Originally Posted by Hawdong

oversteer - I know it's been more than 3 years since your DIY on the struts, I'm doing mine now and I'm following the Lexus TIS repair manual where it calls for the separation of the rear axle carrier sub-assy from the upper control arm. This step caused the grease to leak out from the upper control arm (albeit, it appeared to be leaking even before the separation). Did you (or anyone else) encounter this issue? The Lexus repair manual mention nothing of this sort (yeah, it doesn't explain a lot of things actually). And since the upper control arm is "technically" not serviceable, according to Lexus, are we expected to replace this part whenever the strut is replaced? Should I bother putting more grease?


Pic taken after the separation but before the removal of the nut and the strut.

Pic taken after removal of the nut and the strut.

Originally Posted by Romanova

Yeah, rear struts are serviceable without busting the sub assembly apart. All you need is a second person and a pry bar. This is covered extensively in the rear suspension how-to.

Originally Posted by Hawdong

Romanova - Where is the "rear suspension how-to" that you are referring to?
I haven't replaced the front struts yet. What steps can I skip/change that deviates from the repair manual?

Originally Posted by oversteer

Sure:
Front Sport Struts: 48510-80307 $133.11
Rear Sport Struts: 48530-80241 $66.40

Originally Posted by gmoney94

Hi, thx for the write up. Are left/right struts interchangeable, or is there a separate part number per strut?

thx!

Originally Posted by oversteer

I just upgraded my LS430 with the Lexus OEM Sport Struts, the OEM Lexus Sport Swaybar and the Tanabe NF210 Springs and I thought I might provide a little insight I haven’t seen on here yet.

First a little background on me. I started racing cars when I was 15 and eventually headed to Europe for a year to race Formula Renault and then signed with Hooters and came back to the states to race here for a while. After retiring professionally, I raced in the SCCA and won a couple of regional championships and went on to be a racing instructor. The bottom line is I've been around performance cars for all my driving life and have had many "exotics" but I've driven LSs for the past 20 years as my daily drivers.

I've always been a little disappointed in how much the LS rolls in its USA factory default but never could find a Sport model when I've been in the market to buy and just kinda let upgrading it slide down the priority list. A couple of weeks ago though, I noticed that Lexus was blowing out the OEM Sport struts and a full set of four delivered was only $359 so I jumped on it. I figured I might as well get the Tanabe springs since I'd have to remove the old ones to change struts and then I just figured I might as well put the sway bar on too.
I did the whole swap in an afternoon and here are a few observations:

1) Whenever I see anything about the Sport struts they just say they are “stiffer” without any more detail. Since I had both the Standard and Sport side by side I thought I could clarify a little about the difference. From a bump perspective they seemed fairly similar although without a shock dyno there is no way to tell for sure. What was VERY obvious though was the rebound. The Standard strut had absolutely no rebound resistance and practically sprang back to the extended position. The Sport strut on the other hand had considerable rebound resistance which explains a lot about the handling characteristics. (See below)

2) For me, the Tanabe NF210s were absolutely perfect. I was a little worried that they might not be noticeable from a stiffness perspective since they only advertise 10% stiffer over stock and I was worried the car might look too low for my taste. I was wrong on both counts. The NF210s were just barely lower but looked perfect. My wife didn’t even notice the car was lower but my 12 year old son did. It really just closes up the wheel well without making a dramatic statement. Also, the rate seems much more than 10% but that was fine by me.

3) Since I changed springs, struts and swaybar all at once I can’t comment on the swaybar by itself but the rear is floating around less so I’m sure it’s playing a good part. I can confirm that stock is 13mm and sport is 14mm.

On actually driving, the whole package made a huge difference in my mind and I’m sorry that I waited so long to make the change. I tend not to slow down as much as other drivers for corners and I always felt a little uncomfortable in the LS because there was so much body roll that I always felt like everyone could see I was on two wheels every time I took a corner. With the new setup that is gone. I would say the body roll is far less than half what it was before. More importantly though is how the car takes a set. As you transition off the brakes and turn into the corner, the car is much more stable with less movement. I’m sure that is the difference in the strut rebound keeping the inside of the car from lifting so quickly and transferring the weight to the outside. Once the car takes the set, the springs and swaybars significantly reduce the amount of body roll and the cornering speed is up and you can transition back on the throttle earlier. Overall a huge win. I know a lot of people in here would cringe at me saying this but it feels much more like the 7 series handling but in my mind that’s a good thing.