ArmyofOne

Ok guys. There has been lots of threads on suspension in this forum lately. My 2002 ES300 has 170k on it and needs some repairs. So I decided to do a DIY instruction for you. The oil pan gasket, and trans pain gasket were both seeping, so while in here I did those, along with fluid and filter changes. YOU ARE DISASSEMBLING THE ENTIRE SUSPENSION SYSTEM OF THIS CAR. Just know that from the start.

I am going to start from the beginning of the suspension process because there are many threads on trans services, and because if you can't change your own oil, what the hell are you doing looking at this thread?

****SAFETY NOTES****

1. I am an ASE Certified Master Technician. I have 15 years’ experience in the field of Diesel, Heavy Equipment and Automotive Maintenance and Repair. You might see things in my pictures that seem to contradict safety concerns (bare feet, ring on my finger, no gloves, etc). I have been doing this for a long time, and I know my limits, and when its ok to do what I want. If I was working in a shop on a customer’s car, you would never see me in bare feet, I would wear eye protection, hearing protection, and nitrile gloves. I am not doing any of those things on this How-To, but if you feel the need to, go right ahead.

2. ALWAYS USE JACKSTANDS. I can’t stress this enough. If you don’t have at least 1 stand, don’t attempt this repair. You will be hammering on the car, HARD, with very large hammers. You will be climbing in the car and disassembling part of the interior. DO NOT SUPPORT THE CAR WITH ONLY THE JACK. If you are planning to use the jack that came with the car, stop what you are doing and take your car to a professional, because you have no business doing what I am going to show you, and you will only get yourself hurt.

3. Ventilation is important. Always work in a well ventilated area. My 3 car garage has a stand-alone HVAC installed. If yours doesn’t and you aren’t working outdoors, lift your garage door 6” or so. It could save your life.

4. I did not use a torque wrench. I have been wrenching long enough to know when its tight enough. This is not precision work, so a torque wrench is not required. I recommend you use one though, if you are a novice. Were this someone else’s car, I would absolutely use a torque wrench. However for my daily driver, I will be operating on the premise that German-Spec is good enough: “Gutenteit” (say it fast LOL).

**ITEMS YOU WILL NEED**

• BFH (Big F’ing Hammer)
• Sockets/Wrenches up to 25mm.
• Hydraulic Jack
• 2 4x4x6 inch blocks of wood.
• JACK STANDS
• Metric Hex Key set
• Ball Joint Separator (AKA Pickle Fork)
• Shop Rags
• Penetrating oil (PB Blaster, Freeze off, etc. WD-40 IS NOT A PENETRATING OIL)
• Anti-Sieze
• Zip-ties/bungee cords (to suspend brake calipers)

Items suggested but not required:

• Butane or Oxy/Acetylene Torch
• Air Impact Wrench
• RGDBMFH (Really God**** Big Mother F***in’ Hammer)
• Ratcheting Wrenches (AKA GearWrench), these are awesome tools to have at your disposal.
• Needle-nosed Vise-Grip Pliers
• A buddy to help
• Cold Beer
• Good Music
• Bins or boxes for parts/nuts and bolts

I pulled the ES in my garage, put it up on jackstands on all 4 corners as high as I could get it (my lift isn't installed yet), and removed all 4 wheels. Have bins or boxes handy for lugnuts/bolts and try your best to keep things organized. It makes the work go faster and easier. Also, when possible, I always try to put bolts back where they belong, in the holes they came out of. That way I never lose them. Have brake parts cleaner, penetrating oil and plenty of rags. I also suggest getting a pickle-fork (also known as a Ball-Joint Separator) tool. Other than that, this job can be done with basic hand tools (wrenches//sockets up to 25mm both SAE and Metric), but a large compressor and strong air impact will make the job that much easier/faster. If you have a rusty car, or you live a salty area (Northeast/Midwest, or on the coasts), I HIGHLY recommend a butane torch. You can get one at Lowe's with a tank of fuel for around $30. Make sure you have plenty of space, a cramped workspace takes something like this from enjoyable to frustrating, really fast.

Also...allow plenty of time for this repair, especially if you aren't very experienced. Anybody can do this if they can do their own brakes, but if you are rushed, you are going to make mistakes or break something. Take it slow, be methodical, and pay close attention to how it came apart so you can put it back together.

