bluemach1

1999 ES300 w/o adaptive variable suspension

QUESTION: looking at part number 48321 for the coil springs, there is "painted purple" and "painted green". I cant tell what the difference is. Is it the spring rate? Which is correct for the 1999 ES300?

A couple of years ago I replaced the rear struts with Monroe Quick-Struts. The rear of the car is way jacked up still. I was hoping it would settle but never did. After reading some posts on various forums, the conclusion is that they used the heavier duty springs impacting the ride height and this is a common problem for ES300 owners that have installed them.

I want to get my ride height back to where it should be. I am hoping that if i replace the coil springs with original ES300 springs it will drop back down. Everything else on the strut assembly should still be fine for reuse.

My old struts are long gone and I will need to procure new coil springs.

Power6

That's unfortunate, the OEM stuff is high quality, even sitting in a pile in a junkyard the OEM stuff could be pulled out from a pile of nasty trash and still have more usable life than brand new aftermarket springs. I used non-OEM springs too, saving a couple bucks, by the coil wind and quality of the coating (it was flaking off new out of the box, and you DO NOT want coil springs to rust) it was not close to OEM. The OEM rear springs, compared to Moog replacements, are going to be a *higher* rate strangely enough, but no idea how much higher I didn't calculate a theoretical rate.

At any rate (ha) to answer your question, this is very common, Lexus will make a couple different springs for different level of options, the weight of a new 99 ES could vary depending on options, so there might be a couple different springs. Typically the rate is the same, but the free length is different, so the ride etc. is the same but the height the car sits at is the same across all option loads. When replacing you are supposed to match the color with the original spring you are replacing.

I had the same situation as you, I stupidly threw out good OEM springs and all I had was the crappy aftermarket junk. I just took a guess and got the purple painted ones. They have been fine. My car is an 01, have most options leather, sunroof etc. so perhaps you will be fine too with the purple stripe. I bet there is precious little difference, stuff Lexus cared about back in 99 but no big deal now.

FYI, I think you are going to be fine, however consider that the "Quick Strut" is made to replace the entire strut for a range of models that they specify fit for. Monroe could put a strut together that is not strictly compatible with individual strut parts, they can do this becuase you are buying a whole complete bolt in assembled strut. It is possible that OEM springs may not fit correctly. The right thing to do is buy all new OEM parts but obviously that is a huge expense, so defintely try this first, just wanted to mention that in case you or your mechanic runs into a problem.

bluemach1

Thanks for your thoughts

I went to pick n pull yesterday and looked at a bunch of Camry's 98 - 01 (no es300's on the lot). All of these had yellow. There was also a couple of Avalon's on the lot and these were marked with orange. I took a look at craigslist also but no local es300's up for part out. I'll call around to the local yards and see what they want for a used set. Looking at new parts, the best price I found was $72 from Lexus of South Atlanta with $20 shipping. I haven't called any local Lexus dealers yet only because my experience with them as always been super high prices.

bluemach1

just an update.

I went to another pick and pull and got some "purple" springs. While the height of the stock spring and the spring that came with the Quick-Strut are about the same, the number of coils and the diameter of the coil are different.

The stock "purple" is 7 coils and the diameter of the coil steel is about 12mm.

The Quick-Strut is 8 coils and the diameter if the coil steel is about 14mm.

After swapping the coils, my ride height is back to stock,

Power6

Excellent! Glad you worked it out. Those stock coils are nicely coated so they last forever, used was the way to go. Sounds like those springs were similar rate, the thicker steel is stiffer obviously, while the less coils make the spring stiffer so they might be close, but most importantly your ride height is proper!