GSteg

iTrader: (15)

You know..the other day when I was under my car to check for that loosness, I found that the guy who did my alignment didn't tighten my passenger side tie-rod nut! I tighted it up and it seem to be better, but there is still play. Right now, I'm pointing fingers to the wheel bearing or the inner tie rod (outter tie rod is fine) for the steering rack. The I heard the wheel bearing is a pain in the butt to install though.

briancl83

hey guys. i have a 98 gs 400 and my ball joints just went out on me. i have 109k on my vehicle. it was pretty scary. just the day before i came back from LA driving on highway 5 at about 90 mph. luckily i was driving down my mom's street with my wife at 30 mph when it happened. now my car is in the body shop with a shifted hood and a bent out fender. you know your ball joints are bad when you start hearing clicking noises when you break or turn. also when you drive and make a turn and your wheel doesnt come back. that means your ball joints are about to go out in the next 5 min. "JUST GET THEM FIXED"
Brian

Hectorm

Good teaching
I have to replace the same on my GS 400 (125k) (Lower ball joints)
Where did you bought them & how much?
Where is the best store to buy Lexus parts?

I'm already new in this matters...
Thanks

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

buy it at sewell lexus (lexus-parts.com)

Use coupon code CL911M to receive 10% discount. Should end up around $120 shipped

http://lexus-parts.com/partdetail.as...CategoryID=113

G4inRich

"CHANGE THEM A S A P ! ! ! My 99'GS400 just collapsed on me doing 25mph. Its not pretty. Ended up getting front wheel alignment, tie rods new ball joints, wheel speed sensor, ABS cable and a wheel hub. All this at 112,000 miles on it. Everything str8 though. Just happened on last thursday and back rollin, just rollin with $1600 less Richmond, Va roads are a b***h!

UDel

This sucks hearing about all these lower ball joint failures. Was there any warning before they were giving out like noises or the way the car drove. I am glad you were going slow when it happend, if you were going faster you could have gotten in a accident. I think you and other people having lower ball joint problems should notify Lexus corporate what happend, ask what they are doing about it, and why nothing has been done so far, and tell them it is totally unacceptable for this to be happening in our cars and not doing anything about it. These lower ball joints should not be going out on our cars this soon, especially something that has the potential to cause a serious accident and a bunch of suspension damage. Toyota has problems in this area as they just had a recall on the Sequoia with the lower ball joints. Lexus needs to redesign these lower ball joints so they are stronger and last the life of the car and replace the defective parts they have on the car.

e-man

I agree that Lexus should do something, but let's face it, they probably won't, particularly because these cars are 7-9 years old with 75k-125k miles. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I can't speak for the 01+ GS's because I've heard they have redesigned ball joints, but if you're driving a 98-00 GS with 75k+ miles, just change them. Just change them. The parts cost around $125 and you can have a local shop install them for probably around $100 (or pay Lexus a bit more to do it). I changed them on my 98 GS4 at 60k and on my 99 GS4 at 80k. It's really a no brainer.

ReLexin

Just replaced mine at 102K, the steering started to get loose and i was not going to put anymore money into this thing maintance wise than i have to rather spend it on the performance parts or a new set of wheels.

Kbueno

Just got back from tire shop...new lower ball joints, tie-rod bushings, and Bridgestone RE960s. Have 114k miles. Mechanic said original balljoints were OK, meaning not completely worn. I believe that due to the mostly freeway miles driven, the balljoints weren't as worn as others.

Now let's hope my alignment issues improve now!

ElitistK

iTrader: (4)

Is it recommended to get the lower ball joints, control arm bushing, steering brushing, and outer tie-rods all replaced at once?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

It's recommended to do it all at once so that way, you wont have to do alignment multiple times. After you add all those to your car, drive for a day or so to let everything settle in and then take your car out to get an alignment.

eman88

iTrader: (2)

I did mine at 82k....just so I wouldn't have worry about it....

400 Degrez

Man lexus needs to do something about thisasap!

DoingDamag

Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but 'um ... Anyone know someone in the Atlanta area that can do these? Dealer quoted $412.00. Please contact me doingdamage@gmail.com.

johnbowes

Greetings,

Just returned from pick up one scared wife with a real sorry looking 98Lexus...she was driving down the road today and the driver's front wheel came off at a 90 degree angle...stuck in the wheel well sideways and did considerable body damage to the front fender. She is still really shook up from the experience...so I've been searching the net and found that Lexus has a recall (NHTSA Number 99V125000) which states, "Passenger Vehicles due to inadequate lubrication of the inside of the lower ball joints. Excessive wear can occur causing damage to the lower ball joints, separation of the lower ball joints from the steering knuckle arms could occur. Consequences: This condition could lead to a loss of control of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash." No ****! I've never dealt with a recall situation. My questions are: What are the chances of the dealership paying for the repair? Assuming the answer is yes, the only Lexus dealer is 90 miles away, will Lexus pay for the towing, or will they allow the local Toyota Dealership to do the work? Will they consider fixing the resulting body damage too, or just put on new steering parts, smile and hand me the key?

Thanks,
John B.
Topeka

Post Script: Tomorrow I'm going to take photos if anyone is interested...