damon

94 LS observations:


I replaced my Struts at 143, 000 or so miles. The main reason I did so was because of this awful noise you are describing. It raised my *** end a bit and improved the ride + handling but none of my OEM struts had failed. They were worn but none had all out failed.

I still had the damn clunking noise over speed bumbs & have now concluded that what you are hearing are worn to severed motor monts ( Insulators in Lexus parts parlance ) , in my case severed. Each mount upon de-installation fell apart into 2 sections of no longer solid rubber.

I know that my LS could use some lower ball joints ( Jason Pham at JP Importz diagnosed this as well as bad motor mounts) but when I replaced the motor mounts at 153,000 or so miles it made a world of difference. I did the tranny mount at the same time and had done the front upper strut mounts at 143,000 to be accurate.

I think that in my case I can now isolate what worn lower ball joints sound like. Anykind of washboard bad surface will allow you to hear a dull / hollow thud as the suspension does it job. Not that brand new tight Lexus suspension sound and feel of perfect solidity , but it is only momentarily annoying.

The creeking moaning you hear over severe bumps (speed bumbs is the acid test) is more than likely motor mounts. Jason informed me that most of these give up the ghost at arounfd 85,000 miles.

damon

Jason actually did more than diagnose, whlie on the lift he physically moved the front tires up and down to allow me to see and hear the play that the worn ball joints allowed.