Liking what I'm seeing so far!
My new find... 1999 LX470 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter TEXAS 57
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- Thread starter
- #102
After not getting much change out of the torque arm bushing I decided to knock the rear arm bushing out.
Guess what? Looked good but once out, you can see it is broken completely.
Hit it once with a hammer and the internals fell out.
I removed the cup bushing the same way as the front diff bushing - hammer, chisel, air chisel, Vice grip clamp and bang on it.
Cleaned everything and masked for paint.
Post paint
Gotta clean and paint the hardware too because I am me.
Guess what? Looked good but once out, you can see it is broken completely.
Hit it once with a hammer and the internals fell out.
I removed the cup bushing the same way as the front diff bushing - hammer, chisel, air chisel, Vice grip clamp and bang on it.
Cleaned everything and masked for paint.
Post paint
Gotta clean and paint the hardware too because I am me.
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- Thread starter
- #103
After the struggle with the first two, I took a caliper and measured the bushing and hole and the bushing was bigger than the hole by .17 mm so I took it to the lathe (LOL) and turned it down a bit.
I greased them up and put it in the big vise and pressed it in most of the way. Hit it with the dead blow hammer to finish setting it.
Marked, aligned, pressed, painted, and dated. Ready to go in.
All in.
Driving impressions after all 3 bushings (especially the last one) - Smoother acceleration, about 60% of accelerating vibrations are gone. No, none, zero, zilch, nada P-R-D clunk! No more brake to accelerator clunk.
I still have a high speed cruising vibration around 65-80 mph, although it is much less now.
I greased them up and put it in the big vise and pressed it in most of the way. Hit it with the dead blow hammer to finish setting it.
Marked, aligned, pressed, painted, and dated. Ready to go in.
All in.
Driving impressions after all 3 bushings (especially the last one) - Smoother acceleration, about 60% of accelerating vibrations are gone. No, none, zero, zilch, nada P-R-D clunk! No more brake to accelerator clunk.
I still have a high speed cruising vibration around 65-80 mph, although it is much less now.
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- Thread starter
- #104
First 90* day in Houston and my rear hatch (which has never given me issues) quit unlocking. I bought 6 of the little actuated motors (1 for the LX, 5 for the LC) in case the others go out a while back.
Of course it went out when I got to baseball practice (I coach an 8 y.o. Little League team and a T Ball team) so I had the wagon full of baseballs, bats, gloves, Tees, and other training equipment in the back. I sent the little ones back to open from the inside and it didn’t work so we ended up funneling it at out through the door. Luckily, I have a folding wagon.
Come to find out that night that the child lock was switched on the back hatch.
Pulled apart - look how dusty!
Using the typical tools to break the case open.
Cleaned, regreased, JB Welded, all other parts cleaned thoroughly and ready to be put back together.
Once back together, everything worked like it should.
Also got Mevotech rear control arms in the mail. Bushings are bad on mine. I didn’t want to spend all day pressing rubber bushings in and out. Will install those soon.
Of course it went out when I got to baseball practice (I coach an 8 y.o. Little League team and a T Ball team) so I had the wagon full of baseballs, bats, gloves, Tees, and other training equipment in the back. I sent the little ones back to open from the inside and it didn’t work so we ended up funneling it at out through the door. Luckily, I have a folding wagon.
Come to find out that night that the child lock was switched on the back hatch.
Pulled apart - look how dusty!
Using the typical tools to break the case open.
Cleaned, regreased, JB Welded, all other parts cleaned thoroughly and ready to be put back together.
Once back together, everything worked like it should.
Also got Mevotech rear control arms in the mail. Bushings are bad on mine. I didn’t want to spend all day pressing rubber bushings in and out. Will install those soon.
Did you use an adhesion promotor on these? Previous owner sprayed both my armrest and handle a different color so i am looking to do both.
I have a 1999 LX470 (~260k mi), the diff bushings (and engine/transmission mounts) were recently replaced, and like yours it was a huge improvement, but I’m also chasing mild 75mph vibration.
If you find a source/solution I’d love to hear about it.
- Thread starter
- #107
No, I did not. I did scrub them with Dawn dish soap and a green scouring pad and then spray them with Sprayway glass cleaner before hand. I rest my elbow on top of the door on every drive and no issues yet. She also sits in the sun all day.
- Thread starter
- #108
Last night, I replaced the upper rear trailing / control arms with the Mevotech brand from Rockauto. I have the lowers too but only have a couple hours to work per day so those will have to wait for later.
They were bad. They don't look as good in the pics as the do on the truck as there is no tension on them. One of the "eyes" that the mounting bolt goes through was completely detached. I could move all the old "eyes" with my hand on the old ones, not at all with the new ones.
