Hi ...I own a 1999 ES300. I'm looking for replacement strut recommendations. I tried some Monroe complete struts that I bought from O'Reilly Auto Parts. These daggone things started squeaking after 1 month.

 

Guys on here suggested KYB, which is the oem manufacturer, though they said the KYB ones were stiffer than OEM but it might just be because they're newer than worn out OEMs.

 

I've read a lot of stories about the Quick-Struts squeaking and rattling. Do you still have all your old parts? If so I'd recommend you spend the extra money and get Lexus struts, if you don't have your old coils, mounts etc. well then I guess you're out of luck.

Here's the Lexus part numbers

 

I don't have the old ones for the front, but I wouldn't have a problem grabbing some OEM's from the local pick-a-part. I was trying to dodge rebuilding the strut by using pre-assembled struts. I may have to do the rebuild. I have a spring compressor, just hate using it.

 

I replaced my struts with KYB. And as mentioned above, they are stiff - much more like a sport suspension. I have 300 miles on them and certainly mellowed out some but still stiff. The additional factors - I have 145K miles on the original springs which I reused - could be adding pre-load to struts making them more stiff???

Based on what I know now, I would go OEM all the way. I enjoyed the softer ride. If I wanted a sport ride, I would buy a sports car. Now these struts may settle in with more miles, we shall see.
4 struts - Rock auto about $300, OEM about $650. Rubbers, mounts are extra. I may have saved $350 but I feel it in every bump.

If it is money issue, do just fronts or just rears first with OEM, then do the other later. Also be mindful of the mounts, they must be installed with the arrows on the hardware facing out, the strut locked into the notches of the mount before final torque or you will destroy the mount. I marked the top of the strut and top of mount to ensure proper line up before I dropped the weight of the car on it.

 

I used the spring compressor set from Auto Zone tool rental (which is free). I borrowed 2 sets, was able to use 3 compressors on spring (the 4th was too cramped to fit spring top).
http://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tools...ing-compressor
It has locking pins to reduce the chance of the popping off.