Lavoisier

I cannot seem to find a KYB Strut Plus assembly anywhere for my 2000 LS400 front without air suspension. Does anyone know where I might find one?

Lavoisier

Never mind. I just found a set at JP Auto

spuds

Do they make a KYB assembly?

Lavoisier

I thought they did but when I went back to check I realized they did not have one for Lexus.

spuds

Thank you for getting back with the info,saves us ALL a lot of time searching (reinventing the wheel)

Have you considered doing KYB or Bilsteins yourself? Waaaaay better shocks and assembling the strut really is over rated,a 50 dollar spring compressor or borrow one from a parts store,you really dont need to compress much at all.Watch the utubes for LS400 and some other toyota ones,pick up some great tips making it easier they learned by hard knocks.

A couple good threads on this trending on the first page in this section right now,real good discussions.

Im an older guy with not much wrench turning left in me and Im going to do it with a nephew here in the future.

ls400newbs

The Bilsteins are better? I'm trying to gather info for when I work on mine. I just bought it and want to be ready for it. The car rides smoothly, but it feels a bit bumpy over small potholes or going over manholes. Is that normal or is it supposed to be even more smooth and cushy?

Which ones are the eom, and is there a better aftermarket option? I want to get the best ride possible without braking the bank. Thanks!

spuds

These 2 threads are great.Looks like KYB are closest OEM but be sure to set car on ground before full tightening of the strut rod bolt and the 3 top mount bolts,400 fanboy had his bind up and KYB told him that fix.Superfast1 likes the KYBs.

The Bilsteins are just a little firmer and I think its RA40 and Losiracer2 like them a lot. All the guys mentioned know their cars and dont talk smack so good resources there.I trust em all the way and follow their advice,never let me down yet.

So KYB and Bilstein have ClubLexus members seal of approval,thats therefore excellent advice.

OEM seems best answer as of this date for the top mount things,KYB failed on 400 fanboys car.

Rock auto has KYB for 70-80 dollars and they are great to order from.I saw the Bilsteins somewhere for +/- 120 dollars IIRC correctly,might be wrong on that,I did tons of searching so might have prices confused on those Bilsteins? IDK.

See these 2 threads for member experiences,all we need to know right there,very cool!

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...k-miles-3.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post11063695

Lavoisier

Yes, I ended up doing KYB myself. Straight forward with this write up (http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/suspension/fshock.html) Not having done this before it took me much longer than necessary. If I have to do it again it will be a couple of hours rather than a couple of days! I had to upgrade my impact wrench as my ColePorter (450 ft lbs torque) was not strong enough to remove the lower bolt. I purchased a fabulous Milwaukie tool (battery) with 1400 ft lbs that did the trick.

400fanboy

Yeah my KYB mounts failed after 18 months on my car - though the shocks themselves still feel great and look perfectly healthy. The shocks are a different story to the mounts and everything. And considering the price difference of KYB vs. OEM shocks, even if they last half as long, it's fine.

For rears I'd be more inclined to go OEM since you have to do a lot more work (removing rear seats), and typically rear shocks last a lot longer than fronts. In my mind it's a "replace them once and be done with it forever" type of deal.