I Thought My Biggest Expense Was Adding My Air Suspension

SKperformance · June 3, 2007

So i am getting my car cleaned up before i install my air suspension when it finally is available. SO i take it by a tech and get him to change my tensioner and inspect the RR as i think i have a bearing worn.

I ordered a new rear bearing a parking brake cable and some other parts from a friend at Toyota head office who is kind enough to help me out. Ordered parking brake shoes from ebay 6 months ago for all 4 for $20. So i go there this morning and realize i left the shoes at home. Oh well get what i can done now as it is not close to me to go home.

Analysis after is

The good:

The tensioner is good but the bearing on the wheel is bad , so it is good i wanted to replace it to finish all the front end bearings and tensioners.

The bad: The rear wheel bearing is fine and the play is coming from the rear lower knuckle bushing being disintegrated .I will probably need to buy a whole knuckle just to get that one stupid thing.

Both my front upper control arms are bad , both strut rods blown after 8 months , FL bearing shot. So right now i have more play than the guys in the AXE commercials. Also all of my sway bar bushings have enough play to see through them , luckily i already ordered those over priced pieces of crap.

The ugly now i have to wait for more parts to come in to fix all of this stuff and pay out through my ........

The best part my car will drive great after all this work again as it has become excessively sloppy over the past year since going to lex fest in Atlanta .

Also noticed carson has a line of bushings to replace my dead ones but they are $24 each ($100 total )and i need 2 per side. Do they know what a rip off that is. I Bought my full urethane kit for my Civic for $120 and it replaced everything but my engine mount. Never mind the other bushings they have which add up to a small fortune. I will probably be replacing them if they give me a deal on buying the full set as well as the rear torsion bars they have. Also i will get new strut rods for free and an alignment as the strut rods are under warranty from the dealer. Problem is i asked them to check the car 6 months ago and they said everything was fine. Know you know why i use a new place to get work done.

So hopefully by next weekend this will all be done if i get them in time. Then in 2 weeks the suspension kit will be ready from easy street and i will have my car bagged.

Oh well my wife did get a new bedroom set ,to top it off she wants a new car , a GS400 of course and i will only buy one if it is in spectra blue mica.

AHHHH what a headache.

dcfish · June 3, 2007

So i am getting my car cleaned up before i install my air suspension when it finally is available. SO i take it by a tech and get him to change my tensioner and inspect the RR as i think i have a bearing worn.
I ordered a new rear bearing a parking brake cable and some other parts from a friend at Toyota head office who is kind enough to help me out. Ordered parking brake shoes from ebay 6 months ago for all 4 for $20. So i go there this morning and realize i left the shoes at home. Oh well get what i can done now as it is not close to me to go home.

Analysis after is

The good:

The tensioner is good but the bearing on the wheel is bad , so it is good i wanted to replace it to finish all the front end bearings and tensioners.

The bad: The rear wheel bearing is fine and the play is coming from the rear lower knuckle bushing being disintegrated .I will probably need to buy a whole knuckle just to get that one stupid thing.

Both my front upper control arms are bad , both strut rods blown after 8 months , FL bearing shot. So right now i have more play than the guys in the AXE commercials. Also all of my sway bar bushings have enough play to see through them , luckily i already ordered those over priced pieces of crap.

The ugly now i have to wait for more parts to come in to fix all of this stuff and pay out through my ........

The best part my car will drive great after all this work again as it has become excessively sloppy over the past year since going to lex fest in Atlanta .

Also noticed carson has a line of bushings to replace my dead ones but they are $24 each ($100 total )and i need 2 per side. Do they know what a rip off that is. I Bought my full urethane kit for my Civic for $120 and it replaced everything but my engine mount. Never mind the other bushings they have which add up to a small fortune. I will probably be replacing them if they give me a deal on buying the full set as well as the rear torsion bars they have. Also i will get new strut rods for free and an alignment as the strut rods are under warranty from the dealer. Problem is i asked them to check the car 6 months ago and they said everything was fine. Know you know why i use a new place to get work done.

So hopefully by next weekend this will all be done if i get them in time. Then in 2 weeks the suspension kit will be ready from easy street and i will have my car bagged.

Oh well my wife did get a new bedroom set ,to top it off she wants a new car , a GS400 of course and i will only buy one if it is in spectra blue mica.

AHHHH what a headache.

Think of the end result, You'll be feeling SSOOOOOOOOO good and cruzin smooth. The wife is going to love the GS. Keep us posted on the "NEW" ride.

Jify · June 3, 2007

The good:
The tensioner is good but the bearing on the wheel is bad , so it is good i wanted to replace it to finish all the front end bearings and tensioners.

Hmm, Is this a common thing for the LS400s? My 1st gen had the same problem, tensioner pulley bearing was seized up solid. To my delight however, it happens that some replacement ford alternator bearings I had laying around are exact/identical/perfect matches to the lexus tensioner pulley bearings. Was a nice quick 2 minute fix 8)

SKperformance · June 4, 2007

The bearing was still pretty good but was making a slight whirring.

I wish i could have just pressed out the bearing and then found the replacements as it is well over priced at the dealer for them.

I am a proactive car guy. I change everything before it needs to be done . With my mileage and its second TB change i decided all of the bearings ,pulleys and tensions had to be replaced to prevent any issues later. The car is really quiet now , all i hear is the fan and the injectors ticking away at the high mileage i have. I will be replacing the clutch fan with an electric one eventually to reduce drag on the engine for more power and gas mileage. The biggest factor is how much quieter it will be after it no longer has that things always whirring away in there.

Don't worry DC once i find a spectra blue mica i am all over it. It helps my wife loves the color also but it is hard to come by. Its rarity is also buying me time in replacing her car.It will feel more than great if not amazing after especially with the air suspension.