aljodoro

I think at 70,000 miles my shocks are getting weak. To keep it simple I may just bite the bullet and buy 4. Has anyone bought recently and found the best price. Any alternatives been worked to the factory shocks?

Thanks,

Davenlei

iTrader: (1)

Are you sure they need to be replaced? I had a Sequoia and took it to the dealer to see if the shocks needed replacement at 90K miles (not because of ride change, purely based on miles), and the service advisor said nope, they are still in very good shape. I sold that SUV at 150K miles and the shocks were still in very good shape. I know it is a different car but it is a relative to Lexus.

stiles_s

I agree they get weak at around 60/70k. Mine have.

The dealer replaced one of my rears under warranty because of excessive leakage. So, I'm replacing the other one myself to at least have one axle solved. I'm bottoming more than I like in the rear of the truck, so this should help.

I bought the rear shock from Sewell Lexus Online. The rears are shockingly expensive (pun intended), but the club lexus discount brings them down to a more reasonable level.

I'm going to try the rears first, and then see if I need to do the fronts.

langjaykev

iTrader: (1)

sewell should have them

stiles_s

If your ride has changed; if you feel like you're losing "body control", then your shocks are losing their effectiveness. It happens to nearly all shock designs. Bilsteins seem somewhat impervious to wear, but all others will wear.

Your SA probably looked for visible leaks, and used that as his data point.

Davenlei

iTrader: (1)

Actually, he performed more than just a visual inspection when I challenged him on his statement thinking he only did a leak check. Either way, still a different vehicle and suspension setup so it was an apples to oranges comparison.

snhrph

I'm hard pressed to believe that you need new shocks at 70K miles. Shocks on a GX should last a LOT longer than that.

Having said that... Your choice of shocks would depend on your plans for the rig. If its a "mall crawler", then stick with OEM. If you plan on off-roading it, then go for Bilstein 5100. They are very popular with 4Runner and FJ crowd.

One thing to remember with aftermarket is that you will loose your ability to adjust the comfort setting, it is only possible with OEM equipment.

stiles_s

I've now had both rear shocks replaced on my 60k-mile GX. That's actually pretty good durability out of a set of shocks. One rear shock was replaced under warranty 5k-miles ago, and I finally got around to ordering the other one last week from Sewell and installing it tonight.

The reasons for replacing the other one(s) were:
1) I wanted the axle "balanced" when it came to damping; it felt slightly peg-legged
2) It was leaking pretty badly.
3) I was bottoming out more than I liked in the rear, and thought fresh shocks would help.

The shocks are expensive, but I went with the OEM shocks because they were designed for the GX, and I do like the adjustability.

It took <30min to replace the remaining shock. Piece of cake. Really simple DIY. It was pretty obvious that the old shock provided less damping. I could tell by compressing the shock by hand.

Result: the rear of the truck now feels "balanced", and I don't bottom-out on the speed-bumps near my house. Too soon to tell -- haven't had time to put many miles on it yet, but so-far-so-good.

If it feels like the front is now less effectively damped than the rear, I'll go ahead and pull the trigger on the significantly cheaper front struts.

Sewell was great to work with, and sold the rear shock for something like 40% off of MSRP.