ThumperPup

Hi i was wondering if anyone could tell me the actaul labor time for replacing the front struts on a 2012 RX350 AWD.
this is with just replacing the struts reusing the old coils mounts and all components. i am going to order some struts for my fathers 2012 RX with 66k on it because he was told one of them was leaking i asked if i could send the OEM parts on my owen to the shop hes having it done at and they said yes they also told me 3hrs labor is the book time for that that seems high i know i have a ES350 and its a totaly differnt car but i think my front struts took like 1.75 hrs to replace in book time or close to that. so if anyone has info on this would be great thank you

ukrkoz

1.6 unit one side. That's official. I had both done on my Highlander Hybrid, which is basically very similar, for about 2hr 15 minute. Same year as yours. You have to remove wipers and cowl to get to upper mounting bolts. That's about the hardest part.

salimshah

I would have guessed 2.5 hrs.

Dont forget there would be the need to confirm/adjust alignment.

Salim

Gampa

Complete assembled struts might knock off 1.0 - 1.5 hours labor which may justify assembled unit cost. Don't forget the two new stabilizer bar extensions if you live in a rust belt area.

ThumperPup

nope no rust belt where this RX is
i live in Utah so yeah id be a rust belt for sure on my ES but the RX is my fathers down in Florida.
i will probably buy it from him in a few years so i want to keep it with OEM parts i never really enjoyed the ride of me ES after i replace the Struts with Quick strut assembly from monroe so i looked into the price of just the OEM Struts from MYLparts and i can get two front OEM struts for like just about 351 shipped and his mechanic he has down there will put his own parts in for him.

ThumperPup

yup already ontop of that
i actually told him to go over to Firestone or Tires plus auto care and get the lifetime alignment package they offer for like i think its just under 200 dollars
i bought mind like 3 years ago and have probably used it for atleast 6 times what it was worth

ukrkoz

I could not find anyone making Quick Strut for RX models. Newer ones. There is outfit on ebay that sells them, American something but it's ebay....
I did Quick Strut on my Camry, that was 20 min each. Literally.
On RX, because of necessity to remove cowl or, at least, pry it off rather high (might as well spend another five minutes and remove it completely) it will still take longer.
There are no alignment provisions on front struts, so alignment is not changing. Unless camber will be out of spec, when strut bolts wear out, but then camber bolts have ot be installed and THEN you do need alignment. Otherwise, camber, caster and toe stays same after strut replacement.

ThumperPup

the 2012 does have quick struts avaialble fo rsure just not OEM. Monroe and Gabriel make them
because rock auto has them
if there was a KYB quick strut i might consider that because KYB makes OEM