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I never could convince my EX-Son-In-Law that expensive was not necessarily equated to GOOD. Daughter finally realized what a looser he was and divorced him. He is dead broke and I am a millionaire. Just saying.
I have a friend who advised me one day that the car doesn’t require care as much as I look at it. He was so firm in his opinion and would always boast about how much he could get in savings. He didn’t bother buying OEM at all and would rather repair the car so it just drives. He used to like install cheap junk ball joints in his Toyota Mark 2. When he got in the hospital with his first body injury as the wheel just disassembled during interstate driving, he told me he still doesn’t care about quality in the car.
Resume: if you don’t get the philosophy of Lexus, just don’t buy it or at least don’t recommend a junk product for these cars. Please! Respectfully saying, didn’t mean to teach you what is good or bad. Just shared my conclusion.
I have owned over 150 cars over the years from Model Ts to Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Lincolns and Lexus. I am 82 year sold, I currently own 16 cars and the Lexus s the best even compared to a Jaguar 1970 XKE, and a 1956 Continental. I doubt that you will have much you could teach me. You dont have to buy OEM. Some of the OEMs stuff is NOT as good as more modern parts and some actually have built in deficiencies. I have built my own parts on occasion.
I have owned over 150 cars over the years from Model Ts to Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Lincolns and Lexus. I am 82 year sold, I currently own 16 cars and the Lexus s the best even compared to a Jaguar 1970 XKE, and a 1956 Continental. I doubt that you will have much you could teach me. You dont have to buy OEM. Some of the OEMs stuff is NOT as good as more modern parts and some actually have built in deficiencies. I have built my own parts on occasion.
I am trying to find where I can agree with you but it is very very hard really. We initially spoke about Febest which I absolutely consider a junk product brand for cars like LS430, Toyota’s and definitely German cars. These are the parts that you install when you don’t care about quality. Lexus is about quality. We see these cars are capable of maintaining their luxurious ride and properties even after 300000 miles. This is a true miracle. And I may assure you this is possible due to incredible talent of Japanese engineers to produce/recommend/ and trust only a small amount of auto part producers who have a proven record of reliability and performance.
Surely Febest is always a cheap and unreliable substitute part which can’t be put at the same level as even other aftermarket parts that are available.
I never said aftermarket is bad. In my car, I have Powerstop Brakes, Rotors, Tanabe Springs, KYB shocks, Emanence audio, Aftermarket UCA. But I also trusted only OEm when is comes to engine mounts, transmission mounts, LCA bushings, injectors, throttle body parts, gaskets, coolant sensor, O2 sensors, etc.
I can assure you that any Toyota originated car which will have mostly Febest suspension in it and other Febest parts will drive like crap and will no longer be associated with Toyota reliability, as one crappy part causes other parts to fail quicker.
I am trying to find where I can agree with you but it is very very hard really. We initially spoke about Febest which I absolutely consider a junk product brand for cars like LS430, Toyota’s and definitely German cars. These are the parts that you install when you don’t care about quality. Lexus is about quality. We see these cars are capable of maintaining their luxurious ride and properties even after 300000 miles. This is a true miracle. And I may assure you this is possible due to incredible talent of Japanese engineers to produce/recommend/ and trust only a small amount of auto part producers who have a proven record of reliability and performance.
Surely Febest is always a cheap and unreliable substitute part which can’t be put at the same level as even other aftermarket parts that are available.
I never said aftermarket is bad. In my car, I have Powerstop Brakes, Rotors, Tanabe Springs, KYB shocks, Emanence audio, Aftermarket UCA. But I also trusted only OEm when is comes to engine mounts, transmission mounts, LCA bushings, injectors, throttle body parts, gaskets, coolant sensor, O2 sensors, etc.
I can assure you that any Toyota originated car which will have mostly Febest suspension in it and other Febest parts will drive like crap and will no longer be associated with Toyota reliability, as one crappy part causes other parts to fail quicker.
Oem parts are **** sometimes look at jaguar as a example, non oem parts are sometimes better and thats a fact man. Agree on the febest though bought motor mounts for the ls430 to make poly motor mounts and drilled into them out came green antifreeze.
I never could convince my EX-Son-In-Law that expensive was not necessarily equated to GOOD. Daughter finally realized what a looser he was and divorced him. He is dead broke and I am a millionaire. Just saying.
Originally Posted by jimisbell
I have owned over 150 cars over the years from Model Ts to Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Lincolns and Lexus. I am 82 year sold, I currently own 16cars and the Lexus s the best even compared to a Jaguar 1970 XKE, and a 1956 Continental. I doubt that you will have much you could teach me. You dont have to buy OEM. Some of the OEMs stuff is NOT as good as more modern parts and some actually have built in deficiencies. I have built my own parts on occasion.
Bold added ^. Wow... we all are so not worthy of your presence in this thread oh wise millionaire master mechanic roflmao
+1 vote for Febest being not a good brand to use (for any car). Do not take my word for it, just do a search on internet.
For the LCAs there are two bushings. One is replaceable (the one near the front of the car), one is not. The bushings are $75 dollars each. They are pretty simple. The bushing is inside a small bracket that sits on a shaft at the front of the LCA. You can easily remove the bracket but you will probably have to hydraulically press the bushing out of and into the bracket. Most shops shouldn't charge that much for this.
