New Member Chiming In

lex302 · April 20, 2011

Good morning to all of you! I am new to this forum and just want to be part of this great website. I bought a 98 LS 400 3 years ago with 140,000 on it of a private seller for $6500. Older lady wanted 8000 but was able to talk her down. My wife and I had been looking for a while but all the ones we looked at were in pretty bad condition but this one was pretty darn nice! Gold/brown two-tone, straight body(minor dings), interior was pretty nice with not bad wear on the leather so i think i really lucked out on this one. I ve always wanted an LS 400 because I love the body style and the classy elegant look. Ive babied her to this day. I currently have 182,000 and shes still running like a champ!

Time for some maintainance though. Ive always heard a clunk in the front end and after checking different sites and research i found out that the strut rod bushings go out in these about 75,000 miles. A few mechanics confirmed this so i ordered the whole rods from a Wholesale Lexus Dealership for 103 a side. I will be installing them soon along with some new Megan EZ coilovers. To keep the cost down I will be installing these myself to save some money and I was lucky to find 98 lexus repair manuals vol. 1&2 on E-bay for $120 (great deal i thought!)to torque everything back down correctly and for a step by step. Timing belt, Water pump, tensioners, pulleys,gaskets is next on the list but im taking this one to the shop being its such a big job. Is there anything else i should consider for maintainance with this many miles?

Finally, a few upgrades to my Lex is my new wheels and tires. I bought some chrome Mrr H-3's staggered fit 20x8.5 front and 20x10 rear with some Faulkin 452's. Sitting a little high right now but after i install the coilovers i will lower it 2 inches in the front and 1 in the back. Hopefully this will sit right to look low but not too low. I also buffed out my headlights, painted my grill black with the chrome accents and got LED bulbs for the front halo/parking lights and license plate lights. Fog lights were upgraded to HID 8000k also.Do any of you have any other ideas?

Anyways, sorry for the long post just very excited about owning a Lexus and finally getting close to fixing it up the way I want it. :cheers:

steve2006 · April 20, 2011

Hi and welcome to the LOC,

Good you hear you have the car of your dreams.

While you have the front suspension stripped check for play in the upper control arm bushes and ball joints, check the bottom ball joints and the anti roll bar bushes.

If you want more help have a look at www.lexls.com (tutorials section) most of the stuff is for gen 2 models but yours will be similar regarding the suspension components.

billydpowell · April 20, 2011

post some photos

lex302 · April 21, 2011

Hi and welcome to the LOC,

Good you hear you have the car of your dreams.

While you have the front suspension stripped check for play in the upper control arm bushes and ball joints, check the bottom ball joints and the anti roll bar bushes.

If you want more help have a look at www.lexls.com (tutorials section) most of the stuff is for gen 2 models but yours will be similar regarding the suspension components.

Hey Steve! Yeah it makes sense to check the rest of the suspension while i have it apart. Do you think I should go oem on bushings also? Ive spent quite a bit already and definitely will be tapped after the timing belt stuff. Hopefully its not too bad. What years are the 1st generation and 2nd?

Thanks for the website!

lex302 · April 21, 2011

post some photos

Photos coming soon! I will do before and after lowering.

billydpowell · April 21, 2011

I HIGHLY recommend OEM on bushings, if you want to keep the Lexus ride, the polys make the ride hard and brittle. (my experience, I bought polys and in one week removed them)

PS: If you are a DIY type, do you own TB/WP and replace your seals too.

see : http://www.lextreme.com/timing2.html

and http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html

yours is slightly different, but the guide is the same.

check these parts prices, I have done 5 of these, using these parts, with NO failure, and MUCH savings.

http://www.store.partsdinosaur.com/page247.html

lex302 · April 22, 2011

I HIGHLY recommend OEM on bushings, if you want to keep the Lexus ride, the polys make the ride hard and brittle. (my experience, I bought polys and in one week removed them)

PS: If you are a DIY type, do you own TB/WP and replace your seals too.

see : http://www.lextreme.com/timing2.html

and http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html

yours is slightly different, but the guide is the same.

check these parts prices, I have done 5 of these, using these parts, with NO failure, and MUCH savings.

http://www.store.partsdinosaur.com/page247.html

I will check into the oem bushings. I will be pretty deep into the suspension so shouldnt be that hard. How are the TB/WP parts from parts dinosaur are they comparable to oem? I think i may go oem on those too. Thanks for the website though i may have to use it anyway depending on funds. Just waiting on my Lexus manuals that should be here any day. :cheers: