amcdonal86

Dang Randy...you sure seem to attract the stalkers and the angry. :( Remind me not to stand near you in any kind of crowd. :D Hi Billy... Yeah... I post here trying to be helpful, add some humor, gather some technical insight, read very interesting tricks & tips, appreciate some very interesting experiences and opinions, from all of those who so "nicely" share it.... and then I get attacked via an email by a text-rapist ---- that I was genuinely trying to help!!!! - go figure?? Well.... I'm think'n my "butthead" DNA must somehow be seeping through my fingers and onto my keyboard!! :o I'm 6' 4", 230 lbs, best I could bench press was 430, highly trained in "combat survival", I think I can still put 8 rounds from my Colt Model 70 into the head of the standard police silhouette target at 30 feet in under 6 seconds..... so I guess I can handle a "Go F--- yourself" once in awhile. :P Although, I do cry at some dog food commercials now. My apologies if you were actually trying to help. Humor doesn't usually come across in writing on car forums. Well anyhow, I'm thinking this is normal, but I've had people drive my car and comment that they think the wheel is cocked to the right. So it's kind of made me self-conscious (about the car). I'm not sure what to think!

$500 isn't that bad for a repair if you know it's going to give you the result you want. I, on the other hand, spent $500 getting scammed by a dealership and replacing parts that did nothing to resolve the problem (although there were a few side benefits of replacing those parts).

Well, today is definitely the warmest day (high of 60) since I've had the car. The noise is completely non-existent, and the ride quality seemed better than ever. I think this confirms that it is a rubber bushing of some kind. I think I will probably try replacing the upper shock mounts and see what happens. I will have to wait until next weekend, though, as I will be out of town on business.

By the way, if you're curious about what 4% slope actually looks like, take a look at this chart: http://www.1728.com/gradient4.gif I think a lot of people would even have trouble walking on that.

Oh boy.. .the crown of the road syndrome. The steering shouldn't pull very hard either way, on any road. On a typical highway at 30 to 40 feet wide and a "crown" slope 2 to 4 degrees, you shouldn't get much "correction" pull at all. It may get a slight "drift" after a few seconds. When you drive on the opposite side of the road, assuming it slopes the same amount as the other side, does the steering wheel need 20 to 25 degrees of "correction"? It's not really a pull--it is a drift. Don't you think a drift requires a steering correction? Otherwise you'd just drive right off the edge of the road... Honestly, I'm not sure if it's that unusual. In North Carolina, the roads seem to have much less cross-slope for drainage. As soon as I come into Virginia (I-81), the "problem" becomes worse. (Virginia seems to have more aggressive road drainage into the median of the highway.) Does anyone else experience something like this? I have experienced in most cars, but not to this degree that I can remember. There is really no problem on arterial/local roads, just on highways. By the way, I know what I'm talking about when it comes to roads. I am a transportation engineering student and I spent a whole summer working at an engineering firm doing roadway design. BTW, why on earth would I drive on the opposite side of the road? Do I want to get killed? Hahaha.... But to answer your question, yes, if the road is sloped to the right (more rare on highways), I do seem to have to steer to the left to compensate.

If I am driving on a roadway that is sloped to the left, I have to steer to the right about 20-25º just to keep the car tracking straight. If the car is on a flat road, it drives perfectly straight without much correction. I just had an alignment, and I just changed my strut rods and sway bar bushings. This problem existed before I made those changes. The steering doesn't feel unusually vague (no dead zone in the steering wheel, and I'm coming from a Miata with incredibly precise steering/good handling). What could the problem be? Tie-rods? Tires?

you can upgrade up to 2000 ls 400 I was not aware that you could upgrade the calipers without upgrading the rotors and caliper mounting brackets. I'm probably wrong, as I'm new to Lexus, though.

Lexus did some minor upgrades for the 1993 model year which included larger brake rotors, and, I presume, different brake calipers. I don't think you will be able to use these two calipers.

Also, what are the more specific symptoms of bad strut/shock tower mounts? I replaced my strut rod bushings and front sway bar bushings and I'm still hearing a crunching noise up front. It only happens under about 50 mph (maybe I don't hear it when I'm going faster), but whenever I go over a large dip or some sudden large bumps (or even going over the transition between driveway and road), I hear this noise coming from the front somewhere. It looks like an easy enough job to do, and it's not too expensive (maybe $60 for parts for both sides). Any ideas?

