Hi everyone. I just got my 2nd LS (2011AWD with 110k without air suspension ). My 1st (2010 RWD) was totaled last year and i kinda missed it. Long story short when i hit the brakes while barely moving (5 mph or less) i can feel and see from outside of the car how front wheels move back and for forth a little. Also get vibration(floor, passenger seat shakes) at around 70-80mph. 2 different shops and I personally checked the entire car suspension for any possible play and couldn't find anything. Both lower rearward control arms were replaced with oem parts this year. All 4 upper control arms have small cracks in the bushings. But they dont seem to be really bad yet, did a prybar test and there's no play in them. My 2010(116k) had the same issue with bushings but it drove buttery smooth even with 19" wheels
What was done so far:
Wheels balanced and rotated (twice to eliminate wheel vibration issue)
New lower rearward control arms (OEM)
new front sway bar links
Alignment

All other control arms and shocks seem to be original, no visible leaks from the shocks either

Can cracked upper control arm bushings or bad shocks cause any excessive longitudinal movements in our cars?

IDK if there should be any ride difference between awd and rwd, but to me awd feels more slugish and the ride is more jittery even with 18" wheels and michelin pilot tires



Any input is appreciated

 

Cracked bushings do not provide the support they supposed to. I am not saying, it is the reason but it can contribute to the issue. AWD is more sluggish than RWD. I had some vibration when I was about to come to a stop. After installing front lower rearward control arms off 2013+, the issue got partially resolved.

 

Congrats on your new LS.

The bushings may show slight cracks but can be faulty causing unwanted movement. I would start with replacing the worn bushings. Your forward lower arms are probably worn too.
One of my460's had what I considered slight cracking on bushings when I purchased it. The wheels were bouncing all over the place at freeway speeds. New bushings fixed it.

Another one of my Ls's had cracked bushings but drove fine until the bushing completely failed. I ended up driving home 500 miles with the steering wheel ~20 degrees off center.

 

Do they have harder rubber in them? Do you have a part# for 13+ arms by any chance?

Thanks! I'm shopping now for oem lower forward arms cause i don't believe there's a bushing kit available for awd. I also was thinking of getting moog or mevotech upper CA from RockAuto for RWD and just swap out the bushings. I can't justify to spend $1k+ per side right now for all OEM arms. Anyone done that?

 

Also anyone tried figs UCA poly bushings? Some people say they may start making creaking noises at some point? Will they make a ride harsher?

 

i have figs upper control arm bushings

 

How do you like those so far? I was thinking about getting those but I have not seen any feedback.

 

Part numbers are 48660-59025 and 48670-59025. The parts are listed in the Lexus parts catalog as not compatible with 2010-2012 AWD, however the controls arms are identical in size and aligned without issues. The arms do seem to have harder bushings but it is my subjective opinion.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/33261056750...QAAOSwTJ1fKgdr
https://www.ebay.com/itm/39276199308...YAAOSw0Mpfg-Uq

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-2010-awd.html

 

well it was all nice and tight when i put it on a month or more ago. i have recently developed an unknown suspension or steering issue.. the wheels seem to move too much laterally imo although i have had it tested on a moving bench and they saif everything was optimal but its making too much noise going over big cobble stone.. just like before i had everything fixed a while back... it makes no noise on pavement. so cant say how anything is until i find out whats the problem.

 

I have had the Figs upper arm bushings on my LS460 for about 6 months and 3,300 miles and so far so good. I was planning on lifting the car this weekend to inspect all control arms and bushings as they were all replaced at the same time. I will let you know if they are deforming, but drivability feels good so far.

 

Please do, thanks!

 

Here is some info: SuperPro Poly Upper Control Arm Bushings - poor experience - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion
I have about 3k miles on mine and no issues thus far. Have not gotten under there to physically inspect but will probably do so next oil change. Road feel is more pronounced, but that is usually the trade-off with poly bushings. With air suspension mode in normal less is felt than in sport mode. I also have front poly stabilizer bar bushings that I installed when I did all 8 control arms, stabilizer bar links, and tie rod ends.

 

I was at my friend's shop doing oil change this weekend and had someone else look at the wheels/tires one more time. One of the michelin tires ended up being deffective . I'm now driving with my full size spare on and 90% of the vibration is gone. I spent a few hours reading what other people say about polly bushigs and decided against them. I don't really wanna compromise a ride with harder material bushings, i didn't buy my LS for a "sporty" or firm ride after all. I'll be ordering 4 new aftermarket UCA for RWD, forward arms are direct fit, and will press in/out rearward arm bushings, ball joints seem to be in a good condition still with no play in them so hopefully i can get at lest another 2 years out of them and by then who knows maybe we'll finally get a decent quality replacement AWD control arms or OEM parts would become more affordable. There are MEVOTECH and DELPHI control arms available at rockauto. Which one of them should i get? I don't have any experience with mevotech, but my BMW has delphi tie rods and control arms installed couple years ago and they're still holding up good

 

AWD and RWD only share 2 out of 8 front control arms. I thought, you might want to know.

 

I'd steer clear of poly bushings if you want to retain the ride quality. Check on this forum for vibration/shimmy with AWD - there were some known issues with the AWD cars.