lexslexus

Hi everyone. Could someone please help me figure out what is wrong with the front left side of my suspension? I have an '02 without air suspension and about 170,000 miles.

Initially, I thought I needed a new strut to address how loose that side of my car feels and some intermittent shuddering when I brake. However, my mechanic said the struts were still within factory specs and recommended a tire rotation and balance instead. After getting a tire rotation and balance, the looseness greatly improved, the shudder went away, and my steering felt tighter but this only lasted for a few days. All the original symptoms came back and my front left tire felt wobbly.

Took my car back to the Toyota dealership for them to fix this and they said the true problem was flat spots in my tires. I replaced all of my tires and things are greatly improved overall but the front left side is still a little more lose than I'm comfortable with. Are there some tests I can do to get to the root of the problem? This really seems like something simple that I can figure out if someone points me in the right direction. My mechanic is usually spot on so I'm thinking this is something more like ball joints.

911LE

At that mileage I would have your mechanic check your lower control arm bushings. The front bushing usually doesn't wear out but the rear ones do regularly. If they have cracks in the rubber they need to be replaced. They are not too expensive to replace and should take less than an hour. Second thing to check would be the lower ball joints. Again, relatively cheap and easy to fix. From there I would check all of the front subframe bolts for correct torque, steering rack bushings, inner and outer tie rod ends, and front wheel hubs for any play.
Do you notice the looseness in the steering wheel it by sounds from the front end?

430

I suggest checking ball joints and tie rod ends. You might want to find a good suspension shop.

BCT

170K on original struts? How did your mechanic know that the struts are still within factory spec? Maybe I am missing something but do not think there is a test for struts. IMHO bouncing the car up and down is not a good test. I think new struts is a good first step if it is the original set. I also recommend checking ball joints and tie rod end. Also check the steering rack bushing. You want to do them all at the same time if possible because each of these changes require alignment.

zapola6

Lower Control Arm Bushings.... I got the e-bay specials and they solved a lot of issues.

Changed them on my 2001 at 240,000 miles

lexslexus

Thanks everyone for the good advice. I will bring all of these possibilities up the next time I visit my mechanic. If he still can't find anything, I will go to a suspension shop. I do notice some looseness in the steering. Can part of that be attributed to a leaking power steering return? Yes, these are original struts with 170,000 miles on them. Some paperwork from a few months prior to me purchasing the car shows a suggestion to replace both front struts due to age. Not sure how he concluded they are within factory specs but the car does not bounce when going over bumps.

Arcturus

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

You might want a new mechanic shuddering when you brake is messed up rotors and pads. If you have looseness in your steering check the u joints on the steering shaft they have needle bearings in them that rust/wear away over time. Also replace the struts, stock struts are shot after 150,000 5-7 years all depends if the rubber pieces in the shock rot away and leak oil or you hit enough bumps that it damages the aged dry rotted shock.

The only "way" to check struts/shocks is to see if they are bad is to check for leaking oil.

Duck05

I agree that finding a good suspension specialty shop to assess your car is a sound recommendation. I recently had my specialty shop replace all 4 struts and the front LCA bushings after 228K and an alignment with stellar results in steering, cornering, and overall ride.

Sounds you may have some other issues that need to be inspected......