cpls460

This thread goes back a while. For me the story also goes all the way back to 2011. At the time I was looking at a 2000-2006 LS 430. But my wife really wanted the newer generation 2007 onward. We were looking at a 2008 LS at the time. I actually sat down with the chief mechanic at Lexus while getting my GS oil change, and he said the newer generation 2007+, LS. suspension cost of ownership is untennable. He also called the 2005 LS 430 "as close to perfection in an automobile you can come." At the time it didn’t really resonate. Later In 2015 we had a horrible experience with an Audi A8 and wound up purchasing a 2011 LS 460 RWD. By all accounts an amazing car incredibly comfortable great riding and quiet up to about 100,000 miles. Never had any other problems. That’s when the suspension noise is started happening. Typical front end rattle most common on very low speed below 25 mph shallow bumps. Like freeze cracks here in the south. A crack in the road that maybe heaves up a quarter inch. It produced a medium pitch clunk or clap. Lexus dealr said $7K to replace everything. Several mechanics said replace control arms. All told we changed out every arm except the stab links and stab bar bushing at 109K. The aftermarket stuff from Moog is fairly good. It reduced noise for a couple years. At 120K put complete strut stacks in along with new stab links. That made things a little bit better. Replaced the stabilizer links a second time. Slight improvement. All the while these mechanics continued to say keep replacing the entire front end. Ball joints have no play so we opted not to change the knuckles. We were lucky enough to be able to bring aftermarket parts to a shop and do this at a reasonable cost, but still not free. After spending a full day, truly troubleshooting which component is moving and causing the noise,these are my conclusions. Most common noise driver and likely wear point is stabilizer bar links. Second most common is the ride height sensor bracket. It has three pivot points with two of them small ball joints. After about 100,000 miles those ball joints weare out. On the 3rd pivot point next to the sensor there is a rubber bushing that shrinks alowing for more play. when the car heats up in the summer, the noise is almost unnoticeable. However, on a very cold day, this linkage rattled with the movement of the lower rear arm and would be quite loud. Once I changed this last piece my problem went away. My advice to folks that have a high mileage LS 460 RWD I would strongly recommend try to do as much troubleshooting as you can up front because none of these mechanics, even the dealers, have any idea how to isolate a component and they are fearful of the hourly cost to do so. They say replace the whole front end. That’s a nonstarter. I would start with the stabilizer bar links and immediately look at the ride height sensor bracket on the front driver side. From there you def want to check struts, ball joints, lower arms Tie rod ends and lastly upper arms for any movement while off the gound. Anything that moves should be changed even if noise is eliminated. If there is 0.020" wear in one of those pieces its going to amplify wear elsewhere in the linkage with this design escpecially on the bottom end. For folks with new vehicles less than 50000 miles with this linkage. Change the stab links and bar bushing at and every 60K. They are cheap. $50 bucks plus install Monitor the ride height bracket for wear and play. Its not cheap if you need to change it. Keep the ball joints lubed every 50K. It will need to be injected into the boot unless you drill a zerk on the bottom. If you can, opt for an AWD as the ball joints are modular and easily dropped out of the steering knuckle. These are fairly inexpensive if you find yourself having to go that route. All told still a fantastic vehicle. Once you get it up to speed above 30 miles an hour. it’s quite possibly the smoothest riding, quiet car in the road.

Anyone have any luck with improved lighting options on the 06 lx 470 that dont require a mod and are easy install? Ive tried the Auxito LED's numerous types. Their std H1 low beams arent much brighter. Tried ones with fans, and they are brighter, but fuses are blowing. Ive landed on Hella High Wattage halogens for the time being without issue, but those arent a whole lot better than std.