I have the new bushings but haven't installed them yet. Many people say these bushings are the ones that usually fail and replacing them fixes the problem. I would try the $200-300 solution before the $1049 solution.
Just to continue my saga, I took my car to a indie shope and was told to replace both LCA's. I decided on a second opinion from Lexus of Fife. They checked out the wheel balance and found they were off by as much as 3 oz.
So much for Pep boys balance where it there went to Discount tire for a road force balance to Lexus for a regular balance and being told that all my 2004 bushings were good. (maybe they were or some were replaced, I do not know) The drive home was much better but then, My initial problem was intermittent, will it return?.
"For the LCAs there are two bushings. One is replaceable (the one near the front of the car), one is not. The bushings are $75 dollars each. They are pretty simple. The bushing is inside a small bracket that sits on a shaft at the front of the LCA. You can easily remove the bracket but you will probably have to hydraulically press the bushing out of and into the bracket. "
Sorry, this is the reverse of actual: bushing near front is part of the arm; rear bushing is replaceable; correct about the bracket and press required.
"For the LCAs there are two bushings. One is replaceable (the one near the front of the car), one is not. The bushings are $75 dollars each. They are pretty simple. The bushing is inside a small bracket that sits on a shaft at the front of the LCA. You can easily remove the bracket but you will probably have to hydraulically press the bushing out of and into the bracket. "
Sorry, this is the reverse of actual: bushing near front is part of the arm; rear bushing is replaceable; correct about the bracket and press required.
Just to avoid confusion, the smaller forward bushings which are mounted to the LCA itself are replaceable. Lexus does not sell them as a replacement so you have to resort to aftermarket but they are available. https://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/moog-k201684
"Just to avoid confusion, the smaller forward bushings which are mounted to the LCA itself are replaceable. Lexus does not sell them as a replacement so you have to resort to aftermarket but they are available. https://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/moog-k201684 "
Bradland:
THANKS! Didn't know that; learn something on this forum every day.
? Are they easy on and off, or require press, etc?
I haven't done it but I'm curious to hear from anyone who has. I'm not crazy about Moog products but I don't hate them either. It looks like they could be knocked out with a punch and pressed back in much easier then the larger rear LCA bushingwhich requires a shop press. The price isn't bad either...
Just to be sure I'm on the same page. I like pictures.
Were talking about replacing 10 (lexus part # 48655) and 11( lexus part # 48652) or at least replacing just the bushing as in number 10? And this can be done in my back yard? And the left and right are the same part #?
Is #9 (no lexus part #) replaceable but only comes with the whole assembly?
Depends how you buy the parts. 11 doesn't normally need to be replaced so if you buy 10 and re use your existing 11 the old bushings will have to be pressed out and the new 10's pressed in. This can not be done in your back yard unless your back yard happens to have a large hydraulic press. Lexus sells 10 and 11 individually but they might be willing to press the bushing into the bracket if you ask (pay) them nicely.
If you choose to buy the parts from an aftermarket supplier 10 and 11 are available already pressed in. If you buy this way the job CAN be done in you back yard with the proper jacks / jack stands and tools etc.....
Well I found two new OEM bushings from Lexus for $126 for both. Lexus wanted $179 ea. Lexus also wants $546 labor. Yikes. That just seems too high.
They agreed to use my parts as long as they are NEW Lexus OEM parts. Thats good. Got a call in to see if they reduce the labor. The indie shop quoted $240 for both. But would they do it correctly?
But if I ask an Indie shop, any special precautions you might suggest? One video says something about making sure the nipples point straight up and down. Strange.
Confirmed... The nipple should be in the down position.
The bushing is designed to dampen the suspension vibration/shock from transferring into the vehicle's chassis. The load on the bushing is not symmetrical. In particular, the LCA transfers the weight of the vehicle onto the upper half of the bushing. So to design a bushing to deliver symmetrical dampening performance, the bushing is constructed with "harder" materials on the upper half. Older OEM bushing design utilizes fluid, strategically embedded within the bushing, to provide the symmetrical dampening performance. The newer OEM design has an inner core that uses materials with varying densities strategically placed to do the same. The nipple let you know how to orient the bushing within the bracket to take advantage of the asymmetric design.
Cheaper after-market replacement bushings are likely to be just a solid piece of rubber (actually most non-LS430 OEM bushings are just a solid piece of rubber), and will not provide the same dampening characteristic.
Just to follow for those that might have this issue. Replacing the lower control arm bushing made a %99 improvement. I don't have the wheel wobble I once did and any vibration I might have I believe I can contribute to wheel balance whcih I plan to do this weekend.
Steering feels tighter as well.
Just a side note, Lexus messed up one of the OEM Lexus bushings I bought they and they had to replace it. I bought two OEM bushing, saved a little. They wanted $180 each and I paid $128 for two off ebay. They had to be in Lexus plastic authentic for Lexus to use them though.
Steering feels tighter, better and no more wheel shimmy.
08-01-18, 09:51 AM
