miamistyle

The worn out strut rods that are pictured.

Being that the strut rods seem to be a common problem, I thought I might post a pic of my bad strut rods. You will notice the tears in the rubber. When I saw them removed, I didn't think they looked too bad and they were not the problem producing that terrible clunking in my front end. But what a difference the new strut rods made, the car feels brand new. The ride was so nice I decided to throw some new Bridgestone Turanza LH-S's to compliment. On my '96, lexuspartsonline has the new OEM's for like $95 each, the frist gens are like $65. Labor from my indi Lexus shop was $120 totalling just over $300. If your strut rods are bad, do yourself a favor and swap them out, you won't regret it! Here's a shot of the bad strut rods:

I agree with Andy. $800 sounds way to steep if it's just surface rust. Check the rotors. If it's just surface rust I would think resurfacing them should take care of it. Should cost you under $20 a rotor for that. You might also want to check for an independent Lexus shop. My local Lexus indi shop is charging me $160 total for parts and labor with resurfacing the rotors using OEM pads. Find out how much those pins are, they shouldn't be much.

Check lexuspartsonline.com I don't know if this link will work but for the '90 their like $65 bucks for the whole strut rod. Here's the link if it works: http://www.lexuspartsonline.com/index2.htm...p;siteid=214281 Don't mention it, I'm glad to atleast contribute since I get so much from here.

OK got the new strut rods in today, car is like brand new! I had my indi mech give me the old strut rods so I can take some pics and share with you all later what they look like when they detoriate. $328 OEM parts and labor + tax. By far the most noticebale improvement I've done so far.

The LCD going out on the radio is a common problem. They have comapnies that you can send your radio to and they will repair I think for around $250. The other questions I'm sure someone else will be able to help further. I would do a search here as all your issus are covered many times in depth. Good luck and congrats!

Wow, that sounds strange, maybe someone will chime in on that one. I will definitely post my results, but it doesn't sound like the same issue. Does your car clunk over bumps or if you slam on the brakes besides after the reverse thing?

Shocks and the rest of the suspension checked out OK, so doing just strut rods only. I started out with my indi Lexus shop the right way. I told him I would supply the OEM parts beacuse I have a great hook up on OEM parts. I then told him that I would rather give him the business if he could match if not no big deal. Now he basically matches or comes close enough to the prices I tell him which earns my business everytime. Anyways 2 strut rods at lexusonlineparts = $95. From him $104 each. So $208 + 120 labor = $328. Not too bad I think! I had him look at the entire front end to see if anything else is needed and he said everything looks good. He said the strut rods will make a world of difference and tighten it right back up. I'll let you know how it feels tomorrow night when it's done.

Well I went back to my indi Lexus shop and he assured me it was the strut bars. He says he sees this all the time on these cars. Anyways I'll have them done tomorrow.

Yep they got 'em for the 95+ now. I'm trying to stay OEM myself, but saw these with the rubber opposed to the poly stuff and was just wondering. Looks like I dodged the control arm bushings for now! :whistles: The reason I aksed is I got a clunking on bumps and hard braking. The dealer said LCA bushings and my indi Lexus shop said strut rods. I didn't know who to believe. :( I just got back from my Lexus shop and he assured me my LCA bushings are fine, and said my strut rods are the culprit as you mentioned in a previous post of mine. Cost is $208 for the pair OEM strut rods and $120 labor = $328 total. I keep on letting him know how much LexusPartsOnline will charge me for the parts and he pretty much matches or comes reasonably close. I'll be getting the work done tommorow, I let you know how she feels.

I just bought a '96 LS400 with 113k after a lot of research on this forum. I love the car to death. Before purchaisng I brought it to my local dealership for an inspection. Cost me $150, but well worth the piece of mind. I told them there was a clunking sound when going over small bumps at low speed and when braking hard. The dealership said control arms. I don't know if they went by my description of the problem or if they tested or inspected anything. I took it to a local independent Lexus shop and explained, he slammed the brakes and it clunked. He said strut rods. I don't think either one visually inspected anything. From my research here, it sounds like strut rods but I want to make sure I'm not just throwing money at it and hoping for a fix. Any suggestions?

So all someone has to do is swap the cluster for a couple years and then put back the original? That's scary!

I'm looking to replace my lower control arm bushings on my '96 LS400 and am trying to go with rubber opposed to polyurethane. I came across this company http://www.vftbushes.com/ out of Australlia. The lowers run about $258 US dollars. They also have the sterring rack bushings for about $43. Anybody know anything about this brand or know of anything comparable besides Daizens?

I thought the mileage was stored in the ECU and not the cluster.

Awesome! I've been looking to do this myslef. Can you share the website where you got the diagram?

I found the whole assemblies at Lexus Parts Online for like $95 each. I believe they are OEM but will call to confirm. I wouldn't consider any aftermarket parts for this fine machine.

Right you are! It was the sturt rods. I took it in to the Lexus dealership and they said it was the control arm bushings. Took it to an independent Lexus shop he slammed the brakes as Blake said and it clunked something terrible which as I see now is strut rods. I am going to try to do this one myslef along with front brake pads. Pads and strut mounts parts & labor from my guy would run me $500. I can get the OEM parts for $200. I'll be doing some searches on here to find out procedure. If anybody knows of a good write up, please let me know. Thanks guys!

You will probably pay about $120/strut for Lexus parts. It's a very simple, straight forward job...for the fronts we spent about an hour per side with an air ratchet (if you have to sit there and compress the springs by hand, it's going to be longer.). Talk some more about the busted feeling; is it making any noises? If you can duplicate the noise by slamming on the brakes, it's probably not the struts. 60mph should be less than 2k rpms. 2,000 rpms in my '95 is about 62mph (75 is something like 2400.). ;) When other people drive my car, they always seem to slide the shifter in to 3rd rather than 4th, maybe that happened during your test drive? The busted feeling I tried to describe is a clunk when you go over a speed bump or small pot hole. As far as the tranny at 3k, now that you mention it, I think I had it in D3! Isn't that the first place the gear goes from Neutral?

Well after looking at many LS400's, I finally found one that looks and drives great. '96 LS400 113k with Nakamichi system, factory chrome rims and brand new looking leather. By far the nicest LS I've seen. Got it down from 9K to $7500. The only problem is whenever at a slow speed and I hit a big bump, it seems like the shock is busted. I really like the car, but want to know what I am geting into as far as repairs go. I have 2 Questions: 1. Any idea what new front struts go for on a '96? How about labor? 2. At 60mph the tach read 3k RPM, is this right? I really could use some help I told him I'd get back to him tommorow. THANKS!!!!!!

Thanks for the tips! How would you check for revised ECU?

I'm looking at a 95-96 LS400 and would appreciate any info and known issues to look for. I know to check if timing belt and water pump replaced every 80/90k miles and scheduled oil changes. I also plan on aksing for all records and maintenace and will be doing a car fax. What should I check 'visibly' and listen for? Any buying advice is welcomed and appreciated!