derreckla

UPDATE!!

How is it riding? Still holding up?

you have a link to where you purchased these?

Thanks

mdpresco

derreckla,
I have had no problems with the struts I purchased and installed. I searched for the part number on Ebay and purchased them from Triple Creations in the UAE at half the dealer price. Delivery was about a week. Get the part number off the strut itself and look it up on a search engine. The new struts have a different part number.

When the other side started to rattle I purchased another strut from Triple Creations.

Anfanger

I got struts from the same seller. Got it in 3 days after the items were shipped.

derreckla

found him, thanks so much.....

KYLS

Same for mine; also from Triple Creations. As of COVID switching me over to work from home, my commute is all but eliminated, but still enjoying the quiet ride on the occasional grocery run.

Happy New Year, all. Hoping that 2021 brings better times.

trogdor113

New to the forum; I just purchased an otherwise cherry '08 LS600hL with less than 88k miles but lots of rattling from the front left.

It's been about two years since the last post, but I found it helpful and want to bump it so it's easy to find by others. I also purchased from Triple Creations Auto Parts on eBay and supposedly got the last one. Their profile states they have more than what's listed so it may be worthwhile to contact them and ask. The strut was listed for $699 and I added an actuator (89241-30041) as well for $85; shipping to the US was $92. My local dealer wanted to do both sides in front for $4456 in parts and $1110 in labor.

trogdor113

Just did this job today and it's a night and day difference. There's no longer a rattle coming from forward of the dash in front of me and the front end no longer handles like a worn-out bouncy castle. That said, I only did the driver side, and some careful listening indicated a lesser rattle from the right-side strut. It seems it's worn as well and I've got a replacement on the way. Considering the eBay price for both is about what some places want for one, I'm not too upset about it.

I didn't watch the Arnott video beforehand but instead used the factory service manual method. It's quite different and much more involved:

• I disconnected the tie rod ball joint from the steering knuckle, in addition to the upper control arms
• The brake caliper and rotor were removed
• The axle nut was removed, necessitating a 30mm 12-point deep socket, some chisels, and a hammer
• The wheel bearing housing/steering knuckle is unbolted and completely removed

This admittedly made it very easy to remove the strut itself; nothing is in the way at all at that point and it comes right out after unbolting it from its bracket. I'm going to try the Arnott method for the right side though; in theory it should be much faster. Some other points in no particular order:

• Popping the control arms out requires a scissor-type ball joint tool. I already had one, but the opening was not large enough to fit around the boot. I ended up cutting into the jaws with a Dremel to widen them, and then I had enough depth to pop the studs. There's a Toyota SST specified for this purpose, but it lists at $500+
• The 4-piece fuel and transmission line kit from Harbor Freight is perfect for removing the air line. The smallest (1/4") tool fits perfectly into the fitting
• Removing the axle nut means getting a new one to replace it as well. It's also torqued to more than 200 ft-lbs so you need either a very large torque wrench or a torque multiplier. I had an OTC 7367 from a different axle job on a different car, so I went with the latter.
• The bottom end of the strut bracket should be torqued under load. Tighten it initially just until snug, then lower the car and level it, bounce the front end up and down a few times, then lift the front end again. Use a floor jack to then lift the lower arm until it's parallel to the floor/ground, and then torque to spec
• Call me a sucker, but I figure there's a reason the SB specifies replacing the strut actuator with a revised part. The actuator has to come off anyway to remove the strut, and the part is relatively minimal in cost, so I replaced it.
• The drop link pins can spin, so use a 6mm hex driver/allen key to hold the pin in place and a 17mm box-end wrench to turn the nut

Torque values:

• Axle nut: 217 ft-lbs
• Lower shock mount nuts: 49 ft-lbs
• Upper shock mount cap nuts: 20 ft-lbs
• Strut bracket to strut: 35 ft-lbs
• Stabilizer drop link nuts: 63 ft-lbs
• Steering knuckle to lower ball joint: 83 ft-lbs
• Upper control arms and tie rod ball joints: 44 ft-lbs
• Wheel lugs: 103 ft-lbs
• Strut bracket to lower control arm (torque while the suspension is loaded): 83 ft-lbs

