FroDearest

Hello Club Lexus,

I have a 1990 LS400 which I bought a year ago, and it rides horribly on any bumps and rough roads. I replaced the control arms and strut rod bushings, which helped with the clunking, but still rides horribly, the cabin shakes and in general it's noisy.

I contacted the previous owner and apparently he replaced all the struts/springs with a quick-strut setup(All in one). He bought a brand on eBay named Struttek, Prime Choice. Now I suspect I'll have to replace everything again, these likely are the culprits now.

What I'd like to ask is, does anyone know or have experience with this brand? If the car is suffering from these cheap parts, what should I do? Buy another all-in-one strut/spring or buy all the parts that go into it? Which parts?

Any help is appreciated,

Thank you

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

shakes might not be related to suspension. most vibrations are caused by bad transmission and motor mounts, which if they have never been replaced, is very likely your problem. a transmission mount is very easy to replace, 4-bolts! motors mounts are a different story.

what is noisy to you? bad or feathering tires can contribute to road noise. did you get a proper alignment after replacing all of those components? squeaking? please describe further how it rides 'horribly'. remember these cars having floaty suspension from the factory, and will not feel like an economy car.

FroDearest

The tires are five thousand miles old so that rules them out, yes I've had an alignment. It feels sort of like a wagon right now, any bad road and there's constant, bad interior rattles. That's noisy to me, I don't really mind tire noise. It doesn't feel floaty , rather it feels stiff.

I'll see if I can find the transmission and engine mounts part# through the search function, thank you!

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

our interiors are whisper quiet and are over designed! they have felt isolators on everything to eliminate rattles!

i know what sound you mean when you said wagon. i've owned a few 5-doors and other two door hatch-backs and the creaks drive me nuts too, but these cars should not have that problem! i suspect your interior was taken apart and not put back properly.

as for the ride, it's hard to say if that's normal but it's definitely not stiff. maybe the shocks/springs aren't meant for your car.

FroDearest

I'm pretty sure it's not the tires, they're the stock 15 inch tires.

Knowing that makes me worry then! I guess it's just mostly the rattles that bother me, the shocks seem to dampen just fine on the highway. It's just normal city driving with the rattles that bother me the most.

Both rattles and shakes seem to come from the center B pillar, by the seat-belts. The odd thing is when there's a passenger it seems to do it even more. You may be right that it might have been taken apart if the cabin is built as you said.

Thus, is there anything I can do about the rattles first? Both come from the center 'B' pillars, seems to be by the seat-belts or by the assist grip.

Thank you both for your replies.