I recently got a set of Tein HA's for the GS and would like to freshen up the front suspension while I'm getting the coilovers put on.

LEX4LIFE's thread on replacing the lower ball joints was very informative, however I am still unsure what parts exactly I need. My car has almost 160k on it and the front end feels like mashed potatos at high speed and agressive cornering.

After reading the thread I am thinking:

1) outter tie rods
2) inner tie rods (is that overkill)
3) front lower ball joints (not sure if this is part of the outter tie rod or a seperate part all together)

If anyone could give me some input on what specificly I need to buy to make my suspension feel like new once again, that would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

thanks for the props

heres what you need

lower ball joints
right side
left side


castor arms

left side
right side

outer tie rod ends

left side
right side

lower control arms

left side'
right side this is one of the most important next to the ball joints with the miles you have



once finished a good good alignment

next grab a beer (preff a red stripe , ya mon)

and smile ear to ear as you now will have that new car feeling

 

Sounds like Mad money, where can I get these parts cheep, don't care if they aren't oem?

 

www.lexus-parts.com hand down!! (use cl discount code)
I would stick with OEM especially the ball joins since its revised.
I have just done all this 2 weeks ago and loving it!!
difference is night &day.

 

why is it so crucial to do the caster arms and control arms, seems like those parts wouldn't wear out, unless they get bent right?

All these parts look like they'll cost me 500 bucks or so, any way to save money?

 

man, ed, now you add the castor arms as well?! damn my list is growing!

 

bending is not the problem on these , its the rubber bushing within them that get torn and allow for alot of unwanted movement within the arm.. since we dont have the ability to set or correct castor this arm needs to be right , seeing how critical or negagtive camber is , every bit we can extract is also needed . imagine this driving down the road , you lane change , all of a sudden your camber and castor setting gets out of spec , you starting the dredded shimmy/vibration , car starts to pull alittle left or right , then you come to a stop light , you drive off accel back up to 60 and everything seems fine , you are like , this car is cursed , no its the bushings allowing movement throwing off the settings

 

So of all you listed are there any parts I can get away with not replacing????

 

dude, that's way overkill man. that's basically changing all of the suspension components. just make sure your struts aren't worn out, check ball joints for wear (replace if necessary), get proper alignment (and i mean from an alignment shop, not a tire store), proper tire balance and air pressure, and torque your lug nuts to manufacture specs in a star pattern. i've had no problems, no vibration issues and my car is 110000 miles riding on everything original except for new struts i recently put in 3 months ago. i would pay special attention to balancing and air pressure along with proper torque for the lug nuts. imho, changing everything is just way overkill and ridiculous. of course it will feel new again, cuz it's basically all new suspension components, but it just seems ridiculous to me to waste money like that. but again, every owner has his own preference and can do what they want to do since it's their own car.

 

wrong info
balljoint wear rather quickly , tie rod outer do as well and it has been proven that the bushings on the lower control arms break apart from the inside , all these things wear at a faster pace with a lowered car and depends on how aggressive you drive

control arms have rubber bushings , they wear down , they get soft and mushy and distort the camber setting while in motion.. they are rubber so they will not last forever and will break down its effectiveness starting from around 60k

 

lexforlife,

i understand where you are coming from with the bushings, but is it really necessary to change the whole control arm assembly just because the bushings are worn? most cars can have the bushings for the control arms changed instead of replacing the whole thing. plus, you can get higher quality Urethane bushings if you want to go the aftermarket route.

i agree with you on the balljoints...if they are worn, they should be replaced.

in terms of tie rods, the most common type of wear come from the inner tie rods. those usually cause loose steering. the outer tie rods do wear, but they are not as common as the inner tie rods.

did you try jacking up the car and feeling for play at 12 and 6 o'clock in the tire to see if there are any loose wheel bearings (an adjustment issue) and worn ball joints? also any play in the tire from the 9 and 3 o'clock position would mean worn tie rod ends. only then would you want to change the ball joints and tie rods.

again, these are my opinions and from what i have experienced with cars throughout my life. lexforlife got the diagnostic right tho...he pinpointed exactly where the problems could be coming from. i'm just trying to inform others that there are more economic ways to fix the problem instead of changing the whole suspension components.

 

thanks bro

have i tried jacking up , man i know these cars inside and out , i do all maint reoair mods etc etc

the lower control arm bushings are not sold sep so the entire arm must be bought for now until daizen brings them out

as far as tie rods its actually the reverse its the outers that go first , you should have seen mine when i changed them , the outers absorb the inital shock first

also the 12 and 6oclock test does not really work on these cars , i tried that first and everything felt tight , when i removed the balljoint on drivers side the joint was completely destroyed , the joint actually popped out of its socket same with tie rod end


i will be doing my lower arms on thursday , just bought them today

 

lexforlife,

man, that sucks that the bushings aren't sold separate. if i recall, the first gen LS400's had replaceable bushings. i wonder why lexus decided to stop doing that. and i guess it's also odd that the outer tie rods would wear out sooner than the inner, given that most cars have the inner ones wear out first. but again, like you said, it could have been contributed by larger rims and also driver style. for me, i'm still riding on stock 17's.

i guess i'm pretty lucky everything on my car is still tight. but anyhows, let us all know how everything turns out after you put in your new lower arms.

 

here is an LS400 with daizen bushings. hopefully we can have a kit like this for our cars.

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/suspe...daizenkit.html

 

Went to Lindsay Lexus and picked up Outer Tie Rods (should i have gotten inner too???) and Lower Ball Joints -- For now I think that's all I am going to do. I asked about Caster Arms and Lower Control Arms. The Parts associate said that caster arm was too general a term and he couldn' t help me with that. The lower control arm is two peices aparently, do I need both, or just one peice. Part numbers would be great too if you all had them. Thanks