On this rebuild, I will be showing you how to replace:

-Front Struts
-Front sway bar links (SBL's)
-Front sway bar bushings (SBB's)
-Front lower control arms (LCA's)
-Front lower ball joints (LBJ's)
-Removal and installation of side engine and transmission mounts
-Front toe adjustment
-Rear struts
-Rear SBL's
-Rear SBB's
-Rear control arms (CA's)
-Rear lateral arms (LA's)
-Rear trailing arms (TA's)
-Rear toe adjustment

Now, I don't have an alignment machine. My toe adjustment methods are simply meant to get the car as close to where it was as possible before I started the tear-down, so that I can safely drive it to a local shop to get a 4-wheel alignment. ***YOU WILL NEED A FOUR-WHEEL ALIGNMENT AFTER THIS PROCEDURE.***

Here we go…F/R corner

Start by removing the front wheels. I highly recommend doing only one corner at a time so you will always have the other side as a reference to look at if you forget where something goes.


Remove the strut tower brace from the strut tower by removing two of the 3 nuts that hold the strut in place. Leave the third one on for now to hold up the strut. You leave the other 2 off, your replacement struts should come with new nuts.



Remove the brakes. Undo these 2 bolts, there is 1 at the top and 1 at the bottom of the caliper. Don't worry, you do not have to disconnect brake lines so you will not have to bleed the brakes. If your brake pads and/or rotors need changed, now's the time.


Undo this bolt to free the brake line from the strut.


Be sure to put it back in place! It is small (12mm) so you might lose it if you don't.


Suspend caliper from front subframe using ziptie or bungee cord. I prefer zipties so I know there is no possible way it can come loose.


Remove the 2 bolts from the belt skirt while you are there. Put them back into the threaded holes after you remove the cover.


Remove the 2 17mm bolts holding the caliper mount n place.


After putting both the caliper bolts and the caliper mount bolts back in place, this is what you should have. I left the brake pads in the mount because my pads are still about 70%.

ArmyofOne

Now you should be able to remove the rotor. If you cant hit it with a RUBBER MALLET (not a hammer!!!!) right here. Hit it once, then rotate it. It it again, and rotate it, repeat until it pops loose.



If the rotor doesn't pop loose, spray penetrating oil here. Careful not to get it on the rotor surface. If you do, use brake parts cleaner to clean it off. Remove the rotor and set to the side out of the way.



Undo these 4 bolts holding the dust guard in place with a wrench. Don't try to use a socket, because you cant fit the ratchet in between the bolt head and the back of the hub.



If you have any lug studs (one of mine was bad), replace it now. Its $3 at any auto parts store. Don't be a cheap-a$$.



Undo the bolt holding the wheel speed sensor in place. Thread the bolt back into the hole after you remove the sensor.



Undo this clip (its plastic, just pull it).



Ziptie the Sensor up out of the way, I used this little loop. You will be removing the wheel hub completely so you need to secure the sensor somewhere to avoid damage.



Undo this cotter pin and castle nut. Leave the nut on a few threads, because if you dont, when this pops loose, it will fly apart.


Close up of the cotter pin and castle nut. I encountered a set back and mine wouldn't come loose, so I had to do it a different way. I will show you that in a second.


Cotter pin is out.


Spray the hell out of the castle nut with P.O. If it wont back off (you have to use a wrench), you will have to do what I did and remove the hub. But if it comes off, go to the next step.


With the nut backed off of the ball joint but still on the threads a few turns. Smack it here with your BFH. It wont pop loose right away but this well help loosen the connection. Spray more P.O. if you want, then take your pickle fork, and hammer it in. It should separate the ball joint from the hub, leaving it bolted to the LCA.

If it does not separate,Undo the bottom LCA bolts and come back to it. Proceed to the next step.


Undo the strut nuts/bolts holding the strut to the hub assembly. leave the bolts in place for now, but set the nuts off to the side.


Spray the crap out of this nut with P.O. This is your axle retainer nut, and it is tight. Like 400 ft-lbs tight. Using an air impact (or a breaker bar and a cheater pipe) back it off. Flip the nut upside down and re-thread it backwards until the surface of the nut is flush with the end of the axle. You will see why in a bit.

Undo the castle nut on the tie rod. It has a cotter pin too.


Use your pickle fork to separate it...


Like so.

