Lower suspension Arm Ball Joint

February 15, 2020

Having replaced the nearside ball joint following an advisory at the last MOT I noticed there was not so many offiside front ball joints for sale. I got the nearside one from AutoDoc and can recommend this company, good stuff and keen pricing. However they did not have an offside one so I have ordered one off ZiggyA2Z on eBay, in fairness it is not a load of money and if it lasts half as long as the original at 83000 miles all well and good.

Can the guru's on here list the most likely bushes to go belly up first on the LS 400. I presume the nearside ball joint is in the line of fire for our crap pot holed roads where the holes can cluster around that section of road. I was thinking perhaps the anti roll bar bushes could be candidates and the lower link bush (a big one perhaps) ?

Cheers,

Malc · February 15, 2020

touching wood here BUT I've only ever replaced the UCAs ( from 173k to 205k ) on all 4 corners at huge expense and the front drop links at tiny cost

the nearside went first for sure

UCAs from Amayama Toyota branded OEM .............. the Blueprint one I bought initially failed at 40k miles, a crap product in my thoughts ( replaced with an Amayama one )

My car is on 228k miles and I've had her for 8.5 years and 103k miles

Don't think I saw anything at all on the prior Lexus full service history docs relating to anything about the suspension / steering stuff

Malc

February 16, 2020

Malc, Great info appreciate it. I find it incredible that you are talking about a car with nigh on quater of a million miles on the clock and still you are getting great service from it. What mileage were the UCA,s fitted please ?

Thanks,

Kenno.

Malc · February 16, 2020

1 hour ago, Wisemonkey said:

What mileage were the UCA,s fitted please ?

piecemeal one at a time when needed, from 173k to 205k

Malc

steve2006 · February 16, 2020

Having owned my 1994 for 14 years now I have in that time replaced both front lower ball joints and the n/s upper control arm with OEM parts, the latter being wrecked by a pot hole. Car has now covered a total of 90,000 odd miles. Also never had an advisory for any suspension components.

February 16, 2020

Weird how the pot hole did the top UCA and bypassed the bottom ? Did you not threaten to sue the council Steve ?

Malc · February 16, 2020

5 hours ago, Malc said:

173k to 205k

sorry, the last original one replaced was at 217k miles

Malc

steve2006 · February 16, 2020

35 minutes ago, Wisemonkey said:

Weird how the pot hole did the top UCA and bypassed the bottom ? Did you not threaten to sue the council Steve ?

Might have been because the LBWs were almost new, never thought about liability but always a battle with the council.

February 16, 2020

LBW's?

February 21, 2020

Now got Track Rod Arms and Tie Rods for both sides from Rockauto, took only 3 days from order to delivery, superb service. One track rod arm is made in Japan the other in Turkey. The packaging looks like they have been produced way back when. However the components are mint. I suppose a consequence of owning such a aged car.

The-Acre · February 21, 2020

7 minutes ago, Wisemonkey said:

Now got Track Rod Arms and Tie Rods for both sides from Rockauto, took only 3 days from order to delivery, superb service. One track rod arm is made in Japan the other in Turkey. The packaging looks like they have been produced way back when. However the components are mint. I suppose a consequence of owning such a aged car.

I think Rockauto's delivery service is brilliant, it certainly beats many UK based companies! Did you pay customs upfront?

February 21, 2020

Phil, They appear to be a top company agreed. I paid the duty upfront via the carrier. I rate Autodoc in Germany and ordered discs for another car 2 prior to the Rockauto order, they both arrived today. So Rockauto flew their stuff over the Atlantic in 3 days and beat Autodocs trip over the channel - ish that took 5 days !

Are we rapidly getting to the time when the LS 400 spares shelf are bare ?

The-Acre · February 21, 2020

30 minutes ago, Wisemonkey said:

Phil, They appear to be a top company agreed. I paid the duty upfront via the carrier. I rate Autodoc in Germany and ordered discs for another car 2 prior to the Rockauto order, they both arrived today. So Rockauto flew their stuff over the Atlantic in 3 days and beat Autodocs trip over the channel - ish that took 5 days !

Are we rapidly getting to the time when the LS 400 spares shelf are bare ?

I think there will always be parts available, maybe it'll just take a bit more searching. When I ordered my suspension struts from Rockauto the FedEx tracking was brilliant. Ordered Monday afternoon and delivered before 10am Friday. I suppose the thing to remember is that the LS was, and is, so popular in the US that parts there are not only more plentiful but also cheaper, whereas here they are fairly rare so we pay a premium for rarity.

