sami

Hi folks,

I have a 90 LS400 with a 130K, recently everytime i go over a slight bump on the road, the front end clunks with the suspension travel, specially the front left.
Shocks look in good shape and don't look blown or leaking oil, could it be the lower ball joints?

Your advise is greatly appreciated

trukn1

Sometimes shocks can be blown or worn without looking like they are. Herte is a quick test to determine. Stand on the corner of the car and with your hands, bounce up and down on each corner. If the car does not stop bouncing immediately after you stop, or you can bottom out the shock (will hear a small clunk) then shock may be bad. Ball joint,, jack the car off the ground to get pressure off of the wheel. Place hands on either side of the tire and try to wiggle left to right and back and forth. Tire assembly should not move at all, if it does,, ball joint going bad. It could be a number of oither things as well but start here first.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

The strut bar cushion is a common wear issue spanning the '90-00 years. It varies with car yet the occurence is frequent enough. Add this to the check list. as well.

AussiLS400

Try the strut bar links

steveski

My 95 (162k miles) does it on the right side only - took it to the shop and everything checked out fine (ball joints, strut bushings, strut tower bar, etc.).

sami

Thanks Fellas, i appreciate the input

fisher9720

Do the obvious.. and cheap first..

Most common, Sway bar bushings.. Very cheap and probably need replacing if you've never replaced them anyways..

Next, Lower ball joints.. Although, they have to be really really bad to clunk so much as you'd notice them..

Next struts....

With my car, I got rid of my clunk when I replaced my front struts.. My driver side strut was really oily.. THe passenger was dry as a bone...
I replaced sway bar bushings.. THen the strut rod cushions.. That didn't help anything with the clunking, I shouldn't have replaced my strut rod cushions, I think that is more of a problem with the 95+ LSs'...
Anyways, My lower ball joints were loose, these wear out a lot on the big ls's as they support a lot of weight.. That made the car handle lots better and steer and not wander on the road as much, but didn't help at all with the clunking...
Finally I replaced the struts and the clunking is gone.. I really think it was the tire slapping on the little bumps.. ANd I noticed it more on the driver's sidw where the strut was oily...

But now with new tires and all that my car drives likea new lexus..It's amazing how different it is especially on the interstate how it keeps a straight line and doesn't wanter enymore, especially cuz of hte new lower ball joints...

Hope that helps....

Replacing the strust isn't a bad job.. You just need a torque wrench, and rent a spring complressor for strust.... And get the procedure... Some of these message boards have them all over the place..
My driver side took me 3 hours, but that's czu I accidentally unbolted the nut on top of hte strut that holds the spring compression and it unsprung in the car as the lower nut was off.... I had to grind the strut in half to get it out..LOL.... but when I did it correctly , the passenger side only took me about 30 minutes.. It was pretty easy once you learn the order of things...

And also if you take off the steering knuckle from the upper ball joint, it prolly won't come out wiht the jaw puller itself, simply bang on the outside of the knuckle, give it a few whacs and that'll loosed it up andit will pop right out.

fisher9720

I agree with trunk1, or whatever...

Basically if you think your struts are original like mine were, 150K.. I know they say toyota struts last forever and that is the case with camry/corolla and such.. But I think with these bigger LS platform, the extra weight wears out the struts more...

I mean my car still rode good before I replaced the struts, let's forget about the clunking sound.. in the winter I would hear a creaking sound.. In the summer, when it warms up , the clunking/creaking goes away.. Why, obviously the rubber bushings and such expand and are tighter in the summer, winter they get cold and brittle cuz the rubber is old..

Make sense?