gabzor

So some of you may know i need struts for a 1995 es300 i picked up
i'm confused in which parts i have to buy, i did extensive searches and have decided to go with a mix of KYB struts, with oem rubber for best quality at a decent price..

no quick struts because quality issues, and no kyb strut mounts cause quality issues


so i go with kyb struts all around,
OEM insulators for just the upper rears because they are much better than KYB
OEM insulators for lower fronts since you said KYB doesnt come with em
OEM strut mounts all around? (just going with oem struts because i heard kybs can make noise) or just the front?
and everything else i can go with KYB?

so i need KYB Struts Front and rear,
rear OEM upper insulators 2x
front lower OEM insulator 2x (they have KYB separate too)
front boot/bellow KYB 2x - comes with bump stomp if i'm right
rear lower insulators KYB 2x (you said they come with em but they have separate parts too so i'm just trying to verify)
i do not need a KYB front spring seat but i need the OEM one since i'm going with OEM strut mounts right?
2x stabilizer links front and rear
2x swaybar bushings

btw how is the quality of moog?

thanks guys, just want to get started on this thing asap

MCL23

I just did my suspension for my 95 es300 2 weeks ago. I think I followed the same instructions that you were getting from another thread on this forum, but there were a couple of differences. The KYB struts that I bought did not come with any lower insulators, so I ended up ordering OEM ones for the rear in addition to the fronts.

The OEM rear upper insulators did not come with a bump stop, so you may have to order 2 more oem bump stops too. I used the KYB bellows in the front and they do come with a bump stop but the OEM rears do not. Fortunately for me, when I disassembled my old struts the front bump stops were still usable so I put those on my new rear struts because when I disassembled my old rear struts there were only bits and pieces of the old bump stop remaining.

I went with the KYB strut mounts and so far so good, but when I took out my old OEM mounts they still looked pretty good so I'm saving them just in case I get noise in the future. As for the spring seat, your old OEM ones should be fine because it is just a piece of metal that doesn't really get worn out, the only thing that may need to be replaced is the bearing which allows the spring seat to swivel on the front mounts. Also if you go with the OEM front mount and spring seat, you might as well use the front OEM strut boots because it has the upper insulator built into it. If you went with KYB spring seat it comes with a rubber insulator and new bearing. I think the KYB spring seat should work with OEM strut mount though.

I used moog sway bar bushings but can't really tell if they are any better or worse, but from what I have read they should be just fine.

So just to summarize, you should purchase lower insulators for all 4 struts unless you know for sure the rears are coming with them. You should also purchase at least 2 bump stops for the rear if you are going to use the KYB bellows in the front, or 4 bump stops if you are going to use OEM boots/upper insulators for all 4 corners. If you use the OEM spring spring seat I am not sure if it comes with the bearing, or the upper insulator which is actually part of the strut boot. The KYB spring seat comes with an upper insulator which is just a rubber ring and a new bearing and should work with the OEM strut mounts but I am not 100% sure on that. If you have any more questions I'll try my best to help since I just did this and its still fresh in my mind. Good luck!

MCL23

oops I made a mistake in my post.

Correction:
The KYB spring seat only comes with an upper rubber insulator, it does not come with a bearing.
The KYB front strut mount comes with a new bearing.

gabzor

finally an answer!! you have no idea how many pm's i've sent and how much research i've done on this board and tn
i ended up ordering just the KYB struts on all 4, as well as moog bushings for everything except the LCA's
i'll do the LCA bushings later, possibly at the same time as the axel arms

i was going to call the dealer tomorrow for upper/lower insulators all around, 4 bumpers (bump stomps) and strut mounts all around too.. not sure if i will do the bushing or not.. heard it doesn't go bad on most of my research

man is it pricey.. got the struts and bushings from rockauto, came out to about 412$ with the rockauto discount
and from what i hear at the dealer its around 780$ for the oem parts.. (with bearings)
i think i'll use camry parts since they are the same, hopefully i can get it lower

spring seat i've decided to reuse

was it easy? to save money i'd rather DIY..

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I don't think Camry parts are the same, so beware. OEM strut mounts are extremely pricey, but you get what you pay for. I will be doing my 3ES suspension soon and all the mounting hardware from Lexus is around $500.

By the way, do not contact your local dealer, they will always try to squeeze the most out of you. You should instead research the MSRPs online, so you can at least have an idea of how much stuff should cost. One great resource is Sewell Lexus in Texas (it rhymes!). They offer a hefty discount for ClubLexus members, you just have to log-in before buying.

gabzor

i got a quote for around $780 from carson :/ with the club lexus discount, i'll try sewell
yeah i knew about the high prices, but hey you get what you pay for right
do you suggest i change the bearings?

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I'm guessing you're referring to the strut bearings. If you're doing the mounts, might as well do everything. I'm gonna replace mine.

Power6

Most of the Camry parts are the same, strut mounts, spring seats all the ancilliary parts look to be shared part numbers between the same year Camry and ES300. The struts and springs are different OEM due to subtle tuning, there are even different springs within each year ES300 model.

Aftermarket those parts are the same they just make one strut or spring for all Camry/ES300 and call it good. For that reason I would not recommend aftermarket springs if you are building up a whole strut or replace sagging springs. I'll detail that more in another thread when I finish my suspension refresh...

BTW how do I log into Sewell and get the CL discount??

gabzor

ended up ordering bearings too.. total came out to $680.54 with club lexus discount from carson stupid 70$ tax..

i ordered
4x upper insulators
4x lower insulators
4x strut mounts
4x bumpers
2x strutmount bearing

everything else, was $411.36
moog bushings/links
and kyb struts
from rock auto

total of 1091.90 looks like i better learn to diy all of them..

reason i went with toyota rubber parts is, i heard you get what you pay for and i'd rather do em right the first time