Both of my UCA's have been replaced in the last 6 years or so. They're still pretty tough to get at so it's possible to be priced out of those too.

 

Yeah i was lucky in 2020, they were able to get 2 out of Chicago hub for my 99' to Lexus of Ann Arbor in MI for $177 a piece using my work discount. I also got front lower balljoints at the time for $110 a piece. Was going to do OEM front UCAs but they were $550 a piece and I had some Moog replacements which I eventually installed, even though they push castor by +2 degrees. I don't notice a big difference in driving after adding those.

 

Ahh I see the problem now.



Bushings pressed into the knuckle. If you replace all of the control arms you're still missing a bunch of bushes.

I see why you would just replace the entire knuckle instead of just re-pressing those bushes.

$300 for the knuckle, $120 per arm to re-bush the whole rear suspension. $1300 just in parts to rebush the rear suspension. More if you want to do the upper control arms. Yikes.

I can be certain about a click I hear coming from the drivers side lower control arm on the inside where it mounts to the subframe - but everything else is circumstantial. At best I'm going to replace the LCA's and hope it fixes the problem. At best I'll get the clicking\groaning, but if not I guess I'm just going to have to tolerate how the car rides in the rear end because to replace the rest of the rear end is a huge undertaking when there isn't anything explicitly "broken".

Onward.

 

There's been alot of talk about those bushings over the years. Actually I think the first thread I read 13 years ago was about those. Both my other LS400 these were bad but I never changed them in either one. They seem to be good in my newer 93, but we'll have to see. I'm surprised all the mechanics you had look at it never said anything about them, especially the dealer.
I'm very interested what more ya find with your "Steelman wha-cha-ma-callit". It's a good tool to have if ya have use for it. I hope the LCAs work good for you. Try not to just throw parts at it cuz it'll get expensive very fast. Good luck.
If anything, this is good reading.

 

I'm surprised that the dealer doesn't have access to the NVA function on their scan tool. The attachment is for the old hand-held but I would think even the current tool has this function.

 

None of the people I brought it too were of much help at all honestly. I don't really know what methods or tools these people used to investigate. Nobody said anything about any part which had a problem in the rear end, I think it was beyond the scope of many people involved. I can't find that "wizard" around me, even though the most recent shop to look at my car I had really high hopes for. Fun fact - every single problem in my car I've had to diagnose myself. Dealerships and multiple independents including Lexus specialists have been terrible at telling me straightforward things have deteriorated, even stuff that is actively making loud clunking noises like my lower ball joints.

I'm going to call in on Monday about the LCA's and get some quotes for them to install them. I guess we'll see what's what and whether it's worth it. Even with medium confidence, it's still a gamble if they will solve my issue.

On the plus side, I figured out where my intermittent brake squeak was coming from. I thought it was the fronts, turns out it's the drivers side rear. Probably just needs the slide pins lubed up or something. I haven't touched the rear brakes since buying the car >4 years ago, there's still plenty of material left.

 

I remember going on a 2-3 day course when this scan tool came out, we all returned to the dealer where we worked with this tool. was around the mid 90's and it looked like a brick cell phone then and still does.

 

It's funny you mention brakes cuz I read earlier you heard a "sandpaper" scratching sound. I had a similar sound on my 94 after using the E-brake once. It turned out being a rusted spring on my Emergency brake shoes on the passenger side. I think I paid about $20 for the new hardware. After changing shoes and hardware I didn't hear the scratching anymore. I never used the E-brake after that either, never really needed to, plus, it was fixed so I didn't want it to break again.
I'm not saying that's your sound but if you ever lube the slide pins on your rear calipers you should pull the rotor and inspect the E-brake hardware.

 

The sandpaper scratching sound is on the passenger side and is completely different. I can hear my brakes have been squeaky for a while, with the windows open, but I had no clue which corner it was coming form. Hadn't really looked into it. But with my diagnosis I could explicitly tell the brake squeak. It's just a random sidebar unrelated to the rest of the investigation.

That being said - that's quite interesting. It doesn't necessarily have to be the pad itself, it could be the parking brake. Which I do use from time to time if I park on a very steep hill. Thanks for the tip!

 

Update: There was no hardware problem. This entire thread is wrong.

It was the ****ing pre-load on the rear suspension.

Every single mechanic, my friendly shop down the street and two specialist Lexus\Toyota shops with incredible reviews and professional techs with hundreds of customers who inspected the car even Lexus dealership themselves were wrong and missed this. I even specifically asked about pre-load and they all said no it doesn't effect the car. Every single person said the suspension is fine. Every single person was fully and absolutely and unequivocally wrong.

So today I finally said **** it and repeated the process that I did in this thread at the suggestion of KYB:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...go-sticks.html

Pulled the rear seats. Got to the shock mounts. Loosened the nut w\ car on ground. Bounced it. Tightened it back up to spec. And guess what? The car rides beautifully now, the glide and grace is actually fully and completely back. There was no hardware problem. The hardware was installed incorrectly by the ****s at the shop who didn't listen to the explicit instructions I gave them (from the KYB rep in the thread linked above). Oh and bonus points - these guys who originally installed these shocks also ****ed my rear passenger seat. They didn't correctly clip it back in. That's now fixed as well.

Once I drove it, I could tell within the first 100 feet it had worked.

We can conclude this saga. I'm sorry for the language guys but god ****ing damn it I'm pissed. Thanks for listening to my ted talk. Cheers.

 

Nice, I bet that feels good to finally solve. Language be damned, people can't seem to follow instructions anymore, even the so called "ASE Certified Mechanics"

The repair manual from Lexus is very specific on this being the last step of shock replacement before driving the vehicle. I think its to avoid the bottom bushing sleeve from binding instead of moving around like it should.

 

Glad to hear that you figured it out (preload the rear suspension) and it feels much better.
The only thing I remember in the manual talking about preload the suspension is in the rear, I don't recall it saying anything for the front but everyone's opinion here is to preload the front also.
Forget about the language, we all get pissed when something like this happens. All the time that was wasted and it turned out to be what you told everyone at the beginning.
I had the same problem with my seat cuz the idiots who installed the rear shocks. (previous owner's mechanic) They never clipped the center of the top of the rear seat so it was sorta bent in a curve. I never would have noticed but the top of the seat started to rip at one of the seams. That's why I don't like people working on my vehicles. Just another thing I need to redo because of the previous owner, eventually.

 

For stuff like suspension, frankly, I may educate myself a lot. But wrenching on the car myself? I don't have a lift, the tools, the space (single car garage with a sloped driveway)... but most importantly: nor the desire if I'm honest. But if that's my stance, I suppose I also have to take the 3rd party work from another individual with some grace and understanding. It just sucks when I explicitly explain for something to be done and it's not done.

 

told you !

i do appreciate you coming around again and updating us. it helps others in the future.

 

Oh my bad I didn't realize you had jumped in with this! I was in the sea of doubt....

Now you've got me worried about the bushes and other suspension components since I've had so many things replaced... is everything supposed to be torqued with the car on the ground? Like all of it? All of the multi-link in the rear, all of the stuff up front?