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Rear Ball Joint And Axle Carrier Bush Problems


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The MOT is upon us on 14th Aug and she wont pass.

The back end has become a bit wobble round corners and the rear brakes judder and nock under braking. Not nice.

Its down to the rear ball joints and the axle carrier bushes.

The ball joints are worn (with the car jacked up i can rock the wheel back and forth: 6-12 oclock)its not much but its enough.

The axle carrier bushes (both sides) have completely broken down at the hub end. I think this is where most of the problem is.

I can probable get the bushes cheap enough (if i can get the nuts off. Couldnt yesterday)

But the only rear ball/suspension arms i can find on eBay are from a 97R and my car is a 93L.

Will these fit?

If i cannot get the old girl fixed up, theres only one place she will go, and that would be a real shame.

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The MOT is upon us on 14th Aug and she wont pass.

The back end has become a bit wobble round corners and the rear brakes judder and nock under braking. Not nice.

Its down to the rear ball joints and the axle carrier bushes.

The ball joints are worn (with the car jacked up i can rock the wheel back and forth: 6-12 oclock)its not much but its enough.

The axle carrier bushes (both sides) have completely broken down at the hub end. I think this is where most of the problem is.

I can probable get the bushes cheap enough (if i can get the nuts off. Couldnt yesterday)

But the only rear ball/suspension arms i can find on ebay are from a 97R and my car is a 93L.

Will these fit?

If i cannot get the old girl fixed up, theres only one place she will go, and that would be a real shame.

What's your mileage if you don't mind me asking?

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I did my axle carrier bushes with some from the USA, it's no too bad a job to do.

Try BENFUR on this forum, he has parts from cars he breaks.

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The MOT is upon us on 14th Aug and she wont pass.

The back end has become a bit wobble round corners and the rear brakes judder and nock under braking. Not nice.

Its down to the rear ball joints and the axle carrier bushes.

The ball joints are worn (with the car jacked up i can rock the wheel back and forth: 6-12 oclock)its not much but its enough.

The axle carrier bushes (both sides) have completely broken down at the hub end. I think this is where most of the problem is.

I can probable get the bushes cheap enough (if i can get the nuts off. Couldnt yesterday)

But the only rear ball/suspension arms i can find on ebay are from a 97R and my car is a 93L.

Will these fit?

If i cannot get the old girl fixed up, theres only one place she will go, and that would be a real shame.

What's your mileage if you don't mind me asking?

The car has done 185k so just run in.

Over the last 3 years ive cured the PAS pipe and reservoir leaks, new dizis, rotas and plugs, new rear springs, brake pads all round, both front upper wishbones and a new alternators.

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I did my axle carrier bushes with some from the USA, it's no too bad a job to do.

Try BENFUR on this forum, he has parts from cars he breaks.

I tried Benfur. He does have any early cars in at the moment. I suppose there is less and less call for the bits and fewer donor cars coming his way.

Before you did your bushes, were the brakes juddering and knocking?

Im wondering how much of the poor handling is down to the axle carrier bushes.

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The MOT is upon us on 14th Aug and she wont pass.

The back end has become a bit wobble round corners and the rear brakes judder and nock under braking. Not nice.

Its down to the rear ball joints and the axle carrier bushes.

The ball joints are worn (with the car jacked up i can rock the wheel back and forth: 6-12 oclock)its not much but its enough.

The axle carrier bushes (both sides) have completely broken down at the hub end. I think this is where most of the problem is.

I can probable get the bushes cheap enough (if i can get the nuts off. Couldnt yesterday)

But the only rear ball/suspension arms i can find on ebay are from a 97R and my car is a 93L.

Will these fit?

If i cannot get the old girl fixed up, theres only one place she will go, and that would be a real shame.

What's your mileage if you don't mind me asking?

I guess much of it comes down to how much you value the car, regardless of its market value. If the body, engine a transmission are OK I would do my best to fix it.

The car has done 185k so just run in.

Over the last 3 years ive cured the PAS pipe and reservoir leaks, new dizis, rotas and plugs, new rear springs, brake pads all round, both front upper wishbones and a new alternators.

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The-Acre,

im really attached to the car. if i can get the bits at the right money ill keep her forever.

Q; searched on the forum and the web; is the Axle carrier arm the same this as the rear trailing arm?

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The-Acre,

im really attached to the car. if i can get the bits at the right money ill keep her forever.

Q; searched on the forum and the web; is the Axle carrier arm the same this as the rear trailing arm?