Now...only do this if you could not get your ball joint separated from your hub. Undo the bottom ball joint bolts that hold it to the LCA. Leave the nuts on the ball joint for now, but keep 'em loose. Heat up the axle splines that are in the hub by heating the end where the axle nut is. Remove the heat and beat the F-out of it with the RGDBMFH, before it cools. This will allow the axle to separate from the hub bearing splines.



My castle nut wouldn't budge. I ended up rounding it off, so I removed the hub, but the hub in a vise, impacted the castle nut off, and used the pickle fork to seperate the ball joint from the hub.



See all the rust in the splines? Thats what made it so difficult to remove the axle from the hub. It also happens inside the ball joint and keeps it from coming apart. Once you have the hub away from the LCA and separated from the axle, set it off to the side with your other parts.

ArmyofOne

Undo the engine mount nuts. Jack up the engine (on whichever side you are doing) using a hydraulic jack and the 4x4 block(s) by putting the jack under the oil pan (or trans pan for the left side) putting the block on top of the jack and raising the engine until the mount is clear. Then undo the nuts on the bottom of the mount and remove it.


With the hub assembly and engine mount out of the way, you can remove the bots holding the LCA onto the subframe here.


And here.


pay attention to this piece. Reinstall it on the new control arm just like it came off the old one.






These were my LCA bushings at 170k miles.




These were my ball joints



and tie rod ends. When removing tie rod ends, be sure to only back the nut off a half a turn or so, This will enable you to get your alignment close enough when you reassemble to drive it immediately to a shop with an alignment machine.



Remove your strut


As you can see, mine were pretty well shot.


Reassembly with new parts is the reverse of disassembly. This is your finished product (this is the drivers side of my car I had already finished.)

When I get the rest of the parts in for the car, I will do the write up on the rear suspension and add it to this. Hopefully by the end of the week.

ArmyofOne

The company i used sent the wrong struts for the rear. Waiting for correct ones to arrive.

ArmyofOne

Ok ya'll, I got the correct replacement struts from RockAuto.com. I got Gabriel's. They fit, and line up perfectly. Car is at the shop now getting an alignment and new R/F wheel bearing. Apparently it was worn out too and I can't change it because I don't have a bearing press, so my local guy is gonna do it for me, along with the alignment.

msekanha

Hey nice write up; very informative.

I didn't see the write up on how you replaced the front sway bar bushings.

Did you have to lower the subframe to access the bolts? They're very close to the body and look impossible to get a wrench in there...

Kingdom934

With regards to the struts, the 4ES may come in two different style struts. The strut itself and the springs are not cross compatible IIRC (i.e. using the strut from a 2002-2003 style with a spring 2004-2006). I'll read into it a bit and post up if I can find solid information.

This does not apply to the models with the AVS supension. AVS is a whole another animal from what I have looked at.

The Camry setup is the earlier 2002-2003 models have the older style springs. The 2004-2006 has the newer style. Might be the same as the 4ES. One way to tell which type you have is to look how the strut spring base looks like. I'll try post a few pictures here on how to compare.

I know on the Camry 2002-2006, it's the same issue. It is possible to get an wrench, but you'll be taking a while to loosen the bolt due to the amount of space you have to turn it from what I've heard.

msekanha

I'll be replacing my end links & bushings this weekend. I feel as though lowering the subframe will be the easiest method. I'll post up how I make out this week.

msekanha

Just finished with replacing the front sway bar bushings and the subframe definitely has to be lowered to access the bolts.

A 13mm gear wrench, penetrating oil and map gas torch are key here.

8mm 1.25 size bolts if you happen to snap them.

ShiftDad72

Just finished doing the Monroe Quick Struts on my 1999 Lexus ES300 (335k) two weeks ago, along with 4 rotors/brake kit and end links all around. It sure is nice! I can safely say, that I have no Traction Control lights on going to a standard strut over the oem electronic control struts and the ride is only very similar to a new truck haha.

Monroe 671678, 671679, 671680, 671681

IdKid

Anyone know what size bushings to buy for the Stabilizer arms- front and rear? seems there are three choices- for a 17,18, or 19mm bar.

Aldays300

How do i tell if i have the electronic struts? I feel like at times the car is lower when i get it apposed to other times... I also feel like the *** end is lower when i come to a quick stop and then levels back out when i start going again. Hell i could just be bat **** crazy... I just installed a 14 piece steering and suspension kit from TRQ oh before i forget i have a 1999 ES300 clearcoat gone beige. With as of 9/25/2021 132,518 miles on it. Thanks for any answers