Automotive Help
- Thread starter Hot Rod Dave
- Start date
GreatOne1939
I Knew It!!!
odelay=orale I'm guessing? Lol, fucking esses. Hell yeah we can do that. Next month huh? I've got my beloved NY boys coming to visit (supposedly) but I'll see what's up. Evo time looks optimal.
lobo
Luminario
...white people...
LP
Premium Member
Im far from a god. LOL!! All is forgiven. You can make it up to me at DEV by playing me a FT5 for braggin rights!! LOL
Ahhhh....Lexus. What complicated pieces of shit.
Anyway. You can rule the wheel bearing out. That would have more of a "howling" noise while driving constantly. I got my wife a 92 LS400 quite a few years ago, and have fix tons of suspension on those damn things.
If you hear a clunking noise while going over bumps. Id take a look at your upper/lower ball joints. The upper is a ball joint/control arm assembly thats fairly easy to replace. Lower ball joints require pressing at a machine shop (such as mine) and a big pain in the ass.
Im not positive bout your particular lexus but, most of the GS300 & LS400 have air ride suspension. Which means instead of a shock, it has a fancy air filled strut that adjusts as you drive (a strut is a really fancy shock). So if you decide to dabble and try to fix it your self be very careful and look out for air lines, sensors and other fragile electric shit.
this is a example of a UPPER ball joint/control arm for a lexus. The blue dust cover is actually the ball joint.
this is the lower control arm. The ball joint is (for lack of a better term) the pointy thingy on the right.
You also have rubber bushings. 2 total in each arm. and obviously you have a upper and lower control arm on both sides.
dont worry.......almost over
and easy way to check your suspension:
get the front wheel of the ground, only raise it bout 4 or 5 inches off the ground. obviously make sure your e brake is on and the rear tires have wood behind them
take a big bar. pry bar, fence post something thats bout 3 to 4 feet long and pretty sturdy. Shove the pry bar UNDER the front wheel and lift up on the end of the bar. What you want is to look at the suspension and get it to move. almost simulating while driving.
You take a good look at the ball joints upper and lower. Look for popping movements, listen for noises. The suspension SHOULD be real smooth and stiff (easy lobo!!!) it should be fairly difficult to move it around.
If you locate popping movements, put ur hand there. have someone move the bar around. Youll feel the popping in your hand.
Then if you still dont really find anything. Get in front of the tire like your gonna take the tire off. Grab the front of the tire and the rear of the tire and shake it. You shouldnt have any play what so ever. If you do you have tie rod issues.
OR
go to a suspension shop and have them check it. Its usually free or something like $20 or so. I used to do it for free at my shop.
Feel free to go to a shop and get an estimate and run it by me. I used to own a suspension shop so I will tell you if they are full of shit or not!
sorry bout the long rant. I like to teach people how to fix cars rather than spend a ton of money for something thats actually quite simple if you have half a brain. Someday I wann be a high school auto shop teacher so this is good practice.
Dude it would be fuckin heaven for me if you did that shit. Ill put you up for a few days we'll kick back, wrench on cars, and play some fuckin SC!! I wouldnt even charge you, you buy the parts at my cost, and Ill put em in for you!!
and is MEXICAN......dumbass
HRD
Damn, now I want to drive down there with my car and feel like I don't have half a brain. ;-;
Either way, I had taken it to Firestone and they said it was my my rear left spindle making all the noise. That's part of the reason I asked the question, though. They want to charge 425 for the part, plus 525 for the labor. But a little bit before I left the Army, I got the strut mount replaced and it sounds like the same noise that it was making when I did that. Because of that, that should be under warranty. I have some friends who can probably replace the part (once I find somewhere to order it from), but I want to make sure that it's actually what needs replacing first because a lot of stuff has come up (that makes OTHER people need to borrow money) and now all this ish is getting in the way of paying bills/going to SC tournaments! Speaking of such, what are the downsides to driving on it? I ask because I have some appointments to make, but can probably find a ride if it's too risky.
Also is this the 'howling' noise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5IA_O3jWIw
Because, yeah, it definitely doesn't sound like that.
It sounds more like this when driving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNjGQChgSlg&feature=related
But, yeah, they claim it's not the strut mount and that it's the spindle.
Hot Rod Dave
"Saucy saucy minx"
Fuck firestone. never take your car to a coperate owned place. Midas, firestone places like that are big companies and instruct thier service writers (the guys you actually talk to) to try to get every fuckin penny they can out of you. I will 99% certain that they are going to the dealer for the spindle. It is against the law to charge you over list price from the dealer. List price is the price YOU would pay if you were to walk into the dealer yourself and purchase the part. So I would call the dealer to see how much that part is.
