dontran

This is strange to me so I wanted to check with the rest of the rx330 owners about this.

we have a 2004 rx330 FWD.. I had to change out all four struts because the car just got to 100k miles. all struts were going bad.. The only thing I kept was the OEM coil springs.

I took the car in for an alignment and they said I needed camber bolts in order to align the car since the struts are not slotted and the springs have sag a little bit over time.

Any one out there had to do this also? thanks in advance.

kiwi

hard to beleive that all the springs are sagging, i would get a second opinion.

also, i would ask how far out of spec the camber is. if its only out a little, its really not that big of a deal.

not only that, but the shop who replaced your struts should have priced you ones that could be aligned, seems like they dropped the ball and are giving you a bill you shouldnt have

dontran

well, I took it to two alignment places and they both said the same thing.. they cannot adjust the camber angle as it stand (before and after new struts). thus wearing out the inside part of the tires.

I called Lexus and they said they rarely replace the springs..

I am surprised no one else in this forum needed the camber bolt kit to resolve alignment issues. Our car only has 100k and it's not right we go off road or anything..

kiwi

but the bigger question is, does it need to be adjusted?? have they put it on the alignment rack to see if it even needs to be adjusted??

dontran

yes, both places had it on the alignment machine.. before and after strut replacement, it was out of spec. they showed me the results.

kiwi

interesting, i am also surprised otheres havent ran into the same issue.

my 2004 has 190,000 km, had the alignment checked about 2 years ago, in spec.

HtownBlue

The geometry of the early second gen knuckle and strut mount makes it very difficult to replicate the exact camber angle wen reinstalling the large bolts to the knuckle. Tis is actually a more common proble than many know.

You can purchase camber adjstment bolts and solve the issue pretty easily. Many on here will claim that there shouln't be an issue to begin with, but the strut reinstallations causes the geometry to change after undone from the original install. The sub frame shifts over time and this ultimately causes the geometry to change once the strut is removed and unbolted.

RX330inFL

The parts are really not expensive and if they are willing to throw those on for you to put your RX back into spec it seems to be an appropriate choice. They exist for a reason. Though, after nearly 90K on my 2004 FWD RX330 I have not seen this problem and I have a lifetime alignment agreement with regular checks. Still have the OEM setup though. Have to agree some with HtownBlue in that once you take these things apart they never really go back together the same way.

http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/S...4&autoModClar=