Hi Everyone,

Not long had the car serviced and it's in reasonable order apart from 2 diff rear mounting bushes being torn and the upper left hand ball joint needs replacing.

Good mechanic I found is trying to save me money because he thinks at this stage that he might have to source a control arm with ball joint as one component from Japan as there mightn't be any new parts in Lexus dealer stocks in Australia. He doesn't want to do that and I don't want that either if it can be avoided as it will be very expensive.

Presumably the control arm is okay; does anyone know whether it is possible to press the ball joint out and if so what new ball joint will fit?

I don't know whether it makes any difference but the car is right hand drive.

Many thanks in advance.

 

If I am not mistaken, that ball joint is not some thing that can be replaced. I think your gonna have to buy the control arm.

 

Yes, mechanic thought the same. I dropped the car off at his workshop this morning and he's going to get back to me when he's removed the control arm.
Thanks.

 

The Upper ball joints on LS400s are NOT serviceable, and must be replace withthe control arm assemblies as a whole unit.

 

Thanks PureDrifter.

 

have you tried rockauto? they carry aftermarket UCAs and i believe they ship to AUS!

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/catalog.php

 

Still waiting to hear from the mechanic. I'll mention Rockauto to him. The Rockauto part costs about a quarter of the price of the OEM part.
Rockauto's part being aftermarket, I hope it is up for the job, being such a critical part.....

Thanks Timmy.

 

I recently purchased the upper control arm assembly from a Amazon source for $ 80.00 shipped.

 

Still waiting to hear from the mechanic, shouldn't be much longer now I'm thinking.

Thanks Jerry.

 

If you find OEM that is in your price range, buy it. They can be upwards of $500 per control arm. Aftermarkets you can get for $100 a pair, but they do not hold up as well or as long as OEM.

 

Thanks Auxive I'm a bit concerned about aftermarket myself as it's a critical component. I'll have to ring the mechanic, I haven't hear from him in nearly a week.

 

Pretty much all aftermarket will work and will be a great replacement. OEM just tends to last longer and provide better ride quality. But in my opinion, aftermarket is a good way to go if you have to replace both. The way I see it, if you spend $1000 on just the OEM front upper control arms, if you find an aftermarket pair for under $200, it can go bad 5 times and you'll still save more money than buying OEM. I would just say go with aftermarket.

 

Thanks Auxive.

The mechanic sourced a new OEM control arm from somewhere and has installed it. It was an original factory fitted control arm which was replaced.

Next on the list are the rear two diff mounting bushes. The mechanic's aftermarket parts guy was unable to find anything that would fit and do the job properly, the understanding being that these two bushes need to be installed with some offset. These bushes will be ordered from Japan as there are none available from Lexus in Australia anywhere, so I am informed.

Not long after I first got the car, if ever I gave it a lot of gas from stationary, I'd hear a huge bang. I am relieved to say that there's nothing wrong with the differential. It was the torn diff mounting bushed causing this banging. Even so there's a bit of time and labour involved in changing these two bushes.

Maybe a good time to change the fuel filter when those bushes are done; I don't know how many miles are on the filter.

After the above is sorted, the struts will be replaced as they're 'a bit soft'. I might start a thread on strut replacement when the time comes because it's no good ruining the ride with incorrect struts that will rattle my fillings out.