WaltL

I've got an '03 GS300 (wife's car) that has 210k mi (I swapped the original engine with a jdm motor @ 180k). Put some new Michelins on it last month and they really improved the ride quality, except now I notice that the car really floats and wallows- old tires were so crappy I didn't notice before. So shocks/struts definitely need replacing. I do most everything myself, but I also like to know what I'm getting into and this forum usually has very good DIY write ups or discussions on just about everything except, apparently, shock replacement. So a few questions:

1) Shocks or struts? As near as I can tell, both front and rear are shocks on this car, but they look more like struts and the two terms seem completely interchangeable both on this forum and on the web, even parts suppliers mix or use both terms. In general, I have no problem doing shocks, I've done many. Struts, on the other hand, I shy away from since they are typically more of a PITA to do w/o a lift.

2) Here is what I ordered (KYB shocks front and rear). I just want a good, stock, OEM replacement for commuting to get me to 300k mi. Any reason not to use these? Has anyone had any experience with them?
http://www.partsgeek.com/ss/?i=1&ssq...610364&x=0&y=0
http://www.partsgeek.com/ss/?i=1&ssq...0040&x=20&y=12

3) Several folks on here say that dealers and independents charge hefty sums to do this job, which would indicate it's a difficult one. Others here say it's easy. Some say the front control arm needs to be disconnected, others say not. Clearly attention needs to be paid to the ABS sensor wire. So can anyone point me to a good DIY or any detailed write up for stock shock replacement, e.g. not coil overs, coil overs with lowering, etc...? I feel like there's got to be one on here, but I've searched the entire and G2 forum for ~ an hour and I've come up with nothing. Maybe it's because not many people ever need to do it, or when they do they're looking for a performance suspension upgrade.

Any input would be welcome!

CAKETOWN

iTrader: (7)

I had the kyb's with the tanabe springs on my car and it rode pretty good, except for the tanabe springs rusted out so bad they actually fell apart, i replaced them with coilovers which was fairly easy besides for my rear lca bolts were seized up really bad.

WaltL

Okay, these are struts, not shocks as some parts suppliers call them. This is my first strut job and it wasn't that bad once I figured out
what I needed to take apart (second strut went MUCH faster). I also bought new strut mounts, since my car has 218 k mi and
if they're not bad already they will be soon... you don't want to repeat all this for ~ $100 in parts. An impact wrench is very helpful
especially when using the spring compressor, which would be a real pain w/o one. A ball joint separator is also recommended.
This is just a write up description, sorry, no pics except for the front end diagram.

1) Remove tire and then brake caliper- I recently replaced my front rotors. Since there was no brake drag/rotor spins freely, I just removed
the two caliper mounting bolts and took the whole caliper off w/o removing the upper slide bolts and this worked fine for me. The rotor also came off easily,
but this is not required for strut removal. Hang caliper out of the way with a bungy.

2) Remove the 10 mm bolt that mounts the ABS sensor wire to the stut and move wire out of the way

3) If the lower mounting bolt is oriented the way mine was from the factory, you will need to remove the two 12 mm bolts
that attach the vertical stabilizer link to the front sway bar and swing it out of the way. This is required to remove the lower strut mount
bolt. You will also need to put another jack (I used a bottle jack) to push the sway bar end up and out of the way (~ 1 in. up) to allow the
mount bolt head to clear as you pull it through.

4) Disconnect the lower tie rod end ball joint. This allows the wheel/hub assembly to pivot out of the way in order for the strut to clear when removing/installing.

5) Remove the plastic top strut mount cover and then the 3 strut mounting nuts. Do not remove the center strut retaining nut yet

6) Orient the strut on the bench as it would be viewed when installed and with a magic marker mark a center line on the spring coils and
on the upper strut mount bushing using the center of the lower strut mount as a center line index (this will help to orient the new
strut and mount bushing when reassembling- I saw this on a YouTube video it makes sense).
Use a spring compressor (you can get them on loan from most parts stores) to compress strut spring and remove center nut. Remove old strut.

7) Orient the new strut bushing with the old one (look at hole for proper indexing) and make a mark it in the same place as on the old one.
Place the new strut bushing on the rubber bellows (the rubber is also sort of indexed) and make sure bushing mark is aligned with the spring.
Insert the new strut and tighten nut (about 2 full threads are exposed above the nut). Remove the spring compressor.

8) Insert strut and install the upper nuts. Install lower mount bolt and reassemble everything in reverse order and you're done!