Stu

How many hours should this job take if done at a shop that works on Lexus vehicles ?

I want to take mine is and pay fairly for the work.

Thanks

Bon

If it took me less than an hour on the garage floor I can't imagine an honest shop charging more than that. Your shop rate may be anywhere from 75+ per hour. That being said my local garage wanted around 150 to do it even though the car was already on their lift and I had the parts. I couldn't let them do it to me.

Twix

Ok, I finally replaced mine as well...
Like Bon says, it takes around 45 minutes to do, and it is not necessary to take out the complete steering rack at all...
Take two long bolts holding the steering rack out.

After, your steering rack will be loose, so you can just take the bushings out (may take a bit of time).
Once that is done, get a silicone spray, and slightly spray the new bushings on the outer side.

Put them in where the old ones were (you don’t have to put them all the way in).
Tighten everything as it was (the bushings will “slot in” under pressure from the bolts you are putting back)…and voila! You are done…

Enjoy the feeling of the newer lexus

Notice the old bushings - only two on each side are completly gone...as you can see, the round shape is everything but round...oval one is just very "soft"...

Not to forget to mention, pay attention how the oval bushings stand, and place the new one in the same position (I did it just in case, and I'm sure it does matter)

Bon

Thanks for the write-up TWIX. I'm surprised by the way the round bushing is wallowed out. What year is your LS and how many miles do you have?

Stu

for you who did this repair on a 2005 LS, where did you get the parts ? My Lexus dealer said the 2005 does not have these bushings ? He ran the part numbers 45516-50050 and 45516-50060 and found nothing ? Why is that ?

If I order the bushings from a 2001 - 2003 LS and use them on the 2005 will they fit ?
I really don't want to mess up the steering rack.

Thanks

Bon

The steering rack part numbers are the same for 2001-2006 so the bushings should be the same. It's possible that a change was made to the bushings after 2002. But, if an improvement was made then normally the old part numbers would be superseded.

Stu

2 Lexus dealers told me there were no replacable steering bushings on the 2005, which does explain why they didn't look at them when I brought in my car to them with this steering issue.

The dealer also said the parts had to be ordered from Japan, and there were none in North America - something we all know is not true.

Not really very helpful service Lexus !

Bon

Back in post #52 Viper6 says:

"I am here to tell you the 01-03 parts work in my 05. The part numbers i removed are different and end in 50050 and 50060... but externally the dimensions are same."

I just can't imagine that they're not the same.

Dealers!

Stu

my dealer wants to charge me $ 280 for these bushings !

Is anyone else planning to buy these parts soon, as Sewel and NorthWest Lexus won't ship to Canada ....
Any one willing to do me a big favour and pick these up for me and ship them ????

Viper6

Yeah man, they are dimensionally the same in all respects... I have pics with micrometer but still have to learn how to post them. I have them in mine and it tightened up the steering considerably... it is the fix, go for it.

Viper6

WOW, that is insane. I can tell from your pics the car has some serious miles... that bushing swap must be like night and day for you given the shape of those bushings (assuming all the hard parts are tight)! Congrats!

Twix

It is a really big difference...
My Lex is 2002 and it has 95.000 miles

These bushings have never been changed till now

Lynzoid

did mine today. 203k kms, no change whatsoever ))) old bushings not that worn.

Bon

What year is your LS? That's quite a few miles without degradation. Are you the original owner? Perhaps there had been a prior replacement steering rack or bushing change during your car's life by a previous owner? Also, at ~120,000 miles you can other worn out front parts as well such as suspension bushings, inner and/or outer tie rod, and ball joints.

Stu

Sorry to hear that ! I will be replacinmg mine very soon - my car has 55,000 miles only, and if it doesn't fix my car on the highway ... I will be selling my car. I bought the car thinking it needed aligment and tires - which I have done - twice, so I am praying for this to work, lol