OK,,spent some time searching thru the forums and I think I may have found the answer to my question, but would like to hear from fresh perspectives as well. This question goes out to my fellas who are lowered. Here is my dilema,,

On my 92, I seem to be wearing out an excessive amount of LBJ's and it is concerning me. I do know that the LS is a notorious ball joint eater. It just seems like I am replacing them at least once a year, and I should be getting a little more life out of them before needing replacing. My ride is not lowered to a ridiculous height. I am on H&R springs, so I am only a little over an inch being lowered. I dred going to bags(eventually) on my LS, primarily b/c of this "concern" over the excessiveness. My symptoms of telling me that the LBJ's are loose is when I pull out of a parking spot, or doing a u-turn where the wheel is held hard over, sometimes I will feel a quick jump/skip like the wheels slid on ice for a very quick second. Also, I do get a slight vibration between 50 and 60 mph(I can see the shifter shaking). His no sound coming from them, no clicking, or anything so I know that they do need attention, however they are not totally shot just yet. In most cases, when this has happened b4 in the past, a quick inspection on a lift reveals that the rubber boot is torn and a little grease is seeping from it. This slight jerking is happening to me now, so I know that it is time, AGAIN. Now, I do admit to a couple of sins. First, due to being laid off, the last LBJ replacement was only on the affected side. I am aware that they SHOULD be done in pairs, but when your pockets are near empty and you need your car to look for employment you do what you gotta do. SECOND, against my better judgement, I got some LBJ's from the ONLY local parts store that had them in stock(cant remember the manufacturer), and had them installed. It just seems like they just don't last more than 9 months or so.

I guess my question is, OEM vs. Aftermarket. Are any of you using aftermarket LBJ's on your lowered rides? If so, link to them? I am pretty much at the point of going back to OEM for this b/c of the frustration. Does the rubber grease boot last longer on the OEM part? Thru the search, some say OEM, others say go aftermarket for better quality. Just about everything on my suspension is under 2 years old, save the strut bars. How often are you guys having to replace? I know I still have to do my strut bars, is this contributing to the wear factor. Just looking for some fresh perspectives.

This was the only thread, of the many, which came close to answering some of my questions.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ll-joints.html

 

It is not your LBJ causing the problem it is a victim.
You need something stronger bushing wise to hold you wheels which are very heavy and brakes in place especially when braking . If it cracks the boot it means it is moving so much it is pinching the boot thus destroying the balljoint.
I would get a poly caster bushing first then wait for the ball joint to wear if cash is an objective.
If it is just starting to crack cover the boot with some black rtv sealant to reseal the boot.

 

I have replaced my LBJ's just twice and it is a 95. The first time was at approximately 130,000 and I recently did it again at approximately 230,000. I didn't use aftermarket since many folks here advised against it (since I will keep the car). I was not getting the same symptoms as you. I was seeing major inside tire wear (like camber). After ruling out alignment issues I removed LBJ and tested. They were bad. My ride is only dropped about 2" similar to yours. I bought OEM from Carson and paid about the same price as aftermarket. skperformance has a better understanding of why yours may be wearing out than me - I am not a mechanic. I just thought 80,000 to 100,000 miles was pretty usual for LBJ's even OEM when it is lowered. It would be cool to get a better understanding of the front suspension components, etc. in one thread. Many get the clunk and everybody says strut bars - I had a clunk but after replacing LBJ's it was gone.

 

OK, this helps me a little. Which bushings would I need to replace in order to alleviate the problem. Remember I have a first gen, so my selection list is not that wide to choose from. I am currently running the Daizen bushings for the entire front end of my car. The only Daizen's that I don't have are for the steering, but my PS system just got replaced a few months ago.

This was my thinking as well, but in the 4 years I have had my car, I had not even put 25K on it yet; so I am not getting NEARLY the life out of them I expected. Remember my car WAS a weekend driver until I was laid off from my job in Feb. My thought was, well,,I got what I paid for; a temporary fix. The ball joints I have on my car now ARE aftermarket, and when purchased were bought on a YOU NEED THEM NOW basis. Was trying to figure if the OEM's were better and maybe not wear as much. I plan on ordering them anyway since I have one going bad, so I might as well do both of the fronts.

 

Trukn, thats because you have aftermarket LBJ. I am riding on stock 16's with no suspension mods, and the aftermarket LBJs barely lasted a year. Had to replace them with OEM, and they are still perfect and I had them for a year and a half now.

 

My thoughts were pointing the the aftermarket LBJ's too, and I will be replacing with OEM's within the next few weeks. SKperformance brought up some points which had me thinking. MY suspension is on H&R's (1.5" drop) and I am on 18's. I thought my strut rods were also causing/adding to the problem b/c I haven't changed them. I am prettymuch trying to figure out what may be the root cause of the failure so I can pretty much determine whether the LBJ's failing is prelude to a bigger problem.

 

This is the first I've heard of LS400's requiring the lower all joints to be replaced. I actually thought they were cast/pressed into the lower arm/wishbone like the uppers so not replaceable - I've never actually looked at them.

I guess the original ones are testament to how well the toyota/lexus items last. My car has done roughly 190,000kms and as far as i know, they've never been done - the UCA's were a little sloppy though and i replaced them a couple months back. My car has been lowered 2-3" for about 40,000kms and after doing the UCA's it still drives real tight.

 

Well, with a lowered car your suspension geometry is changed, so the stress on your ball joints is much greater. Just get OEM ball joints and they should last much longer.

 

lowers bolt on like pretty much every post 80's toyota i've worked on.

mine are basically dead/dying at just under 130k miles, waiting on replacements to come in. they make an odd "clicking" noise

 

Lowers are replaceable by them selves. Uppers require you to replace the entire control arm since it is part of the assembly.

 

It is the strut rod that is loosing its position placing lots of stress on the ball joint. The wheels are only going to multiply the problem and destroy them faster because of the weight.
So do you have poly for the strut rod?
Have you had them in since the last new ball joint?

 

Thank you soooo much for clearing this up. This helps immensely with pointing me in the right direction for the problem and figuring out the root cause of their quick deterioration. My strut rods were never changed, primarily b/c they (visually) looked to still be in good condition; and when my mechanic buddy checked my suspension when I had him tracking down an exhaust leak (egr pipe) a few months back, stated I was still good to go with them. So now I will have to take this on and hopefully all is well. Appreciate it bruh!! You always did have my back!! With or without the "eyelids". LOL!!!

 

Interesting explanation - So strut rod bushings even if they are not visually cracked could be bad? I mean I have not changed mine and the mileage is near 250,000 now. I wonder if I should change them on general principle?

 

yes

don't get poly, it squeaks, spend the $240 and buy a pair of OEM rubber bushing'd arms.

 

Thanks guys. Appreciate it very much. This was a headache that I could not figure out and it may even solve a few more vibration problems I have been experiencing. Now just gotta get the money together.