bramble

Hi I just bought a 2007 ls460 with 100k miles on the car love the vehicle but I have 2 issues with it first wind noise which I will get fix after dealing with the car bouncy ride. When I first got the vehicle i didn't notice the bouncy ride it happens when going fast on freeway 60+mph over bumpy and uneven pavements. It would bounce up and down and wobble side to side like crazy where it is scary that I will lose control if I don't hold on to the steering wheel hard. So I replace all four shocks still no fix. My mechanic said my control arms bushing are bad. So I had all 8 front control arms replaced with OEM parts. That made a big difference on the driving and handling. It doesn't bonce as much as it did but it still bounce a little and wobbles side to side but not as much. I feel like the car is not suppose to feel this way only happens on freeway at high speed over bumps. Do I need to replace my rear control arms as well for the car to not bounce and wobble. My mechanic said there are 10 total arms in the rear 5 each side. Will this help my ride? Or do I need to replace new springs? I don't want to spend more money than I already have on it. I did a 4 wheel alignment and my specs in front are good but my left rear camber is -2.6 degree toe is 0.16 and my right rear is -2.0 degree toe 0.10 alignment guy said that if i change my rear control arm it might help the camber. I'm in Orange County CA if anyone is near or in this area please HELP!!!

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

The coil springs should never have to be replaced. The control arms are quite common and there are aftermarket solutions to save you a lot of money. Since you already did the fronts and the shocks then the rear arms and the sway bar bushes would be my logical estimate. The car is not a sports car so it will have some give for comfort but you should not feel like you are all over the road. Sway bar bushes help a lot with the side to side motion. If your rear alignment is out of spec it will make the problem worse and wear your tires out more quickly.

bramble

So even at 100k the coil spring does not need to be replace? I forgot to mention that I did change the 2 sway bar bushing in the front and the both front stablizer link. Is there a sway bar in the rear that needs bushing replacent? I might just give it a go and change all the rear control arms. I read that most common is replacing the front control arms but replacing the rear control arm is that common as well? I had a 2006 gs430 and that handles well and it didn't bounce up and down or wobble side to side like my ls460. So if I replace all rear control arms the car would be more stable do I need to replace anything else with the suspensions? Sway bar? Thank you!

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

Coil springs never go bad unless they somehow rust or break. I can't promise you this is your exact problem but if your rear arms are causing the back to be out of alignment and the car moves or bounces over bumps it will cause lateral motion. Yes, there is a rear sway bar as well. Check eBay, you can get arms for much less then oem and reviews have been good. The sway bar bushes should be pretty cheap going oem. As a note, the LS will never handle like your GS. Not designed this way. Nothing else I can think of in the suspension. There are sway bar links, tie rod ends, lower ball joints, and other components but they should only be replaced as needed.

dlbuckls10

Sorry to hear about the issues you are having after just purchasing your LS. Did you take it to a independent mechanic or back to Lexus? Do you think your LS may have been in a serious accident prior to purchasing it? It seems as if you are being taken for a ride (the guessing game) and spending $1000's without solving the issue. The LS is an excellent automobile but there are lemons out there. I hope you get your issues solved.

bramble

Hi thank you both Lavrishevo and dlbuckls10 for the help and support. As for the car I took it to 2 independent mechanic for them to check it out. When I first got the car which was a month ago I notice it was really bouncy and wobbling side to side which was scary thought it was the strut/ shocks being shot so I had all four shocks replaced with OEM parts but it still was riding the same so i thought I got some defect shocks, than I replaced 4 front control arms bottom rear and top rear since they seem to be the most damage ones of all arms. It was an improvement of what the ride was with the old control arms. So I decided to change another 4 front control arms now that I have all 8 control arms replaced in the front much more improvement on driving experience over what originally when bought but still has the effect of wobbling side to side when driving over bumps and uneven pavement only happens at high speed on freeway. Not as bad as it was but still has that effect. I already spent $2140 for all 8 front control arms and that was a hook up price from my parts guy. Now I'm really thinking about spending another $950 for the rear per side that will come out $1900 for the 10 control arms in rear 5 per side and the bushing which would probably cost me the same as the one in front $20 ea. I'm hoping this will solve all my car driving problem. If it doesn't I don't know what else the problem can be. But Lavrishevo comment does make sense that if your rear arms are causing the back to be out of alignment and the car moves or bounces over bumps it will cause lateral motion.

bramble

Never knew that having bad control arms bushing can cause the car to drive like how mines drove. Very bad and scary experience where I felt like the car was gonna go out of control if I don't hold on tight to the steering wheel. And never knew that the ls460 has a total of 18 independent control arms
wow talk about pricey when they go out on you. I'm glad I have a OEM part guy that I deal with if I had to get it from the dealership I think the price would scare me away. I wish the original owner had them replaced when it was under warranty but too late for that now. Only other issue I have with the car is the side front wind noise, I'm looking into it on how to fix it myself.

