mckellyb

I finally got both rear struts replaced. First one took about six hours, second one was a tick over an hour, because I learned what I can get away with on the first one, and the tricks involved. The struts come fully-extended, and that's the problem, because they don't really fit in that way. Fully-extended suspension travel is less than strut travel. Not by much, but more than enough to make it unpleasant to work with.

Regardless, my "L" now rides just like an unloaded 1983 F-350 6x6, maybe worse. I believe the rear struts are somehow stuck on maximum damping. I can control the air and height, no problem, and the actuators definitely work, however, they must somehow be 'keyed' to the strut at the beginning. IOW, the strut's adjustment shaft needs to be at '17' when the actuator is at '17', which is when the car is stopped. Now, I can get the actuator oriented so it's at max damping, that's no problem. However, getting the strut to max damping is next to impossible, once they're installed.

I played with my old ones with a pair of tweezers, and if I compress it all the way, sure enough, you turn the shaft which changes damping, and returning to fully-extended differs depending on where you have the adjuster "****" (tweezers, in this case). It's obvious where both '1' and '17' are because 1 = super quick extension whereas 17 = much slower extension.

So, I figure the strut must be set to '17' and the actuator will automatically be at '17' when you come to a stop. Thing is, I don't know what they were set at, the struts, initially. There are no stops in the adjustment, it merely cycles back through.

Anyone have any ideas on how to determine where max damping is? I may use an old one to determine the orientation of the adjustment shaft, however, even doing this, depending on how it's oriented, it's going to get out-of-whack when I put the actuator back on, as you twist it to lock it to the top of the strut.

I called Arnott, and I knew more than the guy who was left late on Friday, so Monday I'll likely be able to get some kind of help, but in the meantime, I have a car with no back seat, which rides like ***, and before I can fix it, Monday, I'll have to do a 60 mile RT commute three times.

I may leave the actuators off and use the tweezers to turn the damper adjustment shaft 180 degrees to see if that makes it at least tolerable.

Anyone but my somewhat demented self been here, yet? Ideas?

I may be able to use the old ones to determine where '17' is, then, using trial and error, set the new ones (which I'm NOT removing at this point, unless there is absolutely zero alternative) to the same point.

The bad part about this is the strut adjuster has no stops, so there's no telling where it's located in its range of damping.

mckellyb

Ah, HA!!!!

I played with the damping rods in the struts for a while, last night. Gave up around 9 PM.

This morning, exact same feel.

Hmmm...lemme think about this. It kind of feels like the car is riding on the bump stops, though it's been 30 years since I felt that, first hand. However, besides strut replacement, not one thing has changed in the suspension's settings.

For grins, I pushed "height high".

OH!!!!

That's better! Mind you, the actuators are not on the struts, though they are plugged into the computer network so the fronts don't go 100% firm by default.

So, it seems the Arnott struts have slightly less travel than OEM.

I looked for a travel stop in the suspension when I was doing this, didn't find one, so it must be internal to the strut.

Interdasting.

I hope to figure out where full-damping is on the strut, but I have a couple of speed bumps here in the parking lot at work, where I can experiment and find where the adjustment rod must be to be '17', because then the actuator and the strut should match as far as where the actuator is positioned and where the struts damping control rod is turned.

That makes more sense if you study it for an extended period...with the occasional, seemingly random, profane outburst.

Now...to figure out why the new struts do not have the same amount of travel. Could be the old ones have totally shot bump stops, but I'm skeptical about that.

writes123

All this makes me wonder if these air struts are worthwhile. I know replacing my one of my 430 air struts was a pretty straightforward process for my local indy Lexus mechanic. Best of luck!

mckellyb

The ride and range of instant adjustment cannot be beat, and I've had a Cadillac with magnetorheological dampers. Those were good, but the Lexus dampers are better. Much, much more range of ride control, and you can control it mid-bump/pavement rise/whatever.

The Arnott dampers are new to market, but I had to replace mine, regardless. I'd rather run with aftermarket for less than 1/2 price of OEM and which may be better constructed.

However, there's always a risk, early on, all the bugs weren't worked out.

mckellyb

Good news, of sorts.

When I got home, last night, I brought out a laptop and connected to the OBDII system. I can inflate the LR to be 4" higher than it normally is, so all is well, there. It appears the rear sensors require adjustment.

So it appears either tomorrow or Tuesday, I put the car on four stands, each stand in a very similar location at each corner, holding up the bottom of the outside area of the LCA, pull all four wheels, and go nuts with height sensor linkage adjustment. Raising the LR and likely dropping all the others at least a little. The car has the I-just-had-to-pawn-my-rimz look to it, with at least 3" of gap between the front tires and the fenders when on 'height high', which is where it must be in order for the rear to not bottom out constantly, right now. Even set this high, the rear is still much too close to the bump stops.

If there aren't turnbuckles, I may cut threads on the adjustment rod, after cutting it in the middle, and adding an adjustment function to it which will be very, very fine and hopefully accessible without pulling the wheel.

