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shenmecar · 01-01-2010, 12:23 AM

Hello fellow RS'sers,

My IS300 makes a *cluck* sound when its steering at very low speeds. Funny thing is that it doesnt happen all the time, it comes and it goes. It was making this noise in the fall, then it sorta disappeared, and today, its come back again.

So the situation is this, say I'm parallel parking, or reverse parking into a stall, I've stopped, turn the wheel and start moving again it makes a *cluck* sound coming from the front. If I got to pick a side, its probably coming from the driver side, but I'm not sure

.

Anyone have an idea what this may be?

The car is factory lowered (has the L-Tuned Eibach lowering springs), the struts will need replacing soon, don't think the previous owner changed them, the car has 145k-ish on it.

!SG · 01-01-2010, 07:30 AM

well, the design of the suspension on the Lexus's are not like that of the honda, where the strut turns and twists with the car when u turn the steering wheel side to side. on the lexus, the strut is mounted between the upper control arm and on the lower control arm. thus it should only go up and down for movement and no real twist to it. the hub turns via a lower ball joint which has a tie rod attached to it. the lower ball joints on the lexus's are known to have failure anywhere around 100,000 miles to easily double that. so i would look into replacing them.

if i remember right, they should be around $150 or so a side. and labour involved is anywhere from 1/2an hour to an hour a side to swap out and replace.

welfare · 01-01-2010, 10:38 AM

sounds like you may have a chicken caught in your steering rack.
do you live in abbotsford?

shenmecar · 01-02-2010, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by !SG

well, the design of the suspension on the Lexus's are not like that of the honda, where the strut turns and twists with the car when u turn the steering wheel side to side. on the lexus, the strut is mounted between the upper control arm and on the lower control arm. thus it should only go up and down for movement and no real twist to it. the hub turns via a lower ball joint which has a tie rod attached to it. the lower ball joints on the lexus's are known to have failure anywhere around 100,000 miles to easily double that. so i would look into replacing them.

if i remember right, they should be around $150 or so a side. and labour involved is anywhere from 1/2an hour to an hour a side to swap out and replace.

I was thinking it may be the struts being old. But thanks for your suggestion!

P_I_N_E_A_P_P_L_E · 01-02-2010, 11:24 PM

check the inner and outer tie rods....and check the bearing on the struts or i could be the struts itself....

shenmecar · 01-04-2010, 05:41 PM

Weird, now it makes the same cluck sound when i go over a small bump in the road or a speed bump, but only at low speeds. Does this sound like the struts?

P_I_N_E_A_P_P_L_E · 01-06-2010, 11:05 AM

maybe but the best thing to do is go to a shop to be sure and if they find anything make sure ask them if they could show you the problem.....

rsxxboi · 01-06-2010, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shenmecar

Weird, now it makes the same cluck sound when i go over a small bump in the road or a speed bump, but only at low speeds. Does this sound like the struts?

If you're gonna take it to a shop, have them inspect your stabilizer bar links, they may be worn.

shenmecar · 07-09-2010, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsxxboi

If you're gonna take it to a shop, have them inspect your stabilizer bar links, they may be worn.

This was it. Replaced my shocks and the cluck noise when steering turned into a constant knocking noise when driving. The endlinks rubber was torn and was leaking grease.

Hope this may help somebody in diagnosis.