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Shmee, thanks for starting this. It's been a year and a half since the Moogs....correct? Wondering how they're holding up?
I have a 95 LS with 265K mi. Everything is original except shocks, front strut rod bushings and rear lower control arm bushings. With that many miles on original parts it might be hard to pinpoint what's going on because it could be several things but I can't afford to just replace everything!
My car wanders driving down the road. Wind bothers it a lot and rutty roads really make you pay attention. I've been trying to find the cause for a couple years and it has been driving me nuts! It ate thru my last set of tires way too soon. I've had my tire shop look for problems and I've had it on racks, jacked it up multiple times trying to move the wheels horizontally and vertically as much as I possibly can by hand to no avail. We haven't been able to find anything loose with those methods. I finally strapped a 5' bar to each wheel and had my son use his weight back and forth while I reached up underneath to feel the ball joints. I found a small amount of play in the right rear LBJ and a fair amount of play in both of the rear UCA bushings.
Then I saw the video of how to check the ball joints by squishing them with pliers earlier in this thread so I did that on the UCAs as well. I found that my front right UCA ball joint has a very small amount of compression and the left side compresses probably 1/32"-1/16".
Other than the wandering, there isn't anything else noticeable. No clunking or vibrating.
I would love to hear opinions from you all. What symptoms are caused by worn UCAs?
Would wandering possibly be one of them?
Should there be any movement in the rear UCA bushings?
Thanks for your time!
Last edited by jerm8; 07-21-15 at 09:12 AM.
Reason: forgot important info
you will have some compliant in your rear UCA bushings, I believe yours are rubber and not a heim joint. There is some compliance there, you shouldnt feel any looseness, just firm resistance. If it feels questionable, pull it out to inspact for separated rubber. PITA when working on your knees for sure.
you will have some compliant in your rear UCA bushings, I believe yours are rubber and not a heim joint. There is some compliance there, you shouldnt feel any looseness, just firm resistance. If it feels questionable, pull it out to inspact for separated rubber. PITA when working on your knees for sure.
Correct. They are not loose, but have some give when some pressure is applied with a bar. They are rubber. The rear control arm bushings are much more firm so I wanted to know about the RUCA bushings. They are either really worn out and need to be replaced or those bushings are designed to give a little. If I am hearing you correctly, they are designed to give some.
Just an update. I have a 90'. I bought a beck/arnley UCA about 3 years and ~30k miles ago and the ball joint is bad. The part looked crappy when I put it on. The doorman UCA on the other side is still looking good with about the same mileage/age. Ordered a new doorman to replace the B/A and several small parts stores suggested that doorman was the manafacturer of the Lexus part. This is complete heresay but if someone who knows better could confirm or deny it would be cool.
Bought the Doorman based on this post and your previous post saying the Doorman looked exactly like the OEM part. The Moog looked anorexic next to the OEM part. I needed the right side and for some reason Rock Auto had the right side a lot cheaper than the left side. Left side # 521069 is $152.79, right side # 521070 is $104.79.
Got the Dorman part, made in China, pretty sure no OEM Lexus parts are made in China. It does look very similar, almost identical to the OEM part. Will put it on in a few days and will take some photos. The bushing and boot look to be very high quality.
Got the Dorman part, made in China, pretty sure no OEM Lexus parts are made in China. It does look very similar, almost identical to the OEM part. Will put it on in a few days and will take some photos. The bushing and boot look to be very high quality.
I would bet some OEM parts are now made in china, its a world market and Lexus will like everyone else do what ever to save a buck.
Here are pictures of the Dorman, look almost identical to OEM but a few minor differences such as the size of the R for right side. The castle nut is also smaller so I had to use 2 washers to make up the difference. The dirty OEM part doesn't show depth like the new part but the dimensions look identical.
Judging by the cover for the balljoint from atop, it looks like the Dorman balljoint looks to be superior to the Lexus one based on the size of it. Maybe it might have more room for grease or whatnot to keep the ball lubricated longer.
Can anyone identify these arms? Ordered dorman and got this one from Amazon. Looks like the moog and I’ll definitely be returning it. Not sure if these guys are scamming people who don’t know better as it came in box with dorman logo and correct part # on a sticker.
07-20-15, 09:50 PM
irect replacement for a trouble-free installation
