Loose steering
12-31-13, 06:16 PM
#16
Someone please enlighten me as to what a Strut Rod Bushing is. The '97 has a coilover shock on all 4 corners, no struts. Ok, I just Googled it. The upper shock mount or top hat on my car is worn like I'd expect for the miles, 120,000, but all of the rubber is still in good shape and the hole the shock rod goes thru looks fine. These don't rotate when steering like on a car with struts, the upper and lower ball joints do the rotating when steering. I think the 2000 is the same, the early models had struts on one end, shocks on the other.
01-01-14, 09:42 AM
#17
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Kneel on one knee forward of one of the front wheels; look inward for a "bar" that runs forward from the wheel suspension and attaches to the "frame" of your car. There is probably a much better way to describe it but that's the best I can do for now. These assemblies are known by a variety of names. I once posted a link in a post on this forum to an article ("Last of the LS400s") on www.autospeed.com that touches on why these "semi-longitudinal tension rod" bushings wear out so quickly.
Strut rod is essentially a stabilizer bar to form an A out of the lower control arm, as stated its a rod that attaches to the frame just below the rad on each side, there are big rubber bushings on it, it goes from there to the low control arm, but it won't cause free play in the steering, more like a step-out or wander.
What do y'all replace the bushings with? OE rubber? Poly-urethane? Replace the whole arm or just the bushings?
I'll definitely check them out but I got to thinking. They could be the cause of the play in my steering but they don't have any drag on them so would they also cause the vibration? I'd think the play would have to be in the rack or on the tie-rod side of the rack for any vibration since the steering wheel side of the rack would be isolated and only have play, not vibration or shake.
01-01-14, 10:50 AM
#18
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I had the entire strut rod/bar assemblies on my 2000 LS400 replaced with OEM a number of years ago - as I said it was at around 83,000 miles and they were horribly worn out ... front end was vibrating dangerously at highway speeds.
The car is now at 174,600 miles. I was planning to sell the car in the next few months but - long story - it looks like I may be keeping it longer. I will have the strut rod assemblies replaced again during the upcoming180K service.
I've been surprised at how much more robust the front suspension on my 2000 is compared to the 90 LS I drove from new to 183,500 miles. Except for the strut bar assemblies, all the suspension components on my 2000 are still original. The 90 LS had to have a whole lot of front suspension work done between about 140,000 and 180,000 miles. I treated both cars the same so apparently the suspension components on the 2000 are a lot better.
The car is now at 174,600 miles. I was planning to sell the car in the next few months but - long story - it looks like I may be keeping it longer. I will have the strut rod assemblies replaced again during the upcoming180K service.
I've been surprised at how much more robust the front suspension on my 2000 is compared to the 90 LS I drove from new to 183,500 miles. Except for the strut bar assemblies, all the suspension components on my 2000 are still original. The 90 LS had to have a whole lot of front suspension work done between about 140,000 and 180,000 miles. I treated both cars the same so apparently the suspension components on the 2000 are a lot better.
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Loyalone72
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09-24-22 08:37 AM
