So, my front suspension is having a noise party and I am trying to solve it.

I have brand new Bilstien Sport Shocks with my previously used L-Tuned Springs, brand new LBJ's, and new strut mounts at the top.

LBJ's were ready for replacement, at 150K miles I wasn't surprised. My L-Tuned shocks had 80K+ miles on them so I figured what the heck and got the sports for a firmer ride.

The noise I had before the change got worse, not better. My guess is firming up the shocks is what contributed to it.

Now I had a shop do the work due to time constraints but I don't see how they could have screwed up taking apart and putting back together the strut and I can't imagine the bump stops could be causing the noise.

So, I plan on first disconnecting the front sway and seeing if the noise goes away but after that I plan on moving on to the Outside Ties, and the LCA's #2's.

I have done some research on here and I am confused as to what the Castor Arm is to which people refer.

Sometimes it is in reference to the #2 LCA and other times it seems that it is not.

If the Castor Arm is not the LCA#2 is the the LCA#1? If not, what Lexus part number is the Castor Arm?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am posting this under a new user name, I am Cinfulxgs4 really but my account is limited for some reason.

Thanks in advance!

 

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...S430-2002.html
part #48068 and 48069

 

yes you're right... Lower Control arm #2 is the Castor arm.
Thats the one that is curvy.... Then theres the Lower Control Arm #1 which is just a straight arm. The upper control arm is above the tire.

Replace the Castor arm if you haven't done so and your car has more than 150k miles... It makes a hugh difference. If you have someone who can press in the bushings, you can avoid getting the full LCA#2 and just get the Roca bushings pressed in but its a huge hassle and is probably the same cost as just getting the Arm from Sewell.
Ive had 2 gs300's with noises and replacing that arm fixed both.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

After reading on this site and wondering why the inside of my front tires has excessive wear. One member said to replace the lower control arms #2 (Castor Arms) if your car has 150k miles. Mine has 220,000. My old bushings in the Castor Arms were hammered and torn.

My main reason for replacing the arm was to get rid of this annoying clunk that I have when hitting small bumps, potholes, etc. This annoying clunk started around 150k miles and has only got worse. Drives Me Nuts! I have replaced steering rack bushings, ball joints, sway bushings and end links, and tie rod ends....still have clunk. But today with my car on the jack stands I was tugging and pulling on front end stuff and figured out the clunk is my upper control arm ball joints! Ordered them today and can't wait to finally have the clunk gone.

I highly recommend buying brake pads, rotors, Castor Arms ($150) from this place I use called Import Replacement Parts. 888-378-7278. Talk to Mike.
http://www.importrp.com/
Their prices are really good.

 

It's caster.

 

After replacing all of the above parts and thinking that my upper control arms might finally fix the annoying clunk......IT DID NOT. So now the only 2 things left to replace are the struts and strut mounts, and the lower control arm #1. Everything else is new.

 

The lower ball joints and lower control arms were already replaced on my car- and I just ordered a nice new pair of Mevotech SUPREME Upper Control Arms.. the dealer said that the Castor Arm bushings were still 'okay'- and that one was a little more worn though- but still okay.

Would you say it's worth replacing these when I do the Upper Control Arms- or is the work pretty UNRELATED to removing/installing new upper control arms?

Also- OEM all the way for these ??? or would an aftermarket set be just as good, like the MevoTech Control Arms that I bought- which have a Lifetime Warranty.

 

ha, please disregard my question about Aftermarket instead of OEM regarding the #2 (Castor) Arms- They're only available from Toyota! (right?) Ahhh..

I'm up in the air on whether I should I order a pair of these and install them when I do the upper control arms- before I install my new set of either BC Racing or Bilstein PSS coilovers.... my car's an '01 GS4 and it just turned 140,000 miles. What do you guys think?

Lastly- did Toyota REVISE these arms for the '01+ models - because the Part #'s are different.
I thought they only revised the lower ball joints for the 01+ years (by making them larger/BEEFIER!) ?

The '98'-'00 #2 Castor Arms are a different part # than the '01-'05 Arms... (and the NEWER/BETTER ones are cheaper, too)
1998-1999/'00
http://http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-99...p2054897.l4275

2001-2005
http://http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS...b2f1c9&vxp=mtr

 

Bunp bro lmk