I just read some of the posts in the thread "2GS All Over The Place" and noticed a few of you mentioned about ball joints. Are the ball joints a pitfall for the GS?

 

yup.. for many of us..
mine started to make creaking noises.. especially during parking.. change both of them right away.. or you'll pay dearly price when it decide to go out on you

usually it started to make noises around 80K

 

I replaced mine about two months ago with 128k on the odometer. Mine made clicking noise whenever I turned my steering wheel or go over dips. When I took the driver side out, it was LOOSE and had 1/2" of play. The passenger side was not as bad, but I replaced both of them anyways just because.

 

might as well get your tie rods replaced too.

 

How much would balljoints cost? Seems like coming from BMW to Lexus is already emptieng my wallet as my e36 m3 had ZERO issues. I already hear clicking noise when parking at 46K miles!

 

just so happens this morning when I decided to take my GS out and no music blasting, I heard a clicking noise when turning. Is turning left or right a syptom ball joint badness???? What other syptoms to look for?

 

Balljoints are $53.80 each:

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...99&catalogid=1

That's as cheap as it gets!

I hear you about the maintenance problem. My GS is the most problematic car I've used/owed/bought/etc. I'm starting to believe Lexus's reliability isn't all that cracked up to be. sure the engine lasts long, but other stuff breaks

 

I would not go with cheap when it comes to ball joints. I know companies like Moog makes ball joints for our cars that are lower priced than oem. Those cheaper ball joints do not last as long as oem. I would only go with OEM or polyurethane replacement(if available).

 

Lift up the front of the car, put some jackstands under it. Take off your wheel. Put two of your wheel lug nut back onto the rotor so that the rotor doesn't move. Now hold the rotor assembly and pull it upwards. If you are able to lift it up without the spring/shocks compressing, then your balljoint has play in it. Lexus only allows 0.9mm of play as the max. If you feel like there is more than a 1cm of play, then replace it. Let me know where you need me to be more clear.

 

They're actually OEM balljoints from Lexus of Pembroke Pines. I ordered them awhile back and they came in Genuine Toyota packaging.

 

GSTeg .....thanks for the good info. and the product find....next time i lift my GS up and im going to use your method for checking ball joints....

 

im replacing my balljoints at 47K once i put my 20's on in a few weeks.

 

I bought a 99 gs300 a few months ago with an extended warranty. Do you think that warranty will cover replacing the ball joint? It's at 91.000 miles...but don't hear anything clicking yet.

 

some people have gotten it replaced under warranty. you should get it checked out even if you dont hear it clicking.

 

I have an '02 GS3 and I hear some clicking also. I thought I only heard mine when I brake at lower speeds but I may have been turning at the same time and the noise may actually be from turning.

I've got 57k on it but I do still have the remainder of the factory warranty to 100k. I will check to see if they'll replace under warranty. If not, how much can I expect to pay (fairly) for labor?