Hey guys, I have a weird problem on a new to me GX470. There is a rhythmic thumping noise coming from what I think is in the front. Its weird, because I can feel it in the floorboards, but not the steering wheel or the brakes. It only increases with speed and sounds like it happens once per wheel revolution. It goes away when I turn right, gets louder when I turn left. I went ahead and replaced the front right wheel bearing even though service records show it was done by lexus about 10k ago by the previous owner. Still the exact same sound. The only two things I can think of are: that front right side has about a 1 inch sag from the suspension, I have an oem shock/spring coming in, maybe that will fix it? When I manually try to turn the wheels I dont hear anything (with old and new bearings). Could it maybe be the driveshaft? One time i was turning the wheels to see if they make noise and I heard a thunk from the driveshaft in the front, but that wouldnt explain why it goes away when I turn right? Maybe its the rear right bearing? But that would be weird because it sounds like its coming from the front. Edit: rotated tires, didnt change the noise either. Lugs are torqued to spec all around.

 

I fixed the issue today - turned out to be the driver side bearing even though I had no reason to suspect it and the car quieted when turning right - ill repost my findings from my fb post:

Alright guys, public service announcement for all the car owners out there. I recently bought a used car to replace my current one. The car had meticulous service records at lexus its entire life.The only thing wrong with it was a thumping sound while driving. I narrowed it down to the front wheel bearings. First I decided to replace the passenger side, even though the service records said BOTH SIDES were done recently with brakes. When I took it apart, imagine my surprise when it was NEVER TOUCHED and the brakes were down to almost nothing and the slide pins were seized. seized pins 10k miles after service? yeah ok. Cost of the job to previous owner? AT LEAST $2000 at Lexus of Cherry Hill. The sound was still there, but thats ok, because I had extra parts to fix the other side. So, next is the driver side. Now, my car has 145k miles on it. The service record says it was replaced at Lexus of Atlantic City at 143k miles. So its impossible that it can be the culprit, right? hahahha wrong. Image to my surprise when i opened up the hub and found it stuffed full of grease (yes they actually opened it). But wheel bearings dont fail in 2k miles, especially new ones from the dealer, i dont care how ****ed up your alignment and camber are. I took off the hub and guess what? The bearing was some generic chinese knockoff that a LEXUS DEALER installed. But stop, it gets better. Now I finally understand what happened. Dealer 1 (Lexus of Cherry Hill) never replaced or even touched one side and replaced the bearing in the other side with chinese crap, and never did the brakes, then charged the owner for the full labor and parts (over $2000). Of course that **** failed after 10k miles, so what did dealer #2 (Lexus of Atlantic City) do? They opened up the hub and packed it full of grease and charged the owner $1500 for a hub, bearing, and a brake job, NONE OF WHICH THEY DID. Its a small wonder the owner sold his car immediately after. I hope to god they actually did the timing belt and didnt lie about it. Anyway, point of the story - no matter how "prestigious" a dealer might seem, they are there to make money from those who dont know what they know. Sure, there are honest repair shops out there, but the majority, including marquee dealers, will **** you over. Be careful with your money friends.

 

A lot of people are naive when it comes to car repair, especially younger women. I have literally witnessed repair places like CarX and the like jack up repair bills and charge for un-needed parts/services especially with the L symbol on the grille. But they come in and drop their keys off on the counter and walk away. Luckily, I am not one of those people. Knowledge is power. My GX has 225k miles and runs like new BECAUSE I do my own work and only take it to a “trusted” repair shop for stuff I dont have the equipment for.

 

It's sad that a dealer will stoop to this. Like RushNatU says - unscrupulous service shops will take advantage of the uninformed. Unbelievable that two would do it.

Don't be a victim. Learn how your car works.

Chip H.

 

I (my wife) bought a new to us GX 460 last month and it was serviced by Atlantic City Lexus it's whole life. Now that I have it, I see the whole frame is rusted out. They never informed the owners of this? Not on any of the records from MyLexus until the end...