UPDATE on 3/31/25: I brought the car back to the body shop and they found and fixed my problem: The anti-squeal tape they applied to the brace had been worn down and I missed this spot when I re-applied it. They doubled-up the amount of anti-squeal tape and my car is back to not having any noise. The good news is that it took my only 15 minutes to remove the backseat to get to this spot, so I'll re-apply the tape every 4-5 months when the sound returns until I find a more permanent fix.

UPDATE on 3/24/25: The squeak has returned despite the fix below, so this is not a long-lasting solution. I'm keeping this up since I'm not done in my quest to fix this noise and will update this once I've found a better solution.

I was able to fix the squeaking noise coming from the rear brace and pillar that is fairly common on the early model year LC 500's. It took me just over an hour to do and I'm not very handy (I don't do oil changes or brake jobs but will tackle easier mods). It was mostly very easy and the results are worth it to me.

The reason I did this is because 1) the noise bothers me and 2) I didn't want to take it back to the body shop every six months to adjust the bolts, which is also expensive. I'm sure the squeak will return, so when it does I'll take an hour to fix it again myself.

Here's how I did it. First, I heavily leveraged the information in this thread on the issue and potential fixes: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lc-...ng-else-5.html. I then used the instructions in this thread: https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/fo...lunking-noise/. The problem was that it didn't show the specific steps, so I figured I'd be the guinea pig and experiment with my own car. Finally, I used this resource to figure out how to remove the rear seats and side panels: https://www.lexus-tech.eu/HYBRID/HVD...00h_GWZ100.pdf (starting on page 38).

With that, let's dive into how I fixed my squeak:
1. Remove the rear seat cushions by pulling up on the front of the seat like you see here (you may break the clip that the seat attaches to (I did) but this is a cheap and easy part to get at the dealer):
[img alt="Rear seat cushion removal
"]https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clublexus.com-vbulletin/1262x1296/removing_rear_seat_cushions_99e0429af2ba174b70b2a78e96dda9eff07cc869.png[/img]

2. Remove the seat back cushions with a 12mm socket and socket extension. Note that I only did this on the passenger side since that's where the noise was coming from. I did not do this on the driver side of the vehicle):

3. Remove two clips securing the side panel by using a flat head screwdriver to pry up the center piece or a panel removal tool (this shows the driver side panel, but you'll see where the clips are on the passenger side):


4. Remove the passenger side rear side panel by pulling out the seatbelt cover with your hand, then pull on the panel in the areas indicated below (no tools needed as the panel will basically pop out pretty easily):



Here you can see where to remove the clips (yellow circles) and where you need to pull on the side panel to remove it (red circles):


5. You'll also need to remove the rear portion of the scuff plate by pulling up on it (very easy):

6. You can then pull up on the panel and remove it from the vehicle:

7. You'll now have access to the brace that runs right behind each of the front seats and stretches from door-to-door. The problematic metal piece is located under the carpet. To access it, use a flat head screwdriver or a panel removal tool to pry up the carpet under the white clips (circled in yellow below), which will expose the six bolts that attach the squeaky metal bracket to the cross brace and b-pillar (circled in red, behind the carpet). Loosen these six bolts:

8. You'll then want to slightly pull out the white plastic piece that's covering the other three bolts that attach the metal piece to the brace and b-pillar. Note that it's connected the wire circled in yellow below that is easy to remove, but I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the seat belt wire (circled in green, which is behind the black loom). Removing the seat belt wire would've made removing the three belts (circled in red) behind the white plastic piece so much easier, but I was still able to get enough clearance to remove the bolts without removing this wire):

9. You'll want to remove the three bolts in red above using a 12mm socket, as well as the six other bolts that secure this metal piece to the brace. I then applied "squeak reduction tape" to as many areas as I could behind the brace: , then white lithium grease to the areas where I couldn't. I then screwed them back in using the order outlined here:



10. Before putting everything back, I also cut some sound absorbing material and stuffed it behind the white plastic connector that covers the three bolts on the b-pillar, and just under the carpet over the brace. Here's the product from Amazon: , and here are the photo's of the sound absorbing material stuffed behind as many places as I could find:


So far the noise is completely gone and it makes driving the car so much more enjoyable! I'm sure it will come back in the next 4-6 months, but I'll re-tighten the bolts again until this no longer works.

 

Squeak B Gone!

Great post, thanks for the effort.

 

must have been a hell of a squeak to go thru all that.

 

It looks much more complicated than it actually was. And it was totally worth the effort!

