ACLex

Very few so far as I have had the car for two months but so far it has had clear front lenses, clear side repeaters, throttle body clean, 18" LS430 wheels and a good clean

Tomorrow it is getting MeisterR Europa coilovers, OEM ARB bushes, OEM front control arm bushes, OEM front lower arm bushes and OEM lower front ball joints so going to be busy

Andy

JBrady

Andy, where did you source the OEM bushes? All I have seen so far are complete replacement lower control arms and upper control arms and they are very pricey. Please tell us you found a source!

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Pretty basic stuffs except for the $%^!@ starter.

Suspension:
strut bars
tie rods ends
Eibach springs
Bilstein struts
strut tower bar

Engine:
alternator
PS rebuild
couple batteries
timing belt service to include
water pump, idlers, cam seals
Serpentine belt and idler
thermostats
oil filters
2X starters
tranny mount
enlarged air snorkel opening

Body:
driver door key cylinder
new front bumper
rear bumper painted 3X
front quarter top portion of fender painted
black painted grill
clear bra on front and rear bumpers
Club Lexus sticker

Interior and misc:
rear seat belt guide/clip
tinted windows

Accessories:
L Sportline Model IV 18" wheels

I'd enjoy modding, just don't want to attract attention. Might put a spacer on the rear wheels since the offset is conservative, that's it.

Extrudedco

Let's see, in the few months I've had my '91...

Interior: (yay filthy smoker for a previous owner...)
Cleaned carpets and headliner
Cleaned seats (including a few pounds of mold and candy from original owner's kids from under the rear seat)
Fixed broken driver's seat reclining bar (cut in half, flipped around, inserted wood and screws to bind it together)
Replaced blown Nakamichi speakers with inexpensive ones off Amazon
Replaced bad capacitors in front Nakamichi speakers

Mechanical:
Repaired busted door handle (yay JB Weld) and lubed locks
Replaced fuel filter
Replaced wheel studs
Replaced craptastic wheels (20 inch curbed chrome wheels, one cracked, with all 4 tires about to burst) with some 93 Q45 alloy's off Craigslist
New tires
Replaced destroyed lug nuts
Replaced valve cover gasket
Replaced PCV valve
Replaced Spark plugs and wires
Replaced ignition coils
Flushed coolant
Replaced bad radiator cap
Flushed brake fluid
Replaced various vacuum and coolant lines
Cleaned EGR
Capped off power steering vacuum lines

It still runs a little rough, probably due to an intake leak. Still need to flush the transmission too. Plan to swap to an electric fan and replace the headlights at some point. Suspension needs some work too, but right now I'm just happy I'm not driving around a Millenia S with a blown headgasket anymore, even if it was a bit more fun to drive.

ViP303

I haven't done much since I've had my LS400 but tonight, I just purchased some 8k dual beam hids. They look sweet. Next thing I'm planning to do is tint my windows, get the clear signal lights and the red and white tail lights. And I found a local guy selling some rims that I wanted. They are the Work Euroline type N's.

ACLex

48654-50010 is the part number for front lower control arms for 89-94 and I believe these will fit all LS400 models as they are identical to the old ones from my 95 and these share the same control arms as the 98- models as they fitted perfectly.

As for the upper arms, I have not yet found any OEM replacements

Andy

JBrady

THANK YOU!

I need to review as I believe I had seen the 90-94 bushings but had no listing for 95-00.

I take it you ACTUALLY have installed these on you 1995? Yes? That would confirm fitment and is a HUGE savings over having to purchase new arms.

Sewell shows the part number that you list for 1994 cars at $55.
For the 1998 no such part is listed only the complete arm at $282.
That you KNOW that the older model bushing fits the newer cars... I am PUMPED. Saves me nearly $500 on this service.
Further support for your information is that the control arm part POSITION number is the SAME for all years! 48620 (RH) 48640 (LH)
The 1995+ PART number is 48068-50020 (RH) 48069-50020 (LH)
The 1994 PART number is not listed on Sewell online parts only the bushing.

1994 image shown (1990-1995)


1995 image shown (1995-2000)


Furthermore they have STRUT BAR bushings listed. These must be installed PRECISELY as they are at an ANGLE. Part number 48674-50051 for $40ea

1995


No listing from Sewell on the 1994 cushion.
Locator numbers are the same for the different years even though parts are different like strut bar.

1994

ACLex

@JBrady,

Yes, I have fitted these bushes to my control arms

Oh, and the strut bar cushions for 89-94 are 48674-50020

Andy

moat

1) This thread is very impressive. You guys have done amazing things.

2) You all know the oem upper control arm is super expensive. Question: are UCF10 and UCF20 upper control arm the same? I am asking because the UCF20 oem is cheaper.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

your question was answered in the other thread. most likely not compatible but nobody's tried. 1LS and 2LS front suspension is somewhat different, although the basic design is similar.

moat

Thank you PD. You guys have a lot of experience so I appreciate the comments. I respect your comment/guess about the UCA from 1LS to 2LS, but my gut tells me they are likely exactly the same. I suspect they just have different part numbers going from gen 1 to gen 2 in this particular case.

The engineers may have changed/improved the front suspension from gen 1 to gen 2 a little, but I would be surprised if they actually changed/re-designed the UCA because there is no reason for it. They sure look exactly the same (and it's not a very good design as far as control arms go, for example, the ball joints can not be changed, and it's steel, etc.).

As to aftermarket arms, I now suspect the only issue is the size of the taper (not the quality of that little boot). When the taper is too thin, it can't possibly secure correctly (hence the knuckle jams up to the boot and rips it). Too bad, because aftermarket arms would have been just fine at $220 a pair vs. $1300 oem (the bushings and ball joints are all fine ... those are not new technology, everyone knows how to make them ... the issue is they made the taper WRONG SIZE in China).

The Chinese aftermarket arms sells for $30 or less if you buy more than 30 (on www.alibaba.com). All the crap we see on ebay are those.

I think there is a good chance the arms from Dorman may be good, but no one have commented on them here on CL. I was told they are actually designed here in the USA and manufactured in Taiwan. I was told this but I have no way of verifying it.

As you can tell, I have been reading and searching because this OEM part is so ridiculously priced. I finally found used OEMs and I think they will be just fine (because I checked the ball joint for play and bushings carefully). $50 ea is the going price all across American's junk yards.

PaulieWalz

montone Swartz baltic black paint job
Aftermarket headlights, markers, led tails
Factory grill sprayed black
New Cadence speakers all around
1 10 inch ultimate subwoofer with amp
Pioneer radio head with full touch screen and bluetooth
6k HID kit
Blue leds in the fogs
White leds in the running lights

yaQuzza

iTrader: (5)

Put power steering fluid today.

POPONGinCA

awesome lookin beast you have there!!! luv your front grille..

POPONGinCA

so far, all I have done to my LS are (after a long and uphill battle with all the mechanical and electrical problems I had with her..) --

SUSPENSION
Megan EZ Street coilovers
Megan rear camber kit
Moog f & r swaybar links
'98 Supra custom strut tower bar

ENGINE/INTAKE/EXHAUST
Mishimoto 61 degrees C thermostat
Mishimoto silicon intake coupler
K&N filter element (not going to take out air box, for SMOG and performance reasons)
2.5" catback custom exhaust piping (mid silencer deleted)
2 Megan F-RT turbo mufflers