Joker98

The suspension on my 157k mi '98 ES 300 is probably getting close to retirement age, it's sounding creaky, and if I'm going to think about replacing any parts in the next year or two, it's time to get educated on what the choices are.

I'd really like to stiffen the suspension up over stock a bit, to cut down on body roll. Would like to avoid lowering, if that's possible - the appearance doesn't matter to me, and I know that when you lower much, you'll either get increased tire wear or have to change out some more parts to correct camber angle. A little lower (an inch or less?) might be all right if it's absolutely necessary to improve performance.

When I drove an '89 Nissan 240sx, I had KYB AGX shocks and Tein S-Tech springs (2" lower), with the AGXs on one of their harder settings. Handling was wicked, but so were potholes. What I'm aiming for now is somewhere between stock and that tooth-rattling level.

Are there any parts combinations out there for the '98 ES 300 that sound like they match with my preferences?

LeX2K

Actually the KYBs are stiffer than stock but not bone jarring, you should consider them. Tokico is probably your best choice if you want great handling without a punishing ride.

wayslclex

I recently inherited a 1998 ES 300 with 56K on it. The suspension on the front right had an intermittent clunking sound. I spent quite a bit of time researching what the sound might be coming from and I could not get any clear consensus. I also had a really bad creak/ squeak in the rear suspension when the the temp was blow 50 degrees. Bottom line, since I was going to have to take everything apart to look into the problem I just had the struts and mounts replaced all of the way around. The old parts looked good and there were no problems with the front strut mounts, however, most of the gas was gone from the struts. The clunking problem in the front seemed to be related to worn sway bar links, we also, replaced them. Bottom line replacing the strut, mount and sway bar links did solve the clunking problem in the front, However, I believe, in hind sight, that the problem was the front sway bar links.

Once this work was done I still had the creaky sound in the rear suspension. With some careful diagnostic work, after the fact, we determined that the sound was coming from the trailing arm bushing that is on the rear knuckle or spindle. Finding a place to purchase just this bushing was difficult. But apparently it is the same as or very similar to the bushing on car bodyr end of the trailing arm. The part number is ADUS577. I built a puller from all thread, a 2" OD piece of pcv pipe, and misc washers and nuts. The old bushing actually pulled out much easier than expected and installing the new bushings was also easier than expected.

Coulter

Did this solve your rear creaking issue? I have the same symptoms on my 99 ES, and I replaced both the rear sway bar bushings and links and it continues to have a really loud creaking/squeaking, like and old mattress.

I took it to a shop I trust and they said it was the rear strut mounts and possibly also the struts themselves. Paying a shop to do this job is not cheap, and even the guy at the shop said it probably is nothing you should be in a hurry to get fixed. The car rides smooth and handles great, it only makes the noise when it's colder than 60 degrees, otherwise it's silent.

Let me know if your rear creak has been figured out.

CircuitMS

iTrader: (51)

A good set of coilovers or a spring/strut combo would work, We can get you taken care of

PM sent.

wayslclex

Mine sounded like an old rusty door hinge when it the outside temp was cold. The noise was coming from the rear suspension. We were able to pinpoint the source as coming from the trailing arm bushing on the rear spindle or wheel bearing housing. We did this by listening to the noise and feeling the parts while it was on ramps, and having someone vigorously bounce the car. On my car replacing the rubber bushing totally eliminated the noise. The only caution I have is that most folks were trying to tell me that you could not buy just that bushing, that you had to replace the whole bearing housing. The bearing housing is $200.00 ea. The bushing number that I mentioned above is $37.00 ea over the internet.

wayslclex

Just another quick comment: A lot of people were telling me things like the noise is coming from the struts or the noise is coming from the mounts. Well they had not heard the noise. I could not figure out how the mounts or struts could make a noise like that. I did not have a better answer at the time and since the car was 12 years old and had 56K on it I went ahead and replaced the struts and mounts. If you are going to go that rout you might as well replace everything when you have it apart. Replacing those pars had absolutely no effect on the squeak noise.

Coulter

Interesting.
The problem is, I can't replicate the noise with the car standing still. When I press the back up and down, it's just not making the noise.

It's really frustrating and I've resigned just to live with it. I would have been furious had I gone to the trouble of replacing all new struts and mounts and the noise still been there.

wayslclex

For a long time I was unable to get my car to make the noise by bouncing the suspension. When we got it to make the noise it was about 45 degrees and we had the back end of the car on ramps with two people pushing up and down on the rear bumper. We had it moving pretty good.