92 Es300 Drive Shafts

joshy0077 · April 18, 2005

Hey All,

I just took my 92 to the shop on Saturday, because I was hearing a clicking/popping noise when I turned. After checking around a little bit on the forum here, I saw a few others who had this problem, but I couldn't pinpoint the noise source. It turns out the the CV boot on my passenger side drive shaft is torn, and all the grease has come out...so the mechanic said I needed a new one. The boot on the driver's side is in very bad shape, however, can apparently be repaired. While he had the car on the rack, I saw that both the boots were indeed in bad shape ( :censored: ), however, the connections to the driveshaft did not look all that complicated at all to remove...looked like 6 hex bolts to the body, and I didn't see what all was on the wheel. The Mechanic said it would cost me about $200 for the right side, and $125 for the left...and being a poor college kid...I wanted to know if anyone recommends doing this job as a DIY project? I may be getting a digital camera soon so I may be able to take some pics of the problem eventually. If you have any details/instructions on how I would do this procedure, and what parts I would need, please let me know, it would be greatly appreciated!

One more thing before I go, while the mechanic had the car up on the rack, I had him check a rattling noise that was coming from the rear of the car when I went over rough terrain. After manipulating some parts, he showed me that the driver side strut bar (or what I think is the strut bar) was loose, and couldl be rocked back and forth a little bit. Others who had this problem on this forum said they thought it was a bushing that needed greased? However, the mechanic thinks that putting a shim in there would work. Anyone have any recommendations? Also, if you know of a way to do this, please let me know!

ArmyofOne · April 18, 2005

Hey All,
I just took my 92 to the shop on Saturday, because I was hearing a clicking/popping noise when I turned. After checking around a little bit on the forum here, I saw a few others who had this problem, but I couldn't pinpoint the noise source. It turns out the the CV boot on my passenger side drive shaft is torn, and all the grease has come out...so the mechanic said I needed a new one. The boot on the driver's side is in very bad shape, however, can apparently be repaired. While he had the car on the rack, I saw that both the boots were indeed in bad shape ( ), however, the connections to the driveshaft did not look all that complicated at all to remove...looked like 6 hex bolts to the body, and I didn't see what all was on the wheel. The Mechanic said it would cost me about $200 for the right side, and $125 for the left...and being a poor college kid...I wanted to know if anyone recommends doing this job as a DIY project? I may be getting a digital camera soon so I may be able to take some pics of the problem eventually. If you have any details/instructions on how I would do this procedure, and what parts I would need, please let me know, it would be greatly appreciated!

One more thing before I go, while the mechanic had the car up on the rack, I had him check a rattling noise that was coming from the rear of the car when I went over rough terrain. After manipulating some parts, he showed me that the right side strut bar (or what I think is the strut bar) was loose, and couldl be rocked back and forth a little bit. Others who had this problem on this forum said they thought it was a bushing that needed greased? However, the mechanic thinks that putting a shim in there would work. Anyone have any recommendations? Also, if you know of a way to do this, please let me know!

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if you are mecahically inclined, you can do DIY on the CV Axles, i would just replace the entire shaft with one from autozone. i think they run $155 after core exhange. on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the hardest, i would rate this at 4.

joshy0077 · April 18, 2005

Well I'm not too bad at doing minor things, but I fear messing something up horribly. If I can't figure the job out, I know people who can, I just want to know what to do when I decide to do it. Do you have any more details on how to replace either the axles or the shaft? I don't really have a lift at home so I was planning on just using jack stands, and if the parts come out to only be like $50 less than having the mechanic do it, I will just let the pros do their thing. Anyways, thanks a lot for the fast reply, it is greatly appreciated.

khhoang · April 18, 2005

One more thing before I go, while the mechanic had the car up on the rack, I had him check a rattling noise that was coming from the rear of the car when I went over rough terrain. After manipulating some parts, he showed me that the driver side strut bar (or what I think is the strut bar) was loose, and couldl be rocked back and forth a little bit. Others who had this problem on this forum said they thought it was a bushing that needed greased? However, the mechanic thinks that putting a shim in there would work. Anyone have any recommendations? Also, if you know of a way to do this, please let me know!

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i probably wouldn't recommend using shims bc that may do further damages to the bushings. those swaybar bushings are held on by a bracket with 2 bolts.. simple DIY esp with the wheels removed. remove the bushings and grease both sides with silicon-based lube. you can go further and order new bushings at newlexusparts.com for $9 each free shipping. i would order these polyurethane bushings but they don't have them in stock as of now for the 92-96ES: http://www.tmengineering.net/suspension/daizen/make/es.html

a "temporary" fix is buy a can of silicon spray particularly one at a Toyota dealership, it's Toyota-labeled for $5, and spray the bushings without having to remove them. it's working for me for a month now no more clunking noises.

joshy0077 · April 18, 2005

Hey all,

Thanks so far for the help. I'll try the silicone spray tonight, being that I'm at school, I don't really have the ability to break the car down now and inspect the bushings.

One thing I found online was an instruction guide on how to replace the Drive shafts for a Toyota Camry. Can anyone a little more knowlegdable let me know if these instructions will work on my Lexus? It really is suprisingly simple, but still, I would like some expert, or more professional advice.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?F...23d8015759b.jsp

Thanks again!

ArmyofOne · April 18, 2005

Hey all,
Thanks so far for the help. I'll try the silicone spray tonight, being that I'm at school, I don't really have the ability to break the car down now and inspect the bushings.

One thing I found online was an instruction guide on how to replace the Drive shafts for a Toyota Camry. Can anyone a little more knowlegdable let me know if these instructions will work on my Lexus? It really is suprisingly simple, but still, I would like some expert, or more professional advice.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?F...23d8015759b.jsp

Thanks again!

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thats exactly it. step 12 is where you should stop.

just replace them, dont rebuild them, they arent worth it.