Zoso Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for keeping such a great LS400/430 Forum going. I have been a member for a couple of years but have just used the forum for gathering information to use for future work on my 1992 LS400. I have just completed a major overhaul of my vehicle and I used this forum almost exclusively to gather all of the infomrmation together to do the work. Your photos, part numbers, links to suppliers, tutorials, and extremely good advice were all invaluable. My car now drives like it was new, even though it has 175,000 miles on it. I have owned it for ten years and it has never driven this well. Thank you all for your help. I will try to post sometime in the near future with some of the problems and discoveries I made doing this work. It took me about 5 weeks of constantly working on the car to get it all completed. Here is a pretty complete list of my work: Replaced: Engine Mounts, Transmission Mount, Front and Rear Sway Bar Cushions, Tie Rod Ends, Front Ball Joints, Front Strut Rod Cusions, Both rear Carrier Arm Bushings,4 Tokico HP Shocks/Struts, Shock Bumpers front & rear, Steering Rack, Power Steering Pump,Power Steering HP Hose, Driveshaft Flexible Couplings, Transmission & Oil Pan gaskets, Fuel Filter, Timing Belt, Water Pump, No1&2 idler Pulley's, Timing Belt Tensioner, Drive Belt, Drive Belt Idler Pully, Drive Belt Tensioner, Front Crankshaft T-Oil seal, Camshaft Pully T-Oil Seals(2), Spark Plugs, SparkPlug Wire Set, Thermostat & Gasket, Distributor Caps (2), Distributor Rotors (2), Fuel Cap, Alternator, Auto Trans Filter (Screen), Front Upper Control Arms, Front Lower Control Arm Bushings, Throttle Body Gasket (removed and cleaned the TB), PCV Valve, Air Filter, Rear Brake Rotors & Pads, Steering Damper, and Front &b Rear Torsion bar links. I replaced all of this with original Toyota or Lexus parts except for the Steering Rack. I am having new leather seats installled on the car next week. Once again thank you all for your input and help. This was a very taxing but gratifying project that I could not have completed without the help of the forum! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nc211 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 WOW!! You've replaced all of that and this is only your second post?? Well, welcome on the board amigo! Don't be a stranger my friend, you've got a ton of expertise to offer now! One thing I just replaced this past weekend that has made a very nice improvement was the weatherstripping around my front doors. Really killed the wind noise and put that "spring loaded" feel back into the doors. Man, you really went all out! I'm impressed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gumart1 Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 zoso - WOWWW That is an amazing list. Sounds like you did all the right things. You definitely have not littered the forums with wasted posts! ;) This is exactly what I am planning to do to my '91 with 250k miles. I'd appreciate if you can share any tips, recommendations, problems, part suppliers and prices, etc. Were all those suspension components in need of replacement? Or did you decide to replace it all while you were at it? For parts I have gotten several quotes and I'm currently getting the lowest prices from Sewell Lexus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sapper_daddy Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 yeah i'm with you man, accept i think i've written a few annoying posts. I have used this site almost exclusively also. And it has already saved me ALOT of dough and also squashed my perception of domestics vs. imports to an extent! I am also about to do a big job myself. No quite that extent mainly engine mechanical components. But i have a few questions for you: the sway bar cusioners, dampner, and torsion bar links were changed. How hard was that? I know you most likely did it because you were going all out on getting that car on the road so you wouldn't have to do it again. were there any symptoms that made you do it though? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcpth Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Wow... congrats on the project. It definitely is satisfying isn't it? I wish i was a lot more handier. But... like u... i have improved substantially on my DIYer ability with cars thanks to this site and the many helpful people on this forum. I can only hope i can arise to the level of some of u guys. Do not feel shy like what NC said since u have a lot of experience. Do share ;) Tom B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoso Posted January 10, 2006 Author Share Posted January 10, 2006 Thanks guys, I am not a real verbal person but I will share some things as I get them together over the next several days. Yes sapper-daddy the torsion bar links and the steering damper were definitly shot, you can tell just by looking at them. Both of these pieces were easy to change out. The torsion bar links have an allen wrench insert on the end of the nipple which allows you to get the nut tightend up enough to finish with a torque wrench. The Steering damper is outragously priced at about $130 and you can only get it from a Toyota/Lexus parts house, but it made a big difference. It is an easy direct bolt-on replacement. Some of these parts i replaced because I was in there Gumart1. If your car ahs over 100K miles on it the key items on the suspension are going to be the upper and lower front control are bushings, the two motor mounts, the transmission mount and the rear carrier arm bushings. These will take care of alot of bad suspension problems themselves. The biggest problem I ran into was the carrier arm bushings. I have access to a lathe and machined my own plugs to push the old bushings out and still had a tremedously disfficult time with it. I gave up and pushed the old rubber piece out with a socket head and then cut the old bushing sheath out with a jigsaw and a carbide metal blade. Once I decided to go that route the change out went quickly and smoothly. The new carrier arm bushings do not have a metal outer sleeve so they are much easier to install. If you are getting brake pulsations on a regular basis even after to have your rotors turned, you more than likely ahve bad rear carrier arm bushings. Once you do the replcement you will see whay this occurs. My upper control arm ball joints were shot so I purchased new upper control arms and did not try to change them out with the Daizen units which saved me considerable grief. I will post some of the direct lexus parts houses I used at a substatioal discount later, but they were able to sell me the individual bushings for the lower control arms for about $50/each. They will try to sell you the whole lower control arm for around $300, but will sell the indivual bushing when pressed. They replace the bushings all of the time at the dealerships. I pressed these in and out myself using a hydraulic press. If you don't have access to a hydraulic press there is a great new tutorial on the lexls website (www.lexls.com) which shows how do do this procedure with a large C-Clamp! My best advice though is to have lots of patience and purchase a complete repair manual from Lexus. They will sell you both manuals new for what you can buy used ones on ebay for. I will post all of the websites later. I know I'm forgetting things but will post them as I think of them. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcpth Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Don't b shy. We all need a lil help or hints or advice. Thanks. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akewlguy Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Wow... I think will pay my mechanic... I get tooo *BLEEP*ed off when I am doing some work under the engine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LScott400 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 It is very impressive (and no doubt rare) to see where someone has taken the time to systematically go through the maintenance requirements of an older vehicle. You have my admiration! I have a '94 with 273k on it and am very interested in hearing more about these "new leather seats" to be installed. My driver's seat is very uncomfortable and I have been wondering what steps to take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LScott400 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Thought I'd try again........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoso Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 Thought I'd try again........... Sorry about the delay in responding. I got the seat kit from www.leatherseats .com in OK City. I have delayed having them installed for a couple of weeks due to a required replacement of the rear main oil seal in my LS400 that I didn't expect. All of that is almost completed now and I am going to have a local custom auto intyerior shop do the install of the seat kit for me. The kit istself looks great with good materials. I chose the full leather interior and it ended up costing me about $825 with shipping. I will spend another $300 with the interior shop for the install. Having done a Honda leather interior install previously, I highly recommend using a professionsl. It will save you multitudes of headaches! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LScott400 Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Thanks! Let us know how they turn out. With fresh leather I'm sure they'll be very sweet. I would be interested in details on what they say they did to the innards to restore firmness and comfort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qha_vn Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Hello Zoso, your thread was a year ago or so, but i hope you are still around the 4fum :-) my steering damper was missing (it wasnt installed on my car before i was its owner) i got a quote from www.parkplaceplanoparts.com, but seem very pricy at US$240.92 as they get to order somewhere for me. compared to $130 you got, the margin seems enough to kill do you remember where you got it? thanks for any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.