lexus911

i want to thank you guys for posting. I have a 2001 with 190,000 and was given a 1999 with 215,000 that my son drives. Each one needs new struts and we will begin the process of gathering the material to replace both of them.

thanks again!

dbarber45

I just purchased a 1999 RX300 with 305,000 miles on it. Looks good and I paid hardly anything for it. I will be doing a front strut replacement myself as I can detect some wear on the front end. A couple of days ago, I ordered the Sensen struts from Amazon.com for $42.18 each. Part No. was 4214-0660 and 4214-0661. Does anyone know if bearings are already included. I could find no mention on the Amazon site. And since I don't want to tackle trying to compress those springs myself I plan to take car to my local mechanic for the work. Thanks to all for tips and suggestions. Makes planning for these jobs much easier and you at least have a sense of what you will need without relying solely on a mechanic to tell you.
Postscript: Since I am not as knowledgeable as most members on this site, I am at risk of asking some stupid questions. I looked at a blowup of the strut assembly courtesy of Carson Toyota Online Parts Center. I don't quite understand to what part of this assembly members are referring to when mentioning OE mounts. Would that be the mount plate? And if doing a front strut replacement, especially on a 1999 car, would it be reasonable to assume I would need to replace just about all the parts, except spring? Hope I don't come off as too ignorant. I'd like to learn and have been using this site to do a few other tasks, i.e. replaced Rotors and pads, removed throttle body to clean IACV and also cleaned MAF sensor. Thanks for any pointers.

hayafalcon

http://www.kyb.com/knowledge-center/...rut-mounts-do/

Click on the KYB link above. KYB is the OEM supplier. They provide a lot of good information. And no the bearing is not included with the SenSen strut.

The strut mount is the plate that houses the bearing and is the attachment point between the strut rod and frame of the car. The bearing is sandwiched between the upper spring seat and the strut mount. See the Auto Zone website for a good drawing.

http://www.autozone.com/repairguides...96b43f803818b8

You can possibly reuse the upper strut mount and bearing. (But I would not recommend it.) There is a rubber isolator ring also. I somehow doubt the rubber is still good. I recommend replacing old rubber parts as they get tired, cracked and hard. Doesn't make any sense to spend money on struts just to have the new assembly banging around and making noise due to bad isolation. Haya....

dbarber45

Thanks Haya for the tips, explanation and links. I re-read everything I could find regarding the struts and finally figured out what and where everything mentioned in the DIY was. I wasn't very clear on the different components of the strut assembly when I posted the question. Read...read...and read some more and eventually the eureka moment happens!

hayafalcon

The whole job becomes clear once you get down to the actual tear down and rebuild. You can do this yourself, and a big part of it is getting prepared like you are doing now. Good luck and let us know how it goes. BTW - two things I was concerned about before I tackled mine turned out to be a piece of cake, 1.) getting the top nut off the strut rod without an impact gun and 2.)using a Macpherson strut compressor tool. Ez-Pz.

The thing I had not prepared for was getting the sway bar links off. I ended up going out and buying a new pair of vice grips to hold the link studs. On one of them I had to go out and buy a nut splitter to get the nut off it was so rusted-tight. I ended up having to replace the sway bar links anyway. I recommend you just have them on hand and be ready to replace as needed at the same time. If you don't need them, keep the reciept and return them. Haya...

dbarber45

Thanks for the good advice.