turboomni

I called ADDCO when I installed the sway bar on what to lube the bushings with. They said anything. I asked them how about thick wheel bearing grease and they said that would be great. Glad you like it Killer

Great Work killer! I'm glad you think it was worth the effort. I know I did and could never go back to the way it was.Hit the highway and you'll notice much more directional stability and its much less affected by cross winds from 18 wheelers etc. My next project it to put energy suspension front swaybar mounts on as mine are old and tend to squeek at times. These bushings also have a grease nipple on them. I wished the Addco ones did but thewy haven't given me any problems yet. Congrats killerfatty

Wow Billy they are/were toast. What were your symptoms that you replaced them? Did you do the tranny mount as well? I checked the place you mentioned and they sell 2 motor mounts plus the tranny mount for 150 bucks. Sounds like a good deal if you were happy with them. At lexus [sewell] they were 319.00 a pair!! How is the install,,very difficult?? Thanks Billy

Are there any good aftermarket motor mounts made for these cars or is this a no no and stick with stock? I know Moog I think makes them. Also how difficult is it to do ? Any tutorials etc? I did do a search here and din't find much.' My steering wheel and shifter have a slight vibration at idle in gear and I was told that bad motor mounts can ruin the EGR tube. I just had the tube replaced and dont want it to crack!!! I don't understand this either ,could some one explain this?

I think I have read here you can go to Toyota dealer and get the same trans fluid that the Lexus cars use at a far lower price. If you are going to do it I would use that or Lexus fluid if for no other reason than paranoia!! I don't know if Lucas can be used. The cabin air filter?? Take it out and blow it out or vacume it to save some bucks I would guess. I have never changed or bought one of those ,,yet. You could do a search and find something I am sure but I know nothing about that. Before I got my Lexus [1997] I had a Scion XB cube mobile 2006. It even had a cabin air filter. !! I had my first total accident in the Scion ,,the car was toast ,front end and rear were smashed. I got the money for it 9000.00 bucks for 2006 Scion and bought my 97 Lexus for 6500!!! I dumped another 1400 bucks for a starter and EGR tube so I'm still ahead of my entry level Toyota and got their top of the line!! When you said offer quantity of trans fuid ,,did you mean differential fluid?? I feel for you buddy as I got 2 girls going to college too,,but you could do alot worse than what you are driving now!! If treated correctly I feel we could drive them long enough to be buried in them!!!LOL!!

i took it to garage they said it is rear wheel bearing the quote is 1039.00 per side i might need both For a rear wheel bearing?? Thats not the differential? I dont get it.

How about a fuel filter,,air filter,changing the sparkplugs and wires and the differential fluid. You said you change all other fluids which I hope included the transmission. Flush out the power steering pump and steering rack in hopes of not having to replace either too soon. I believe the looming things that commonly go wrong at over 100,000 miles are power steering pump and starter along with the EGR tube cracking. My 97 LS I bought this year had the timing belt replaced at 90,000 miles with the water pump. I bought it with 150000 miles and had to replace a starter and EGR tube. Niether of which can be helped with flushing fluids lol. Other than that the LS seems to be a very reliable and can go forever. Let us know what you do!

Should I turn off the Trac for drag racing too?

QUOTE:::If you want to be a little more agressive, and have a good tranny mount, drop it from nuetral at aroun 3k rpm.QUOTE:: YIKES !! I would never do that! I'm just gonna pretend I'm at a stop light in the left lane and I need to get to the right lane for an exit in the right lane in a 1/4 mile! Just curious what to old gal will do. I will of course have the tranny in performance mode,,whatever that button means. I got a 12 second TurboOmni to pound on in the 1/4 mile and the street. I'll letya know what the old Babe does if the weather holds out!!

Interesting you mention drag racing as I plan on taking mine to the local drag strip to see what she does,just the way she sits. I'll let you know what happens! I dont plan on souping her up at all as I have other toys for that stuff. Keeping her stock. Any launch tips??

Ever get the thing off and the new one on there????

I looked under the car and really don't see a problem with heating up the bolts to get lower part of the links out.

