amul

I just spend $$ on ball joints...they definately had play when the Firestone tech loaded them down. So now they are replaced.

My problems is I'm still getting some rattling from the both sides. He checked the suspension to make sure it was all tight, but suggested it may be strut mounts.

I only get rattling on quick, light bumpy roads, and going over my driveway curb. That kinda makes me think it may be the strut mounts. I just don't want to take a shotgun approach and start replacing everything.


How easy is it to replace the mounts? How much more would it be to just replace the struts?


Anyone in the Chicago area have similar problems and have worked on this "major" task( in my book)....? Maybe at the next local meet, someone can drive the car and give me some personal advice.

gau17

make sure the nut on the top of the shock is securely fastened.

StasGS4

iTrader: (1)

Do you have any suspension mods on the car? Sometimes aftermarket parts can make the ride harsh and more pronounced. The wheel size and weight is also a big factor for bringing out all sorts of rattles.

amul

no mods, bone stock. i bought the car at 85K miles. it now has 91K.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

Outer Tie Rods?

pjmkim

I joined the boards today to research a similar problem. We purchased our 2002 GS300 about 6 months ago and the car has around 34k . We bought it certified and already brought the car in once to the dealership we purchased it from. They never heard it and the test drive was done during rush hour in a busy part of town so we couldn't hear it on the test drive either.

Brought it in this morning to a different dealership, but so far they are not hearing the noise either. I did schedule a test drive for the drop-off time, but it didn't work out on their end, so I may need to go in tomorrow for it (grr).

I noticed the noise is also in the wheel wells (driver rear, passenger front), over small bumps going about 20-30mph. I find I can hear the noise the best if I go over a manhole cover or up from a small cement drainage type dip in residential roads. The sound I hear is a tin can/rattle type noise, that lasts about 2-3 seconds at a time.

Thanks to reading the other thread by amul we're going to ask them to check the strut mounts in the morning, and possibly the ball joints.

Hopefully this will be the last trip to the dealership for this problem. If it is resolved, I'll make sure to post with what they did.

amul

My ball joints had quite a bit of play at 90K . Unless you are hearing poping sounds, it's probably not the ball joint. Since your car has 34K...I would make Lexus pay for it, if indeed you have excessive vertical movement in the ball joint.

I had Firestone tighen the mounts this moring.....they said they were as tight as they can be, and the rubber bushing center bushing looked good.

I do not want to take a shot gun approach and start changing everything. After finding out what it cost to replace the struts,mounts, and labor, the annoyance outweights the $$$.

One thing I did notice lately, is on occasion, the car feels really solid, even over the same type of bumps. Maybe it's weather related?