If you're looking for a replacement I spotted this in Autotrader: -

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201124391419317/sort/priceasc/usedcars/model/ls/make/lexus/postcode/m259yz/radius/1500/page/1?logcode=p

Only 12,000 miles and less than £1,000 !

John N

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The-Acre,

im really attached to the car. if i can get the bits at the right money ill keep her forever.

Q; searched on the forum and the web; is the Axle carrier arm the same this as the rear trailing arm?

I've got a Vauxhall so I'm on a VX forum as well. Last week one of the VX guys said how much he loved the look of the old LS so I posted a photo of mine. The LS400 really is a strange car, I've been driving since 1972 and I've had all sorts of cars, including a 69 Chevrolet but none of them come close to the attachment that you get to the Lexus,and it's only a car! :shifty:

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Re the bushes, you could move the rear wheels quite a bit when tightening the wheel nuts,

indicating that the whole axle moved.

Strangely enough this didn't show much when driving but looked really bad.

I don't 'leather it' so maybe that's why.

The steering was just less precise, more vague

According to my parts list no match is shown after 1994

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The-Acre,

im really attached to the car. if i can get the bits at the right money ill keep her forever.

Q; searched on the forum and the web; is the Axle carrier arm the same this as the rear trailing arm?

If you're looking for a replacement I spotted this in Autotrader: -

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201124391419317/sort/priceasc/usedcars/model/ls/make/lexus/postcode/m259yz/radius/1500/page/1?logcode=p

Only 12,000 miles and less than £1,000 !

John N

Too late it's gone!

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John N,

Thanks for the link John. I thought it must have gone. Really want to keep the old girl if possible.

Im thinking of doing the axle carrier bushes and seeing if it passes the MOT. Then keeping an eye open for the wishbones.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is the price I got from Jerry at Auto Warehouse for my 1995 Mk3

Adus 505 $32.04 X2 $ 64.08

Adus 5056 $32.04 X2 $ 64.08

Adus 583 $43.69 X2 $ 87.38

Shipping $ 13.95 Priority. First class is more.

Grand Total $229.39 (about £140)

The 505 and 5056 are for models 89-00 rear strut rods/rear axle carrier/rear trailing arm.

The 583 come as a pair for both ends of the rear lower suspension arm. Jerry assures me they will fit my 1995 Mk3, as well as earlier models.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180680890949&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This link will take you to the eBay site for the 5056 part and there is a handy diagram to enlarge which shows all three bushings.

Jim

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Thanks all for the responses.

I ordered the rear axle carrier arm bushes (rear end/hub end) from Priracing.com. Under £40 for a kit that does both sides (NSR ans OSR)The bushes for the same arm (front/chassis end) are another £50.

They arrived next day.

I havent fitted them yet but when i do ill post a conclusion so others know how they fitted, if i had any problems and what difference they make to the handling.

wish me luck with the MOT!

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Thanks all for the responses.

I ordered the rear axle carrier arm bushes (rear end/hub end) from Priracing.com. Under £40 for a kit that does both sides (NSR ans OSR)The bushes for the same arm (front/chassis end) are another £50.

They arrived next day.

I havent fitted them yet but when i do ill post a conclusion so others know how they fitted, if i had any problems and what difference they make to the handling.

wish me luck with the MOT!

I've covered the bushes before in a thread in the suspension section about these.

Top tip is to take the rear arms off and do both ends of each arm with new bushes not just the ends ones. You'll see it saves you alot of time in the long run. As they are old you can either take the arms to a local gargage and get them to press out the old bushes(Easy way)or with a good vice and hammer and pointed chisel work around the old push bending in the outer metal ring. Once most of it is pointing inwards it should be easier to hit out. Soak in some WD40 also helps or something like that. Last resort burn them out with a welding torch.

Clean up the holes with sand paper and the new poly bushes will fly in with a little grease.

Top tip is too fit some strut braces front and rear as that transforms the car around corners compared to standard.

Baz.

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Bazgtr, thanks for that.

Heres the update; the new bushes arrived within 24 hours of placing the order by phone. I was only doing the rear end bush and hadnt read Baz`s post about removing the arm and replacing both ends. So i followed the proceedure on the Lexls.com. The rubber had all gone from the old bushes, NS and OS, so all i had to do was saw through the metal sleave or liner and chisel it out. That was the only difficult bit. The new bushes went on a dream.

The cars tendency to wobble about on corners and poor road surfaces has gone. Its now well planted and handles as it should so im well chuffed.

As for the brake gudder; thats not 100% cured. But its bearable. The rear discs are well shot at. Not only are they very worn and corrided around the edges but the surfaces are also breaking up. As in, there are a couple of patches where the surface is hollow and rough.

If it gets through the MOT without failing on the rear upper ball joints ill fit new discs. I dont think its worth paying out £100+ for 2 new discs only for the car to fail the MOT a week later and not be worth reparing.

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Bazgtr, thanks for that.

Heres the update; the new bushes arrived within 24 hours of placing the order by phone. I was only doing the rear end bush and hadnt read Baz`s post about removing the arm and replacing both ends. So i followed the proceedure on the Lexls.com. The rubber had all gone from the old bushes, NS and OS, so all i had to do was saw through the metal sleave or liner and chisel it out. That was the only difficult bit. The new bushes went on a dream.

The cars tendency to wobble about on corners and poor road surfaces has gone. Its now well planted and handles as it should so im well chuffed.

As for the brake gudder; thats not 100% cured. But its bearable. The rear discs are well shot at. Not only are they very worn and corrided around the edges but the surfaces are also breaking up. As in, there are a couple of patches where the surface is hollow and rough.

If it gets through the MOT without failing on the rear upper ball joints ill fit new discs. I dont think its worth paying out £100+ for 2 new discs only for the car to fail the MOT a week later and not be worth reparing.

My rear disks are also in a bad state. I was looking for the cause of a pretty soggy brake pedal, and found the rear inner pads were frozen in place.

Getting them out, cleaning the rust off the ends, cleaning the springs the pads ride in and replacing with some copper grease on them has transformed the brakes.

The tendency to judder is gone, now the back brakes are helping to stop the car. So even though the pads and disks should really be replaced, cleaning them up really helps

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Mine passed the MOT with dodgy looking rear brake discs... the guy laughed about them but said it passed the braking efficeincy test with flying colours so he cant fail it...

but i did buy them weeks later when i got a few shudders....

thought i'd do it myself but couldn't get the old discs off..... & buying proper tools was more expensive so i threw my tools out of the pram & took it to the garage

Sir John I commend you Sir :)

I've got those same sinking feelings about future repairs to my car... but when you think about it.... mine is 18yrs old, done 230,000 miles & and only just starting to get rubbers failing the past year or 2... its never been into a garage for a engine failure/troubles/issues..... (now that is incredible!!!).. the only faults have been normal wear & tear parts & the odd electronic hiccup like the dash & the a/c display..... not a bad cost to fix either if you stay away from the dealers.. they wont fix it they want you to buy a new dash console!! ££££

...the rear suspension is now my headache after sorting all the front end last year :( but still just wear & tear parts !!

the exhaust flange is split at the bottom (bloody councils!!) but should be fixable when i find a decent welder....

and that is about it.... could do with a window switch my side, and a service & gear oil change... but she runs really well..... gearbox is sound, engine is smooth, 2 smalll rust spots that should be easy to sort...

Oh i did i mention my rear springs just cracked? to go with the bushes i need :(

Over the next 6 months i prob need to spend upto £1000 with diy parts & the odd garage fee, but when i think what i'd get in place of it........ well...... errrrrr.......................... there's nothing on my current financial scale that can match it really...

its worth keeping until the gearbox fails or bodywork is showing its rusty brown bubbles... or the engine packs in - but i cant see that just yet

Its a dilemma indeed but i've gotta keep it, i know it & what its had done or is in need of.... i'll only end up with another LS or maybe GS but i'll be starting all over again wouldn't i??

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Started waffling didn't i???

I forgot to ask how easy/difficult it was to get the rear arms off to replace bushings???

I can get access to a press and a decent engineer at work, but the parts gotta be off the car obviously... this is my cheapest option.... and have seen the wd40 reference so am presuming its a toughy???

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Mine passed the MOT with dodgy looking rear brake discs... the guy laughed about them but said it passed the braking efficeincy test with flying colours so he cant fail it...

but i did buy them weeks later when i got a few shudders....

thought i'd do it myself but couldn't get the old discs off..... & buying proper tools was more expensive so i threw my tools out of the pram & took it to the garage

Sir John I commend you Sir :)

I've got those same sinking feelings about future repairs to my car... but when you think about it.... mine is 18yrs old, done 230,000 miles & and only just starting to get rubbers failing the past year or 2... its never been into a garage for a engine failure/troubles/issues..... (now that is incredible!!!).. the only faults have been normal wear & tear parts & the odd electronic hiccup like the dash & the a/c display..... not a bad cost to fix either if you stay away from the dealers.. they wont fix it they want you to buy a new dash console!! ££££

...the rear suspension is now my headache after sorting all the front end last year :( but still just wear & tear parts !!

the exhaust flange is split at the bottom (bloody councils!!) but should be fixable when i find a decent welder....

and that is about it.... could do with a window switch my side, and a service & gear oil change... but she runs really well..... gearbox is sound, engine is smooth, 2 smalll rust spots that should be easy to sort...

Oh i did i mention my rear springs just cracked? to go with the bushes i need :(

Over the next 6 months i prob need to spend upto £1000 with diy parts & the odd garage fee, but when i think what i'd get in place of it........ well...... errrrrr.......................... there's nothing on my current financial scale that can match it really...

its worth keeping until the gearbox fails or bodywork is showing its rusty brown bubbles... or the engine packs in - but i cant see that just yet

Its a dilemma indeed but i've gotta keep it, i know it & what its had done or is in need of.... i'll only end up with another LS or maybe GS but i'll be starting all over again wouldn't i??

Mine is the same age as yours (although 102,000 miles younger) and last week was my 4th MOT without an advisory, although the tester did say the rear springs were very corroded. Before I bought mine I borrowed a friends 92 BMW 7 series..it didn't come close.

Every time I think of selling someone seems to make a positive comment that makes me change my mind. In fact it happened this evening, I was picking up a takeaway in the town centre and a couple of passers by pointed to it and said "There's a Lexus" It's because it still looks good regardless of age, a timeless classic!

Phil

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This is the price I got from Jerry at Auto Warehouse for my 1995 Mk3

Adus 505 $32.04 X2 $ 64.08

Adus 5056 $32.04 X2 $ 64.08

Adus 583 $43.69 X2 $ 87.38

Shipping $ 13.95 Priority. First class is more.

Grand Total $229.39 (about £140)

The 505 and 5056 are for models 89-00 rear strut rods/rear axle carrier/rear trailing arm.

The 583 come as a pair for both ends of the rear lower suspension arm. Jerry assures me they will fit my 1995 Mk3, as well as earlier models.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This link will take you to the ebay site for the 5056 part and there is a handy diagram to enlarge which shows all three bushings.

Jim

Jim - thats a great link.. Thank You

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Mine is the same age as yours (although 102,000 miles younger) and last week was my 4th MOT without an advisory, although the tester did say the rear springs were very corroded. Before I bought mine I borrowed a friends 92 BMW 7 series..it didn't come close.

Every time I think of selling someone seems to make a positive comment that makes me change my mind. In fact it happened this evening, I was picking up a takeaway in the town centre and a couple of passers by pointed to it and said "There's a Lexus" It's because it still looks good regardless of age, a timeless classic!

Phil

Alright Phil.... most of my friends (who havnt drove or even sat in it!!) say i should get rid.... but the ones who drove it are all positive.....

i've had it 6 yrs now & it only cost me 1 set of tyres for the first 3 of those years..... the front susp arms have been my biggest outlay... but deep down i want to take it to 500K... and then maybe get myself on telly with the Proclaimers :) lol...

the fuels a bit of a pain... but i can cope for now..

Its the only car i ever became attached to - apart from my 1st sporty one.. a 205 gti :) but this far outweighs the liking of the french go-kart... i can't explain it really but im sure most of you already know :)

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Started waffling didn't i???

I forgot to ask how easy/difficult it was to get the rear arms off to replace bushings???

I can get access to a press and a decent engineer at work, but the parts gotta be off the car obviously... this is my cheapest option.... and have seen the wd40 reference so am presuming its a toughy???

I didnt take the arms off the car. I was onlyt replacing the buses at the rear end of the arm.

Most of the rubber was gone from the bush anyway but what was left wasnt too difficult to cut out with a Knife.

With the arm hanging down under the car i just used a hack saw blade to saw through the bush liner in the arm.

When i was through that i just chiseled the bush out. Simple as that. The new bushes slid straight in. Bingo.

As for the WD40; i might replace the upper wishbone and ball joints. Hence the WD40.

If you are going to do this job; a little tip; dont try to undo the nut and bolt with an open end 19mm spanner. Use a 6 point socket and a ring spanner. The nut and bolt will have been on for 18 years now and like mine will be stuck fast. I dont like using a hammer to strike a spanner or T bar. I, very carfully, used a trolley jack to apply presure to the T bar and socket. "slowly slowly catchy monkey"

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