Your really having a time with that thing ,what a drag. I dont remember what it looks like under there to get the bottom of the end links out as I re used the ones in the car. I'll take a look tomorrow. If your swaybar is 1/4 to 3/8ths like mine was ,your gonna have a nice change in handling with the 7/8ths bar. Your car must lean alot like mine used to. As far as heating up the top bolts [i know it's not an issue now] use the torch on a low flame and pinpoint the areas you want to heat and take your time. You don't want an inferno! You also dont want to melt the rubber boot either. I'll look to see under my car what your up against tomorrow or another could chme in with his experience. You could go to a shop and have them remove the endlinks and bar for cheap I'm sure. When I drove my car without the stock rear bar I noticed NO difference in handling. That stock bar is worthless for sway.

what is the diameter of your rear swaybar in the car now? The Addco is 7/8ths . What is the diameter of your front bar? I really had to heat mine up to break the nuts loose. The links are pretty cheap at RockAuto.com I think.

KillerFatty Did you ever get the swaybar installed??

You put the wrench on the nut and a hex inside the stud the wrench is on. I had to heat up the bolt abit to get it loose. I believe it was a 7mm hex.

Well my LS's problems seem to be mounting up on me. I should do a power steering pump and lately my starter has been doing the click even though it has a new battery. It is the original starter in the car at 150,000 miles. I also my long egr tube is leaking and this is my question. Is it any easier to install the egr long tube when the intake is off the car while doing the starter? In the manual it also shows that they remove one of the cats when doing the starter. I don't know why. I guess on my vacation I'm gonna have to get dirty and address these problems. I would also like to know all the non reusable parts I will need to do this right and have them before hand. Any thoughts on all this? Thanks

Is there no external trans cooler already on the car? Or is it the usual cooler inside the radiator?

Could that also be the signs of a timing belt that slipped a tooth or 2?

Thanks alot for the replies guys . All great points!

Thanks for the explanation . So there is a different exhaust valve cam profile when the Jake Brake is used? Very interesting stuff. Back to the LS ,mine is a 97 and the brakes look rather huge especially the fronts for such a sized car. Thanks again for the explanation of the Jake Brake,,,,

Thanks for all the replies. SRK is a Jacobs engine brake a way to use a diesel's very high compression without fuel to brake a big truck? I have heard a distictive sound before from big semi's and assumed this must be the case. I do know from past experience that when going down a hill and in a car in a lower gear with a manual tranny that the exhaust note did not change when I turned the ingnition off or on,, the sound of the engine did Not change [i removed the ingition off steering lock so I could steer !!} I am assuming the compression of the engine is the braking force ,and the less fuel the better the braking force. I am also assuming a vent to atmosphere when you do this in a big truck as it is much louder. My assumption on my car is the the cars computer shuts off all fuel in that situation and as a result the tone does not change with the ignition on or off.. If that is the case then at the time this event happens the motor and oil pump are getting a free ride from trasmission[sucking in a expelling cool air that has not been fired with fuel} and there is no load and very little or no fuel going to the motor and as a result it is cooling off but controlled by the thermostat which must shut down somewhat. What is the point of this reply?? I have no fricken idea But I would like to know how a Jacob's engine brake operates and find out if my hunch is correct. Also in the Lexus,, when in 3rd on a down hill if the engine is making no or very little heat on it's own which would help the situation. Sorry ,,just rambling thoughts and I appreciate your time.

My sub cracked and I needed a replacement. The first shop I went to said "no problem" and that he would fit something in there for a couple hundred. He had no concerns about the box size or ohm requirements. ........ The second shop owner was honest. He said he had a lot of exprience with early model LS 400's. Unfortunately, he had no luck with his products and the resulting sound. Everything he tried just wasn't quite right and he recommended just a factory fix which I eventually opted to do. I've had no regrets and the system sounds remarkably good for a 20 year old system. May I ask what the factory fix was ,where you got it and the cost?

I live in a very hilly area of the country and the roads in question are mostly at 35 to 45 mph. Long up hills and of course long downhills. with my 97 ls400 in drive and going down the long hills many times I must just ride the brakes which I hate as I am used to manual transmissions and would downshift to the next lower gear to save my brakes. My question is if I put the car into 3rd gear on the auto transmission going down these hill [which works fine] am I wearing out the tranny faster? One side of my brain says "use the brakes as they are cheaper to replace than the transmission" What you guys think ? Sacrifice the brakes or the transmission by going into 3rd?? or is that not a factor to use the transmission that way. Frankly any other car I have owned in my life I wouldn't have given a rat's butt what I did ,,but this car is different for some reason...... Any thoughts would be great.

I tried ordering from all the places they list as dealers too for their products and the one or 2 places I could talk with said they haven't heard from them in quite awhile and had no info for me. Or products.