I have a 2001 LX470 with 166,000 miles. The AHC works as it should, but the suspension is super rough. I bought it about 5 months ago and was riding smooth, so it seems to have failed since I purchased. I am looking for a mechanic in the Asheville, NC area that has expereince with LC/LX suspension. Let me know if you have any recomendations. I am open to trouble shoot myself... but time is pretty limited currently.
LC100-LX470 Mechanic recomnedation in the Asheville, area
- Thread starter RYan Carlson
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Trollhole Cruisers in Simpsonville, SC is the closets that I would trust. I would say Jim Barkley But......... I cant anymore.
Second @Trollhole - you can check with the Upstate Cruisers group or the ONSC group, too for possible recommendations, though the Upstate group might have more insight due to the area..........
Nobody else around here that I've found other than @Trollhole. He is a good guy that gives back to the community and really knows his stuff.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks! I think I am going to try to flush and change the AHC fluid first, and then if it is still having problems, take it there. Hopefully that will give me a little life in the suspension before I have to start repairing are replacing
I second @Trollhole I used to live in Black Mountain miss it all the time.
A 2001 is very likely due for new damper accumulators if they are originals and torsion bar adjustments/rear spacers with new coils to manage its neutral pressures. There are a few things you can do in your driveway to either get the best out of what you’ve got or gather enough info to make repair v replace decisions. Doing a fluid exchange with the associated bleed is always good and is revealing if you get a foamy milkshake like fluid discharged as this indicates one or more ruptured globes. Initially you'll want to do the Low to High reservoir graduation counting test and if you’re only seeing 5 or so graduations then you’re looking at a set of new damper globes if you want to restore your damping functionality. Its preferable you do the L to H check with known good neutral pressures for an accurate result which leads to reading pressures and subsequently adjusting your TBs (and coils/spacers) for optimum. Neutral pressures equate to preloading the damper accumulators and if this preload is too high then the damper accumulators aka gas springs just can’t adequately absorb/expel fluid displaced from the shock actuators via the damping valve systems.
These are pretty simple systems and the basic hydraulic requirements to function properly are: fresh, gas free fluid; damper globes that return 9+ graduations for decent dampening (four new return 14 grads down to replace at 7) and optimized neutral pressures.
- Thread starter
- #8
Thanks, This is helpful information. I do know that from low to high, I have about 12 graduations, which is higher than I was expexcting. I hope to do the bleed tonight or this weekend if I can to see what I can learn.
If you’re getting 12 graduations on the reservoir then that’s a great sign. Fluid changeout and sorting out the pressures next.
I live in Asheville too. I prefer to drop my 98 at Trollholes on my way out of town. It has been especially convenient when flying out of GSP, and less convenient when flying out of Atlanta. My experiences with Marshall and his mechanics have been really positive. They are popular and very busy. When he’s been too busy to fit me in, he has recommended Mostly Toyota, now called Mostly Automotive, a block south of downtown AVL. It’s convenient bc I can drop off my truck and walk to my office. The owners own 7 or 8 LCs. I’d be interested to hear reviews on Mostly Automotive.
