dcalab

I feel the harsh ride after driveshaft replacement is due to a height adjustment made on the air suspension to help correct vibration issues (shaft alignment to rear end ).
Dealer will not admit this.

bobbrand

Have a 2004 gx 470. The dealer replaced the drive line. Not only did it fix the clunk but sometimes it felt the rear end was bottoming out over certain bumps. This is now gone. Also the steering seems better at high speeds. In all this is a no brainer for a repair done under factory power train warranty. They gave me a new car to drive and washed mine. Completely satisfied.

TeCKis300

Chalk it up to lazy or inexperienced techs.

Control arms do not freely float on hinge at the inner joint to the chassis. That is the control arm does have have complete freedom to pivot on the inner joint. They are affixed via a solidly mounted rubber bushing and it is this bushing that must flex and deform to give the control arm it's range of motion.

This means that they control arm joint should be torqued down only after the suspension is loaded to the nominal ride hide. This allows the bushing to be zeroed out when the car is sitting on the ground. The bushing should only deform and flex when the suspension is compressed, or the wheels allowed to droop.

Silverlady, your tech more than likely just torqued down the suspension arm with the car in the air on the lift. Meaning that the bushings are resisting compressions and are loaded already at normal ride height.

I would go back to the deal because the control arms will prematurely wear out and fail when installed this way as they are always under tension, and over tensioned as the suspension compresses.

agood1

I just bought a GX with 90k on the clock, and apparently this TSB has never been done because the clunk is very apparent.

I am out of warranty, so I was curisous if I could buy the parts and do the work myself? Has anyone tried it? How much were the parts?

ROSCOGX470

I just asked the same question in a different forum. I have an aftermarket warranty and was wondering if Lexus would fix it as a recall or if I would have to go through my warranty. Try Lexus before buying your own parts.

The G Man

The clunk is not a recall. Lexus sometimes will fix the clunk under the Lexus extended warranty, but I am sure they wont do it under the aftermarket extended warranty. You will have to ask your aftermarket warranty provider if they will pay for it. This is the reason why I do not buy 3rd part extended warranty.

ROSCOGX470

I agree, but it was my only option as I purchased it from a preowned luxury dealership.

josta

I had the TSB done at about 1,500 miles. It now has 46,000 miles and I can feel the "clunk" starting to come back on...feels like a nudge from behind.

So, for me it (the "fix") lasted about 44,000 miles. It is not (yet) very noticeable, and only happens once every 20 or 30 stops.

Has anybody had to have the fix done twice?

John

Capirato

Yes, I had it done three times on my '04. The third time because it wasn't done right the second time.

I just had new shocks at 76,000 miles due to them having an air leak. Was done under Extended Warranty. Still have until Dec, 2010 or 100,000 miles.

~ Cap

subie2GX

Dealer just called and replaced the driveshaft after showing the L-SB-0116-08 printout. Can't wait to pick-up and drive this weekend.

subie2GX

After driving for 3 hours, so far no clunk at all.

Deros

iTrader: (1)

I have a 2006 GX470, bought new, but never notice a "clunk". However, I could be hearing it, but I could have assumed it is normal car noise. Exactly when does the "clunk" happen? Is it durning breaking, accelerating, back up, etc.. My Warranty expires in Oct 10 and want to make sure it gets fixed under the warranty vs. hoping that they will fix it after the warranty for free.

Thanks for the help.

subie2GX

Normally it happens just before or after coming to stop; you'll feel a 'bump-from-behind' sensation after 2-10 seconds the stop or releasing the brakes. Most cases are very mild but sometime very hard. Most dealers will tell you that it is normal for 4x4 trucks; which is completely BS.

Make sure you find the pdf file called L-SB-0116-08 and take the print out with yo to show them if they refuse to fix the problem.


Good Luck!

redrocks

So the clunk can occur after coming to a stop and when you release the brakes and just before accelerating. Does this happen every time or intermittently?

subie2GX

No it doesn't happen all the time. It happened to me 8 out 10 times but the intensity of each time was different. For once i had double clunk. Any how, this kind of thing should not happen; you should just mention to the dealer about the issue and give them the tsb #. You will be much happier after the fix.