February 21, 2020

Phil the guru, all good to know and with such an efficient seller to tap into from the USA we should be good to keep going for a good few more years yet.

February 28, 2020

Track rods and tie bars and offside ball joint fitted today. All needed fitting as had play in each original component, ball joint had loads of grease leaking out of the bellhousing. Despite all that still a bit of wobble through steering wheel. Next check off to EDS at Derby for a full tracking set up but mild wobble still using a mega bit of Lazer kit. However tracking back and front now spot on but mild wobble still detectable mainly on braking through steering wheel. Final action of the day, get front wheels off and check balance of same. Wheels not buckled but fairly new Maxxis tyres out of balance (not running true) balance weights added to compensate car now running with zero wobble.

I like the Maxxis tyres on my green lane bikes but as things stand will look elsewhere when they need replacing on the LS.

Malc · February 28, 2020

23 minutes ago, Wisemonkey said:

I like the Maxxis tyres on my green lane bikes but as things stand will look elsewhere when they need replacing on the LS.

I'm now changing my front Maxxis at 20k miles for Falken 225/60/16 ............ the Falkens I had for very many years before my size became unobtainable ( for some reason ) so I'm pleased to be going back to them ( OPONEO on-line at £66 each plus fitting valves balance etc from their local ( to me ) fitter next Wednesday )

Have Maxxis on the rears still at 16k miles and still look very good ..... but the Maxxis are a bit harsher ride

Malc

The-Acre · February 28, 2020

2 hours ago, Wisemonkey said:

Track rods and tie bars and offside ball joint fitted today. All needed fitting as had play in each original component, ball joint had loads of grease leaking out of the bellhousing. Despite all that still a bit of wobble through steering wheel. Next check off to EDS at Derby for a full tracking set up but mild wobble still using a mega bit of Lazer kit. However tracking back and front now spot on but mild wobble still detectable mainly on braking through steering wheel. Final action of the day, get front wheels off and check balance of same. Wheels not buckled but fairly new Maxxis tyres out of balance (not running true) balance weights added to compensate car now running with zero wobble.

I like the Maxxis tyres on my green lane bikes but as things stand will look elsewhere when they need replacing on the LS.

It's always worth a mentioning again that many people neglect taking the discs off and cleaning the mating surfaces. Every time you take a wheel off the potential to get crud behind the disc is there which can cause a wobble. I discovered this from experience on a previous LS when I developed a bad wheel wobble, it turned out just to be a small rust flake after the wheel had been removed.

February 28, 2020

Malc, Top point re the crud and the discs. Just bought another cracking car, whilst I am sure the engine oil has been refreshed more than per schedule the front calipers have never been cleaned and it is all MDSH, discovered yesterday when new discs and pads fitted to the front. Crap really to put it mildly.

Malc · February 28, 2020

my indy always inspects the calipers and I noted on one service he actually charged me a little££ for some new pins etc

The original calipers on 228k miles seem ok thus far :yahoo:

Malc

February 28, 2020

Malc, Incredible longevity on those calipers. Keep us posted on the Falkens. BTW a full tracking analysis and tune back and front on these cars is value for money. When you consider the complex design and engineering applied get it set at its best.

Malc · February 29, 2020

I always have the full laser treatment done once a year, it just hopefully keeps everything fine tuned until I hit the next pothole, maybe the next day !

35k miles ago May 2017 " Free off rear brake calipers and sliders fit new pin rubbers £18.47 " ................... not incl the labour which covered the service etc separately

never had any issue with any calipers apart from this in decades of running my Lexus Ls400s

Malc

runsgrateasanut · March 5, 2020

Rear Nearside Hub Bush for my '93 not now being sold by jap spares. Yet to the one I bought (last one?) fitted but will be later this month. Can't obtain front Brake back plates from anywhere and they do start to break down. Not happy to not have a back plate though some people are.

Malc · March 5, 2020

On 2/29/2020 at 10:24 AM, Malc said:

never had any issue with any calipers apart from this in decades of running my Lexus Ls400s

just an update on this today

red warning light on dash for brakes, rear sensor a bit iffy it seems but rear pads are down a lot so now changed and the sensor " fixed " and the calipers freed-off again.

Nearside quite seized it seems and very rusty, lucky the sliders didn't snap in the process, well corroded and probably from all the salt on our roads

Thinking to order up new sliders but not sure where from, probably Lexus but wondering what the £££ might be .......... let's see how this pans out !

Brakes now working functioning fully and in fine fettle :yes: