Clonking - Quote

[thatfatbloke]

Been getting a clonking from the front as described in a previous post. Finally took it to Mr Mender Man today,and he reckons it's 'the D bushes aka. anti roll bar bushes mate'.He's ordered the pair from Toyota and will be doing the job in a couple of weeks. £110 with the fitting. Does this sound reasonable?.

He says the rest of the suspension is excellent,just a bit of play on these anti roll bar bushes.Worst on the offside,but replacing both anyway. Ta.

[cruisermark]

hi

i havent changed these personally

but according to a couple of posts i read they are £9 each from lexus?

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/34815-ls400-creaky-front-suspension/?hl=Anti++Roll++Bar++Bush

are these the right ones?

[Dale_V]

its about half an hours work

[steve2006]

Engine undercover off ( if still present) 4 bolts to remove, remove old bushes and fit new ones,replace 4 bolts and refit cover.

Present cost of OEM bushes (48815-50110) is around £15.00 each, time to fit 30-45minutes labour.

As your garage apparently charges £120.00 an hour labour you may as well go to Lexus for the job!

[run132]

Funnily enough, mine LS is in getting the very same thing done! I am not sure what the cost is going to be though! I've had new shocks, sub frame bushes and various other bushes and arms so I am hoping this will cure the thumps I am getting.

I also had a leak from the EGR pipe. Unfortunately, one of the oxygen sensors has been cracked while trying to fix it and the part is coming all the way from Japan so it will be a week or so before I see her again!

[runsgrateasanut]

When you say "D" bushes you are not meaning the Upper Suspension wishbone arm bushes? Different to anti roll bar bushes.

Mine are on an advisory and I've checked cheap prices on eBay and also Rock Auto Parts in the States.

Preferring American made, than Chinese. Price for these parts seems to vary but you can buy a bush kit, which frankly seems to cost at least half the price of a complete unit.

[thatfatbloke]

Sorry forgot to mention the fact that he is also going to nail the offside plastic 'sill cover' back on as it's become detached underneath. Oops...

[Titch LS]

Stuart, the upper wishbones you mentioned are not the 'D' bushes for the anti-roll bar. The anti-roll bar bushes are cheap and easy to replace, whereas genuine Lexus upper wishbones are horrendously expensive. For the amount of work involved £110 is over the top in my opinion. It's a doddle for your average mechanic.

[runsgrateasanut]

Thanks Brian.

Is it likely that worn roll bar bushes will produce a "clonk".

From my "clonk" expereriences it's usually something more expensive ie steering bushes, ball joints, suspension, etc. ?

Anyone here found roll bar bushes caused clonking?

ps Run132

What about wheel bearing needing tightening?

Edited November 11, 2014 by runsgrateasanut

[ambermarine]

The wheel bearings are non adjustable,causes of clonking are well documented the main one on the front is the upper control arm bush that connects to the hub .The standard mileage for these is about 100k before they start to give trouble .

Test procedure;

jack up the front wheel off the ground and wedge a bar from the ground against the tyre at the bottom ,lever up and cup the bush in your hand if it is moving about you will feel it knocking.

Do not replace with items sold on eBay they are useless and will last about as long as it takes to fit.

Experience as shown that only genuine oem units work.

[Titch LS]

A neat way to check for upper wishbone (upper control arm) wear is to take off the front wheel and grip the whole wishbone ball-joint between the jaws of a plumbers wrench and squeeze both handles of the wrench together. You shouldn't be able to see/ feel any movement. If you see/feel any movement, the balljoint is shot and needs replacing.

[Malc]

But you would surely have had some inkling of near potential failure at the last MOT with a simple Advisory if it is to be the Upper Control Arms ..... and about £350 a side maybe plus labour which I understand is actually quite a short timeframe job in itself.

I would have thought a minimum of @200k miles life in a normal non rough track road environment tbh.

Mine on my Mk1 ( years ago now ) I replaced at about 165k miles BUT I was chasing the car up and down the rough unmade track ( 0.25 mile) to my then home for some years.

Malc

[ambermarine]

Malc

There is a given period between starting to give noise and becoming a MOT failure or an advisory,on my Mark 1 that noise appeared around 110k and we changed both sides at around 150k and even then they were not Mot failures.

With regard to wear I would think that as a steering joint subject to mutiple angle forces on one joint the wear would be more prevelant on an urban vehicle (continous cornering) than a motorway cruiser.

In that respect the cars usage will play a big part,

my Mark1 was a urban (London) used car for its first 50K , I used it for a mixture of both for the next 150k.

[run132]

ps Run132

What about wheel bearing needing tightening?

I hope that is something that has already been checked but it is worth a try! It will be another week until I get the car back but I'll ask them to check that. Cheers.

[runsgrateasanut]

The wheel bearings are non adjustable,causes of clonking are well documented the main one on the front is the upper control arm bush that connects to the hub .The standard mileage for these is about 100k before they start to give trouble .

I was told that the wheel bearing on an MR2 that I owned was adjustable so I assumed Lexus might be the same, if that person was talking sense. Perhaps not?

What annoys me is that I don't get any clonking though the Upper wishbones are an advisory on the MOT. I'll have to test them as you suggest.

[Titch LS]

Wheelbearings, when they start to fail usually emit a rumbling/whining noise rather than a clunk or knock. It is also more noticeable when turning the steering rather than going over a bump.