Somehow, and I've not yet figured this out, the new Arnott rear struts do not allow ride heights as low as OEM...and for many of us, that's a problem.

jdanielca

arnott does not support self installs?

mckellyb

I'm going to see what they say, tomorrow, when I call them about 2:30 PM, CDT.

Cubbylex

mckellyb

I didn't call them, yet. I need to know what's up with everything, first, and I'd rather figure that out on my own, as I'll (hopefully) wind up with a better understanding of how it works.

First, I put the car up with the center of each wheel hub at the exact same height from the floor of my garage. My suspension is WAY outta whack, yo. Don't know what happened, but I'm putting that correct, first. It means adjusting the sensors at the suspension, but that's fine. At least it will start from 100% even.

I tried to take pictures which would show just of off it is, but the lighting in weird in the garage. Instead, here are the measurements I took after verifying I could get each corner the exact same height off the ground, yet with all the weight on the suspension.

The number which varies is the lip of the fender (metal) to the ground, passing through the centerline of the hub.

Mind you, it's not like the car sits at this height, but it's where I had to put it for all four jackstands to have each wheel the exact same distance off the ground (yet have all the wheels removed so I can change it).

As it sits, there is a very definite lean to the LR, and to the left, in general. 1/2 a tank of fuel, no rear seat, but otherwise in the same condition I drive it. I'm going to put each corner with the fender edge at 28.5" from the ground, as if it were on the ground. Just some simple math for that, as I need to subtract the extra distance it's in the air right now (4" by calculation, but I'm going to confirm with measurements).

Edit:

LF = -1.125
RF = -3
LR = -.125
RR = -1.875

Then we'll see what happens. More than anything, I want the suspension, with the car's weight on it, 2.5" off the bump stops, so I may need to completely deflate the system, first, and go from there, because I'd swear the Arnott struts have less travel.

213374U

Definitely in to see how this plays out for you as I just had to replace a front strut yesterday. Decided to go with a used OEM replacement this time but would like a new option that doesn't break the bank.

writes123

how much was the used one? i know there were new genuine Toyota LS 430 air struts from overseas for around 700 USD after shipping online a few years ago.

Cubbylex

213374U

$625 for a front drivers AWD strut from an LS600hL w/ 58,000 miles. The one I pulled lasted me 110K so not bad at all, and at the price I got it for I'll be happy to get another 50K out of the replacement.

mckellyb

Update:

Well, supporting the car's corners with stands on the LCAs didn't work well enough.

I put the front sensor links at full-low, cranked the rear up to full high. Re-installed the wheels/tires, and I'm going to mess with it while it's on the ground, tomorrow (later today). Should be relatively easy, now that I know how much movement on the link results in body-to-ground movement.

Turning the bolt of the front height control sensor link 1 revolution changes the vehicle height by about 7.3 mm (0.287 in.).

When the rear link's attachment point is moved 1.0 mm (0.039 in.), the vehicle height is adjusted by about 1.5 mm (0.059 in.).

The nose is bottomed out, so I'll just figure out how high it needs to come up and turn the turnbuckle that many times.

The rear is jacked up as high as it'll go, and I should be able to adjust that with the car on the ground (running) and nail the height easily.

One thing which is a challenge...with the car running, the RF wheel well gets quite hot, quickly.

I really wanted to change brake fluid, too, but honestly, that's going to wait until it gets to be at least a semi-reasonable temp/humidity combo.

Regardless, I'll have to type something up so nobody spends hours, like I have, figuring out the system and how to 'trick' it.

mckellyb

I knew, previously, adjusting any one corner also changes the height of the other corners. Regardless, it's not like you can guesstimate how much a change at any one corner affects the others, because there's a computer at play along with physics. THIS is the difficult aspect of leveling an air-ride LS.

"I'll drop it another 3/4" on the LR, and it'll be good! Wait...why did the LF go up, the RF down, and the RR go up?!"

Not only do you have basic physics affecting things, but then there's no telling what the computer is doing, trying to get to where IT wants things to be. Well, I know the computer doesn't want me to put it where I want.

I put the LF with the fender's lip at 27.5", then went and lowered the rear...a lot. Remember, it was maxed out.

RR first, because I want to see how much the LF is going to rise as I take weight off it. Not too bad, honestly. Got the RR to about 1/2 of the adjustment range, 27.5" fender lip to ground, started on the LR.

Rookie-tip: You can access the rear links, no problem, with just a floor jack and a creeper. Don't even have to really get under the car, but it needs to be up a little so you can get your arm to the bolt on the LCA and so you can see it.

I've adjusted each of the corners, other than the RF, twice. Those three are very close to where I want them to be, but first I need to drive around and make certain I actually have usable travel.

The RF is still wonky, and I've not yet touched it. It's sky-freakin'-high, even though the adjuster link on that corner is set to as low as it'll go. At least I think it is.

When I get back, if that corner is still weird, I'm going to pull the sensor, again, and properly test it, because if it doesn't know where it is in relation to everything else, well...there's yer problem, right 'chere.

I really appreciate having an impact wrench and compressor, what with putting the wheels on/off half a dozen times in the past two days.