lonewolf69

Hi Guys,

Newbie here on Club Lexus getting ready to pick up 05' Blizzard Pearl end of month! Just wanted to "bump" this and throw this partial review out to the "experienced" GX470 owners here.

Car & Driver mag review (3rd paragraph last two sentences):

"diffs at each end. The Torsen directs more torque to the end with traction, and a traction-control system automatically brakes any spinning wheel, with a noticeable clunk when it kicks in. For extremely slippery situations the center differential can also be locked."

Entire article can be found here:

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=1

Could this be the cause of the dreaded "clunking" noise?

PitBull

Not the samething and do yourself a favor and never believe anything you read in these car rags. They do a terrible job of evaluating vehicles.

chip99

hello i am from the lx section (was bored and we are actually considering the gx ) i am surprised lexus has not fixed this problem way back in 99 we had a jeep grnd cherk which also had the clunk or bump related drive shaft issue but was fixed when they developed a better drive shaft and then replaced all the other ones. from all the posts i have read this seems like the exact problem i am shocked that lexus is going the way of not relacing the drive shaft (only in people that complain enough) and then to find out it still happens it must be a cost issue for them but thier image is goin to suffer maybe they think they can take this hit??? i know the gx is the same as the prado in other parts of the worl but ony the v8 is here in the us so i cant be that expensive to fix??? any ideas???? 3 years should be enough to fix hey 1 year should be enough to fix a design issue

GS450h FTL

I have 5100 miles on my late year '04, if I have this clunk that so many people talk about I don't know it.

Tony

I have an 04' GX and have the clunk once in every 75 stops mainly when stopping after an exit ramp from highway speeds. I honestly can tell you that it does not bother me that much and would not deter me from buying the GX.

I am extremely **** about cars and would complain if I felt the clunk was that annoying but for me its not that bad. Dont let it deter you frrom buying this great SUV. I had an X5, MDX, 4Runner limited and all of them had some issues, if the GX has this as one bad trait then it is worth it.

RAM MAN

3 Week old 05' 600 miles no clunk or any other problems so far.
Ford had the same rear drive shaft slip joint binding problem on the 99'-00' ranger 4X4.
Felt just like someone ran into the back of you a few seconds after a stop.
Their fix was an updated rear driveshaft, fixed the problem on the 30 or so trucks in our fleet.

bobgore

I am now seriously thinking it is not mechanical, the solution to which would probably be lubing. I believe its electrical whether its the Torsen system or the load leveler. The other day the car thunked when I turned on the key before I engaged the starter. That's what I thunk, anyway.

chip99

hello there i am not a car guy so i dont know to much but what i remember from the jeep was the actual drive shaft and engine and trans (torque etc and the down shift etc) not electrical. i think if it was electrical it would be easier to fix just reprogram a cpu for it to still occur 3 years it has to be a major piece which cost wise it is better for lex/toyota to feel customer complaints then fix and hey i have to say i am really disappointed from reading lots of other posts not just with this problme but other people having problems with other issues lexus seems to be going by the way side with the customer service. we have had our lx for a long time and the only problme i have had was a paper work issue with a tampa bay lexus dealership.

Martha2

Yes. Our '05 GX470 has 4000 miles on it, a demo, we've had it a week.

Miller11

I have an 05 with 9K miles logged. "The Clunk" started at about 7K. It is due for service in a couple of weeks, but I don't expect the clunk to go away after the visit to the shop - it never did in my 03 in spite of all the fixes.

LexusBob

I have 8K miles on my '05 but have been feeling the "clunk" for a few thousand miles. As you can see, I'm almost due for 10K service. I will inquire the dealer about it at that time.

I am also experiencing some vibration in my steering wheel between 60 and 70 MPH. When I look over at the empty passenger seat at this speed range, I can see it shaking/wobbling a little. Has anyone experienced this on their '05? If yes, what did you do to resolve it?

Off Topic - My daughter buckled the middle seat position in the third row and I can't unbuckle it. It's not the standard type seat belt. Anyone know how to unbuckle this? (I haven't looked in the owners manual yet; thought someone here would know).

Tx!!!

steevr

Bob,

I looked at that seat belt for the first time the other day. At first I couldn't figure out what buckle it snapped into...then I found the buckle buried in the left half of the 3rd seat. Looks like the ignition key might fit into the hole in the buckle to release it. I can't believe Lexus would make us open the tool kit on the rear door to get it unbuckled.

Martha2

We have an '05 with 4000 miles on it - and it idles funny, as well. Very weird.

loflin

Correct, you use the ignition key (or similar object) to release the 3rd seat middle shoulder belt. Pg. 156 in my manual.

LexusBob

Thank you for the seat belt buckle answer steevr & loflin!