lctaylor1

I have a 99 GS4. I had new brakes installed front and rear around a year ago. I seem to have this slight clunking noise when I come out of my driveway in reverse. Once I put car in drive I hear it a little but the it goes away. I do not notice it at all when regular driving. It sounds like my brake pads are shifting. I did find postings here about that, but a good friend of mine also has a 99 GS4. He was having the same noise. He has had brake pads replaced as well within the past year. He took it to Lexus and they told him it was his ball joints and they repalced them both and realigned the car. His noise is gone. He also says he notices a difference in his handling. My car has about 83K. My buddy has around 50K. He does not drive his car much at all and does not drive it hard. My handling and eveything else seems fine except for the clunking at very low speeds when changing from reverse to drive. Could it be the ball joints or am I right in thinking brake pad or caliper movement? I find it hard to believe that his ball joints were worn already with such low miles. I have a feeling the Lexus dealership might have made his ball joint problem seem much worse in order to get them replaced and charge those nice hourly labor rates. This paritcular dealership is known for overpricing. Also, we have both been getting squealing form our brakes when braking from moderate speeds. He went to LExus for his brake job. I brought oem parts from Lexus and had someone else do the work. Both cars squeal. Is Lexus using lower quality materials or did both repair places skip a step or something. Squealing brakes on a Lex is not accepetable to me. Who makes quiet pads that are compatible with our cars?

EyesOnly

Subscribed... I've noticed this too, 34k miles...

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

First of all, its not really a problem just how it was designed. The noise of the brake pads moving around in the mounts. There is maybe a few millimeters on the left and right side of the place where the pad mounts in. You will hear that click every time you change directions....back/foward. It's just the sound of the brakepad moving to the front/back of the mount. I'm guessing the main reason they designed it this way so that the brake pads would be easier to change? Another possible reason is if you really jam the brakes and everything heats up....the metal will expand and the few mm room is in there so nothing will crack. Highly doubtful on the second possibility because to reach the temp required for metal to expand is up in the thousands. Only those new carbon-composite brakes can get up to those operating temps.

lctaylor1

Thanks for the info. Do you know the approx. lifetime of the ball joints in our cars? I am sure alot of is determined by style of driving. I referring to normal everyday driving habits. Who makes a quiet brake pad?

RedRider

I noticed similar klunking sounds on my 99 GS400 at around 98K miles. It turned out to be the ball joints in my case. I don't know what the average life is supposed to be but I also had to replace the ball joints on my 96 LS 400 at around 100K miles.

Kharizma

iTrader: (6)

if the clunking if your ball joints - get them fixed ASAP! it's a great difference once you do.. ride quality will be like new! i had to replace mine about a month or two ago i'm at 103k

nlspears

Hmmm, I have that same clunking too. I only have 31k on my car, but with it being a 99, the previous owner rarely drove it. I wonder can the ball joints go bad from lack of use also?

SloGS3

i have the same problem with my 99, the clicking only shows up when i go from reverse into drive. I spoke with a buddy of mine who is a service specialist ta a local Tire Kingdom, and he told me that some Acura TLs and TSXs have the same issue as our GS' its not an issue at all its just the brake pad sitting that causes that noise. no need to panic!