When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hi Folks, just joined as my Dad's 2012 GX has a leaking shock in the rear, and the front's are just mild weeping. I am in Dubai, and seems that partsouq.com have a lot of stock, but we are not allowed to buy from them, as they must have an export only deal with suppliers.
Anyhow I wanted to know if i just replace with normal shocks from the likes of KYB which is easily available, the electronic ones seems to be diffcult to find at the moment, I even spoke to the whole GCC distributor of KYB, and they had no interest in serving a retail customer, and sent me on a wild goose chase with their 2 UAE distributors, 1 phone number was out of service, and the other distributor sent me on to other retailers, again 1 phone worked, and the other did not!!!!!
Anyhow maybe I just ditch the electronic shocks and put the normal shocks, do I need to replace the height adjustable bags as well then? Will the car throw CEL, or codes?
My local Lexus indy place quoted $1750 for the fronts and they want to do an alignment afterwards. Seems like it's about $1,000 in parts and about four hours in labor. Time is money, I have more money than time but I just can't get around that price. As it stands now, PartSouq has only 1 of the KYB 741071 in stock. I'll keep checking daily for a restock and then order them. Worse case, they have the Toyota units for $200 or Bell Lexus has them for like $280.
I like this video I found on YouTube about repositioning the sway bar:
Seems pretty straight forward in this approach and maybe easier to replace rather than by dropping it at the end links. Either way, I think I will order new sway bar bushings and do them all while I'm in there. This method will not require messing with the KDSS system. Just for fun, I thought I would see about breaking loose the 4 bolts that hold the actuator in place. My rig has been in Texas its whole life so I was cautiously optimistic. Using the pictured Allen wrench, each bolt easily broke free without any effort. I take that as the encouragement I needed to move forward.
Like the transmission cooler project, this will probably end up waiting till it cools off a bit because it's just too hot right now to do anything in the garage. Once I get to this project, I will document it thoroughly with photos. I thank everyone who has contributed thus far to this thread. Will update once the parts are restocked and then ordered.
^smart idea to loosen the hex bolts ahead of time. i sprayed mine for a few days with PB before tackling the project. they came out fine, but the challenge wasnt loosening the bolts, it was getting the correct angle to get them out.
Personally i havent had the experience of trialing a variety of brands of shocks.. Many others probably in the same boat.
I have ran OEMs (tokico) on my 100 series for 20 years. i like how they perform, but also change them out often since they are so cheap and dont seem to last long. .
I ran bilsteins on a 100 for awhile until one broke at the shaft. never trusted them again, even though i'm sure that was an exception.
My newly purchased 460 with 155k and oem AVS shocks rides terrible compared to my GX470 with 200k on front oem avs shocks and cheap luftmeister AVS replacements in the rear. I spent $110 each on those and it was night and day difference. I would do it again. I can drive it like my IS350 also with OEM AVS.
I guess it comes down to expectations. I am really looking for something that is better than what I have now or maybe how it was when it was new? I dont know, I have not owned/purchased many cars with less than 80k miles to even know what a new car feels like. I will be happy with better than I have now and wife approved since she drives it 50% of the time. Then consider other brands to try later.
My OEM AVS shocks at 155k feel pretty sloppy. Just ordered the KYBs mentioned in this thread.
Please document the install with more pictures and information when you get to it. I have all the parts sitting in my cart at Partsouq for the front but haven't gotten around to ordering them yet.
Please document the install with more pictures and information when you get to it. I have all the parts sitting in my cart at Partsouq for the front but haven't gotten around to ordering them yet.
I will probably put the rears on 5 min after they arrive. The fronts, i'll likely be procrastinating a bit because I know how much of a fight they can be. I've never changed out just a shock/strut on a coilover, just changed out entire assemblies. I will definitely be doing KDSS sway bushings at the same time. I may buy a used coilover to experiment with.
I was on the fence whether to buy all 4 at once or buy just the rears, but didn't want to pay shipping twice. I really hope I like these. I was also considering replacing with OEM non AVS shocks.
Just did the front struts on my LS430 and what a pain. The strut mount has to be oriented a certain way in order for the bottom potion of the strut to line up with the mounting location.
Can anyone advise if the GX is the same? I know I did struts on my old Scion xB and my Galant VR-4 and didn't have any issues with this.
I procrastinated on the fronts as I predicted, but just started the process today. i only had about 2 hours today, so i focused on the allen bolts and the actuator and just loosening everything to see if there were going to be any problems. I have about a week where I can leave the GX on jackstands to work on it here and there.
So far so good. Allen bolts out on one side. I'm in Wisconsin, but the GX is from NC, so not so much rust from salt, but an awful lot of sand everywhere.
And to answer a previous question on my expectations from these shocks is really a baseline. i'd like to see how it may have driven new. From that point, i'll decide if i like it or want to make any changes.
More progress today. It went ok. Could have been better.
Got the 3rd allen screw out and the 4th (passenger side closest to engine) got me. I thought for sure I felt it strip, but it might have been just that once I was on it with the stubby allen that I couldnt rotate it straight. I contemplated life for a moment, then I just said f it, and started at looking at whether I could just drill a hole for access.
Took a quick measurement under the airbox assembly and a guess and drilled a hole. No regrets. Dont judge me. Got in there with an allen wrench and popped it loose (it was pretty stuck but not totally stripped).
Got the KDSS end brackets off without much drama and new bushings ready to go, but still didn't feel like I was going to be able to remove the strut assembly after removing upper and lower bolts/nuts, so I decided to just unbolt the upper ball joint, that went pretty easy too. no drama. used a bungy to take the tension off the brake line (not pictured).
I was pretty much done for the day, but decided to check the spring compressors I bought long ago. It looks like they won't fit over the coil enough to push the lock pins in. Rented a different brand from the auto parts store 1 mile away, but looks almost identical, that may not work either. I know they had a different style compressor, but looked a little less safe to me. I have a couple more days before I work on it again and I'll research what others have used.
Looks like some folks just use these spring compressors without the safety clips which is what I probably will do. I found this pic and many like it on 4runner and Tundra forums. Other people just paid a shop to swap over the new strut. This project was a good excuse to buy a Milwaukee M18 1/2" impact. should make this easier.
Last edited by sixbanger; 01-08-23 at 05:14 PM.
Reason: more info
06-24-22, 12:24 PM
