So I've been listening to the strut rod knock for a while and found that there's a lack of info on how to fix it on the UCF20. It sounded really tough and involved, but it only took me about 4 hours, including driving around to 5 different garages to find one with a press who would press out the old bushings and press in the new ones for a reasonable price. I've found this site very helpful so here's my contribution, hopefully it keeps an LS on the road and money away from the stealerships:

What you need:

Jack and a jackstand
Metric combo wrenches up to 19mm
Rubber mallet to hit wrenches to remove stubborn bolts (no room for impact gun)
Metric sockets up to 19mm and a 22mm for the strut rod bushing bolt


Basically, This isn't all that hard. You don't have to take the caliper, rotor, or balljoint off to do this unless you want to replace the lower control arm bushing. That's a little bit more involved than what's covered here.

Here we go:

Break loose lug nut bolts.
Jack one side of the car (or both) by the body, letting the wheel hang.
Throw a jackstand under the big aluminum crossmember under the engine just in case your jack fails.
Remove undercarriage cover.
Remove lug nuts/wheel/tire.
Mark the strut rod bushing bolt adjustment calibration discs (or whatever they are called) on each side of each bolt with a marker or paint pen so you can put them back together and still have something that resembles wheel alignment.
Remove the bolt that attaches the strut to the strut mount at the bottom of the strut.
Now remove the two bolts for the lower strut mount ( the inner one is trickey....push the strut to the outside to get a socket this bolt)
Remove the two bolts holding on the strut rod from the underside of the strut rod.
Remove the bolt that goes through the bushing. Note the orientation of the bolts for reassembly.
Now you can tap the strut rod from underneath to remove it from the lower control rod.
Now the strut rod is out. Have a shop press in the new ones, or do it yourself if you're not lazy like me. Try to find a shop that will do it for cheap. It took the guy 5 minutes to do both of mine.

Reassemble in reverse order.

Reassembly trick:
After you get the bushing bolt back in(first step in reassembly) and the alignment discs lined up correctly, put an open ended wrench on the strut rod and push down to line up the bolts on the strut rod with the holes in the lower control arm (pictured below in last picture). Also, use a bucket or something similar to support the hub off the ground for some steps.
Bolt everything back together and get an alignment done if you don't plan on doing other suspension work VERY soon.

Torque Specs? My hard drive with my service manual crashed so I'm not sure, but I just used common sense and got the bolts real nice and tight.

Hope this helped somebody.

E86

 

hope you used OEM bushings and not polys... they will ruin the ride.

 

Just picked up a 99, I have something worn in the front end, I can feel it going over bumps, does the ucf21 tend to wear the same bushing? Similar removal process or did they change the front end in 98?

 

95-2000 same system

 

Those bushings are all very common to go bad and the repair on the 99 should be the same seeing how it's the same part.

 

Thanks, working through replacing all the fluids right now going to the front end next.

 

i'll confirm this procedure is the same for all 95-00 LS400s.

I've posted up tips/tricks in other threads but i'll repost them here.

-Use a jack to manipulate the spindle to make removing/reinstalling the strut rod into the LCA.
-make sure you put the strut rods into their respective sides, THE ARMS ARE NOT THE SAME. they are marked L and R. The bushings are the same for both arms.
-Torque big bolts TO SPEC! otherwise your alignment WILL come loose or something important will work its way off... a $20 torque wrench is better than your wrist, i almost guarantee it.
-the OEM bushings HAVE TO BE PROPERLY CLOCKED! Refer to manual, I believe the "tabs" in the bushing have to be 90* perpendicular to the arm, pointing down.
-DO NOT TIGHTEN the adjusters until the car is ON THE GROUND!! You need load on the arms so they reach their resting position before you torque down the caster arms or you may experience bushing accelerated ear/tearing.
-Avoid poly bushings, or at least know what you're getting yourself in to.
+a 24-36" 1/2 or 3/8" drive breaker bar WILL save your life.

Torque Specs:
+Shock to lower shock mount: 116 ft*lbf
height control sensor to lower shock mt: 48 INCH*lbf
+UCA Ball Joint: 48 ft*lbf (and replace clip)
Inner Shock bracket Bolt: 43 ft*lbf
Outer Shock bracket Nut+Bolt: 83 ft*lbf
+Strut Bar/Rod to LCA Nuts: 121 ft*lbf
+Strut Bar/Rod Bushing side Adjuster: 134 ft*lbf

anything with a + next to it is mission critical and should be within +/-5% to maintain both safety and keep the alignment. NO GUESSTIMATING!

 

Thanks for posting those PD.

I bought these bushing from the local lexus dealer...Asked for 20% off of the $65 price tag and they gave it to me. Does anyone know an online source for OEM LCA bushings? There are some on ebay, but i don't trust them. Sewell doesn't seem to have them, and poly is out of the question.

 

buy your OEM strut rod bushings from a dealer like Carson or Sewell or westminster and get more than that. i think i paid ~$35-40/each for mine like a month ago.

the front lower control arms go for ~$230/each, the bushings alone are not available from lexus/toyota. An aftermarket company called ROCA (a division of Megan Racing) claims to have a set that fits and looks to be made of rubber, though it's a VERY new product at this time.

 

I just threw some new lower ball joints in for the heck of it before I go to get an alignment. I re-torqued everything from before while I was in there

 

Okay, I've read hundreds of posts in multiple forums regarding a variety of loud knocks heard whenever the '99 LS 400 suspension encounters a sudden, perhaps even small (1-2") rise in the pavement, even though the suspension makes no other sounds during more gradual excursions, and dampning is good. Some suggest replacing both front struts, some say replace the rubber "spring cushion" at the very top of the strut, others, like here swear that the strut rod bushings are the culprit. My car makes no noises when physically bouncing the front suspension by hand, or during hard breaking from slow speed, and using a large (6 foot) pry bar, I can not create any front-to-back movement in the front wheel when raised slightly off the ground. Therefore, I believe my problem must be related to the top strut mount, specifically the rubber spring bumper that cushions the strut shaft in the top mounting assembly. I have seen pictures that identify it as a "spring bumper", but I do not have a part number. Does anyone know the part number for this item? Thanks

Steve

 

lol the only time that comes in to play is when you bottom out the shock. if the shock is bottoming out on a 1-2" bump then the shock is likely blown.

if it sounds like a sharp "thunk" or a "clunk", 9/10 times it's the strut rod bushing.

 

Okay, I guess I should have said that I suspect a defective upper strut mount assembly; does the rubber shock isolator inside wear out, allowing a metal to metal contact during quick compression? I know that my struts are not bottoming out, so you are right about the "bumper" not being the problem. Thanks,

Steve

 

possible, but whereas those go out in the 150k-ish range, the strut rods go out ever ~70-90k miles.

 

Wow exactly where I'm at.