How can you check whether the sway bar links are bad or not?

Well anyhow, I think I will wait until the weather gets warmer (maybe 70) to see if the noise goes away. If it does, then it was probably some sort of bushing and then I can go from there. For now I think I will just live with the noise.

Thanks for this info. I guess strut is really ambiguous--as I had suspected!

This info is for a 1997 LS400, probably the same as yours, Hi, replace both strut rods, The strut rod part numbers are 48670-40011(LH) and 48660-40021(RH). They come complete with bushings and 2 pressed-in bolts. they run about 95 each. http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/Fj9WH6CM this will show you how. and that lowspeed clunk will be gone. cheers.. Worked for me.... Thank you. I replaced them, and the "creak" is still there, but only on really huge dips where the suspension is suddenly compressed. It doesn't seem to happen when I throw the car pretty hard into a corner anymore (I don't tend to do that on this kind of lumberwagon, but just for the purposes of diagnosis I did). Perhaps it's just me hitting the bumpstops, but I doubt it! Well anyhow, about the clicking noise in the brakes I was referring to:[i/] On a hunch, I used my spare tire jack to jack up the car and removed the front right wheel where the noise was coming from. To my surprise, the two lower nuts securing/sandwiching the lower control arm with the strut rod were not tightened at all! I mean they were barely hanging onto the end of the studs!! Since it was raining, I had done the job in a parking garage nearby. Apparently it's private (although free), and the owner came out and yelled at me and said to get the car out of there. So I picked up the pace and I must've forgotten those two nuts!!! Now the "clicking" noise emanating from the brakes is completely gone, and the car truly does ride like it's on glass now (even more so than when the nuts were not tightened)!

So from what I gather, struts and strut rods are the same thing?

Anybody?

Welcome!!!! I'm pretty new, too! Lexusownersclub.com is much much smaller than the car forums that I am used to--be patient, it may take a while to get answers you are looking for, but usually a good careful search will help you find some people who may have had a similar car issue as you. (Then again, I was used to mega-forums like miata.net). The people here, though, are just as nice and are mature!

Well, this repair has done absolutely nothing to mitigate the noise, but my ride quality and vibration levels are much improved. Also, cross slopes on pavement do not require as much counteraction with the wheel. I noticed that now I have a strange clicking sound coming from the right front brakes. I will probably try to lube them up. I may have inadvertently dislodged some one of the clips on the brake pads while I was jamming the strut bar into place. Other than that, the noise is still there! What could it be? UCAs? Ball joints? Sway bar links?

trade motion.com doesn't work for me. :( "Directory Listing Denied This Virtual Directory does not allow contents to be listed."

Well, I finally replaced them. I haven't had much time to drive around yet, but the noise still seems to be there, although much less frequent (seems acceptable to me). That was a pain in the butt!!! Taking them off was easy, but getting them back on was another thing. I finally found it best to bolt the non-bushing side in loosely first, and then worry about the bushing side. Using a ratchet as a pry tool is also a good idea, because getting that tube in the bushing to line up with that bolt is a pain in the ***!!! Overall, it was about a 4 hour install, and I consider myself fairly well seasoned, although I have never done suspension work. The job is impossible if you do not have at least a 2 foot breaker bar "cheater" extension. Don't go much longer than that, because beyond that, you'll have a lot of trouble even getting the breaker bar in position!

Act of God does not include snow... where did you hear that?If that were true, snow would be a license to drive as recklessly as you wanted! :) From some business dictionary: "Violent and catastrophic event caused by forces of nature, which could not have been prevented or avoided by foresight or prudence."

Can anyone tell me the difference between struts, shocks and strut bars? And what does the front suspension of the LS400 have?

What parts on the UCF20 are shared with a Toyota that is sold in North America? My friend keeps trying to convince me that the LS400 is not a distinct car, but a car made of parts grabbed from the standard Toyota bucket!! I like to think the the build quality and the R&D for the LS400 is much better than that of a standard Toyota. I am fully aware that the car was sold as the Toyota Celsior in Japan.

Sorry to hijack this thread (I hope I'm not), but does everyone else experience a "lunge" when putting the car in drive while holding the brake when the idle is high?

For any interested parties, I have attached a photo of the strut rods (just received them an hour ago). I was going to install them today, but the weather isn't cooperating and UPS got here late.

I guess the definitive answer is no...