Anfanger

I am not sure why a special tool needed to disconnect air lines. The piece that holds the line can be used to remove it. I only had issues with one line, and little bit of silicon-based WD40 solved that problem. It is important to take time and carefully remove lines.

trogdor113

I'm sure you're right; I didn't even try with the fitting on the line but the video makes it look like it's very easy. However, who doesn't want an excuse to pick up some new tools?

bfor3

iTrader: (1)

Man, I just put on new 22's and the DR is rubbing the tire when going over bumps and not the other side. Was thinking that maybe it's a worn out strut. It also seems like my car changes in ride height almost every time I drive it out of my driveway. It's like a 1 finger gap on one day and a 2 finger gap the next. Does anyone have this "adjustable" height issue from day to day?

trogdor113

Knocked out the passenger strut last night in just a couple of hours. I decided to try the method demonstrated here:
All that's required to remove is the tie rod end and the strut support; I can confirm that this works great on a 600hL with AWD and would be my go-to method in the future. You will need either a 19mm box-end wrench for the bottom strut bolt, or a U-joint to get a socket on there from an angle.

This specific issue doesn't mention anything about height changes in the bulletin (L-SB-0138-11). Specifically, the revised struts address "a knocking type noise when going over bumps. This may be accompanied by a rough ride condition." That doesn't mean that your struts aren't bad though. In my case at least, I had the "rubber ball inside a ball" rattling sound, and massively excessive rebound in the front end. Upon removal of the original struts I had oil leak from one's air fitting and a lot of residue at the top for the other.

I'm coming to my LS from a VW with air suspension (Volkswagen Phaeton) and it did have ride height issues when left parked. Not the same car obviously, but the issue in that case was leaky fittings and that can happen with any air suspension system. Each strut has a couple of O-rings inside the air fitting; this would be a cheap and easy fix to try and see if it addresses the problem. Does the suspension air compressor run excessively? You'd definitely want to address that sooner rather than later as they can burn out and a replacement is $$$.

I just checked, and there is also a Techstream procedure for calibration of the ride height. You could also give that a try if you've got an interface and the software. Let me know if you need the specific procedure to follow.

bfor3

iTrader: (1)

I took it to Lexus and of course they say that it falls into spec and there's nothing they can do about it. I don't have a tool for the interface, just trying to come up with a logical solution. I've read that there is a ride height sensor for calibrating the height and I bought the datasystems programmer to see if that would help but haven't installed it yet. Do you think I should try that first? Of course I'm out of warranty now.

trogdor113

It's free outside of your time spent, so why not? Same with the O-rings and air fittings; those you'd have to buy, but the cost is quite minimal compared to replacement of other suspension components.

If you do suspect a leak, get a spray bottle of soapy water and spray at various parts around the strut (at the top by actuator, where the strut compresses, etc.) to see if you can verify that air is actually leaking.

It is always possible that the sensors themselves are bad, but Techstream and the calibration process should help highlight that issue if it's the case.

lwphat66

I would install the Data System controller, as it will allow you to adjust the front height individually, for each side. The rears are adjusted together, as there is one main line that tees off for each side. What I have found (others as well and even some 430 owners) is that the front, right side sits slightly lower than the left, and we concluded that it was to compensate for the driver's weight. I've also found the automatic height adjustment can be overly sensitive (maybe even a little wonky at times) when the surface level it's on is not close to being perfectly level. And a perfect example of this is a house driveway and even most parking lots (often canted for water drainage).

Every once in a while I'll perform my own little reset procedure by parking on the concrete slab right next to the gas pump I normally fill up at. Then I'll set the DS programmer to the Super Low setting to air it out. Then set it to Normal height. Once there, I'll will then switch the center rocker to Height High. Once raised all the way, I'll go back to Normal and then back to my regular drive height which is fronts-6 and rears-4:Normal:Super Low:

Gerf

I agree that the right side is a bit lower but I'm not convinced it's for the drivers weight, I've tried to bounce my car by standing inside with the drivers door open and bouncing my weight and it barely moves.
The car does move as expected over speed bumps etc and I don't have another explanation for the difference side to side so....

Edit: does anyone have an air schematic for these cars or does one exist in the service manual?