lhgdale

Hello, I rotated the tires today on my 92 LS. It just turned 120,000 miles. While the tires were removed I looked at the bushings and tracked down a small leak.

First the bushings, I used my hand and tried to move any areas where there were bushings. The front was surprisingly firm and had no movement. The rear drivers side of the car did have a few areas that you could move the rods with bushing. Here are pics of the areas.



Also the rear shock


What are these areas called and should I replace any in the front while I am at it?

Now the leak, I am 99% this is called the steering rack. The leak is not real bad maybe a few drops over night. I found fluid coming out of the top rubber flap/cover and dripping off the bottom hose.


I am wanting your suggestions on which bushings/shocks I should replace to help out handling. Also any info on the steering leak.

Thanks for any help and suggestions!!!!

LScowboyLS

I would replace as many bushings as I could afford and use the real Toyota parts if available - on a car this age, all of the bushings are basically shot

yes, your pic is of the rack, but power steering leaks can be hard to find the true source of, for example, a rack could be very wet with fluid, but not leaking at all, the leak could be from a high pressure hose or pump or seal that is several feet away and has snaked its way down to the rack!

In any case, find and fix that leak ASAP, or you will be buying an alternator along with the PS parts and the bushings!

lhgdale

Thanks, I was hoping there was a kit with all the bushings. I would prefer to have every bushing I need then take a take and replace them.

I changed the Alternator and PS pump a few months ago and there was no leak for a while then I started noticing this. It only drips on the front drivers side area and always in the same spot. I will give it a closer look when replacing the bushings.

Thanks

LScowboyLS

there is no OEM kit, any kits are aftermarket trash - the best way is to contact an online Lexus dealership such as Sewell, Lexus of South Atlanta, Park Place, etc. and build up your own "kit", piece by piece

Michael

Depending on how long you had the car, it is my guess that the front suspension work, most likely has been done by the previous owner as front is known to make lots of noise as you drive. It is really annoying. If that is the case lucky for you. For 92 model, 120K mile is very low mile.

Your rear suspension, first pic is showing #2 Lower Suspension Arm, and your second pic is showing Strut Rod (or it could be No 1 Lower Suspension Arm if that rod is running parallel to the #2 Lower Suspension Arm). I am not sure if you will be able to purchase bushings for those two. Let us know if you can. Go to lexussouthatlantaparts.com and you will be able to identify your component and availability of bushings. Third pic may be showing Shock Absorber insulator that may have fallen apart. That is part of a Shock Absorber, I don't think you can buy that. As long as your rear damping is doing its job, uses it until rear becomes bouncy to replace the damper or Shock Absorber.

As to your steering fluid leak, there were a good post last week. You can try to look for it in this forum.

stephen18

I just fixed a leak on my power steering in the same area. Where the steering shaft from the steering wheel goes into the rack. Have to take that housing off(two hex/allen head bolts, two 12mm lines, two 17mm banjo fittings). Pretty easy but I dropped the front subframe to do engine mounts at the same time so I had extra room to work.
$10 shipped for the seal from Sewell

LScowboyLS

Time, and the changing of the seasons, ages these rubber bushings as much or more than mileage does, even if he had only 25K miles on this 22 year old car he would need all new suspension rubber, especially if the car has ever been stored outside in the weather.

lhgdale

Thanks for the help and info! I am going to start tomorrow getting my list together for bushings.

I know Lexus OEM parts are recommended but would I be ok using some aftermarket bushings like for the sway bars? They are in stock at my local auto parts store.

lhgdale

Since none of the bushing are in TERRIBLE shape and I am short on extra funds right now (buying a new house) I am going to start with the front and rear sway bar bushings and then move on from there. Is this a good area to start or would you suggest some thing else?

Thanks

LScowboyLS

well those are a couple of the more common problem areas, the most common is strut bar cushions, then you have upper control arms (expensive, even after-market, but often the key repair the car needs), and lower ball joints and lower control arm bushings, and all that I just named is just on the front!

the trick is to get the car on the lift and do some prying around and wiggling with your wrecking bar and see which bushings, ball joints, etc. are actually worn out the most, and start with those!

other front areas I would consider are inner and outer tie rod ends (Toyota calls the inners "rack ends") - the cool thing about this repair is that it makes the steering feel like the car is brand new, with that new car "tightness" in the the steering - I have a smile on my face every time I am under one of my cars doing the inner and outer tie rods, because I can't wait for the new car steering feel that I know I am going to have when I get done!

Some of the other guys on here are far more the expert on the rear of the car, an area that I am notorious for letting slide until the car is nearly dangerous! - lol - gotta quit doing that!

the more steering and suspension areas you do at once, the less number of times you have to get the alignment done, as most of these repairs screw up the alignment

lhgdale

Thanks, I am going to try and get most of the items you mentioned and maybe start with the front then move to the rear.

stephen18

For anyone wondering the seal for the power steering input shaft is Toyota/lexus pn 9031119006. I got it for $4.61 at Sewell with our discount, w/o shipping.

stephen18

Also might want to unbolt your steering damper and check how easy it is to move.. mine would collapse under its own weight. It wandered around a lot on the highway. I replaced it(with some kyb part I thought was the same.. was actually a bit bigger but still fit with some modifications) and now the steering is tighter and seems to track much straighter.

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

There are some decent aftermarket bushing kits out there. The adus stuff you can find is actually pretty good and is semi-serviceable. Definitely want to get the rear carrier bushing checked and replaced as that is a very common issue.

The swaybar bushings are not likely to be the source of any significant problems unless they are completely hammered out or squeak like crazy.

You can replace stuff part by part but keep in mind you need to get an alignment after you replace anything (other than swaybar bushings and links) in the suspension or you can cook off a set of tires in no time. Toe is the real killer and due to laziness, I ate through a pair of tires from brand new to worn through the cords in ~3500miles due to toe being a ways out.
So while you can replace parts one by one, all those alignments or tires can get expensive. It is best to go through the cars suspension and take stock of every joint, bushing,link and strut. You can then figure out what must be done and what can wait. If you are mechanically inclined, buy the parts yourself, book off a weekend and do all the work yourself and then take in for an alignment on the following Monday. The labour savings wi cover the cost of a lot of additional parts. If you opt for that route, during your initial assessment, have a marker or paint pen handy so you can mark all of the eccentric adjustment cams against the chassis. Doing so, you cack them all free and see if they rotate or if they are seized. This is an often overlooked step but can cause huge nightmares when you go in to take stuff apart. A bolt seized in a bushing sleeve can require cutting or torching one or both to get them out and will also make it impossible to align a car properly or at all! And nothing sucks worse than being half way into the job and finding out you need to order more parts and the car is now stranded where it sits! And as luck usually has it, those parts are expensive and take forever to get!


The more thorough you are, the less headaches you will encounter.
Having just done all of my suspension myself, I can say without a doubt that the ride quality on these cars (even with aftermarket parts) is beyond exceptional!

Don't be afraid of aftermarket parts, despite what some people say, they are perfectly fine for a 15+y/o car (unless you plan to restore yours to collector status or driving the car for another 120k) and will last you a good long time as well.

lhgdale

Thanks, I'm going to access all the bushings, links and buy what I need so I can do the job one time.