Hello everyone,

I have an 07 GS350 RWD, 132K miles.

Symptoms:

Very audible squeak from suspension front and rear (not as bad in the rear) when going over bumps. It happens mostly on the driver side. I can replicate the squeak when I push down on the car in the front. It only happens when the weather is warm, lately when it's been 60 degrees or less, it doesn't make any noise really.

Another squeak I'm hearing is when I get in the car first thing after it's been sitting a while, there's a squeak that's coming from mid-body area (I think), and happens when I turn right, transferring weight to the driver side.

I've searched and saw numerous threads but haven't really been able to get a clear idea of what may be causing this. I did have someone lube the control arm bushing (at least I think we did) and the noise did not go away. Car feels smooth, but I wouldn't rule out shocks as a culprit. I'm trying to get ideas and narrow things down so I can start hunting for it when I have free time.

Any ideas/suggestions?

 

did you check if the struts are leaking?

 

A bushing....probably control arm bushing...or possibly a strut or strut mount...good luck...

 

Thanks, and thanks.

I've noted those suggestions and will check them soon.

 

OP, have you changed any suspension parts during your time owning the car? I see you're at 132k miles and was wondering what the life span of the suspension components for this car looks like -- struts, control arms, shocks, etc. Currently I'm at 53k miles (2008) and may need to change a control arm. Curious to know from anyone's experience, thanks.

 

Noise issues aside, I would check struts/mounts/ball joints, tie rods and all bushings at that mileage. That squeek noise could be coming from many things, but I would check as much as possible just to see what is badly worn at that mileage regardless. At 132k, I am replacing upper and lower ball joints, endlinks and tie rods no matter what. Those things don't last forever and they are fairly cheap to address.

Even old rusted factory brake shims can make noises if they have never been replaced. As others said, start with inspecting struts and strut mounts and go from there. Check sway bar/UCA/LCA bushings as well. If you do end up needing struts, change the mounts while you are in there. They are an assembly that comes witthe strut tower bracket, boots, and bump stops. It adds cost but you will kick yourself if you get new struts and then have to do the same work just to get at the mount to swap it out. All this being said, if you are really going to do this right, then you should explore coilovers. Once I got deep into buying struts, mounts etc it added up fast. As a ballpark set of figures 4mounts/$80 each + 4 struts/$90 each + lowering springs/$225 = Price of coilovers which you can adjust exactly how you want. I didnt really factor this in when i started replacing things and when I added it up i was kicking myself. If you are going the cheap route of just replacing 4 struts, then this move is much cheaper obviously but it may bite you later.

 

Also, I hope you didn't lube any of those rubber bushings with petroleum based grease. That rubber will be toast soon enough if you did. Even synthetics sometimes are "packaged" in a petroleum base so you really have to be careful with what your buying and spraying. Go to a marine shop and they can help you. The only OEM bushing i have ever greased is the upper control arm bushing and that was only the metal cylinder the rubber component sits in to avoid any rub noise as it sits against the bracket of the control arm when being pressed inside. I never put any grease on those rubber bushings at all and have been noise free. You are at the point where you are going to have to determine whether you want to press out the bad bushings or just get new arms if you need them.

 

I have not replaced any suspension parts, I bought this car recently because it was a good deal, and a nice upgrade from an IS250. That being said, I think I'm going to replace bushings anyway and shocks including mounts. I prefer not to go the coilover route. This time around I'm really trying to go as OEM as possible.

This is starting to sound more than I can handle with my limited expertise. I think it's time to take it to a shop and have them diagnose once and for all.

 

Sounds like an issue had (especially being worse in dry weather) - turned out to be the sway bar bushings. Quick squirt of silicone spray usually makes it disappear for a few months BTW.

 

Can this bushing be replaced or would I need to replace the sway bar?

 

Yes, bushings can be done alone - think they're about $20? Easy enough DIY, but watch for seized bolts holding them in.

 

You can do it. read up on the forum.. There are TONS of information that you can use. Sway bar bushing is just a rubber piece that folds around the sway bar and is bolted down by 2 bolts. The only issue is rust and/or clearance depending on your tools, but you can get in there and do that as a first step. change the endlinks too. Use Deeza. They are super beefy, made in Turkey, not some Chinese junk, and they are cheap and better than EOM. They are no doubt shot at that mileage. Another real easy fix=2 bolts. Then the sway bar is out of the picture.

I wasn't trying to scare you about the noise. My primary point was just to say that you have a high mileage car that is now 7- 8 years old so diagnose that one issue and get proactive so you can avoid unplanned/unexpected costs from those suspension related items that will no doubt annoy you. I HATE anything making noise within my suspension. You can push that GS to 250k easily if you stay on top of it and proactively plan your maintenance. Change your sway bar bushings yourself as a start. Then start investigating your next couple of suspension moves. Struts can be changed with minimal tools and alot of elbow grease. Every time you get into a DIY, you will realize you need another tool, but that's still cheaper than the shop and you learn about the car + build your toolbox for the next move. Many of the more specialized tools you can just rent. Only hit the shop for things that are truly out of your depth. I just got my trans fluid done even though Alchemist has a cool write up on DYI, but i didn't have the ***** to mess with it .