So I'm not a mechanic at all but today I decided to do my brakes and I noticed a problem.
Some background, I've been hearing a sort of "clunk" noise whenever I reverse out from my parking spot. Basically when I park at work, I have to turn into my spot and I end up with my wheels turned all the way left at times. When I leave and I reverse, when I turn the wheel the other way to reverse out, almost as soon as I turn, I hear a "clunk." Then when I'm out and i turn again, I'll hear it one more time.
Rarely do I hear it on the road. I think it's during extreme turns but funny thing is i can't always reproduce it.
I thought maybe tie rod ends but today as I changed my brakes I noticed the piece in the photos was a little messed up. Any help? I have no clue what this piece is or what it does. Would it cuz the "clunk" noise?
That is the Front Lower Control Arm (rear position) There are 2 lower control arms. The other (front) position, is what you have support underneath your jackstand.
The bushing in that control arm is definitely done. You can either replace the whole arm or if you have access to a hydraulic press. You can just buy the stand alone bushing, press out the old ones, and then press in the new one.
I highly recommend the figs LCA2 bushing. Its a poly bushing and will not deform on braking. If you notice inner tire wear, that can result from bad LCA2 bushings.
Yea. I discovered the problem a little late. Installed new rotors brakes last week. A couple of hours ago had new tires put in. And I'm still waiting for the dang parts to come in for this. They were suppose to arrive today but Amazon is slacking right now which sucks. Is a few days of uneven/equal parts going to screw me over?
Hey got a question on the right rear tire you mentioned having a forward and rear control arm . All I'm able to find is a control arm for the front end. I have no clue if it matters or not. This is my first car I'm building I come from trucks and jeeps. So any help would be appreciated
Well you can pry and see if you get any up and down movement. But that is no garantee. Mine did not move any amount I coud tell. But as soon as I replaced them the issue went away.
I visually inspected them and they looked fine. I didnt want to poke at them though.
Also, changed my LCA#2 as of right now, I havent heard the noise when I pull out from the parking lot.
To refresh, any time I parked at work, I basically do a u-turn into my spot so my wheel is 100% turned to the left. When I pull out I have to straighten out and when I turn the wheel to the right, it immediately makes a "clunk" or "pop" sound like two metal parts just popped into place. but I have to turn hard right to back out as well and when I turn again from that, it pops again.
So that SEEMS to be gone now.
My problem (mentioned in another post) is that Im getting bad vibration from stopping "hard." The LCA fix seemed to have improved that a little bit as I no longer feel the vibration in my brake pedal or wheel. Where prior to the change, I could feel it well in both.
I have nEW rotors and brakes and did the break-in process as described to the best of my ability.
Personally i have never had a vibration or hum during braking ever come from anything other than rotors, pads or wheel bearings, i struggle to see how ball joints or tie rods would cause that unless they are soo knackered that they are on the verge of falling apart. 95% of the time i have skimmed the rotor and all noise or vibration when braking has gone away, only once has it ever been pad related and it surprised me until i saw how the pad had worn.
And don't always assume new rotors will arrive machined true, i have had them arrive out of true despite the fresh machine marks and QA stamps. If you have a DTI you could try clocking it to see for sure.
Thanks. I got with Summit Racing where I bought the kit. I just have to order new ones and swap them out and theyll refund me. So we'll see if that works.
They are slotted and drilled. From what I understand, you cant machine those...?
Did you have the rotors trued before installing them? Even new rotors should be cut before installing. I have had many new rotors come warped. I think the factory cuts them before they are completely cooled, but thats just my speculation.
What I would suggest is remove the rotors and have them trued by a uto parts shop with a lathe and see how it drives. Its usually $12 per rotor. Hang on to the other parts for a little while. If the shake comes back start replacing the other parts. Worn ball jts and tie rods paired with unevenly worn tires will bring back the shake.
Thanks! As mentioned in previous posts, I'm not anything of a "car guy" or "mechanic" so I didnt even know about having rotors "trued"
Im learning now as I go and Im trying to "refurbish" my IS300 to keep it going until I truly need a new car.
The mechanic checked the ball joints and tie rods and cleared them. Tires a brand new. Alignment done. Balancing done.
