JZS161NZ1

Hi all,

My car is 2003 Toyota Aristo V300 (JZS161) 140,000 kms

Ok so long story short ive just replaced all of my front suspension with new parts (around 1000-2000kms ago now), mostly OEM and a couple of aftermarket. In the process of doing all this my car has developed a NASTY creak in the front end drivers side. The creaking is at its loudest when pulling into a steep driveway (eg: inclines), it also does it when turning corners and basically anytime the car gets pulled to the left. Ive also had a lot of unstability and wandering and high speeds.

Here's a list of what ive done so far in the hope to get the car handling properly:

New custom valved coilovers with bilstein shocks & jamex springs
New OEM caster arms
New TRD front control arm bushings
New steering rack bushes & grommet
New balljoints (aftermarket)
New Upper control arms (aftermarket)
New inner & outer tie rod ends OEM
New cusco swaybar / strut brace / chassis brace

Im running 18s on 225/40s

Things still to do in the front:

Swaybar Endlinks
Upper strut mount assembly
wheel bearings

Ive also done TRD bushes in the rear as well as cusco swaybar.

And guess what, all of this and my car STILL drives terrible, FML

Sometime during all of these parts being installed and a road trip where I hit a couple of big potholes, the car developed this creak. What do you guys reckon?? Is it a damaged aftermarket balljoint that couldn't take the lowered suspension / potholes? It sounds very similar to when my original balljoints started creaking, but they have just been done! Ive been doing heaps of research and im at a loss. Is it the swaybar links or upper strut mount? Ive read both can creak? Its a really gross metal creaking noise that's very loud. Its even started doing it when im driving straight now and hitting light bumps.

Im going to see somebody on Monday who can possibly help me but im at my wicks end with this car. Not only is it just this creaking sound, the way the car still wanders at 120kmph + is astounding. Has anyone else spent big $ on their suspension in these cars only to be very disappointed? I love this car and its monster 2JZGT engine and had big plans for it but the suspension is making me want to sell it now. It STILL wanders all over the road at high speed after all the bracing and new arms, WTF is going on?

MasterKwan

Biggest problem I see is people swap all these parts but, don't follow the basic procedure for pre-loading the bushings. On any joint with rubber bushings, you're supposed to preload the suspension to normal ride height before you tighten the bolts into place. That gets the bushings into their sweet spots. Most people have the car on stands, tighten everything up with the suspension at full droop so, when the suspension is actually loaded, the bushings are already pre-loaded wrong. When you then hit bumps while driving, the bushings get twisted beyond their normal operating range.

I don't know if that is what's happened here but, it happens enough that I thought I'd suggest it.

JZS161NZ1

Hey thanks MasterKwan. I would definitely acknowledge that as a possibility. Ive been taking my car to a suspension shop that's been in business for 25 years, but seriously ive lost all confidence in them. THey even installed my cusco front sway upside down so it was hitting my engine when I tried to turn it over. Im soooooooooo sick of retards working on my car ffs what do I need to do, do it all myself just like every other fking thing in this life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im going to a new mechanic on Monday who I know is very good and has built and setup many race cars in his time. Hopefully he can fix these problems

thanks again MasterKwan

JZS161NZ1

I was reading the thread on tightening all the crossmember bolts up also. The 4 x 17mm & 6 x 19mm bolts. That was very helpful to read and im going to get that checked also. Thanks Club Lexus ive already learned much from these forums!

JZS161NZ1

Also another thing I need to get check is the new swaybar bushings to make sure they are correctly lubed.

I'll be sure to come back and update this thread once problem is solved

cheers

istundra

iTrader: (2)

was it the end-link? i'm facing similar issue on my passenger side. for me, the sound is intermittent. it is away now... and i have end-link to swap if it comes back.

let me know how u resolved this issue.

Aristo722

In for the end result, Ever since I swapped on my FUCAS Ive had a nasty squeak as well, either sway bar links or caster arm bushings or something.

JZS161NZ1

Hey guys the creaking was being caused by the new aftermarket front driver side upper control arm. One of the bushes was / is defective and makes a really bad pirate ship creaking noise. I know it is this because we took the UCA out and greased all the bushes up really good, and guess what, noise gone. Then a few thousand kms it comes back once the grease runs out. The sound is embarrassing I had a kid laugh at me the other day.

Hope that helps somebody find the cause to their problems I remember it was killing me trying to work it out lol

istundra

iTrader: (2)

ok cool thanks! yeah it sounds bad. i will check the Front Upper Control Arms... though mine is stock OEM for about 90K miles so far...

The noise went away for 2 weeks and now i kind of hearing the creaking noise coming back. For me it is weird because it comes and goes... it typically go away after heavy rain.

i will consider checking UCA next time...

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

The UCA inner is a boot bearing assembly, so I can see why it would need lubrication. We also carry poly versions and can drop ship to Australia or NZ for $20. Bushing preload is a huge problem though with factory bushings, even from the standpoint of poor shock performance due to bushing wind up. We make a complete bushing set now via Superpro that is exclusive. So contact us if you want to overhaul.
Mike