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After checking the reviews, it worked for several people and their Tundra trucks so I figured it would work on ours.
Does the strut mount move on these or is it fixed in place? If it's fixed in place, make sure you note its orientation so you can duplicate it when reassembling.
After checking the reviews, it worked for several people and their Tundra trucks so I figured it would work on ours.
Does the strut mount move on these or is it fixed in place? If it's fixed in place, make sure you note its orientation so you can duplicate it when reassembling.
Keep up the good work!
I think you are referring to the item in the top right of this picture. That is a new OEM strut mount aka "top hat" that I bought to replace the old one.
I did attempt to mark the orientation, but it was kind of tricky because obviously when you take tension off the springs, everything is loose and may move around. I tried laying old parts next to new parts and keep all the orientations the same. It seemed to work out.
I didnt realize the top shock shaft has a flat edge to keep the bracket in place. This seems to be so the bracket and actuator align, but again it was all hard to duplicate orientation easily.
The spring compressors worked great (but a little scary not using the safety clips), but I credit a lot of how easy this was to the Milwaukee 18v medium torque 1/2" impact. $240
We found that if we took too much tension off the spring, we had a hard time removing the top bolt, because the shock would just spin. We ended up just barely putting any pressure on the spring at first, remove the top nut, then cinch up the springs enough to get the new top bolt and top hat on. The impact made this super fast and easy. It sure didnt seem that dangerous since the spring didnt need to be compressed much.
Last edited by sixbanger; 01-12-23 at 05:50 PM.
Reason: text
Of course during the strut disassembly, I forgot to get pictures, but it went so much faster than I expected.
Installing the new strut assemblies was pretty easy, but even with the upper ball joint disconnected it took a little persuasion with a pry bar to get it in.
We got the actuators lined up and loose fit for now and I'll finish that up tomorrow.
I maximized the use of my friends help by having help disassmble struts, reinstall struts and get the KDSS sway bar brackets on. Right or wrong, we installed the drivers side sway bracket first, then attempted the passenger side. We couldnt get it lined up until i pulled the bracket off for the KDSS stationary link (or whatever that part is called) and then it wasnt bad. Impact helped again.
Although this wasn't documented perfectly, I hope it helps others out.
Last edited by sixbanger; 01-12-23 at 05:46 PM.
Reason: pic
FYI, the KYB fronts are now available from Rock Auto for $129 each. For the price, I'd probably do OEM fronts which are only $208 from PartSouq and then do the KYB shocks in the rear. I'm sure the KYBs are close to the factory ride, but I know that the KYBs I put on my LS430 are not nearly as good as the OEMs were. For the GX460, the rears are so expensive that I'm willing to use the KYB (and I did) along with spending just a bit more for the OEM fronts. My GX460 rides amazing now with this combo at 143k.
01-09-23, 08:44 AM