Driving impressions after this - all low speed (below 45 mph) vibrations gone. I also realize now, that I had a slight torque steer from a stop; that is gone now. I had a slight, soft "shifting bump" from brake to accelerate; that is gone now. My high speed vibrations have also decreased a lot but are not completely gone. Very high speed vibrations (75 - 85 mph) have been greatly reduced.
Edit: I also found that this eliminated the "rocking" of the vehicle when coming to a complete stop.
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Yep, over the last two years I’ve replaced just about every bit of rubber in the suspension and drivetrain, although my aftermarket rear control arms do have urethane bushings, which might contribute a little bit. Most of my clunks, thunks, and vibrations are gone, except for a minor vibration at 65-85mph.
That might be my next step, but dropping driveshafts (one at a time) didn’t seem to pinpoint this as the issue.
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- Thread starter
- #111
Last night, I replaced the lower stabilizer / control arms. They didn’t look that bad but needed to be done.
I had to take the sway bar mounts off to access the rear bolts. I also had to use a “come along” to pull the axle forward enough to loosen the bolts and to center the new “eyes” of the trailing arms. A ratchet strap was not strong enough but the tires were on the ground, not floating.
You can see some separation at the "eyes". The "eyes" were also out of center in the bushing.
Oooo… something shiny!
Driving impressions - evidently, I did not get rid of all the low speed vibrations because it was smoother below 40-45 mph. A little bit of improvement at higher speeds but there still is a decent vibration between 60-75 mph.
I had to take the sway bar mounts off to access the rear bolts. I also had to use a “come along” to pull the axle forward enough to loosen the bolts and to center the new “eyes” of the trailing arms. A ratchet strap was not strong enough but the tires were on the ground, not floating.
You can see some separation at the "eyes". The "eyes" were also out of center in the bushing.
Oooo… something shiny!
Driving impressions - evidently, I did not get rid of all the low speed vibrations because it was smoother below 40-45 mph. A little bit of improvement at higher speeds but there still is a decent vibration between 60-75 mph.
I always suspect old or out of balance tires when the vibrations are between a very specific speed range. Have you had the tires checked lately?
- Thread starter
- #113
About a year ago or less, I went and put freshly balanced Tundra Wheels and lightly used BFG street tires on moving from Stock LX wheels and Michelin tires and still had the exact same vibrations so I dismissed the tires.
These vibrations have been with the vehicle since I purchased.
I will pull drive shafts soon to check U-joints and balancing soon to check that. May be wheel bearings but it doesn't sound like it. Sway Bar end links are also well worn and could be transferring vibes. I will find it as I slowly repair in the few hours I have free.
Was this job something an average joe can do with the wheels on the ground or do you need to have vehicle in the air? Looks like the coil springs may get in the way of removing one of the bolts?
I want to remove and inspect mine but not sure if it's worth the troubles.
- Thread starter
- #115
I think suspending everything would be easier. I let the axle hang for the uppers and drove it onto ramps for the lowers but had to use a real come-along to move the axle into place. Suspended, you could use a ratchet strap. The coils were not in the way but the sway bar was.
I have replaced both upper and rear control arms on two different trucks so far. Leave the truck on the ground, obviously with the wheels on!
Just take the spare out to give you better access. If you have any issues getting the holes lined up when putting in new, just slightly jack that end of the axle. If that doesn't help, try slightly raising the other side of the rear axle.
Easy peasy.
Man, thanks for all the writeups and pictures- I just read this whole thread. These are the kinds of things I'm slowly running down on my 99 LX as well. It's got less miles than yours, but (obv) the same years, and the rubber parts underneath just... all really need to be gone through. You've also got an amazing attention to detail and can take an illustrative picture really well. Anytime I try to do that the pics look like they are of... nothing. So just- thanks for taking the time, big kudos on it.
One particular question- for your HVAC button panel repair- what wound up coming of it? Did you stick with the superglued zip tie bit button extensions where needed and that's what fixed it? Or did you get it fixed in another way or... no? Mine needs help- the fan up/down, mode, and about everything else barely works. The mode button at some point has been completely caved in by someone bashing at it with a thumb or a pencil or something... still doesn't work, lol. Basically on mine you can hit the Auto button and dial in the temp and if it's not blowing where you want... tough. Or you can hit the defrost button and it sends hot air up to the windshield. I haven't really wanted to take it apart yet, because (like TX) in AL you NEED your AC. I may have missed my window this year, it's in the upper 80s already this week.
I'm also now a bit curious whether my AHC knob for comfort/ sport has ever made much difference, and I wonder if maybe it's got some corrosion and that's why I'm not feeling it. I did go through and replace the globes recently so... it'd be nice to be sure I'm not still handicapped by an $.11 piece of plastic with an embedded contact that has someone's long-ago sprite on it.
