OneCL

2010 190K LS460 AWD
Last month my front air struts completely failed leaving the entire front end nearly dragging. I ordered a front conversion kit on Amazon solely on the price because I was in a pinch right before the holidays. My local mechanic installed them. Needed to replace the control arms (especially the LCAs). At first it seemed like the conversion went OK without any check engine lights or error messages. Still clunky because of the control arms. Its been hard finding them for the AWD. I have yet to buy the lowers.

Now the question: The rear suspension seems really low. So the front is non-air and the rears are still air struts. I just assumed that I could do this and air suspension could handle the rears independent of the front. Am I wrong? So the rear sag is just coincidental, not shocking given the mileage(?).
* [I thought of trying to press the HIGH button to see if it would raise the rear struts, but I'm afraid of causing even more problems (CEL, etc)]


Also, seems like the fronts are starting to sag a bit. Maybe a dumb question, but would the front conversion struggle with heavily worn-out control arms?

Not very confident in these cheapie aftermarket front conversions I got (Amazon search terms below) and will probably return them since I only put around 300 miles on them. Thankfully, I initiated the return with Amazon without any problem and I have about a month from now to ship them.

I'm guessing the entire front suspension is all inter-related and I should have changed everything all at once, but parts and labor is a tough nut to crack sometimes when it happens unexpectedly.

Alot to unpack I realize, but anyone who could weigh in on these issues would help me come up with a plan.

Thanks in advance.

Amazon
Front Coil Spring Conversion 2 Piece Kit - Compatible with 2009-2017 LS460 AWD (Excludes Rear Wheel Drive)
$228.95

Boykie

Get it all back to stock.

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

hope u didnt order suncore , you dont need any "converson kits" just go with OEM stock struts, springs , top hats and insulators

Im running springs on front and air on the rear, it sits perfectly level and no one would ever notice any diifference

id try to return those they wont last and wont ride nice

OneCL

Ok good info. Unfortunately I can afford OEM stock right now unless someone has a good source. But good to know now that the front and rear air system can run independently. Up the creek since my mechanic tossed out the OEM springs (and the top OEM air sensors) attached to the old front air struts.

Also, didn't know I could buy OEM stock (non-air) struts for the AWD.

I went on Rockauto and found these for the rears. It is listed as "Except Sport Suspension" . I do have a rocker switch for COMFORT/SPORT on my center console. Does this mean it won't work? If not, how do I tell if these rear struts won't be compatible with my AWD? Curious to know what about the sport suspension option wouldn't make these struts incompatible. If setting to "SPORT" and I get no response I wouldn't mind that. Would be happy if they were just compatible.

FCS 1345954L Info
Rear Left; Except Sport Suspension
$71.79
FCS 1345954R Info
Rear Right; Exc. Sport Suspension

And these for the fronts:


FCS 1335899R Info
Front Right; AWD; Exc. Air Suspension
$93.79 $93.79

Is anyone familiar with FCS?

FreddyG

Did the air compressor go out too or just the struts?

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

they are gong to be horrible, your best bet would be buying a used set of OEM struts , you will be wsting your tme and money putting no name struts and springs on

Boykie

Gunning chinese parts is basically best thing you can do to kill your LS...

Jose201

I’d also buy used oem. But if you’re paying for labor, I’d buy new oem shocks to go with it.

This past week paid 180each(ebay) for used fronts. Then bought new shocks from the dealer for 165each. After taking apart the used assembly the old shocks were decent but I just like having peace of mind and too lazy to do the job twice. Pricey but i just wanted to get it over with.

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

i have a rear pair of OEM struts complete with springs fully assembled ready to go left form when i did my conversion (I only did the fronts)

if you dont find anything on the market maybe we can try and work something out

KiwiSlovak

Hi guys, I know I'm hijacking this thread with a slightly different issue on rear struts but hoping someone might be able to help. I've got a 2007 LS460 non-air with 141k miles (brought it nearly 3 years ago) and the last job that was needed was the rear struts which i did 3 months ago as it seemed to be sagging a bit (maybe 2 cm less gap at the back) and my local garage thought it was the springs. But after replacing shocks and springs the gap is still the same, given the rear sinks quite badly when the car is loaded up i need to solve this. I searched for stiffer springs but couldn't find anything, so maybe a lift kit (eg https://www.universalcarlifts.com/pr...7-lexus-ls460/ but 1 inch not 2) unless someone can help me out with another option? I searched for coilovers but everything seems to be for lowering, I live in Slovakia where the roads can be ****ty some times so don't want to lower it and the ride is really comfy, just need to get a bit more height at the rear.

Any help very welcome guys!
Cheers