One of the front lower ball joints on my '14 RWD is split around the very top of the boot. I have noticed a quiet and intermittent clicking noise from somewhere up front, but there's no play and it doesn't always make the sound, and when it does, it's only on very small road imperfections. The grease is milky white and clean, so I assume either this just happened or it's split in such a way that it seals when the car is on the ground (and the noise is unrelated). Whatever the case, I called Lexus expecting a high replacement cost, and I wasn't disappointed... $800 per side. No thanks. DIY doesn't look too bad, and a new Toyota lower ball joint assembly is $90 or so. Anybody done this? Thanks.

 

I used to have the same kind of noise issue, but turn out it was the hood, the noises went away after I raised the 2 rubber stand up at the front hood.

 

Thanks. I'll check that out.

 

I tot i had that for weeks......i raised the rubber but the side gaps became unsightly hahaha. I finally lowered them back and spray silicon grease on both side of the rubber and the center lock assembly.....has been quiet ever since :P

 

The hood didn't seem to do it. More poking around and driving, and it seems like the brake pads. Light pressure on the pedal appears to make the sound go away. I've read about the F-Sport squealing, but this is a base, and it doesn't squeal. I've not seen anything about pad rattle on these though. Anybody had an issue there? I suppose light brake pressure could cause something in the suspension to stop rattling as well, but this seemed to work with barely any pedal pressure.

 

Pads worn out.
Did you check the brake pad thickness?

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm fairly certain I found the issue... the pad retainer pin was working its way out, and the little retaining clip was missing. I reset all of that and used a body clip from an RC car while I wait for the right clip to arrive. Weird. The pads were replaced ~20k ago by the previous owner at an indy shop. Either they forgot to put the clip back in or it fell out recently. Oh well. Glad I caught it, and glad it was easy.