Hey guys,

I have an 2001 Lexus ES 300 with a little over 80 k miles on it. I'm getting new tires put on in a week or two and was wondering if I should replace the springs on my suspension? The car definetely doesn't ride as smooth/well as it used to before and when going over bumps I can hear some screeching noises.

I've got a few questions:

1. How long do springs last typically?
2. What are a good set to buy?
3. Should I replace the suspension so it doesn't shorten the life of my new tires?

I got pretty good ones, Nokian WRG2, so I don't want to demolish them.

Thanks...

 

h&r makes a good spring. get a 1" lowering spring, it won't make it very noticeable that your car is dropped & will make your car handle allot better. this is a good economic choice as well,because you could always go coilovers,but your talking allot of money just in the part,1700-2g's if not more

 

Your squeakign noise is probably the sway bar bushings or the struts....nothing to do with the springs.

1. Spring last quite a long time. I have more than 200k miles on my original springs.
2. Good springs to buy for comfort? Stick with OEM.
3. If you suspension is worn out (struts, sway bar endlinks, bushings, strut mount, etc), then replace them. If not, why waste money. The only thing that will reduce wear on your tires is to get a wheel alignment done.

 

Yea I posted in another forum and it doesn't look like the springs are the ones that are worn out, apperently they last a long time.

If you suspension is worn out (struts, sway bar endlinks, bushings, strut mount, etc), then replace them

What you said is probably the culprit. Do you think those things would see that kind of wear in 80 k miles?

 

most likely, you're just hearing some noises from the stabilizer bar bushings. it's almost 100% change that your springs are just fine. your struts should be checked for condition as well as the stabilizer bar bushings and links and more. sometimes, it's just noise -- its not a bad part -- but if you want to replace stuff to get rid of noise [aesthetic rather than functional] than good places to look at bushings in general, front and rear, and the strut mounts.
have a couple different mechanics 1 test drive your car and 2 examine it , to determine what if anything needs to be replaced and what may be causing the most noise.

now to be just specific to your original post's three q's; my three a's:

springs are supposed to last the life of the car [under normal usage]
best set of springs depends on your purpose [normal, heavy duty, sportier?]
suspension noise doesnt meant something's terribly out of spec, so likely the tires will be fine. I hear plently of little noises at 155K, but i have original front control arms, bushings, links.......... and my tires are perfect and my stability is fine and my alignment is fine and I believe i've fully put my tires to the test CXX Speeds

 

Yep, definitely check your sway bar bushings both front and rear and your strut mounts. They are probably worn.

 

Would those affect tire wear? I don't want my suspension to eat my new Nokian's

 

Does your car pull to one side on the road? Does it handle sloppy? Does it sway all over the place like you have no control?

If you answered no to the above, your car/suspension is fine.

You problem is more than likely those sway bar bushings. Lexus engineers did not think that using polyurethane would be more efficient vs. the hard plastic like ones they implemented instead. And with time they crack/etc. I had to change them and lube them up a couple of times already. Each time coincidentally before winter. My mechanic finally fabbed up a custom set from another car that fit ideally [polyurethane] and it has been great since. No more yearly annoyances.

And one more thing i have read that the strut tower mounts are a biatch with time as well, since they just crack, dry up with time so yeah. I simply ignored it for a 6 months now.