Hey guys, I recently purchased an '02 UL and am loving the car so far. The car has 68k miles and I want to try and freshen up the suspension bits just a bit. I swapped wheels last week and noticed that the left front lower ball joint is worn and needs replacement. The previous owner had a Youzealand SS kit installed (not sure if it's a SS Pro), and I was wondering if I replace the lower ball joints with aftermarket ones (Carquest, Napa, etc...) will there be issues with the installation? I guess I mean if I get an SS Pro kit (the one that comes with the ball joint), is there anything special about that included ball joint, or will any lower ball joint mount right up? Also as far as aftermarket lower ball joints, outer tie rod ends etc, do you guys have a preferred brand? As much as I love genuine Lexus parts, based off my track record and how long I keep cars, aftermarket will work just fine for me. I've seen Moog, Beck Arnley, and who knows what else. Is there any "preferred" places to but these parts from? I'm thinking of doing both left and right lower ball joints and outer tie rods. Anything else I should look into for replacement?

 

68k? those ball joints almost never go bad. i seriously question the ball joints needing replacement. a little grease around the boots is not a problem. the way to check for bad ball joints.....with the wheel in the air....push up on tire/wheel. if it moves up/ significant play....then you need ball joints. But that's usually 200k or more on an LS430. Make sure you shocks don't have large leaks. UL's leak fluid under the actuators under the hood. A little while later you may need lower control arm bushings. Other than that, leave that excellent suspension alone.

 

The manual states to test for of lower ball joint, you need load the suspension first (I lowered the car with 4X6 piece of scrap wood from my fence under the lower A arm for 5 inches or so of compression) to unload the torque on that joint presumaby so you don't get a false positive. FYI

Mine have grease squirting out both at 70k on my 2005, but both are still tight however... my master tech says he has only replaced 2 in his experience and confirmed mine are tight... the part rarely ever goes bad, fyi.

 

Yeap. I replaced mine just as part of some big job just to find out they were like new at almost 150k miles.
I love ls reliability!!!

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I'll have to take a better look, but I did see a good amount of grease around the boot and I thought it looked like it was torn. We have some of the worst roads in the US (anybody else in Hawaii can vouch for that), so would that lead to premature wear and tear though? Maybe I'm just being too paranoid, but the steering feels a little loose and not as responsive as my 2GS was at 98k miles. That's kind of what started leading me down this path and train of thought. But then again, I had changed both lower ball joints, outer tie rods, and steering rack bushings on that one because that's a known issue.

 

rough roads murder the front struts. is there a knocking noise over bumps? you do have air suspension right? if so, sometimes you can see fluid leaking on the body of the strut. sometimes
you need to go under the hood and take the upper strut actuator cover off and there will be fluid in there.

and bad struts will cause extra feedback in the steering while....in other words the steering
wheel will move when you hit minor bumps