I was looking at a USA owners' club web site. They have a thread on failure of the suspension ball joints and when to replace. Has anyone in the UK had a problem? Should they be replaced regularly?

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310895

A few people on here have had ball joints changed, both upper and lower. Mine creak and groan sometimes too, that thread makes me think about getting it looked at!

Anyone got any ideas of costs in the UK?

Not a good thing to happen anywhere,

Does not look to hard to change them yourself.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread...ower+balljoints

My 1999 GS 300 has just passed it's MOT today, I have the creaking sound when parking up. I guess the balljoints were not bad enough to fail. After seeing that Im thinking I should have them changed asap.
Last year I had the MOT done the car failed on a ball joint and Lexus robbed me of £400.00 to have the upper ones done, Ive done some searching and you can get blueprint upper and lower ball joint parts for around £50.00 per joint.

I'm pretty sure the Mk2 is the same as the Mk1 for the upper balljoint, it is a complete wishbone (not just a balljoint) and much more than 50 quid. I did this thread when I changed my top balljoint on my Mk1 clicky, you can see the whole wishbone assembly. I guess the ball joint could be drilled out or something and a new one put in the arm, but not seen that done and no idea where to get a suitable ball joint.

Only the lower balljoint can be replaced on it's own, the upper balljoint is part of the control arm, and the entire arm needs to be replaced.

I replaced my lower balljoints, along with inner and outer tied rod ends shortly after purchase of the mk2 GS (85k miles). The steering did feel sloppy (I had driven the Mk2 GS when it was new in 1998), after the new parts, the steering felt much, much tighter, and vibration was reduced.

It's normally checked at service time. Just because Lexus say it's ok, and it passes the MOT, does not mean the balljoint has not worn. It just means there is no excessive play at that time. IMHO, any GS or LS after 60k will have wear in the lower balljoints. These are heavy cars, and the lower balljoints wear out the quickest on the front suspension.

I got the lower balljoints from the States for 50 quid for the pair. Same with the tie rod ends. See linkyOlyonline

i bought an upper wishbone with ball joint off ebay for my old mk1 for £180 new. Lexus want about £300 !

Lower ball joints are £60 from lexus

i recently replaced the ball joints on the gs300 80k on the clock.... dont go to main dealer get the blueprint ones which are exactly the same but a lot cheaper.

GS's, LS's and IS's are all prone to ball joints wearing out

When I got my Series I Sport it had around 77,000 on the clock and within a year or two of owning it I had to get the ball joints changed, but I can't remember of the top of my head if it was upper, lower or both. I've also had to replace both the front springs, since the old ones snapped in half, and despite doing the ball joints and the springs I still get creeking sounds from the front of the car.

I've just had my lower ball joints and suspension bushes replaced - the car feels like new. Total cost through local garage £272 (including 2 hrs labour). 60% recovered from warranty (Click4Warranty) which covers wear & tear to car providing it has FSH. I'm asking the garage what (it anything) needs doing next.

My series 1 Sport had 85k on clock when I bought it in 2002.Sold it back to Lexus in May this year on over 140k and hadn't needed to replace any ball joints. Had advisory on the Lexus VSC on annual service which said slight wear in lower b/j <for 4 yrs> and rear wheel bearings( slight play)< for 2 yrs>. Passed MOT every year, no sign of wear during driving and Lexus only advised slight wear but said everything was well within limits. Apparently if front b/j gets really bad you are aware of it because under braking a banging/clunking is noticeable because car is braking but body wants to keep going forward.