 

Thanks for posting the details, and I'm very glad it has solved the problem. Having said that, mine is still clicking even after the brace was welded (albeit it stopped for a few months after this) but the noise is back again and Lexus have now attempted a permanent fix 6 times in all! Curiously I am attempting to speak to another Lexus branch but so far they are being, shall we say, elusive. The story goes that they apparently know how to fix this problem once and for all. Just as soon as I eventually speak with them, I will share whatever I glean from the conversation.

 

Well I have managed to speak with the aforementioned branch and in the event the fix they applied was one that my dealer had already applied, so I was somewhat misinformed. However, armed with the excellent "antidentit" write up, I will have a go myself and see if I can succeed by using in particular the anti squeak tape.

 

I was really hoping you'd be able to find a better solution through Lexus, especially considering that welding the parts didn't make a difference. Do you know what parts they welded? It may be tough to apply the squeak tape if you cannot get between the metal piece and the bracket it attaches to. But either way, it may be worthwhile to also use some sound absorbing material as a layer of sound deadening just in case.

I figure that if enough of us try to fix it ourselves, we may find a better solution than Lexus has.

 

Yes, I too was a little disappointed that a more permanent solution wasn't suggested, and frankly I think Lexus really don't know the solution. Having said that, then Lexus did advise there are various bodies they could call upon for assistance, but I would have thought that had already been done, but I will nonetheless check with my dealer. As for what has been welded, then please see the attached pic and I think you'll recognise it's the connection to the B pillar and therefore the brace is still removable. I'm therefore inclined to think your solution is definitely worth a try, and it may yet provide a long term/permanent solution.

 

I've got some unfortunate news: my fix didn't last nearly as long as I was hoping for, as the noise has already started to return

So I'm going to take it back to the body shop to see about welding, but @Brinylon it sounds like the welds didn't fix the squeak for you so I'm a bit lost as to what to do next. I'm wondering about removing the brace completely from the vehicle, but know that's not a great idea since it may cause issues elsewhere.

 

dont outhink the engineerrs.

 

Really sorry to hear this, but it does seem clear that the brace is most definitely implicated. It has been suggested that the brace itself could be welded to the car, but I am very reluctant to go down that route on the basis it might be impossible to reverse engineer if that doesn't solve the problem. To my mind, there are more than sufficient bolts securing it to the car, but I was going to ask you where exactly did you site the squeak tape? I presume inside the brace and if that were the case, what sort of clearance fit did it have with the car body? My thoughts being that if it were snug, then it would surely give very little if any wiggle room and may even have made refitting the brace a bit of a squeeze?.
All the more a shame because over the weekend I emailed my dealer, and they were quite happy to try your solution, and if my son had been available I might even have tried it myself. The only clue in all this is that later cars simply do not have this problem, and therefore surely something changed in the body construction at the same time. That being the case, then you'd have thought Lexus might have more of an inkling as to what might be the cause.

 

Crank the Tunes!!

 

before welding it down did you try to drive without that brace? What if the brace is not the problem? But something underneath it.

 

That's a good point and something I have been pondering. Just to be clear about the welding, then to date it is where the mounting point where the brace connects to the B pillar that is welded, the actual brace can still be unbolted from the car albeit there has been talk of the brace itself being welded. The brace was removed on a forum member's car and apparently the noise stopped. Understandably that would seem to suggest the brace was implicated but said forum member didn't have any faith in his dealer or that they could hear the noise in the first place so who knows the reality. For myself I intend to squeeze my son into the back of the car and follow "antidentit" lead and if possible remove the brace completely and go out for a short drive. In all honesty, I'll know if that solved the problem or not the moment I reverse out my drive. Another curious thing is I occasionally hear the noise as I get into the car and I struggle to believe my body weight could induce body flex so just perhaps it might be something else altogether. Regretfully I can't get on with the job until another 2 weeks, but obviously I will share any findings we may or indeed may not make.

 

I dropped my car off at a Lexus certified shop today who originally applied the anti-squeak tape which fixed the noise for about four months and asked him about welding. He mentioned that if you use heat to weld the metal components, it could negatively impact the integrity of the metal so he was reluctant to go down this route.

He's going to contact Lexus again to see if they have any more advice on how to fix it, but I'm not too optimistic about that given that it seems that no one has found a permanent fix yet.

The good news is that it took me about 10 minutes to remove the interior panels to access the area since I've done it once before. So if the solution they come up with lasts another 4-5 months, I could pretty easily repeat that process quickly to address the noise.

I'll update this thread as I find out more, since I'm determined to find a solution to this problem since I love everything about the car... except this damn brace squeak!