STONER

Thanks GUNRU-GS4. I think that does it. Is it me or are the torque specs different for the same bolts on the rear bar. It looks like the bolt attaching the sway bar link is tightened to 38 ft-lbs on one side and 22 ft-lbs on the other. Any ideas. I'm only working on the front so not a big deal. Just wondering.

GUNRU-GS4

I noticed the exact same thing. Thats is weird. I have now idea why.

chuckb

this is from my oem svc manual....
huge pic

STONER

Do I need to swap out the sway bar link with the suspension dangling or can I drive my car up on ramps and do it?

tuan92129

Umm ,if you have center caps on your wheels, and they are loose, they might make a clunking noise. i was looking on the us lexus owners club website, and someone there had a similar problem. All i did was wrap them in rubber (very cheap, i hope they dont' fall out). It is finally quiet!

chuckb

centercaps click and creak, not clunk.

e-diddy

I had the clunking noise comming from the front passenger side of my GS3 when ever I drove over a bump at slow speeds. I took the car to my mechanic and he put it up on the lift for me. Everything seemed fine as far as he could see. He simply checked all the bolts and nuts from the Daizen sway bars and Tein CS suspension and there was a bolt that was a bit loose. Bolt was tighten and problem was solved.

STONER

Well, I got the correct part today (there was a mix up) Having never done this before I didn't know that the car needs to be lifted with a jack NOT RAMPS to swap out the sway bar link. Once I figured this out the rest of the removal was easy. Just as shown in the image chuckb provided. I still have to tighten everything up in the morning and take her for a test drive, but I'll report back to share the results. Hopefully no more clunk clunk.

STONER

I installed the right side sway bar link on Friday night and finished up on Saturday morning. Then I drove about 450 miles to West Virginia and back for a wedding. The ride up was really great. The GS is kind of a pig through the twisties but the V8 pulls like mad in the straights. Problem is this; I still have a bit of clunking in the front end. It is the same noise as before but it seems less frequent (or maybe I'm convincing myself of this). The replacement was a bit of a pain, so I'm debating whether or not to do the other side myself or not. The dealership up the street quoted me less than a hundred bucks to swap it out.

STONER

Although it seems like I'm talking to myself here I'll give an update. I installed the left side tonight. Much easier to access this part by removing the wheel rather than go from underneath. This one only took about an hour. Short test drive shows a great improvement, but there is one bump in my street that seems to get me every time. Somethinkg is definitely loose down there, I just can't seem to figure out what it is. The fact that the clunking seems to have diminished leads me to believe that I'm on the right track, but I can't imagine everything failing at once. Also, for those who have any experience with the sway bar link, which bolts do I use the loctite on? I assume it's the 2 12mm that are torqued to 41 lb-ft

chuckb

maybe you have a worn out strut mount. did you check all the top and bottom shock bolts?

STONER

Can those (strut mounts) be visually inspected for failure? and besides the 3 mounting bolts and the shock bolt under the hood, what am I checking?
thanks

STONER

I took the car to Brad at Lindsay Lexus and his cousin found the problem. Apparently there are two bolts that hold the subframe assembly (the thing that the sway bar link bolts into) to the frame. There was 1/4 of play in those bolts. Tightened them up and no more noise.

chuckb

glad to hear you got it straightened out.