steevr

Well I hoped that we were spared from getting the clunk on our late build '04 GX. I experienced it for the first time the other day with 8,500 miles on the odo. I asked my wife if she's heard it lately (it's her GX) and she said the other day she felt it for the first time. She said she thought she got bumped from behind, but no one was behind her. I'll mention it to the service dept on the next oil change.

What are they doing nowadays, lubing up the shaft or replacing the shaft?

Thanks

gs400jon

I don't have the "clunk" but have asked the dealership to check out the existing TSB to see if the splines are being teflon coated now. This was mentioned in another thread so I'm following up on that, just in case.

LvMyGX

The dealer replaced mine, no questions asked.

Tony

After the dealer replaced your drive shaft are you having any more problems? Lots of the members here still have the clunk even with the new driveshaft.

gs400jon

I was having my ES 330 serviced today and talked to the lead tech about the teflon coated splines. He said that I was the fourth GX owner to ask about that. As far as he knows, the factory has not shipped drive shafts with teflon and in fact, had just talked to the factory yesterday. He said that Lexus is not planning on any further fixes for the clunk problem. The service advisor was standing there with us. He has a 4Runner with the clunk and the lead tech has a Sequoia with the same problem.

koolaidman

the 04 gx doesnt use u joints in their drive shaft. thus eliminating lub for the drive shafts

Martha2

We just bought a 2005 GX470 - demo with 3900 miles on it. It clunks at every stop. The service manager has told us that it's an "attribute of the GX470 - it's a 4 wheel drive truck with a luxury interior." We traded a 2004 Denali XL(which ran just beautifully) for the GX470 because we wanted a smaller SUV and really looked forward to the "Lexus" experience. I'm wondering if we should have kept our smooth running Denali? The service manager told us that he was going to go out and drive some of the other GX470's on the lot to see if they had similar problems. Clearly, we are being lied to. They know exactly what the problem is and apparently how to fix it as well. We are so angry and disappointed. I'd don't want to have a $50K lemon.

ADVocate

I have to admit, sometimes the dealerships just don't want to acknowledge certain things. It must be some odd directive that only a few subscribe too. Anyway, there is a TSB "fix" for that particular issue. It seems that there is a coating that is applied to the drive shaft slip joint. They mention that the TSB is for 2003-2004, "BUT !!!!! ", I don't see how they can argue the year point if the vehicle has the issue. A defect, is a defect, .... is a defect. You can see the TSB discussed on another Lexus user forum:

TSB # DL001-04

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums...howtopic=23561

Quant

The year cutoff for TSB's usually applies to the point in time that it was implemented in the production line and is therefore no longer required. However, the other thread talks about a modification to the original TSB without actually creating a new TSB. Don't know if the 05's / 06's already have the teflon coating.

My GX has the clunk, and I will talk about the TSB the next time I take it in for service. I'm not too bothered by the clunk, though.

GRAYM

yes...still have the clunk after a new driveshaft as well, 2003, with 36K and that's not all. the car still stinks and is worse than ever with a new catalytic converter. if you don't have this problem, just wait.

angelslex

Wow 36k on a 03 ,what don't just trade it for an 06 . anyway my freinds at the toyota dealer know about the problem on the GX and the 4runner ( I have an 03 4runner) as of last year they did the of the above and nothing still have the clunk even one of the tech has a 04 4runner and nohting the only tip he gave me was that if you guys notice it only that the clunk when we brake hard right on the spot but if you strat slowing down before you get to a light you won't hear otr feel anything.