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Old 01-01-2010, 12:23 AM   #1
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*CLUCK* sound when steering?

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.
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Old 01-01-2010, 07:30 AM   #2
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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.
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Old 01-01-2010, 10:38 AM   #3
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sounds like you may have a chicken caught in your steering rack.
do you live in abbotsford?
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Old 01-02-2010, 10:56 PM   #4
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Quote:
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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!
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Old 01-02-2010, 11:24 PM   #5
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check the inner and outer tie rods....and check the bearing on the struts or i could be the struts itself....
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Old 01-04-2010, 05:41 PM   #6
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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?
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:05 AM   #7
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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.....
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Old 01-06-2010, 11:53 AM   #8
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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.
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Old 07-09-2010, 09:28 AM   #9
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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.
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Old 11-03-2010, 08:47 PM   #10
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i agree about the stabilizer bar, check the bushings and make sure they are still intact. if you've ever driven a car with bad bushings it makes clunking sounds and you can feel it through the steering.
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Old 11-09-2010, 07:47 PM   #11
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on the way to whistler one night, i heard a clucking sound while driving, turned out to be loose lug nuts. i forgot to torque that side when i put on my spacers. thats the only cluck i can think of.
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Old 11-10-2010, 10:23 PM   #12
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is it at full lock? I don't know jack about your front suspension, but the turn knuckle bump stop caps may have fallen/worn off. do you notice the front of your car dipping down when you turn the wheel to full lock (when fully stopped)? the caps are a couple of bucks each.
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Old 11-12-2010, 11:10 PM   #13
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is it at full lock? I don't know jack about your front suspension, but the turn knuckle bump stop caps may have fallen/worn off. do you notice the front of your car dipping down when you turn the wheel to full lock (when fully stopped)? the caps are a couple of bucks each.
nope, it was nowhere near full lock. maybe half a turn.
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Old 12-26-2010, 01:06 AM   #14
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After a few months since I replaced the endlinks, the knocking noise came back. So this time I lubed the sway bar bushings and this seems to help A LOT. I no longer hear it anymore. I guess it was the bushings being dried up and so the sway bar wasn't able to move freely.

Note to self: Keep the sway bars bushing lubed frequently.
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Old 01-16-2011, 09:03 AM   #15
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the funny thing is i get the clunk sound because i swapped sway bars and the new bushings are poly and i lubricated the crap out of them. there is so much easy movement that they are making the clunking sound...
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Old 01-16-2011, 12:04 PM   #16
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After a few heavy rains and lots of puddles on the road, I do hear the cluck noise again. But its not as loud, or as often.

I posted this because a lot of people forget that sway bar bushings needs to be lubed regularly as well, like any other maintenance. I was one of them. =P
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