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Wind fix is posted by member jmcraney with photos and step by step!

Doublebase

If you just bought the car and didn't notice it on a test drive, but noticed it after, why not return the car? Or have them fix it? Why go out and spend whatever it cost you to have all those control arms replaced, when you just bought the thing? And on top of all that it doesn't even solve the problem?

What you're describing doesn't even sound like control arm issues, control arm issues are more of a gradual thing...you'll hear clunking sounds, it may start to pull, the steering might not feel as tight and the wheel will wander from center and you'll have to correct it. And seeing as how none of this presented itself upon your test drive of the vehicle, I've got to ask, did you drive it off a curb or something going really fast? Has it been in an accident? Is the frame perhaps bent, or the cradle in the front? Did you modify the ride height and lower it? Did you put on different rims, etc? How's your tire pressures? What's the tires like?

Because I wouldn't waste another dime on the thing - it sounds like the direction you're going in is not going to help. This thing is either heavily modified, or it's been whacked pretty hard. I'd go with the later.

bramble

Hi Doublebase, unfortunately when I test drove the vehicle it was fine on the freeway unlucky for me that the freeway had no bumps or uneven road so the car drove smooth. I bought the car private party and it's too late for that now to complain to the owner or have her compensate for any damage parts. The car is all stock not lowered or any modifications to the suspensions the car came with aftermarket 20" wheels that I had them replaced with stock OEM 19" touring package wheels got all 4 brand new michelins pilot sports as3 tires pressure on it is 38psi the owner said the car never been in a accident and as far as I know when vehicle is on lift my mechanic and I checked to see if it's ever been in an accident it looks fine. My first thought is yes how can the control arms make the car feel this way when driving over bumpy roads at high speed but then after replacing all 8 front arms it was a huge difference but didn't fix it 100% percent. Now it just feels like the rear is wobbling over bumps so I'm assuming that the bushing on the control arm is worned out in the rear and if I replace them it would handle as it should like new. That's the only thing I can think of that is causing the problem. But I will have it checked out again by my autobody guy to see if car has been in accident or any frame damage. How can you tell if there is any frame damages to the car? Thank you!

enoch861

Try replacing rear stabilizer bars and links. I believe there's two of them in the back. It'll be the cheapest option and should give the most gains. Your issue doesn't sound like it would be the control arms at all (at least in the rear).

bramble

Thanks for the advice, I think I will try replacing those first since it is the cheapest route before I change any rear control arms.

Doublebase

The auto body guy will be able to figure it out in ten seconds, but you can look for other things/signs.

I find a tell tale sign is right around the sunroof area, if there is any small little dent around the front corners of it the thing has been hit. The pressure from an accident will bend the weak spots of the roof around the sunroof and body shops won't fix it because it opens up a new can of worms. Look at the paint in direct sunlight - if one side looks a little different than the other, it's probably been hit. Check under the nose of the car, if it looks like clips and retainers are missing/broken, it may have been hit.

The sunroof is a big one, if this thing was hit hard you'll see something up there, there's no hiding anything up there. It will look like a little dent/imperfection, where it should be smooth.

The thing that worries me is that after you replaced the parts it got better, but it's still there. Replacing old rubber components with new ones will always have a positive effect on other problems - it will mask the thing it didn't fix quite a bit. New tires will do this as well, they "tighten" things up so much that you may not feel some suspension problems right away. I guess sooner or later you'll have it solved, but it stinks you have to spend that much.

konradl

The bouncy ride is something that I was also a bit surprised with in the beginning and I think it takes time to get used to, depending on what you drove prior to this and what kind of roads you have.
I ended up changing my struts, which improved the ride slightly, but the bounce is mostly still there. This is just the nature of the car, aside from any excessive bouncing. Note, I do not, however, have any significant lateral bouncing.

More ways to check for previous repairs is:
-Open the hood; find a nut, bolt or whatever you can which can pin point a location on each of the four corners. You can use a measuring tape, or even a string. For example, place one end on the center of a bolt/nut in the front-left, and measure the distance to the rear right of another bolt that is in a fixed place. Then measure the opposite diagonal distance. Both distances should be very close +/- 1/8-1/4 at the most. I hope that makes sense. This is a good indicator of whether the car is square.
-Just take a look under the hood at the radiator support, fender, etc mounting bolts. You should be able to tell if they were previously removed and if so, if they were replaced in the same spot or not. This is a good indicator or whether or not the car was in an accident, since replaced parts would show marks, unless pieces were painted while on the car.

One more tip... If you are at all handy and can do basic maintenance, you can replace links, arms etc. by yourself and save yourself on a lot of labor costs. They are simple parts, which most of the time just require removal of wheel, brakes and such just for better access. Just be sure to torque to spec. Afterwards, just get an alignment. These parts don't rust so bolts easily come off.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

Just a heads up. Our LS's have shocks not struts. Not that it really matters with what you are saying but they are not the same thing.