ratha67

Well just picked up the RX used last weekend. When inspecting the car prior to purchase, I noticed that the driver side rear tire was worn on the inside edge. Just standing beside the car you can see that there is definitely a camber problem since the tire was leaning inwards. I looked underneath and did not see anything to be alarmed about so I figured it would just need an alignment.

Took it to my tire/alignment shop that I've been going to for about 15 years and right when I pulled in I told him to take a look at the driver side rear. He could see that the tire was leaning in from 10 feet away and immediately he asked "what'd you do to it?" I told him I just bought it used that way. He said, "I'll check to see if anything is bent or broken. There is no camber adjustment on this car, so something must be broken or bent."

He put it up on the rack and did a visual inspection. After about 45 seconds (I was under the car with him), he said "well nothing is broken, but the strut is probably bent, I can fit two fingers on the space on the other side (right side tire) and only 1 finger in the space on this side. You want me to replace the strut?"

I asked if he was sure it was the strut, and he said "well the spindle's fine, so replacing the strut should fix your problem." Then he made a couple calls and said he can get the part down here in an hour and it'll take him about an hour to put it on and do an alignment.

I didn't have 2 hours to spare that day, so I told him I'll give him a call later and set something up.

BTW, just to give you guys a full description. Its an '04 RX330, FWD, no air suspension, stock rims and tires, 70k mi, the strut boot on the strut in question is torn along the seams, the ride is completely smooth like all other lexuses I've had, and the car tracks straight.

Questions
1. Anyone on here who is good with suspensions and alignments, what are your thoughts? Do you agree that it is probably a bent strut? I know its difficult without seeing the car, but is there anything it is more likely to be? I think the guy is honest, but I'm afraid he might be a bit careless given the amount of time he spent before he came to the conclusion to replace the strut. His wording was also not very comforting when he said the struts "probably" bent.

2. I'm guessing the original owner may have swerved and hit something. LA has some really mean potholes. Last year I blew a brand new tire in LA by hitting a big pothole, also I've seen someone in LA pulled over after snapping his axle while making a right turn and hitting a deep pothole. But is it common to have struts bend, where my tire guy can conclude that so quickly? I was thinking, could it be that what is bent is the part that the strut is bolted to?

3. Anything I can do on my own to make sure it is a bent strut before I buy a new one. However, the strut is only going to cost me $100 for a new KYB strut and my guy is charging me $60 to put it on, so I was just going to have him do it until he told me it would be about 2-2.5 hours, which I didn't have that day.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I would think if the strut is bent you would be able to see it and the the strut piston rod would show signs of scraping as it would bind under compression. I personally don't think the strut is bent, but none of us can see the car and your mechanic did see it so he is a better position to judge.

Can you measure the ride height of the left and right rear? Measure from ground to the bottom of the fender lip. If it is lower on the suspect side that could mean a blown strut and/or work spring. That could also be the reason for the camber since as the suspension compresses it increases the negative camber by design.

ratha67

I appreciate the help.

I just measured the ride height. Driver-side rear with camber problem 31.5". Passenger-side rear without camber problem 32".

So I can see how the compression whether it be due to the strut or work spring can increase the negative camber. Now what's the best way to determine whether the strut needs replacement whether it is blown or bent?

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

Well, 0.5" is insignificant. It would probably need to be off by at least 1", probably 2" to see a noticeable camber change visually so that IMHO rules out a worn or sagging spring and shock. I guess you are kind of back to square one. If you are handy and inclined to do things yourself, you can always swap the left and right rear shock and see if the problem follows the suspect shock or stays on the same side. While it is out you can visually inspect it for signs of it being bent as well.

To remove the struts you would have to pull the side cargo panels to gain access to the 3 nuts at the top of the strut. If you pop off that plastic cover on the shock tower in the cargo hatch, you will see access holes, but it it is difficult to next to impossible to get the nuts to stick to your socket for removal. Anyway, at the bottom of the strut there are 2 17 or 19MM bolts. Remove those two and the 3 at the top and the entire strut assembly slides out.

If you don't want to go through all that trouble you either have to get a second opinion from another mechanic, or take your first mechanics advice and change the strut and hope that was the cause.

At this point it is just too difficult to determine what the cause is without being able to see it in person. Keep in mind, I'm not a mechanic, just a guy that sometimes does my own work on my cars

ratha67

Okay, I might just give it a shot next weekend. If it is a matter of removing some interior body panels and a few nuts and bolts, I think I can handle that. I might just go ahead and buy two new rear struts and replace them. If it looks too difficult, I could always take it in to a professional.

I am a weekend DIY'er but was hesitant to deal with suspension parts because I don't know much about them and thought I needed a spring compressor. But I guess thats not the case with struts?

I took a look at the right side strut, and the strut boot on there seems to be pretty brittle and torn at the seems as well. Is that pretty standard for these cars? I see Ebay has the KYB struts for $100 and the strut boots for $12. I'll probably pick up a set of each. Struts are supposed to be changed in pairs anyways right?

Thanks for the help. I do appreciate it.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

No, you still need a spring compressor if you are planning on replacing the shock. If you were just removing the shock assembly as a whole to inspect or to a test swap you don't need the spring compressor since you are not removing the spring coil from the shock. Big difference there.

The shock/spring assembly comes out as one unit. You then have to separate the spring from the shock if you wanted to replace the shock. This is where the spring compressor comes into play. You don't want that loaded spring to slip and hit you by accident as it can cause serious injury or death.

I would say take a look at the job and see if you are up to the task. If not, take it to someone. I sometimes tend to over simplify things a bit (Not on purpose) since I do have enough tools to get the job done and I do have a spring compressor myself. I've done enough suspension swaps and installs to warrant me purchasing my own spring compressor/tools and my confidence level is good.

PS, double check visually if the left and rear lower shock mount looks identical. On other cars I've done the left and right were identical so you could interchange them. When I lowered my RX, I changed out the springs and everything so I don't remember if the left and right were identical or not. Better to check and be sure than to remove it and find out it is not.

ratha67

thanks for the heads up...I guess first thing I'll do is take a better look at it next weekend to see if I can see any damage to the strut. Then if need be, I'll try to take the strut out to take a look. I'm basically trying to avoid changing out a strut that might be perfectly good. If the task looks a bit to arduous, I'll take it to another mechanic to see what his thoughts are.

the parts and labor I was quoted seem pretty reasonable, I just hate a diagnosis that consists of trial and error, especially when I'm the one paying for it. I want someone to be sure what the source of the problem is and quote me the price for the repair.

I had struts replaced on an old Lexus SC400 I had awhile back, and the shop that installed them managed to screw up every single one of the strut mounts. He didn't align the struts onto the strut mounts properly before tightening them on, so they were not secured onto the mounts and made a knocking sound every time I hit a bump. That damaged the mounts which had to be replaced.

Thanks for the input...I'll post updates as soon as I figure out what's wrong. By the way, should I be concerned about the damaged strut boots?