RacerLex

Is the ball joint failure occurring on stock GS' or only those that have aftermarket springs, shocks, coilovers, etc?

UDel

Does not really matter, it is happening mainly on stock cars as well as some that have been modded.

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Ok, I just confirmed it lol. I pulled apart the right front side suspension and I have a broken balljoint. My car has 21K on the odometer right now lol

I'll admit, I do drive the car a bit hard...

Anyways, I'm picking up a new set from Sewell Lexus tomorrow and replacing both sides. Good thing they're only 20mins away from my house.

TexasGS

Jeff, let me know when you are going to do yours. I bought the Pittman puller to do mine so if you need to use it, let me know. I haven't done mine yet but I will as soon as I get a free weekend day. Also, remember to document the process.

UDel

21K miles is way too low for this kind of stuff to be happening and it driving it a bit hard should not have anything to do with it. It should be designed to withstand even aggressive driving and potholes. That is unacceptable to be happening and you are lucky they did not fail when you were driving as you could have been involved in a serious accident and would have several thousand dollars worth of damage. This is a very potentially dangerous design defect that needs to be addressed by Lexus. I would still call Lexus to complain and see what they are doing about it. Just because you drive your car a bit hard is not a reason for it to fail especially so early.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Keep in mind Jeff is also running Tein flex and TRD sway bars. If he turns hard and his coilovers can't compress, then the energy is transferred elsewhere, and most likely in this case, his balljoints. His driving is probably the most aggressive of anyone on CL. Heck, he bent the front endlinks of his car. No one else has managed to do that!. Couple that with hard brakings, the balljoints will eventually die .

He isn't driving a "bit" hard. He drives really hard

Lkevon

I have been getting the same sort of symptoms stated in this post and I'm glad that I've read this post . Thank you guys for the insight. I think I will have both changed out asap!!! !!!

o2GS43o

21k and blown a ball joint... that's hard driving there

eman88

iTrader: (2)

ditto..........

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Heck yeah, and I'm proud of it....well not really lol

-----------------------------------------------------

A bit off topic, but.....Holy cow the IS has a full TRD suspension upgrade kit. I'm SOOOO jealous!!!

This would seriously solve 90% percent of my complaints with the GS suspension lol!

http://www.l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=2413

Alexus_300

iTrader: (4)

Jeff, the TRD suspension kit is nothing but the stock suspension replaced with new poly urathane bushings. As you can see for the lower control arm, it is still not a boxed in part and with lots of torque applied to it, this control arm will actually twist. How do I know this you might ask, well, I used to have a boosted IS and I went through a set of lower control arms until I realized that by boxing it in, it should be good to go.

ElitistK

iTrader: (4)

what do you mean by boxing them in? my lower control arms need replacement and i want them to last as long as possible through occasional spirited driving.

anyway, i changed my ball joints at 109k miles. They were still ok. My lower control arm however....i need them ASAP.

YoungChris

I was driving and my lower ball joint disconnected from my wheel at 110,000 miles.

owali

Where are you all buying the lower ball joints from?

David1969

Front ball joint replacement in San Antonio is.....get ready.......






































$525.00 (WTF!!!!!) NOT including the ball joints - which i already have.


It must be nice to have a monopoly on Lexus everything in San Antonio since it's the only dealreship here.