Clutchless

Get the Sachs struts for a softer ride and after 100,000 miles any change in shocks will help your ride. You will like the improvement in ride quality with Sachs, or TRW which are about the same.

Clutchless

Cfomosi - That Bilstein B4 Highlander front strut part will fit your F-Sport and provide a softer ride but handling more like a regular RX. Several members have the Bilsteins, both B4 and B6 versions.

If you want to keep the F-Sport handling you need the Bilstein B6 sport struts. They will be stiffer than the B4. Bilsteins ride much better than the OEM Tokico struts and shocks while providing equal or better handling. It depends if you want to turn your F-Sport into a regular RX.

B6 front left part number is 22282729
B6 Front right part number 22282736

Madcar

Thanks for the feedback
I went ahead with the OEM shocks yesterday - based on your comments, they should be an improvement regardless.
My current shocks are not leaking but the ride seems rougher than it should be on this car - we'll see if new shocks make much of a difference.
I'll be doing the same on the front soon - strut replacement only.
Appreciate your comments

MattRX

As someone with an F-Sport who went with the B6 front and rear. It certainly rides noticeably better than stock, cornering is a little better too but I noticed a bigger ride difference. I have B4 on a friend’s RAV4 and it is firm yet very comfortable. Maybe that would have been the better choice but I am content with the B6. It saved the experience of the car for us.

Unfortunately, it still rides noticeably worse than my 2nd gen RX and the handling is still pretty lackluster compared to it too. I chalk it down to how much taller and heavier the car is, and Lexus trying to compensate for that with stiffer springs from the factory. I will be trying the Hardrace rear sway bar next to try to remedy it. My Highlander really benefitted from a larger front and especially rear sway bar.

As for Sachs, I like them on my 2008 RX350. They are a little soft for my taste but the car is super comfortable even with Eibach lowering springs. Not as much as stock, but it’s not too far off. They definitely have a much lower gas charge compared to the Bilstein which was something I observed when installing both, but it doesn’t mean they can’t easily support the weight of the car. They still control the body roll well (which there is a lot less of compared to our ‘14) but are smooth. Reminds me of the OEM Sachs dampers on BMWs and Chrysler/Dodge.

Clutchless

I was unaware that Hardrace made a rear sway bar for the RX. I found it on their global site but not the USA site.

https://www.hardrace.com/product_detail.asp?id=3978

https://www.aleksracing.com/hardrace...x-al10-rx-al20

Cfomosi

is the ride softer overall ?

I replaced the rears shocks about 2 years ago with non sport model shocks, rears making the ride softer, but do feel the body roll and feel the rears doing all the heavy work over every bump- its the worst for me because im in NYC, we have the worst roads hands down. I am thinking about doing the front now with these bilsteins as mentioned. I'm assuming by your profile pic u have the 1st generation of the F sport RX?

Cfomosi

what are the part #'s for these b4 bilsteins? thanks

Clutchless

Cfomosi - Read Post 58 above. You should read this thread from the beginning.
When replacing front struts it is usually a good idea to replace the strut mount bearings at the same time as no additional labor is involved and they are usually worn quite a bit by this time. Get Toyota OEM ones as they are built much better.

MattRX

Do some searches and see what others have said, but I’d redo the whole car with Bilsteins. They take the bumps on my crappy roads better and still control the body roll. They can still be a little rough over big bumps but exponentially better than stock F-Sport Tokicos. You might want the B4s if you want all-round comfort without sacrificing handling.

RX in NC

Yep, Bilstein makes the best shocks in the industry. I have them on my wife's 2006 Jaguar XK8 and they are indeed splendid.

Cfomosi

do you happen to have part # for this?

anything else i should replace, such as bushings and what not. I'm a bit of a novice. any advice is greatly appreciated

MattRX

The part numbers are posted on the forums here, do you want the B4 or B6? I have the B6 written down on my PC. I'd at least replace the front strut piston nuts as they're meant to be a single-use nyloc nut

PN: 90080-17217 x2

Clutchless

The front strut mount bearing part number is below. You need 2 of them. Get a shop to do this replacement as you need a spring compressor and the knowledge of how to safely use it as the compressed springs are very dangerous. The remainder of the parts are re-used as they rarely fail.

I think based on your questions that you should just hand the shop the struts and bearings and ask them to do everything. FYI you need an alignment after replacing the struts. That is another $100+ usually. Any car repair shop can replace struts, they have been used for over 50 years on millions of cars and are all about the same. This same basic design is common to millions of Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

Toyota/Lexus OEM Factory Front Strut Mount Bearing 90903-63014 they are about $40 -$50 each. Many sellers on eBay and most are Toyota dealers!

Cfomosi

thanks for all of your help.