Hey guys, I live in NYC and a lot of the roads here are riddled with unevenness, pothole laden, dips here and there, the whole nine.

The car has squeaks, creaking, and just sounds like a school bus when you are in it.

I'm thinking the years of punishment have taken its toll. When I go to the suburbs or hit a nice asphalt patch on a highway this thing sounds as smooth as ever. Like new basically.

My older brother has an LS430 and I hate driving it because it sounds no where near the way mine sounds when hitting bumps, potholes etc. I feel horrible when I get back to my car.

I don't have the option to move to the suburbs just to hear my car sound beautifully but what could I do to help this? If it's not completely solved I will be alright. But any improvement would give me a peace of mind.

 

The LS is designed to be whisper quiet and ultra smooth when driving it as it is the top of the food chain in the Lexus lineup. With that said you'll need to put sound deadening in your car, that is why the LS is so quiet.

You'll have to pull out all the interior bits to do so and put it on your doors as well.

 

there are 2 different issues here that you should separate

1) squeaks and creaking. the 13years in your car has worn out some of the lubrication in the various suspension parts. If you are able to relubricate or replace those parts, that will get rid of those sounds. If you replaced your sway bushings with daizan bushings for example those will squeak unless you relubricate them.

2) Noise due to lack of sound insulation. This would be road noise at speed.
You can add some insulation here and there, such as putting the foam tubing down the rubber door gasket and other things

But before you start, you should think about how much you want to spend on this project versus how much longer you want to keep the car.

Even the simplest change starts adding up money wise.

 

Well I did replace my sway bushings with TM engineering Daizen's those need to be lubricated more often? Because I do hear those making noises again. I thought they just gave out on me already.


And there are no other alternatives for hearing the roof squeaks and other body flex?
I obviously know an LS would keep road noise out. But this is noise WITHIN the cabin.

 

find what is squeaking and lubricate or replace it, or pad it if it's a rattle.

 

+1

this should help some on the squeaking noise..

mine was making nose when i accelerate from stop.. after some lubricating oil on the chassis, some rubber part on the shock it went away..

 

You car will ride harsher on daizen bushings.

If you can isolate where the noise is coming from it could be just the road noise; tires, etc.

Either fatmat it up or change out some suspension parts.

 

Just turn up the music.

 

Get rid of the daizen bushings.

Purchase new caster arms and upper control arms. Make sure everything is OEM. That will get rid of all suspension squeaks and creaks. Also double check lower ball joints and replace them if necessary.

On the interior, pinpoint the source of the noise and put some lube on it.

 

LOL no guys, its noise inside the cabin, meaning the roof panels, door panels, rear deck ETC. I know the sunroof shade is just nothing that can be done about it.

I know that I have the sways giving me some noise from OUTSIDE of the cabin but thats the only outside noise there is ...

What I'm talking about is more than just the sway bushings.

I'd love to take the "Turning the music up" approach but it can't always be done when there is a passenger in the car.

Its pretty embarrassing when I take someone somewhere and it seems like I'm driving a rickety piece of crap

 

I do that too!

 

My 14 year old Chrysler Town & Country minivan is way quieter than my 10 year old GS430, despite having 50% more miles on it. I am finding myself enjoying driving the minivan more and more than the Lexus these days . The Lexus is full of creaks, pops, clunks, and squeaks. For every one I fix, it seems that two new ones emerge. Very disappointing from a $60K car, IMO.

 

I think the better question is, you live in Brooklyn, why do you have a car?

I lived in Williamsburg for awhile and didnt need a car. Just had an MTA card and my feet and I never had an issue getting around.

I wouldnt want to drive my GS around on the roads up there..


As far as fixing the issues... for little interior noises you can track down the culprits (maybe a rear deck lid or a loose piece of trim somewhere) and then fix each problem individually, whether it is by adding some double sided tape behind a trim panel or glueing something or what have you...

As for sounds coming from suspension components and under the car... you could start by maybe replacing some worn bushings, lubing up different suspension components, etc..

 

LOL MTA isn't always reliable when you have several places/ errands to do daily.

I use MTA to go to Manhattan and that's it.
Driving around in a car definitely beats waiting in the cold for 30 minutes or walking to the train station.

I'll look into swapping back to OEM bushings though.
Do Daizen upper control arm bushings also have a negative effect?

 

This is true, waitin on the L late at night comin back from manhattan sucked, and gettin caught out in the cold waitin for the J sucked too... kinda miss that place, but when it got cold holy **** did it suck.