I notice a huge difference. That’s why I love the AHC!
Should I Hold Out for 06-07? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter TrichoCruiser
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
I agree 100%.
Yeah you guys were right, I put it in sport for the hour ride home from DC into the countryside so I felt it in multiple road environments, and it did in fact behave differently..and it was awesome, so thats neat haha about 170k miles at this point, so I'll probably have to do some maintenance on it soon i imagine.
I personally think the vvti power is worth it. Non vvti 4.7 in a 100 series is too slow for me.
If the AHC switch doesn't produce a different feeling ride you've got a broken switch, worn our bushings (not an AHC problem, just normal suspension wear) or worn out globes. All is easily resolved.
Why would you ever need to replace it with traditional? With a brief bit of reading, and understanding, repairing and maintaining it is easy.
geo5
SILVER Star
Interested to hear OP update. I specifically sought out ‘07 LC for VVTI, safety, AHC, comfort/sport ride control.
Factory nav, Cassette deck and cd changer are definitely in the way. Installed a GROM for CarPlay, Owl Expeditions RAM mount in the cassette deck, and GMRS in the cd changer slot.
That said I can’t wait to buy a low mileage ‘21 in the early 2030s!
Factory nav, Cassette deck and cd changer are definitely in the way. Installed a GROM for CarPlay, Owl Expeditions RAM mount in the cassette deck, and GMRS in the cd changer slot.
That said I can’t wait to buy a low mileage ‘21 in the early 2030s!
I’m curious about the people that consider AHC 100s to be super smooth etc. what other vehicles have you guys owned or driven? I got my 07 LX with 116k miles, 1-owner back in 2016. Bone stock, owned by some old lady that bought it and serviced it strictly at the dealer my brother works at in service. Ahc system was flawless but I never felt like it was anything even close to the smoothest car I’ve ever been in. It does great on bigger bumps and decent offroad but regular city driving (on s***ty chicago roads) it’s pretty rough. So much so the first mod I did was remove the factory 18s and install factory 16s and new Michelin Defender all seasons. There was a noticeable improvement but even with the 16s it’s not super smooth or anything. Now on KO2s it’s pretty jarring with tire pressure being around 35psi. I have removed the entire system years ago and have all aftermarket suspension. It’s smoother than the AHC was but firmer because of all the poly bushings all around. I recently test drove another 05 LX, bone stock, it drove very nicely but the AHC was even more harsh than my car when I initially bought it. My boss has an 04 100, conventional suspension and it drives ok, still rough at small speeds, can feel all the bumps etc, rattles here and there.
In comparison I drove a co workers 2022 Ram 2500 (with rear air suspension)….now that I can confidently say was one of if not the smoothest vehicles I’ve ever driven. Zero creeks, zero rattles, not jarring going over any type of bumps. Smoother than any BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus ive ever driven.
That made me wonder why people praise Toyota SUVs so much for their ride quality, it’s really not all that. And this is coming from someone that loves the brand and have owned nothing but Toyota/lexus.
In comparison I drove a co workers 2022 Ram 2500 (with rear air suspension)….now that I can confidently say was one of if not the smoothest vehicles I’ve ever driven. Zero creeks, zero rattles, not jarring going over any type of bumps. Smoother than any BMW, Mercedes, or Lexus ive ever driven.
That made me wonder why people praise Toyota SUVs so much for their ride quality, it’s really not all that. And this is coming from someone that loves the brand and have owned nothing but Toyota/lexus.
The air suspension on that Dodge must be nice, I rented a base model 6.4L 2500 and it bounced like a tractor when empty.
My LX rode amazing and especially over speed bumps or other large bumps it would just float. Then I put on a set of Ridge Grapplers and bumpers and it's more rough now. Still more comfortable than most other vehicles. The really floating amazing ride really is only possible in a stock truck that's really well maintained.
My LX compared to a different lifted 100 series? Rides like a Cadillac.
My LX rode amazing and especially over speed bumps or other large bumps it would just float. Then I put on a set of Ridge Grapplers and bumpers and it's more rough now. Still more comfortable than most other vehicles. The really floating amazing ride really is only possible in a stock truck that's really well maintained.
My LX compared to a different lifted 100 series? Rides like a Cadillac.
Tires make a huuuge difference in the ride quality.
Yeah, no, I think you're right. I've had two LXs and an LS. I doubt anything compares to the LS except other luxury sedans. But when I was looking for the LX I was cross-shopping for the non-classic Ram 1500 because of the very consistent reviews re: NVH.
The LXs seem like they are very quiet on quiet roads or when you're going fast, with very little road and wind noise, but the harshness of crap city roads or off-road is not mitigated nearly as well, and being an SUV vs a pickup, there's a lot of boominess from the rear cargo area along with some rattles. This has been reported by many different people on this forum as well as the clublexus forums, and I would have attributed it to the AHC but the roughness at slow speed is also a common complaint from non-AHC LCs as well as aftermarket suspension. For me, my AHC seems to be temperamental (and I haven't ironed out one particular bug), sometimes I think I'm only imagining it but at other times I'm fairly sure that it varies in plushness according to air temperature and some other unknown variables. Airing down to low 30s on stock size road tires helped a lot.
I prefer my 2000 to my 2006 fwiw. Not sure why!
GTV
SILVER Star
Generally speaking, the longer the wheelbase is the better the ride quality will be. I bet that has a lot to do with it.
If your AHC reservoir doesn’t have a High and Low mode difference of close to 14 gradations, there’s a huge possibility the AHC globes are running low on its gas charge and the hydraulic fluid’s compressing the diaphragm in globes down to its equivalent of suspension “bump stops” with the slightest amount of road transfer.
I passed I-40E from for a Grand Canyon National Park #1 2022 visit, the asphalt had deep cracks on most of the way travel and the truck lane was worse. With factory 1999.10 globes on my 2000LX that were shot, every crack on the road could be felt and crossing bumps and sections where the elevation was changing were harsh.
In GCNP #2 2022, everything changed with new OEM globes installed. While the LX doesn’t absorb cracks the way a unibody S class mercedes with airmatic suspension does, the dampening was remarkably soft for a truck frame SUV. FWY elevation changes no longer feel like the frame jolts were pushing hard against the seats, comfort mode felt like a yatch riding softly across the waves. Some would say soft and floaty like a magic carpet ride.
It’s that huge of a difference in ride quality with AHC running out of spec in pressures (tired springs, unindexed torsion bars) and its nitrogen dampeners low on charge. In both cases, I’m on 40/41 PSI cold tire pressure approximately for better MPG.
Last edited:
Idk bro I spent like $10k for icons and the full shabang and it’s still rough lol. I don’t think it’s an AHC issue at all. Sounds more like these trucks are just rattle traps.
I got an 04 LS430 and it’s considerably smoother driving than any 100 series I’ve ever been in. I’ve learned to live with it. Not gonna complain but at the same time not gonna agree with what some forums members are saying here about how smooth these vehicles are.
That’s very true but I’m not really talking about the ride quality. These 100s actually have amazing ride quality in the sense that it’s not a bouncy experience (unlike a lot of 4Runners, GX, and similar size vehicles).
I’m talking more about the jarring and harsh cabin noise. Like when you hit a hard crease in the road the dash and alot of other panels, probably majority of the cabin structure just doesn’t feel that solid. It’s no different than my 06 Sienna that I paid $4,000 for lol. I’ve driven and got rides in anything from modded and slammed Audi RS3s to Porsche GT3s, S63s, Teslas, etc. all those cars have super harsh suspension, extremely firm and basically rubber bands for tires on huge wheels but because they’re so solid and well put together, you don’t get those rattles and creaks every time you go over a manhole cover or harsh road imperfection. All season tires do help a lot but it’s still just masking the real problem which I believe is subpar build quality (especially for the premium price that Toyota charged for these SUVs). If it was a $25k 1997 4Runner I wouldn’t say a word but this is 2-3X the money.
The jarring sensation is likely simply bushings and joints. Unless you're riding in a restored 100 (not a very common thing) then you're just feeling whatever level of wear that particular chassis has seen. Absorbing the big bumps? That's the suspension. Road seems? That's going to test your bushings before the other suspension components. You'll feel that slop and jarring nature before the shock setup has had a chance to do anything. Unless the owner is a fanatic about preventative maintenance, they're going to leave the bushings alone until they are completely disintegrated. Bushings are "worn out" way before that happens.
When people swap suspension setups they inherently swap at a minimum 3 bushings per corner (upper and lower cushions, lower bushing). Those 12 bushings will make a big difference.
I have not been in a new LS, but I have driven a ~2015? Mercedes CLS, current (or previous perhaps?) gen Audi A6, previous gen A8, Mercedes E class (2018 maybe?) a few new GXs, a couple Tesla Model S (I daily a P100D), and then a swath of other more pedestrian cars. I think AHC (with decent bushings, proper pressures and good globes) hits well above its weight class. It's not the best suspension setup available, but it is very impressive for its $$ range.
Keep in mind, I also owned a 99 LC with new shocks and many new bushings while owning my 06 LX. The LX - even with old bushings - was definitively better with road seams, brake dive, sway, corrugated roads, etc.... There was no competition at all. AHC is head and shoulders a superior performing system when it comes to comfort. You have to get real fancy with conventional to get similar combinations of comfort and basic road performance.
The thing is I've read a few different posts where people have replaced practically every bit of rubber and still had low speed harshness. I'm a bit skeptical about how much all of it can do, particularly for the boominess.. though I was thinking about asking everyone what the highest yield bushings are to replace.
I just did my sway bars/end links. What other rubber is there? There's the actuator bushings (two? what's the third?), then the control arm bushings, then a bunch of body bushings (are these the same things that are changed when people do a body lift?), then engine/transmission mounts (though I'd imagine those are far less relevant)..
Upper cushion, lower cushion, lower shock bushing. Qty 12 total
Upper control arm bushing (qty 4).
Upper ball joint x2
Lower control arm bushings (qty 4, two of which live in the frame)
Lower ball joint x2
Sway bar - 2 for the bar, 2 for the links. Front and rear?
Rear control arms qty 8 for upper and lower.
Panhard bar, qty 2
Steering rack qty 2
Front diff qty 3 bushings, qty 2 cushions.
Engine mount qty 2
Trans mount qty 1?
That's something like 50+ wear joints of the top of my head. I've never seen anyone do more than half of those on here. It's important to avoid poly if reduced harshness is the goal.
The only “bushings” I haven’t changed are the body mounts on my car. Every other bushing was changed two years ago when we removed AHC. I bought brand new OEM front lower control arms, blackhawk front upper arms, trail tailor upper and lower rear arms, I have Timbren bumpstops front and rear, icon stage 4 adjustable shocks all around, all new sway bar end links (extended trail tailor), Deltavs rear panhard bar drop bracket. Maybe I’m missing something but there’s kit a single old bushing on my car besides the body mounts which look very healthy (it didn’t live in a hot climate that dry rots plastics and rubber…I know I have several cars I bought from California, Texas, and Nevada). I don’t know if I agree with you man. Changing out all the suspension didn’t really make that much of a difference.
Last edited:
