Why would it be the UCA? I hope not, that means I have to buy a new one.

 

Having had both of my UCA's replaced last year, this will not make any kind of a clunking sound at all. Your steering will just feel really loose, or at least mine did. Most likely lower ball joint, strut bar cushion (check this first,,very common, or the tie rod ends. Am replacing my ends and strut bars next weekend when I am home as they are not making a sound but my steering just doesnt feel tight any more and everything else is done.

 

Worn UCAs make a clunking sound going over bumps. Look it up.

 

I doubt its the UCAs. If that was true, then yes, I would have some pretty loose steering.

My steering feel is great. I recently had the UCAs outfitted with the Daizen bushings, and I've got new lower ball joints and new struts.

I think its the strut bar cushion.. isn't this the same as the strut rod bushing? I'll also look into getting new tie rods and tie rod ends..

 

1st GEN: loose bushings on UCAs can cause clunking without necessarily a loose steering feel--did on mine and felt just like a loose lower ball joint.

 

Just curious, about this soft clunking sound going over speed bumps, and bumps in general. My car, a 99 LS, has been seen by my Lexus Dealer, and nothing seems to be amiss. No idea, and the car drives fine. Suspension? Shocks? Bearings? Anyone know what could be causing this?

Thank you,
David

 

...welcome to CL (late:P)

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its most likely the strut bar bushings.

 

If it is strut bar bushings, is this something that needs to be addressed now? Is it critical? Or no biggie?

 

it will keep the alignment from being perfect.

it is a relatively cheap fix, the bushings themselves are around $70-80/pair from l-tunedparts and labor is a couple hundred at most.

 

Pure nailed it. It doesn't 100% have to be those bushings, and it can be a combination of items needing replacement. The strut bushings are just a good place to start, and often result in an immediate fix.

As for the immediacy of the fix. It is suspension. It isn't broken per se. It is just worn out. It would be like someone needing a hip replacement. He can keep going on in his condition without it, but it will just get worse .. and think of the pain your car is feeling

No, really, as Pure mentioned it is a cheap fix *relatively* to many other Lexus or general car repairs. Parts are very cheap, the labor is considerably more, as it general is.

I wouldn't walk right in and just say my strut bushings are bad, replace them.. Get the shop to take a look and diagnose your problem first. Then, as is the case many times, as you experienced, all is fine. (Suspension problems and in particular 'clunking noises' are a pain to pinpoint). What I mean by this, is take it to a suspension shop other than lexus.. Let them know of the problem, and that Lexus couldn't find anything wrong with it.

If you still can't get a confirmation,.. then you can start replacing parts in trial and error.. Starting with things like the Strut bushings.

These bushing DO need to be replaced.. as most of the bushings in your suspension.

Most any LS 400 with over 120-150k on it is in need of most any wear and tear suspension part being replaced. Just the nature of the beast.. (this goes double for a cars age).

 

Trut bar bushings for sure.
Get the whole strut bar, left and right, $125 from dealer each and another $100 to put them in at any shop.
They will improve the ride a lot. Trust me the old bushings will look fine, but they are bad.
Ball joints are also a place to check, but strut bars will take care of 90% of the time.

To make sure, while going 5 mph, tap the brakes a bit and see if that clanking noise is there. I am sure it is, and thats our strut bar being bad my friend.

 

Now, you guys are talking about different parts, right? I think I have the lower strut cushions (about 35 a piece) and have the same noise, do I also need the strut bar with the bushings built in?

I also think this noise is common for ball joints, I'm trying to get my parts together before I address this as well.

 

I'm sure these guys have nailed it - but you didn't really indicate where the sound was coming from.

On my 99 LS I have a bit of a supressed clunk/rattle that occurs while going over curbs and rail road tracks.

The dealer tells me it's the U-joints on the steering column... one or possibly both of them. I think they said it'd be in the neighborhood of $700 if both needed replacement - needless to say I'm living with the sound.

I thought I'd mention it since no one posted this yet.

 

theres 2 ways to solve the problem, you can either buy JUST the bushings (~35ish each) and have them installed in the original strut bar OR you can buy the whole bar brand new with bushing already installed. (~100ish/each?)

 

What's another name for the strut bar? I remember reading about them a while ago, but I forgot.