minla007

all,

got a question for you suspension gurus....im thinking about replacing my lower ball joints and outer tie rods (prob gonna buy them from sewell lexus).....

my question is: can i or should i, replace the ball joints and tie rods without replacing the upper controls arms? will this have any type of negative effect on my car?

i want to replace them because i hear some ticking noise every now and then and my steering is loose and my alignment is off.....plus i have read a few posts about ball joints breaking and causing all types of trouble and i don't want to wait till they break to replace them....

i have a 98 gs4 w/ about 96k miles on it.

whaddya think?

bigL

iTrader: (3)

I just replace mine at 115k and they were much. needed.There is no need to change your control arms if there is no existing problems.I believe they are 5-$600.

minla007

Big L - so how does the car feel now that you replaced the ball joints and tie rods? like new? hehehe. did you get it done at the dealership? what price did you pay for parts and labor? just curious.


sewell lexus go the ball joints on sale for $99/set and the outer tie rods on sale for $93/set....the control arms are waaaaaaaay more expensive...i think they were $300+/each...so 600+ for the set....

so im prob gonna do the balljoints and tie rods first.....and IF it is needed, the control arms later cuz i got no mo loot!

dang, owning a GS is expensive...but it is tons of fun!

STONER

Not to hijack, but I did my ball joints about 10K miles ago and didn't do the tie rods at the same time. Are these two supposed to be replaced together? I have developed a new clunk in my front suspension. Will a bad tie rod produce a clunk?

Thanks

minla007

sup stoner - i'd like to know the answer to your questions too....seems like a common problem for GS owners. what kind of clunk do you hear and when do you hear it? just curious


where in VA u from? im originally from springfield, but now reside in fairfax. graduated from Va.Tech too....gooooooo hokies!

minla007

OK so reading more on this ball joint issue has me skerred....very skerred on the potential danger if i dont replace them and its about time anyways (96k miles)

so i ordered a set of ball joints from sewell for $99 and a set of outer tie rods for $75.......now i just gotta wait for them to arrive and have them installed......sewell has great prices

minla007

how much should i expect to pay for replacing the ball joints and outer tie rods? i was just quoted $650+......and that is not including the parts, because I am supplying my own parts....i think that is a little steep.....

STONER

I agree that is steep. I live in Centreville and have a guy that does my suspension stuff that can probably beat that price.

My clunking was diagnosed to be a bad passenger side sway bar link. I ordered the part from Sewell and should be able to swap it out today. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hit me on the PM for the contact info of my guy.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

So what was wrong with your link that caused it to clunk? If you haven't seen it yet, ask your suspension guy to save you the old one. There might be something obvious wrong with it, would like to know.

Jerry

minla007

cool i hit u up on the PM...im gonna call pohanka lexus to see how much they quote me...$600+ just for the labor seems outrageous to me....

minla007

ha...just called pohanka and they want $700 just for labor to replace ball joints and tie rods....WOW ...the parts i already purchased for about $175.....so w/ the labor it'll prob come out to close to $900??? WTF!

STONER

Jen,

I replied to your PM. BTW, for a little over a hundred you could purchase all the tools to do this job and find the DIY on this site. Just a thought.

Jerry,

I haven't replaced the link yet. I'm going to try to DIY. How hard can it be I'll let you know or take pics. Part was $90 shipped from Sewell and $160 from Pohanka. I just call for a good laugh now when I need parts.