RWD Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Hi All, Have a 96, LS400 that is all over the road. I have replaced the steering rack bushings, and it still needs constant correction when going in a straight line. Feels very sloppy. Tires good, pressure checked. Alignment good. Tie rod ends? Any Ideas? Thanks, Bob D
1990LS400 Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Worn strut bar bushings can cause sloppy handling. The original ones on the 2000 LS400 I used to have were worn out long before I replaced them at around 83,000 miles. Car drove like new with the replacements.
landar Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 Welcome RWD! Based on your description, it really does sound like sloppy tie rod ends. Here is what you could do to confirm. With the front end off the ground, grab the tire at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Give it a good shake. It should not budge. But if it does and you can feel some "wiggle" in the tire, then either your inner or outer tie rods are shot. Just look carefully while wiggling to see which it might be (a helper is user for this). Otherwise, you might check for the worn strut bar bushings that 1990LS400 mentioned.
VBdenny Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 Replaced the struts ( torsion bars) when I bought my LS400 with 112000. Car handled terrible then perfect. Tie rods should last excessively longer.
RWD Posted January 24, 2015 Author Posted January 24, 2015 Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I guess I am going to get it jacked up, and start to root around. The straight line stability is really awful, so I would imagine something (bushing, tie rod ends etc...) is terribly shot, and hopefully would be easy to identify. I would like to try to get the right part to replace and not have to keep replacing until I hit the right one. I failed to mention in my original post that the car has 186k on it, so there might be a number of bushing that may be shot. I did the whole timing belt service (not bad if you take your time), and other than the crummy steering, the car has been wonderful, since I picked it up from the original owner back in 2003. VB quick question ? are you saying you replaced the struts, as I am not familiar with the LS having torsion bars, or does Lexus have another name for it? I checked on the Sewell sight parts breakdown list and didn't see any torsion bars listed? Would you have a part number I can reference? Thanks, Bob
Exhaustgases Posted January 24, 2015 Posted January 24, 2015 I think the struts he is talking about are the diagonal for and aft support struts for the lower control arm. There are large rubber bushings at the front. With the front wheels off the ground and unloaded if the steering or ball joints are loose you should be able to feel it by trying to move the wheel by hand. Is there slop in the steering wheel itself with tires on the ground? Also since the rear end is also independent type suspension if there is something loose back there it could cause steering and stability issues. So you need to look at all 4 wheels for a problem. Who did the alignment? If there was a problem with anything they should have found it before the alignment.
1990LS400 Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 The strut bars run from the front suspension units forward and attach to the car's unibody "frame". You can see them if you kneel down and look ahead of the front wheels. Worn strut bar bushings are not obvious even when they are really worn out. I must have had five mechanics look at it before a Lexus dealer mechanic identified the problem. If yours have not been replaced in the last 75,000 miles then don't bother doing a diagnosis and just replace them. My 00 LS400 was being blowing all over the road by cross winds before I had the strut bars and bushings replaced and I had to constantly make steering corrections to keep the car on course. After replacement the car tracked perfectly. The strut bar bushings may be available separately but the cost of having them pressed into your existing strut bars may be more expensive than buying the whole units. If you buy the bushings separately, make sure they are positioned correctly when they are pressed into the strut bars. Not all mechanics have the equipment for pressing in new bushings. 1
VBdenny Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Well you steel headed warrior, got that all exactly right. Ahh we do miss them and the worst part is my neighbor owns it so I see it all the time. I do make him wash it and bring it over for oil changes and checkups. Still miss that car. Yes new cars are nice but the drivability of that 1990 V-8 car was the best. The struts are generally replaced as a unit. Amazing differences in handling.
RWD Posted January 25, 2015 Author Posted January 25, 2015 Thanks everyone again for the reply's. It seems from the general consensus that the bushings on the strut bars would be the first plan of attack. I fortunately have a few ton press in my workshop, so I will buy the inserts from Sewell and give that a shot. Crummy weather is planned for NYC, so probably have to wait for the next few nice days before I dig in. One of my pet peeves from the various forums that I belong to, is that everyone is so generous providing info and their knowledge, but then we never hear back from recipient if the fix worked or not. Therefore nobody learns! I will definitely report back after I put in the bushings. Thanks, Bob
VBdenny Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Pretty nice having a press handy should save you quite a bit. Saw NYC & NE are getting it good.
RWD Posted January 25, 2015 Author Posted January 25, 2015 VB, yea one to two feet of snow. I should be checking the bushings on the snow blower instead of worrying about the LS !!! Bob
VBdenny Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Hey Bob. My wife being from Bklyn I remember many snow storms in the area. Of course she just went back to the south shore of Boston where 3 feet or more is expected. Just got back from there to sunny VB. Demny
sha4000 Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Hopefully we don't get that much snow. I really dislike that stuff. Make sure you soak the bolts if you have air tools.
Exhaustgases Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 The strut bars run from the front suspension units forward and attach to the car's unibody "frame". You can see them if you kneel down and look ahead of the front wheels. Worn strut bar bushings are not obvious even when they are really worn out. I must have had five mechanics look at it before a Lexus dealer mechanic identified the problem. If yours have not been replaced in the last 75,000 miles then don't bother doing a diagnosis and just replace them. My 00 LS400 was being blowing all over the road by cross winds before I had the strut bars and bushings replaced and I had to constantly make steering corrections to keep the car on course. After replacement the car tracked perfectly. The strut bar bushings may be available separately but the cost of having them pressed into your existing strut bars may be more expensive than buying the whole units. If you buy the bushings separately, make sure they are positioned correctly when they are pressed into the strut bars. Not all mechanics have the equipment for pressing in new bushings. Those anchor points are bolted to the unibody frame.
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