valex

To change the driveshaft flex disks, you would need to drop the exhaust. I found it easier to get under carpet on both driver side and passenger side and unplug the downflow oxigen sensors, rather than trying to remove them from exhaust.
Time to change the gaskets where pipes connect to convertors!

valex

I didn't take pics of the driveshaft removal, but everything is as decribed above.

My flex disks were not bad after 207K miles, but with some rubber parts its hard to say... They may look ok, but work not so good.

The rear diff mounts had light cracks, would need to be changed soon, I am glad I could do now.
Now I have new engine mounts, new transmission mount, new flex disks and rear diff mounts.
I also changed the diff "arms" cushions too, they don't see much stress, but I has the parts already.

To get to rear diff mounts you would have to remove axles and differential (after dropping exhaust and driveshaft). A fair amount of work, worth doing only if you have high miles and plan on keeping the car for a long time. I can't even imagine how much a mechanic would have charged for the job, probably close to what the car is worth

valex

Pics of the rear diff mounts

m0ist

I had drop the entire exhaust when i did the guibo on my old e46. MAN is that a pain...

Good luck OP

damon

What are the symptoms of worn rear diff bushings?? I am starting to get a god awful noise emanating from the passenger side of my rear axle.


My guilbo has been changed recently and I am just north of 300K.
Rear Diff fluid also changed despite what appeared to be good fluid in it to the minds of my Indie mechanic.

damon

I was about to ask why my UCF-10 "torque monster" only has one rear CV Axle as I was scanning for parts??

Scraape

from what I've seen, the actual diff bushings don't seem to look all that bad, even after 265k in my 98. When my diff recently went bad I got a chance to look at all this stuff.

On the other hand, the subframe bushings that bolt up to the diff did not look very good in my car. I didn't want to go through the hassle of replacing those yet, but they were far worse than the diff bushings.

Superfast1

For those that have bad flex discs, make sure to buy the genuine parts from Lexus & do not buy the cheap ones made in China. There are 2 of them, one by the tranny & the other at the rear axle. There's just so much torque from the tranny & rear axle & the cheap ones will not hold up. I bought a pair on Ebay for $60 & they only lasted 3 months.

Banshee365

Which press kit is that?

damon

My mechanic took a smell (yes, you read that right) and said "no dice" to the 1st guilbo I supplied.

i believe in my case that the awful sound is the CV Axle giving up the ghost.

valex

Banshee
That a make-shift thing, I used what I had handy, bearing press tool and metal sleeves.