johndrew

I have a 1999 ES300 with 191,000 miles. I put new Bridgestone tires on about 3 months ago and were make a noise. I took it to the Bridgestone dealership for balancing,alingment and tire rotation. They told me the tires were dished out and I needed new OEM struts which is going to cost $1,600.

Is there a way to test the struts or could it be something else?

Where is a good place to purchase after market struts and while in there what else would you recommend replacing such as mounts, bushings etc.

I purchased the car with 120,000 miles and she had the car serviced by Lexus on a regular basis.

Caoboy

iTrader: (2)

I don't know what 'dished out' means but they are definitely taking you for a ride on those struts...

psyanyde

i wouldn't get oem struts.
get KYB struts, they're cheaper and still provide a good ride..
when you get new struts you'll get to get the mounts with it..
NEVER get the Monroe Quick strut.. piece of ******

johndrew

They listed itmes 142650 Front Strut Mount $151.98
142649 Front Strut Mount $127.98
G5614 Front Ultra Strut $151.98
G56506 Front Ultra Strut $151.98
G55675 Rear Ultra Strut $139.98
G55676 Rear Ultra Strut $139.98
(2) 142837 Rear Strut Mounts $139.68
Labor $459.00

Do you have a couple of suppliers you could recommend?

I greatly appreciate your advise. I am 66 years old and don't know much about struts. I was a shade tree mechanic in the past and only dealt with the old shock obsorbers.

Lazy

iTrader: (2)

I would say get someone else to install them for you. 459.00 for labor is a B**** Not very hard to change them and they are charging you a lot to install them.. KYB or Bilstein are good.

Choas

I went with kyb struts and Tein springs. In retrospect it would go with the Tein coilovers tho.

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

i went with ksport coilovers, which were great for track days but couldnt handle colorado road conditions. so i replaced them with eibach pro kit lowering springs and tokico blue's struts. it was a great combo.

and yeah take it somewhere else. you shouldnt be paying that for strut install. if you are mechanically inclined you can get spring compressors at checkers auto for a $50 refundable deposit.

did you want to lower at all? the eibachs did a good job at that without wearing out the tires

Lazy

iTrader: (2)

car looks nice 3rdelement. Keep it up!

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

which one?
the es300 died thanks to a highflowing cold air intake and a flash flood. blew the internals and car was totalled. the good news is my buddies camry got most of the parts.

and i got my new current lexus. lots of work gone into it so far. its so much easier to mod the IS than the ES.

Slooooooow

iTrader: (1)

Bummer, I was about to PM and ask what was left and if you ever sold those coils.
That car was truly a benchmark for mine.

And back on topic...
Purchasing Gabriel (typically the supplier for OEM Lexus shocks) or KYB (a sometime OEM supplier) is the way to go. You're posting on a discussion forum, so you're definitely tech-saavy enough to do some online shopping for them, which is where you'll find your best deal. Get them shipped to your home, and then take them to a trusted installer.

Given the car's mileage, I would also recommend replacing the strut mounts with the year-correct Toyota strut mounts and dust boots. I sourced mine from Luis at Carson Toyota (a ClubLexus sponsor) where we get a nice discount as well. The mounts and boots are fairly inexpensive and well worth having done as part of the strut work.

If you're going to a shop that you really trust, have them inspect the bushings while they're under there. They're an oft-forgotten, but key element in the ride and feel of the car. They also tend to cause a bit of noise when worn out.

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

they r in my garage collecting dust. along with an aem cold air intake if you kno of anyonre who needs them for a fair price.

ok98es300

are the bushings on te control arm ok....I found this a problem for my 98 es300