I've been chasing a "wobble" noise coming from the driver's side front end on the RX350 for a while now. I replaced the driver's side axle because it had been slinging grease from the boot nearest the transmission, so I replaced it, thinking that was the cause of the noise. Nope. The wheel bearing had originally passed the shake test, as that was the first thing I checked, and I thought, okay, it must be the wheel bearing after all. So, I ordered a steering knuckle complete with bearing and hub and replaced the ball joint as well, all to no avail as the noise remained. I noticed that the caliper slider pins were stuck pretty well, and the rotor had a slight lip on the edge, so yesterday, I had both front rotors "turned" and I cleaned and re-greased the slider pins with synthetic grease. Again, to no avail as the noise remained.
Well, when removing the passenger side rotor, I noticed that the axle boot nearest the hub was completely torn all the way around, and there was a lot of grease build-up, so, ah ha!!! Could this be the source of the wobble sort of grinding noise that I am hearing even though it is on the passenger side??? I don't know, but I will find out. I have a new axle for the passenger side arriving in a few days, so today, I removed the old axle. What a mess!!! I went ahead and removed the entire steering knuckle so I could clean everything really well. I will also replace the ball joint on that side and have everything ready, so all I will have to do is install the new axle when it arrives.
Oh yeah, I broke my 1/2 drive Craftsman breaker bar trying to break the axle nut loose. I borrowed a 3/4 inch drive breaker bar and 30mm socket from my brother-in-law's toolbox and used a huge cheater pipe to break the nut loose. Funny, that pipe used to be part of a clothesline and is very light. I found it under my storage building a couple of years ago, and it makes a great cheater pipe for sure.
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