There is NOTHING on the spindle itself that will make noises. The spindle is nothing but a big hunk of metal that just has shit attatched to it. There are a couple of control arms in the back with some rubber bushings and thats about it. Replacing the spindle will not solve any problems.
The noise youre descrbing, very could be the strut mount. Depending on how long ago you got it replaced would determine if its under warrenty still. Typically labor is warrentied for 90 days and most parts are warrentied for life. Strut mounts definetly make that type of noise. Along with rubber bushings and such. Like I was saying before. On SOME higher end (usually european, and some japanese) there are bushings that actually press into the spindle, but those are replacable, you dont need to replace the whole spindle for that.
Something defintly sounds wrong. I wouldnt pay that much for that. Even if that included an alignment, thats still way to much money for something that just sounds wrong.
Rear suspension is not as complicated as front suspension. There are tie rod ends and bushings in the rear of your car, but replacing a spindle for the purpose of making a noise go away just sounds retarded.
As far as you driving the thing. I dont think its an emergency. Just dont go racing, jumping, rally cross driving, hitting small children or flipping off old ladies. Its more of a noisey inconvience than something you really need to worry bout. Did you only have 1 strut mount replaced. if so, maybe its the other one.
I would try to look in the phone book for a shop that is a specific brake and alignment shop. Take your estimate from firestone to them. Tell them you think that is bullshit and you want a second opinion.
Most specialty brake and alignment shops have a single business owner that is struglling in this wretched economy. What will happen is he will try to prove firestone wrong and get the sale. Its what I did whenever I got a phone call in that situation. 9 out of 10 times I found something that was actually much cheaper and much easier. I didnt make a ton of money on that sale....BUT I had a new loyal customer for life.
MESSAGE TO ALL DRIVERS: Stay the fuck away from ANY cooperate owned automotive repair shops. No firestones, Midas, express tires or anything that has chain stores. Coperate offices train thier service writers to gouge, lie, cheat and steal to pay for the massive overhead that all those companies have. Trust me, I have tons of personal experience in that. Stick with the sole propriators that are just mom and pop type places and help out the small businesses of america!! Not only will you get better prices, but better service and better work!!
HRD
There is NOTHING on the spindle itself that will make noises. The spindle is nothing but a big hunk of metal that just has shit attatched to it. There are a couple of control arms in the back with some rubber bushings and thats about it. Replacing the spindle will not solve any problems.
The noise youre descrbing, very could be the strut mount. Depending on how long ago you got it replaced would determine if its under warrenty still. Typically labor is warrentied for 90 days and most parts are warrentied for life. Strut mounts definetly make that type of noise. Along with rubber bushings and such. Like I was saying before. On SOME higher end (usually european, and some japanese) there are bushings that actually press into the spindle, but those are replacable, you dont need to replace the whole spindle for that.
Something defintly sounds wrong. I wouldnt pay that much for that. Even if that included an alignment, thats still way to much money for something that just sounds wrong.
Rear suspension is not as complicated as front suspension. There are tie rod ends and bushings in the rear of your car, but replacing a spindle for the purpose of making a noise go away just sounds retarded.
As far as you driving the thing. I dont think its an emergency. Just dont go racing, jumping, rally cross driving, hitting small children or flipping off old ladies. Its more of a noisey inconvience than something you really need to worry bout. Did you only have 1 strut mount replaced. if so, maybe its the other one.
I would try to look in the phone book for a shop that is a specific brake and alignment shop. Take your estimate from firestone to them. Tell them you think that is bullshit and you want a second opinion.
Most specialty brake and alignment shops have a single business owner that is struglling in this wretched economy. What will happen is he will try to prove firestone wrong and get the sale. Its what I did whenever I got a phone call in that situation. 9 out of 10 times I found something that was actually much cheaper and much easier. I didnt make a ton of money on that sale....BUT I had a new loyal customer for life.
MESSAGE TO ALL DRIVERS: Stay the fuck away from ANY cooperate owned automotive repair shops. No firestones, Midas, express tires or anything that has chain stores. Coperate offices train thier service writers to gouge, lie, cheat and steal to pay for the massive overhead that all those companies have. Trust me, I have tons of personal experience in that. Stick with the sole propriators that are just mom and pop type places and help out the small businesses of america!! Not only will you get better prices, but better service and better work!!
HRD