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Was it fixed under warranty or did you pay for it? And how much was it, if you don't mind my asking?
I think I can replace the trailing control arms if I need to -- it's looks like a little bit of a pain since I'd have to remove the brake caliper and rotor.
I can hear mine thump/rattle when going over small bumps, like when I drive down a slightly rough road or parking lot at 20-30 MPH.
I purchased an extended warranty from CarMax and it was fixed under that. Without the warranty the part 48780-0E060 would have been $356 and the labor $328.
I know its kinda insulting but seriously check out all the tools in the trunk. I had a different rattle in the back and finally was able to fix that. I had all the tools secured and even put addition padding in there, so I was sure that wasn't it. But I finally decided to really go to town on it a second time and wrap everything in foam and really stuff everything with padding just to make sure and it turned out that actually was where that other rattle had been coming from.
I also finally just left the rear seats folded down. That fixed any rattles coming from them.
For those keeping score, yesterday I:
- Replaced the rear stabilizer bushings
- Pulled the left rear shock and shock mount, checked the condition of the bushings. Looks OK. Remounted and torqued. They may have been on longer than I originally thought based on the amount of rust, but I do live in the land of winter salt.
- Removed everything from the cargo area (tubs, tire, floor cover, etc.), put the seats down and drove around a bumpy gravel parking lot.
Noise does not appear to have improved, but at least I've eliminated a couple more possibilities.
I also tried to get a look at the bushings for the lower control arm (lateral arm? The straight one) and the upper control arm (s-shaped). As far as I could tell without pulling them off the bushings looked OK, and I think the boots are intact with the grease still sealed in on the ball joints on the upper control arm. It's a little hard to get a good look at the inboard bushings, but I took pics and could zoom in on them.
Maybe I should just go ahead and install the Mevotech branded trailing arm (big Y-shaped one forward of the wheel).
Question -- if there is no load on the suspension, how much (if any) tension is there on any of the suspension components? Is the suspension spring pretty much fully extended at that point?
I have something similar, but it is on both sides, and closer to the front doors maybe. I have not sat in the back yet. It didnt happen until i got new tires. How do you like the Monroe shocks? Wondering if the smooth out the harsh lexus ride.
I have something similar, but it is on both sides, and closer to the front doors maybe. I have not sat in the back yet. It didnt happen until i got new tires. How do you like the Monroe shocks? Wondering if the smooth out the harsh lexus ride.
The Monroe's were already installed when I bought the RX used a couple of years ago, so I personally don't know how they compare to the OEMs. I do know that the ride is much firmer than my old 2004 RX.
Received my new trailing arm today. Picked up the Mevotech branded one. I usually go with OEM for replacement parts unless the OEM part has had an spotty history. The Mevotech branded parts seem to get decent reviews in general, so for a half to a third of the price of the OEM (hooray for eBay bucks and free shipping), I'm willing to give it a try. Hope to get the chance to install it this weekend.
Hmmm...so does it still go over bumps...really hard? And make you notice you are on a "not so nice" road? When its a smooth road, its great, but an unimproved road....not so great and noticeable, was just wondering if I could improve the ride, by putting the monroe's on...
FYI - Finally got around to replacing the driver's side rear trailing control arm last weekend, and that appears to have resolved the rattling issue.
Installation went pretty smoothly other than the usual fighting with the two rusted bolts. I did *not* need to remove the brake rotor as I had originally thought -- they're weld nuts on the rotor side of that end of the arm, so its just a matter of reaching the bolt heads from behind with a breaker bar or impact wrench, along with a liberal application of PB Blaster. The two frame bolts were easy with the impact wrench.
Big thanks to everyone for their suggestions and advice, especially Clutchless who was spot on with the issue and solution.
FYI - Finally got around to replacing the driver's side rear trailing control arm last weekend, and that appears to have resolved the rattling issue.
Installation went pretty smoothly other than the usual fighting with the two rusted bolts. I did *not* need to remove the brake rotor as I had originally thought -- they're weld nuts on the rotor side of that end of the arm, so its just a matter of reaching the bolt heads from behind with a breaker bar or impact wrench, along with a liberal application of PB Blaster. The two frame bolts were easy with the impact wrench.
Big thanks to everyone for their suggestions and advice, especially Clutchless who was spot on with the issue and solution.
Out of curiosity sake, did you see any degradation in the rubber bushing when you removed the old trailing control arm?
I swapped out shocks, which was desperately needed, but I am still experiencing a little noise at lower speeds on rougher roads. Not real bad but noticeable. In looking at the bushings on both sides, I see no obvious cracks or issues on my vehicle. Just wondering if you saw a tell tale sign after removing the part.
Out of curiosity sake, did you see any degradation in the rubber bushing when you removed the old trailing control arm?
I swapped out shocks, which was desperately needed, but I am still experiencing a little noise at lower speeds on rougher roads. Not real bad but noticeable. In looking at the bushings on both sides, I see no obvious cracks or issues on my vehicle. Just wondering if you saw a tell tale sign after removing the part.
I'd have to say yes, but it's not that obvious, especially if you don't know what you're looking for (I didn't). I posted pictures earlier (3-13-2019) that showed tiny cracks in the rubber, so although there were no big tears or gaps like the bushing was completely shot, overall the many tiny cracks from the rubber deteriorating added up to a lack of support from the bushing.
I'd have to say yes, but it's not that obvious, especially if you don't know what you're looking for (I didn't). I posted pictures earlier (3-13-2019) that showed tiny cracks in the rubber, so although there were no big tears or gaps like the bushing was completely shot, overall the many tiny cracks from the rubber deteriorating added up to a lack of support from the bushing.
Alright. Two new Mevotech rear control arms have been ordered. Should be here mid next week. Soaking the hardware with penetrating oil in anticipation. Anxious to get the old ones off and inspect the bushings. From what I can tell, they look very similar to yours LuckyPants.
Alright. Two new Mevotech rear control arms have been ordered. Should be here mid next week. Soaking the hardware with penetrating oil in anticipation. Anxious to get the old ones off and inspect the bushings. From what I can tell, they look very similar to yours LuckyPants.
What did you use for the torque specs?
I don't think I ever found torque specs specifically for the rear trailing control arm. I did find specs for the front and assumed they would be similar. The fronts are 148 & 152 ft/lbs, so I torqued the four big rear bolts to 150-ish. The little ones for the brackets that mount to the arm I just tightened snugly. The Mevotech arm comes with new bolts that have a little LocTite Blue on them, but unfortunately I didn't notice them in the bag until after I had installed the arm using the original bolts.
Not that terrible of a job and the vehicle is noticeably quieter. The thump and rattle are gone. Bushings on each side were trashed. Bought the vehicle in late May with 86500 miles. I suspect the shocks and bushings had been gone for quite awhile.
Yep, those look exactly like mine with the little cracks in the rubber. I'm probably going to replace my other one this summer since I now know that was the problem, and because the other bushing will be as old as the first and probably close to failing.
For those keeping score, yesterday I:
- Replaced the rear stabilizer bushings
Hello. What part is this? Would you happen to have a part number or pic for this? I didn't know you could replace just the bushings for this part. Was it OEM?
04-12-19, 10:18 PM
Anxious to get the old ones off and inspect the bushings. From what I can tell, they look very similar to yours LuckyPants.
