My car rides HARD and it's 100% stock + weird crunching noises. Help?
#31
Shocks/struts are the same thing. Struts are just the new term that is used for shocks now because they come with plates and platforms built into them and they actually replace most of the suspension whereas shocks used to be connected to the suspension and work with it. Sounds confusing....
Thanks for the info buddy.
#33
Lexus Test Driver
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^^^^ What he said. All said you don't need struts from the dealership since you already bought the KYBs. But that still doesn't address the condition of the strut top mount, or some call it top hat, or pillow mount. That is the piece with the 3 bolts in a triangular position that mount the entire strut assembly to the cars strut tower. The stock one has a nice beefy rubber bushing up there to keep it quiet and dampen vibration. If that is worn out that could cause some of that clunking you mention. Personally I haven't know too many of them that has worn out, but you never know. You need to inspect its condition when you disassemble the OEM strut/spring combo because you will need to reuse that top strut mount. Or you might as well buy new ones up front then you don't have to disassemble and reuse the old ones, just assemble the new KYB and Tanabe springs with the new top strut mount, then install it as one package. The KYB shocks will not include a top mount so you'll have to do one or the other.
#34
Lead Lap
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^^^^ What he said. All said you don't need struts from the dealership since you already bought the KYBs. But that still doesn't address the condition of the strut top mount, or some call it top hat, or pillow mount. That is the piece with the 3 bolts in a triangular position that mount the entire strut assembly to the cars strut tower. The stock one has a nice beefy rubber bushing up there to keep it quiet and dampen vibration. If that is worn out that could cause some of that clunking you mention. Personally I haven't know too many of them that has worn out, but you never know. You need to inspect its condition when you disassemble the OEM strut/spring combo because you will need to reuse that top strut mount. Or you might as well buy new ones up front then you don't have to disassemble and reuse the old ones, just assemble the new KYB and Tanabe springs with the new top strut mount, then install it as one package. The KYB shocks will not include a top mount so you'll have to do one or the other.
#35
Lexus Test Driver
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I actually like these tires a lot better than the Michelin Pilots I had before and they were very highly recommended and rated. I did not pay that much though. I bought them through Branon Lorenc, our tire rack specialist a few sub forums down, and paid like $760 for all four delivered to my door. I would check with him if I were you.
Good luck
Good luck
#36
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In a strut type suspension, the spring is damped by a component that is actually part of the suspension operation. A suspension that merely has a shock absorber doesn't need it for the suspension to operate, it is just dampening the oscillations of the spring. For all intents and purposes, don't sweat the details they accomplish the same function and the terms are pretty much used interchangeably today.
Daizen bushings are a rigid polyurethane not rubber. In a stock suspension the bushing is an engineered rubber and provides some "give" as well as being much more forgiving on wear due to its compliance. The poly bushing eliminates the flex and has the effect of making the suspension component that is going through it operate directly without the flexure of the bushing. Different strokes for different folks but I don't care for solid bushings on the street for several reasons. I am sure you have looked through all the threads for impressions on the solid poly bushings. I don't know of any manufacturer that uses solid poly bushings OEM any place in their suspension.
Daizen bushings are a rigid polyurethane not rubber. In a stock suspension the bushing is an engineered rubber and provides some "give" as well as being much more forgiving on wear due to its compliance. The poly bushing eliminates the flex and has the effect of making the suspension component that is going through it operate directly without the flexure of the bushing. Different strokes for different folks but I don't care for solid bushings on the street for several reasons. I am sure you have looked through all the threads for impressions on the solid poly bushings. I don't know of any manufacturer that uses solid poly bushings OEM any place in their suspension.
#37
Daizen bushings are a rigid polyurethane not rubber. In a stock suspension the bushing is an engineered rubber and provides some "give" as well as being much more forgiving on wear due to its compliance. The poly bushing eliminates the flex and has the effect of making the suspension component that is going through it operate directly without the flexure of the bushing. Different strokes for different folks but I don't care for solid bushings on the street for several reasons. I am sure you have looked through all the threads for impressions on the solid poly bushings. I don't know of any manufacturer that uses solid poly bushings OEM any place in their suspension.
Thanks again.
#38
Lexus Test Driver
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Anyway, I too would pass on the poly bushings for the upper and lower control arms. The only place I may use the is for the sway bar bushings and steering rack bushings.
#39
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The reason you need the bushing, lets take the sway bar, is because the bar is turning inside the bushing. If you made the bushing out of steel it would be really stiff and really noisy. It would also wear pretty quickly. Whichever one is softer wears. If the bushing is harder than the bar, then the bar wears, and vice versa. The bar or the bushing will wear as the bar turns. With a rubber bushing, besides getting the vibration isolation, you also have something with compliance and as it wears, it still presses against the bar taking up the slack. Heck, just temperature variations can cause gaps and the rubber just compensates due to its compliance.
Any kind of solid bushing is going to wear from the friction. So you have people looking at things like filled plastics, typically gaphite to provide some permanent lubrication. But it is rarely enough so people start taking the thing apart and sticking some grease in there or actually drilling for a grease fitting and forcing some grease in there.
The benefit from the solid type bushing isn't enough for me to want to fool with them on the street. There are people that feel they are worth it, just not me. The Sportivos and the TRD blues came with rubber bushings and I have never felt that they needed compliance taken out of their operation. Even with that, as I posted before, anything I did to improve the handling of the second gen GS came at the expense of ride. It is surprisingly sensitive in that regard.
#40
Lexus Fanatic
Wow ok...makes sense. I have always heard about shocks and struts discussed as two different things so I never drew that parallel. Thanks for clearing it up! I guess this won't be as costly as I was thinking. Springs for $225, Shocks for $300, Ball Joints for $120, and the Daizen bushings are like $30...hopefully I should be good for a long time to come with these updates.
Thanks for the info buddy.
Thanks for the info buddy.
#41
After having my new suspension for about a month now I can gladly report that the car is FAR smoother and more composed in all driving conditions than it was before. The suspension handles imperfections and bumps much better than the stock setup and the reduced ride height has tightened things up a bit as well.
My new suspension solved all of the problems I originally posted about and I am very happy now
#45
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This is why I'm only going to replace the caster arm bushing. I'm leaving the OEM upper and lower control arm bushings alone. I dont need the car to ride rough, but I do need the caster to last longer than what OEM can provide me. Too bad our design is terrible relative to other companies out there.
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