will have side-to-side free play even while driving straight!  Not safe if you needed to do an emergency maneuver.

Our project Lexus GS did have some noticeable steering rack flex during cornering, but the dead zone wasn't as bad as on other GS300s we have driven.  Follow along as we show you a basic guide on how to replace the steering rack bushings for a GS300 to restore driver confidence.  As always, we do not have any responsibility for the work you do to your car.  If in doubt, have a professional do the job! 

Car shows/events for September 2013

It's now September!?!  Where did the summer go?  It seems like the fun in the sun days went by in a flash.  With fall coming up in just a couple weeks, there are a few shows here in Southern California that car enthusiasts can check out.

2013 ToyotaFest car show: A definite must attend for Toyota, Lexus and Scion fans Part 4

Here we are to wrap our belated coverage of the 2013 ToyotaFest.  Enjoy the pictures and we'll see you there next year! 

2013 ToyotaFest car show: A definite must attend for Toyota, Lexus and Scion fans Part 3

A very nice MKIV Supra on HRE wheels.

We head into part 3 of our coverage of the 2013 ToyotaFest, where we waded past row after row of Supras and MR2s.

2013 ToyotaFest car show: A definite must attend for Toyota, Lexus and Scion fans Part 2

ITBs and a Levin front end conversion.  Very nice!

In part 2 of our coverage of the 2013 ToyotaFest, we move away from the Lexus vehicles and onto the Scions and Toyotas. 

DIY Fix: How to Remove and Replace Lower Ball Joints and Outer Tie Rods (Lexus GS 300/Toyota Aristo JZS161)

Ball joints and tie rods are critical for maintaining steering control and safety.  A broken ball joint or tie rod can result in a catastrophic accident.

In recent weeks, we've received quite a few questions from people asking if we can help them identify odd noises coming from their vehicles.  While we cannot guarantee we can help them pinpoint the exact cause of the noise, we generally ask them a few questions or ask them to send us a video to help us get an idea of the general location of the noise. 

The most common one thus far has been odd noises coming from the front end of a person's car, and aside from shocks or wheel bearings, we noticed that ball joints and tie rods are the usual culprits.  Follow along as we explain how to check for bad ball joints and tie rod ends, and show a general how to on our very own project car.