Zaks

I'm going to be doing a full refresh on my newly acquired 2000 LS and would really like to get the whole list of "while I'm in there". Having a thorough list/thread would be great as I'd like to order asap and don't have much time in my day to research for hours. I'd greatly appreciate any help on this, thanks.

Nalod

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timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

please start at the FAQ:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...questions.html

front strut rod bushings are a must, but the rest all depends on their current condition.
i always do the front lower ball joints just as a precaution on higher mileage models (100k or higher), then you might as well check the rest of the ball joints too.

did the car see a lot of snow over it's lifetime? bad roads? off road? all are factors in your inspection.

sdls

+1 on the strut rod bushings.. extremely important

400fanboy

Strut bars (clunk under breaking)
Front lower Ball Joints (general vaugeness\clunk at speed)
engine and transmission mounts (roughness while driving, vibration at idle)
Front\rear shocks (clunk if the mounts are shot, general ride quality improvements)
Front UCA (handling)
Swaybar bushings (rusty door hinge sound), links

___ (below is much less common)__

Inner\outer tierods
Rear Upper Control arm
Rear Lower Control arm
Rear Trailing arm
Rear Toe arm Rear
carrier bushing
Rack bushings
Wheel bearings

List is sorted in a general order of "most common\biggest improvement", in my limited opinion.

This also isn't everything. But it's a good chunk.

Zaks

I'm having trouble finding the part number (if it's even available separately) for the lower control arm bushings. I really hope I don't have to buy the whole arm!

deanshark

I think you'd have to get the whole arm if you wanted OEM but from what I've heard the poly bushings are decent for only the rear. Not sure which you're looking for but here's all the poly from Armstrong; https://www.armstrongdistributors.com/collections/ls400
2 years since you started this thread you must have alot done, Did you make your own list of suspension parts needed?

400fanboy

I thought poly bushings were a no-go if you want to retain the OEM ride quality\glide of the car.

Also - there may be a way to source the bushings and press them in, but I'm not sure where to find P#'s of the correct bushes or ball joints for these things. Or if those are even up to OEM spec despite fitting correctly.

deanshark

Correct. But I've read here over the years that some have used the poly in the rear. Still not as good as OEM, but not as bad as if poly is used in the front. I have no first hand experience with them so I can't judge.

spuds

Agreed.They are rock hard but also very durable and unaffected by grease and oil.

400fanboy

My car just turned 23 years old and the only bushings I've actually needed to replace were the strut rods (which are the weakest part of the suspension by far). I'd say the OEM rubber holds up pretty good with my sample size of one; though obviously I'm sure we've seen plenty of bushes fail from other people. My upper control arm bushes front and rear look totally healthy, all my problems over the years have come from ball joints. Or replacement shocks that didn't have the appropriate pre-load set on them when they were installed lol.

But yeah I'd never put poly bushes on this car unless there was literally no other option, or, if I were building the car to be a show car or VIP or drift car or something crazy.

spuds

My previous owner was a Lexus service manager building his 'forever car' and used poly on the strut bushings for longevity,the trade off worked for what he wanted.The rest he did was Lexus/OE all they way.Its probably safe to say its lost some dampening,but functions well enough I reckon,not something I would change back at this point unless I was ridiculously OCD.Given my druthers I would have gone OEM but in my circumstances its OK.I have more important life issues at this point than to change them out.

mikaelse

same same with my 1995 with 120 kmiles now. Only strut rod bushings exchanged and that was 5 years ago. Did change the lower ***** joint for new OEM for safety reasons but the 20 year old ones was was still tight and rubber stil good... No problems since. Did though need a not small wheel ailgnment (DIY) because rear toe in was 3 times max . Wear on rear tires fast.

fondu

I have Polyurethane in the rear knuckle bushings, both 583 and 505. Maybe I will replace the spherical bearing original for the 583 later down the line as they seem to be high quality and only one side was bad after almost 27 years... but good luck finding the "nsk" branded original without having to buy the whole knuckle.

There does seem to be some ebay equivalents but who knows where they are sourced from..

Zaks

Yea I actually did springs, struts and endlinks as well as upper control arms. A random blown strut up front happened recently so now I’m going to address the strut bar bushings and lower ball joints while replacing that strut. I have 4 cars so only put about 9k miles on the LS last couple years. I have a lot of engine maint planned too (valve covers, spark plugs, etc along with pwr steering pump that’s leaking).