Im going to get the new ones in, have them "trued" as you said and then install. See what happens there.
Summit Racing was easy about getting them swapped on warranty. All they asked were if the mechanic inspected them and if they were properly "broken" in. Both of which were true.
And dont forget to bed the brake pads properly. One of the biggest rookie mistakes is to just swap parts and drive on. If you are unfamiliar with bedding brake pads, google it
Depends on where the vibration is, sometimes its hard to tell. 9/10 times it is the front rotors in my experience, they warp more as they are the ones subjected to the most abuse and heat. How hard are you pressing on the peddle before feeling the vibration? Usually if it is rears they come on when you are hard on the peddle (the rears only do like 10% of the total braking so will be hardly touching under light braking) and you will feel the back tending to jump around if there is nothing in the back. I would probably try the fronts first, then the rears if needed. Either way they are easy on swapping out under warranty so shouldn't be an issue if you have to do that later on.
Did you find your clunk? It could be the obvious. The pad clips may be missing or loose and you are hearing the pad plates shifting in the brackets when you change directions.
On my IS00, I started getting a slight shake while braking hard last week. When I got to work after an hour's drive, I touched the front rotors to see if they had the same heat. The drivers side was cool (normal) and the passengers side is hot. Its cold outside which leads me to think the passenger caliper has seized. Sure enough, as I left work, I could hear the FR brakes scrubbing/grinding. So I will be replacing the calipers this weekend. I put rebuilts on 8 years and 100,000 miles ago. So I guess I got my monies worth.
Did you find your clunk? It could be the obvious. The pad clips may be missing or loose and you are hearing the pad plates shifting in the brackets when you change directions.
On my IS00, I started getting a slight shake while braking hard last week. When I got to work after an hours drive, I touched the front rotors to see if they had the same heat. The drivers side was cool (normal) and the passengers side is hot. Its cold outside which leads me to think the passenger caliper has seized. Sure enough, as I left work, I could hear the FR brakes scrubbing/grinding. So I will be replacing the calipers this weekend. I put rebuilts on 8 years and 100,000 miles ago. So I guess I got my monies worth.
My bet would be the lower balljoints or the endlinks on the antiroll bar that's still making noise. Good thing you already ordered lower balljoints, that's a part that goes bad on these cars with age and is pretty dangerous if one of them break while you're driving.
Good to know. I'm no mechanic. But I'm starting to do work on my car so all the info helps.
Waiting to get all the parts in to ask the shop to install. I did the lower control arms #2 myself but the other parts look a bit more complicated and will want a pro to do.
Again, I took it to the shop, they messed around and checked everything physically and visually and all looked good in terms tie rods, ball joints and such.
This is the 2nd time Ive taken it, different mechanics have checked it and they concluded the same.
This time though we went for a spin and the mechanic said it appeared to be the shocks and shock mounts.
Now over the weekend I read a thread and someone described a "loose change" rattling noise if its the shock/shock mounts. Well last night as I drove, when I would come to a light and brake, I could hear a light rattling noise. I made sure I didnt have actual loose change anywhere lol. It was consistent with my brake at the light.
The clunking and knocking all comes when I hit pot holes or dips of any kind. Just sounds really bad.
I was looking at either KYB or Gabriel. I just want OEM ride and theyre priced cheap. I read terrible things about Gabriel but the posts were from early 2000s. Later 2012s and up seem to praise the Gabriels. Any thoughts?
LBJ on the IS300 is not failsafe. The stud points down. Whats happening is the strut is pushing down while the knuckle is pushing up. This puts constant tension in the LBJ. Its very difficult to determine if the ball is failing until it pops outs and fails catastrophically. Failsafe LBJs have the stud pointing up so that the force is pushing the ball and socket together vs pulling them apart. I proactively changed mine at 120,000 miles.
I had a rubber isolator where my spring would come in contact with the top hat. Maybe you might have to use the ones that are on the factory setup. I haven't seen them for sale but I also never really looked for them. I would think it would help with maybe keeping away some noises.
The white item is the bump stop in the photo you provided above.
A bellow is just a rubber boot, like the accordion looking thing in your photo.
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