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I've noticed how when a new member joins, there are very few that reply with a welcome. A very recent one had just one reply, but 105 views. It surely can't be that difficult just to welcome a new member, and it's good manners! Especially as we're often hearing it said that this is a friendly forum. Just my own thoughts

Instructions for replacing rear wheel bearing hub assembly on Lexus LS430, 2000 - 2007. Hi all. Having read so many threads of how to replace rear wheel bearings, but none with any real detail, I tackled the job myself and thought it may be helpful to give detailed instructions. (Before I forget them...) To ascertain which side is noisy, take a test drive. Pick a smooth surfaced road so you can clearly hear the bearing noise above tyre noise. When going around a right hand bend, the weight of the car shifts to the left, so the left hand bearing will load up and start its classic "wooooommm, wooooommm, wooooommm" noise, which will revert back to just an audible, low pitched consistent growl, which varies in pitch with road speed, when you're going straight. Ditto for the right hand bearing. It will make the noise when going around a left hand bend. Having determined which wheel bearing is at fault, time to replace the bearing. Buy a complete hub assembly. Don't bother trying to replace just the actual bearing out of the assembly. Not worth the hassle. I trawled the net and got a genuine Toyota one for $94.50 delivered. You will need:- Torch or leadlight. Mirror 10mm socket 17mm short socket 19mm socket 32mm 12 point socket (1/2" drive) and either a breaker bar or impact gun. ratchet wrench and a couple of short extensions pliers Medium sized 2 or 3 claw puller (even a relatively cheap one will do the job). A short length (6") of flat steel, say 1/2" wide, which you can bend the last 1/2 " to make a hook at 90 degrees, and the other end to about 1" at 90 degrees the opposite way. Sort of making an elongated Z. Procedure:- Jack up the rear wheel with the noisy bearing, and remove road wheel. Put axle stand under subframe mount at front of wheel arch for safety. Remove brake caliper (2x19mm bolts) and tie up to take strain off brake hose. Remove brake disc (not held on by anything other than roadwheel. Remove split pin from end of axle and remove castellated locking cap. Using 32mm socket and breaker bar (or impact gun) undo axle nut. Remove 10mm bolt from ABS sensor and pull sensor out of the way. Look in the hole and you'll see a hole in the sheetmetal cover over the ABS cog. Spray WD40 into axle splines in hub. You may have to give the end of the axle a gentle tap with a hammer and copper drift to loosen it in the splines. Place puller claws around hub and position threaded part in centre of axle. Tighten puller to push axle towards differential. It will move about 1" to 1.5". Note that you DO NOT have to remove the CV joint rubber boot. (Experience..) The hub assembly is held in place on the hub carrier by 4 x 17mm bolts. They are partly obscured by a round pressed sheetmetal cover protecting the ABS cog wheel. Using the strip of steel which you bent earlier, manoeuvre the end which you've bent 1/2" in behind this sheetmetal cover to hook under it, deep within the hub carrier. You'll need the torch and the mirror to see what you're doing. I used a drift pushing on the other 1" bent end and gently tapped at it towards the centre of the car, in a couple of places around the cover, and it popped out and came loose. This enables you to manoeuvre the 17mm socket with short extension onto all 4 bolts behind the hub carrier. They were not excessively tight, so were relatively easy to undo. Once all out, manoeuvre the drift inside the parking brake mechanism to tap the old hub carrier (which you're replacing) to loosen it. It will eventually move and come away from its circular recess. Carefully pull it out, and clean the circular recess with a fine wire brush or similar. Replace with new bearing/hub assembly and as they say, installation is a reversal of removal. Partly tighten the 4x17mm bolts in diagonally opposite sequence to ensure the hub sits straight in its housing. Then tighten securely. Be careful to align the hole for the ABS sensor on the sheetmetal cover in the same place you saw before when you removed the sensor. Release the puller and let the natural tension in the axle poke it through the new hub. This will push the sheetmetal cover into position, but give it a GENTLE tap from behind to ensure it's seated. Axle nut on & tighten with impact gun or bar. Castellated cover and split pin in. ABS sensor back in and bolted. Brake disc on. Caliper on and tighten 2x19mm bolts. Axle stand out, wheel on & tight, jack out and clean up before touching upholstery..... Job done. Lexie's all quiet again. Old bearing showed signs of rust, hence the noise. Hope this is helpful. Total job time approx 2 hours. Time for a coffee (or a beer...) Regards, Nodding_Dog

I can understand that, however, if you think about it, the Q5 has about 100 options but the NX would only have about 10 altogether which would be OK. Its better to give us a choice rather than limiting options and consequently losing sales because a techie like me cant have all the toys on his new car! Maybe the NX is meant to be the next transition from the CT in which case it may only be designed for younger customers. Also, the 360 degree camera is only available on the Premier, as is all the other options I mentioned so you wouldn't get the killer F Sport looks. The sales strategy in USA is much better and I think Lexus UK could learn a lot from them. They have two F Sport packages imaginatively called F Sport 1 and F Sport 2. The F Sport 1 is essentially the UK spec F Sport. F Sport 2 however, includes the other items such as the 360 degree camera, HUD and ML system. Panoramic roof is not available in North America though

Hi welcome, even better news road tax is only £10. Just renewed mine.

That may of been me playing about with the soldering iron....Sorry

I've replaced my interior lighting to LED's recently. I bought the following conversion set from abroad, but it was missing the bayonet types for the front dome. Below are literally what i purchased to do the whole car including footwell , glove box & boot. Note the 10 piece set-up is missing the bayonet type. I've already fed this back to the seller. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290698903957?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151017227261?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201045152014?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649