daredeil95

Hi, 2005 Lexus ES330; I just finished installing a new set of front lower control arms, lower ball joints and front struts, everything went together fairly easy and the job was done correct but, I just took it for a test drive and the car now shakes at the front of the car. At lower speeds or under 20mph it's fine but, once I get going faster there is a very serious shake. Is there something that requires adjusting that I don't know about or has anyone experienced this condition? I also I have to mention that I rotated the tires....the rear tires are like new as to the front tires were half worn. The original problem was worn bushings in the lower control arms....there was no vibrations other then the bushings were cracked and looked as though they need to be change and I figured I might as well change the struts for the heck of it. Any advice or help is appreciated.

ilkinandr

Well, the cause most likely could be the tire rotation. Sometimes when i swapped tires and didn't balance them i would get vibration/shacking. Another cause would be control arms could of shifted alignment. I say do alignment and balance and it will go way. What brand control arms did you get?

daredeil95

I'm going to re-rotate the wheels tomorrow, seems like the most likely cause because everything else bolted together perfect. What is the alignment on the lower control arms? it seems as though there is only one way to install them without any area for adjustment....from what I could see? I used toyota control arms & TRD/toyota ball joints. Good quality parts imo. Thanks for the response.

Gene

ilkinandr

It doesn't have adjustment, Just that worn control arm rubber can offset the wheels, and replacing it with new can restore it and change alignment. Not guaranteed tho.

daredeil95

Ok, thanks

daredeil95

Ok, I definitely could use some advice, I pulled everything apart in the front end again this afternoon and nothing is wrong. CV joints are perfect,all bolts are super tight and nothing loose. I pull side to side and up and down on the discs and it's perfect, no play. I also returned the tires to the font and back and i still drives like it's on flat spots. My next guess is motor/trans mounts? What's a bad motor/trans mount symptom? I'm leaning towards the driver side as to where the problem is. I also jacked the car up with no tires on and put the car in drive and I I still get the bouncy feeling although I can't see a problem, Any advice fellas....hate to have it towed to the dealer but, if I got to then I have to....damn! A simple job turned into this mess.

ilkinandr

Hey, So is the car shacking or bouncing? Also did you take off the axle while performing the job? Might have popped it out.
Also, i know your from the area, i could come by and take a look if your cool with it.

daredeil95

No, I never removed the axle but, today I took both sides apart and verified the axle is sitting correctly (strut holes slid in easily). After dinner tonight, I narrowed it down to the driver's side and I am thinking it's a problem with the axle. It's making a infrequent banging sound now. As far as the axle goes, I did not remove the brakes backing plate and I did twist the hub in awkward positions to slip the lower ball joint into the spindle. The shape of the backing plate made me twist the spindle to seat the ball joint, I took the lazy route instead of removing the plate. shucks...go figure! I hope it's as easy as a new axle but, the job was simple enough that causing extra damage is ridiculous...lol. Where in CT are you?

ilkinandr

Yeah, something doesn't add up. I'm from Stamford, CT. I did all my LCA, Motor mounts ball joints etc and haven't ran into something like that.

daredeil95

How did you know your motor mounts were bad? Any noticeable symptoms? I'm not ruling out mounts....yet? I'm in Milford, between Bridgeport & New Haven. I don't want to bother ya, traffic is a hassle heading north on 95 or 15 in the afternoon. I'm gonna remove the axle tomorrow afternoon and go from there. I hope it's the axle....easy fix

ilkinandr

I could stop by later in day around 8:30pm or weekend if you don't figure it out by then. As for motor mounts you can have many symptoms. One is heavy vibration, while driving or parked. Take a cup of water , put it on dash , start the car and see how much it ripples. Stap on gas and see if it ripples a lot more . Mine was pretty obvious, ripped dog mount just by looking. Motor movement and could hear a knock while starting the car at times from engine hitting something. I've got a heavy foot, so that torque kicking in usually Yanks on the engine.

daredeil95

Fixed the car tonite; turned out to be the driver side axle, it looked new but, the knuckle near the trans was broke in half; I'm not sure how I could of done that but, I did somehow?? makes no sense. weird....anyways, it's fixed and drives nice. I still have the old axle so, I'll pull it apart and post some pics of what failed. There's no way I applied enough force to break that axle....impossible? Thanks for the help.


Gene

daredeil95

Update to end this post & research for future use; It turns out that I broke the CV axle, I was replacing the lower control arms & struts. I disassembled everything at the same time which lead to the axle failure. I let the axle dangle/drop to far and it came apart at the assembly closest to the transmission. In hindsight, I should of replaced the control first while leaving the spindle connected to the strut then remove the strut and replace with new strut or I could of removed the axle altogether and avoided any problems. I attached a few pics of the broken axle to show how the axle came apart, it might be repairable but, I didn't bother to take a chance as to these axles are inexpensive. Bottom line is, don't let your axle drop to far....

ilkinandr

Yeah, taking out LCA and Struts while letting the whole knuckle dangle on Axle will do that xD. Btw what brand struts and Axle did you get?

daredeil95

I bought the 2 lower control arms & ball joints online, Toyota / TRD parts and the struts are Detroit Axle brand, I've been having good luck with this brand but, some of their stuff is made in the USA and unfortunately these stuts have made in China in big bold letters so, I'll give them a try, my car has 71K on it so, mileage wasn't bad but, I figured 14 years old was to old while probably needing to be changed and to be honest, there is no difference, so far... I was surprised that axle fell apart so easily, I have changed many front axles and never had that happen, I wonder if there was a snap ring or something that failed. idk? Everything is good and thanks for offering to help out.

Gene