tommyjaix

finally after sitting in my room for 3 months, i got off my lazy *** and called up my car enthusiast friend and we finally changed my oldassss balljoints and my terribly looose tie rod ends. Since 2 nights ago, on a VERY cold night in long island, like 18 degrees, I noticed LOUD popping noises in the same pattern whenever I turn my wheel, whether I was parked or moving. The sound went away the next day, but still I was determined to change out my balljoints. I also found some play in the wheels prior to the replacement, so I thought it was my wheel bearings and I went to order 2 Timkin wheel bearings assemblies, but I was desperate to replace my bj's and tie rod ends anyway and i finally did it today...IN THE FRIKKIN SNOW! while it was snowing, then an eventual sunshine to push me passed the finishing line in golden glory.

Now the ride drives like new and the tightened new bj's and tie rod ends makes the ride feel like new again. Wheel play is also gone, So i ordered wheel bearings for no reason. Might have to return those, unless someone here is interested in buying them. Anyway, successful day, and one major problem knocked off the list. Now time to change the sterring rack bushings and maybe sway bar bushings...control arm bushings can wait because they are of no concern whatsoever as long as the arms are functioning normally and without noise. Also, I have to get around to make a personal DIY mod to my cracked airtake heatshield which has been rattling whenever the engine rumbles as well as the 3rd cat heatshield which needs to be removed or retightened or possibly removed to clear our rockchips pinging in the heatshield.

Pics of the job to come...

slammed_gs

I should get this done also. How much did it cost you,......im in the garden state.

excluesive

iTrader: (10)

how much are the balljoints and tie rods?

kenkaniff

yea, whered u get em?

did u do inner or outer tie ends?

eman88

iTrader: (2)

The parts are readly avaliable on sewell lexus website, at a 10% discount when you mention clublexus when ordering..should cost around $200 for the balljoints and tie rods(outer tie rods)..

eman88

iTrader: (2)

Outer Tie Rods....sewell lexus website

eman88

iTrader: (2)

Where are you located on Long Island??..I'm in Baldwin, I just replaced my Balljoints, Tie Rods, Steering/suspension bushings, Daizen sway bar bushings last Sept...the ride is 100% better

tommyjaix

I'm in Smithtown, attending stony brook university, and on weekends i go home to queens, definitely need to set up some sort of meet b/w LI/Queens NELOC's =p. but yeah, ride feels 100% better, but I still get the squeaking noises on my driver side whenever I go over road imperfections. I'm going to replace my steering rack bushings and sway bar bushings with daizens in the coming weeks to see if that fixes the squeaking, if it doesnt, I might have a bad strut or soemthing =/ I also have daizen control arm bushings but I'm not ready to take it to a shop to get them done just yet, gonna see if i can pinpoint the problem myself. BTW, eman88, did u DIY all those urself?

as for the prior questions, I got the balljoints and tie rod ends from TMEngineering, but as others have said, get them from sewell, u get a discount, I wish i ordered from them before, woulda saved a few bucks and experienced faster service as well. Sewell +1

wowitztai

iTrader: (1)

i think i should get mine done..even thought i just got my car couple months dont know it they replaced it

Dslexic

iTrader: (4)

I just replaced a bad inner tie rod end on the passenger side of the Gs300 and it solved 80% of my vibrations! The drivers side inner might of needed replacing but I didnt notice any play when the car was up, grabbing the wheel at 9 & 3 o'clock and shaking...?

gtmax

Hey guys. I've been experiencing some rattling noises that have recently started to make me crazy. Here in NYC, when the temp drops below 32F, my chassis sounds like it's on the point of breaking apart. After driving for 10 minutes it gets better but on the tiniest road imperfection there is this annoying rattle. I'm not versed in the innerworkings of cars, so i have no idea if it is a spring/damper/balljoint/etc kind of problem. I've tried pressing down on the car to see if it makes the noise but it doesn't. It's only when i'm driving and when i drive over any little bump or pothole. And everyday i drive on Queens BLVd.

I'm on 96K miles and recently had my local mechanic do my tuneup. He said he replaced the control-arm on the right side/front but the rattle is still there. I'm trying to avoid the dealer at all cost and i don't think i trust my local mechanic to do a proper diagnostic.

If anyone has experienced similar problems or if anyone close enough to me wants to take a shot at diagnosing the problems please let me know. I'm almost not looking forward to driving the car anymore.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Just replace the balljoints. even if the noise isn't there, 96k miles is near the end of the balljoint's life. If all the other suspension part fails...worse comes worse..they rattle or your handling will be affect...but if your balljoint fails....your car will drop down to the ground!!

gtmax

I asked my mechanic to look at the balljoints. He said only one needed replacing, and he put in a control arm plus balljoint.

Thanks for the advice. I wanna have my suspension components looked at because these noises are making me crazy.

LexFather

I agree, I got mine done 2 weeks ago, rides like new now

tommyjaix

I have that noise still even after replacing my ball joints and tie rod ends. Mine is more of mice-like squeaking noise when I go over small road imperfections though. However on the warmer days it doesnt happen, what I'm suspecting is that the cold is drying out our lube on the bushings/suspensions. w/e it is, I just bought some stock springs n struts off the classifieds for a low price and installing them soon, plus I still have to get around and install my daizen control arm bushings and then get that Hunter's road force balance and alignment