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Been going crazy on this RX. Still a lot to do. I'm basically redoing everything on it. So far Iv'e done struts, tans filter and fluid flush, p/s flush, timing belt/ water pump, cam and crank seals, new balancer, new drive belts, radiator, thermostat, coolant flushed, engine and cabin filters, antenna mast, hood and trunk hatch supports, cleaned the TB, MAF, and IAC. Some other stuff.
Still on the way is complete brakes, control arm bushings, ball joints, tie rods, upgrading to rx350 rims and new ties of course after I get the alignment perfect, axles, still have to get the valve covers and tune up done, gonna re-seal the oil pan, needs a new battery etc. gonna replace the fuel pump because I don't think its been done. Have a lot to do so I can give my mom a good dependable ride!
Doing all this on a $6,000 budget. That includes purchase price.
KYB Excel G. I only go with KYB and Bilstein on cars I care about. Best OEM quality out there. Usually there is only one of these brands available for the the particular vehicle I'm working on. In this case, it was KYB. At my shop I have to put on whatever I'm given. Some customers pay for the quality, some just want the cheapest they can get. But I can tell you from experience, OE Spectra, Gabriel, Monroe, all your usual cheaper options absolutely suck. They have less dampening/rebound than what came off the car in most cases. Even when one coming off that was leaking is compared sometimes.
KYB Excel G. I only go with KYB and Bilstein on cars I care about. Best OEM quality out there. Usually there is only one of these brands available for the the particular vehicle I'm working on. In this case, it was KYB. At my shop I have to put on whatever I'm given. Some customers pay for the quality, some just want the cheapest they can get. But I can tell you from experience, OE Spectra, Gabriel, Monroe, all your usual cheaper options absolutely suck. They have less dampening/rebound than what came off the car in most cases. Even when one coming off that was leaking is compared sometimes.
They wont improve ride quality, just restore it to how it came. Struts aren't really about ride comfort, but safety. Keeping the tires planted on the road for handling/braking. Symptoms of bad struts besides obvious leakage are: crunching noises over bumps, nose-dive when braking, boaty ride in some cases, choppy tire tread pattern (which makes a noise like a wheel bearing due to not being flat on the tread), and on some cars it can even make the car sag on it's springs effecting alignment.
KYB is just a really good brand is why I recommend them. They last very long and are precise in their engineering. I've replaced struts on so many cars with specra-premium, gabrial, monroe etc. garbage. They are sometimes worse than what came off the car. Monroe use to be the best, but they have been terrible for quite some time now. Not worth it to go cheap.
You are looking at the right set, however I did save about $65 on that price by shopping for each strut individually. I found all 4 from separate sellers on Amazon for $300. The way to do it is to get the part numbers from RockAuto and then shop by part number in ebay and Amazon. And make sure you get the ones for FWD if you have FWD or AWD if you have AWD. There are differences for the rears I believe.
03-03-19, 04:16 PM
