DK Audio

1998 LS400, 146,000 miles

I think it is time to do my lower ball joints. When the temperature outside is 50-80 and I am going 5MPH or under, my car creaks when I turn the steering wheel, sometime quite loudly. Also, when I brake the car moves to the right (steering wheel actually turns by itself slightly). I did some searching and these symptoms seem to be indicative of the lower ball joints. I researched how to do this and it doesn’t seem too bad. I was also thinking about doing the strut rod bushings (cushions) but it seems like a pain, need to find someone with a press, etc. Plus, my car makes no noise when I brake and those being bad you usually get a clunk when braking. Therefore, I think I'll just stick to the lower ball joints for now. Since it is a non adjustable part an alignment shouldn't be required after, correct?

I went to Sewell and think these are the correct part numbers…
4333059045
4334059045
The price seems high though, $250 before the ClubLexus discount! Ouch
I was also going to get new cotter pins, the castle washers and bolts I can reuse, correct?

Anything else I should know before I order?

Thanks!

Greg5OH

look into beck arnley balljoint son ebay or rock auto. 100 or less for the set. Yes new castle nuts and cotter pins should be fitted (come with the BJs).
Im sure sewell will still be more expensive even with CL discount, but log in with your info-when i bougth rear control arms before was 240 after discount 180 each!

DK Audio

I read some sketchy things about those ball joints, was told to stick to OEM for something like this. I know quite a few people have used them though. Not sure what to do, sure would be nice to save that much money.

So you're saying I should get new castle nuts too?

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

I was trying to save money on these same items but ended up just getting them from Sewell for the piece of mind. EVERYONE seems to say stay with OEM on these parts and I listened after trying to go aftermarket on the engine and tranny mount which did not work out so well.

DK Audio

Here is my list, everything look ok? There are only 2 cotter pins, right? Should I replace the 2 smaller bolts or do I not need to worry about that?

DK Audio

I got this puller...
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=141492_0_0_

I just realized that in a ball joint tutorial oversteer has the one for compact cars...
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=231207_0_0_

Will mine work or should I get the other one?

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Both those pullers should work and you don't need the bolt. Just pop the old ones off and install the new ones. Make sure to torque them properly afterwards.

DK Audio

Thanks, the opening of this puller is a little larger so just wanted to be sure it would still fit.

Your torque statement brings about another question...Do I torque these with the car in the air or on the ground? I know some suspension components you torque with the weight of the car in place, others you do in the air.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

The puller from auto zone is the one you want. You torque the bolts with the car still in the air. If you were changing the strut rod bushings then you would need to torque those on the ground.

DK Audio

HELP

I did the lower ball joints this weekend, everything went pretty smooth. The creaking is gone from what I can tell and now when I brake the steering wheel stays straight.

HOWEVER, I have an issue now. My ABS would kick on at the end of my braking (from around 5-0 MPH for example). Then a few miles into my drive "Check VSC" came on. I did not even remove my calipers to do this, I removed the two lower bolts first and lifted the entire assembly off the ball joint. I was going to schedule an alignment but want this fixed first now.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

First disconnect the negative battery cable for a couple minutes then reconnect and see if that fixes the issue. Are you sure you did not hit the ABS sensor in there somewhere?

DK Audio

Not sure if this is the same thing but I removed the speed sensor on the drivers side. I was careful that nothing got in the hole and I clipped the sensor up and out of the way. I read to remove this on many LBJ tutorials.

On the passenger side I realized that the entire assembly moves and that removal is not necessary so I kept that one in tact.

I made sure the entire time that nothing was pulling on the speed sensor wire and slack was there.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure but since you unplugged it the ECU might have just got confused. Did you disconnect the battery before you unplugged it???

DK Audio

Battery was plugged in the entire time, I will try disconnecting the battery, that would be great if that was it!

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Let us know how it goes.