2000 Ls Shocks & Ball Joints..........???

[Stinkin Linkin]

Anyone Know How Difficult It Is To Change The Shocks On A 2000 Ls? What About Ball Joints And Control Arms? My Front End Is Noisy As Hell Over Bumps, Sounds Like The Wheels Are Going To Come Bouncing Off.

 

[pbslmo]

The dealer replaced my ball joints and it wasn't too difficult to reach into my wallet and pull out the credit card. LOL

 

[DLS8K]

Anyone Know How Difficult It Is To Change The Shocks On A 2000 Ls? What About Ball Joints And Control Arms? My Front End Is Noisy As Hell Over Bumps, Sounds Like The Wheels Are Going To Come Bouncing Off.

Take it somewhere and get an evalutation done on the suspension. When that is said and done, you wont have to spend money replacing parts that don't need replacing. I know Sears Automotive offers free suspension evaluations.

It could be your ball joints, it could be worn stabilizer bar bushings, it could be your stabilizer bar links, it could be your entire power steering rack.

True story.....a guy came into the shop with his car and wanted his struts replaced because it wasn't driving quite right. We put it on the rack and did an evaluation and noticed his power steering rack was loose. Needless to say.......it pays to have a mechanic look at your car before you start replacing parts.

 

[Stinkin Linkin]

thanks. I'm going to run to sears and have em check it out.

 

[NickLS]

Check to see if there was a recall on those ball joints. There was for all the 2001's... Check it out.. Save you some $$$

 

[teh_milz]

Check to see if there was a recall on those ball joints. There was for all the 2001's... Check it out.. Save you some $$$

how do i check that out? and does that mean they must fix it for free or what? ive never had a new enough car for "recalls"

 

[pbslmo]

I was told by the mechanic that the recall was for LOOSE ball joints. Mine were worn out and need to be replaced.

 

[2001LS8Sport]

If it's rattling over bumps, it's probably the sway bar and Sears will never find it in a million years. The bushings usually look good...but they're not.

 

[Midas78]

LOL - I took my car to Sears once for an alignment and they told me they couldn't do it b/c of a loose ball joint. I got the car up on a lift at a Tech School garage and the ball joint was fine and got a free four-wheel alignment there. The alignment wasn't perfect, so I ended up getting 2 new tires and an alignment at a different Sears and now my alignment is perfect (the loose ball joint issue didn't come up.)

Good luck and make them show you what is wrong. At the first Sears I didn't ask them to show me, I just took the car and left.

 

[DLS8K]

If it's rattling over bumps, it's probably the sway bar and Sears will never find it in a million years. The bushings usually look good...but they're not.

So, who could find it then? Is there some sort of magical test you can use to determine your bushings are bad on your stabilizer bar? Or are you just assuming that is what it is? At least he would have an idea what it isn't if he took it somewhere. If everything is tight underneath the car, than I would suspect it would be the stabilizer bar bushings......which when I got mine they came on a new stabilizer bar (revised design) which was not cheap.

 

[NickLS]

I can't find my CD w/ the TSB's.. I think there are a few of us here that have access to TSB reports.. I can't remember the website where you could search for them for free.. But I did find one that described the lower ball joints..

TSB Link

It's not the ACTUAL TSB.. but it'll give you something to talk about.