One particular question- for your HVAC button panel repair- what wound up coming of it? Did you stick with the superglued zip tie bit button extensions where needed and that's what fixed it? Or did you get it fixed in another way or... no? Mine needs help- the fan up/down, mode, and about everything else barely works. The mode button at some point has been completely caved in by someone bashing at it with a thumb or a pencil or something... still doesn't work, lol. Basically on mine you can hit the Auto button and dial in the temp and if it's not blowing where you want... tough. Or you can hit the defrost button and it sends hot air up to the windshield. I haven't really wanted to take it apart yet, because (like TX) in AL you NEED your AC. I may have missed my window this year, it's in the upper 80s already this week.
I'm also now a bit curious whether my AHC knob for comfort/ sport has ever made much difference, and I wonder if maybe it's got some corrosion and that's why I'm not feeling it. I did go through and replace the globes recently so... it'd be nice to be sure I'm not still handicapped by an $.11 piece of plastic with an embedded contact that has someone's long-ago sprite on it.
- Thread starter
- #118
Thanks for the compliments.
On the HVAC panel buttons, I only added material to the buttons that did not work. I know you can solder new buttons in to the circuit board but I don't feel confident enough to do that yet. I have also heard people mounting the board further out towards the buttons. Make sure to clean real good back there when you're in it.
My only HVAC issue is the rear air which I think I need a new Rear Control Panel. I need to switch it out with my wife's LC panel and see. It works properly sometimes but then blows the opposite temp I want after a while. I have switch the temp sensor out and it did not fix it.
My AHC switch was filthy and a good cleaning really helped. There is a very noticeable difference between the 4 modes.
Got it. I cleaned off my benchtop in the garage recently (how does one flat surface collect so much crap??) so I'll either get the soldering iron out or just take stuff apart and clean/ see how that goes. There's actually quite a lot of sticky buttons- I wouldn't be too terribly shocked to find soda/ starbucks residue all up in it. Previous owners weren't slobs or anything, but 100-series cupholders are, in fact, known to suck. The zip tie pieces as spacers is a great idea too.
Thanks again.
- Thread starter
- #120
Update: Wow! I am going to start with driving impressions. Almost all of my rear end deceleration vibrations from the Rear End area are gone.
(Don’t yell at me for going non OEM- these are end links, not tie rods or BJs)
Old end link rubbers were rock hard and broken. Oddly, one side had bushing cup washers on both sides (inner and outer) of the upper mount which not correct. It should only be on the bottom side.
The other side had none on the inners.
While removing the top bolts to the end links, both end links snapped off.
Disappointing, the Moog kits did not come with the sway bar mounting “cushion” (90385-11021 x2). I installed using the old ones and ordered some for install later.
Cleaned up the sway bar mounting brackets and rebuilt them (black spray paint).
I realized I didn’t take a pic with the encapsulating bushing washers on the bottom but they were put on before installing.
You can see the oblong holes in the sway bar mounting bushings to frame.
Dang it! Very rust free truck minus exhaust and this bolt. Second bolt to break off on the truck. Drilled hole in the middle, made it bigger, used a reverse “easy out”, broke that in the middle of the hole, chiseled out the broken easy out bit, drilled it out the rest of the way, then chased the thread. Whew!
Again, lots of vibration improvement with this. I think the sway bar was vibrating on the frame (with a mild hard rubber cushion).
My front sway bar links are worn out but am wanting to do this one at a time so I can see what is making the largest improvements.
(Don’t yell at me for going non OEM- these are end links, not tie rods or BJs)
Old end link rubbers were rock hard and broken. Oddly, one side had bushing cup washers on both sides (inner and outer) of the upper mount which not correct. It should only be on the bottom side.
The other side had none on the inners.
While removing the top bolts to the end links, both end links snapped off.
Disappointing, the Moog kits did not come with the sway bar mounting “cushion” (90385-11021 x2). I installed using the old ones and ordered some for install later.
Cleaned up the sway bar mounting brackets and rebuilt them (black spray paint).
I realized I didn’t take a pic with the encapsulating bushing washers on the bottom but they were put on before installing.
You can see the oblong holes in the sway bar mounting bushings to frame.
Dang it! Very rust free truck minus exhaust and this bolt. Second bolt to break off on the truck. Drilled hole in the middle, made it bigger, used a reverse “easy out”, broke that in the middle of the hole, chiseled out the broken easy out bit, drilled it out the rest of the way, then chased the thread. Whew!
Again, lots of vibration improvement with this. I think the sway bar was vibrating on the frame (with a mild hard rubber cushion).
My front sway bar links are worn out but am wanting to do this one at a time so I can see what is making the largest improvements.
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