Hey guys, I have a 2008 es350 with 120k miles. I live on rural country roads, which is safe to say that they are not all smooth as silk. Anyway when I go over any bumps that are on one side of the road the steering wheel will relay every little detail about that road imperfection to me. Including pulling to that side or just shaking back and forth. It literally feels like im driving an old truck and not a lexus. Any ideas on what needs replacing? Like the front struts or front cross sway bar? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Maybe more needed to replace, but for me when i replace the front Sway bar links it helps a lot with diminishing steering wheel vibration.
These are cheap and quite easy to replace.

 

If you have the original struts at 120,000 miles, then replacing them will probably make a great improvement in the ride and steering. Struts can fail by leaking fluid, or seizing up, or having the seals get weak allowing them to not work as well.

 

im having same issue. 230k I need struts too I think or how did you fix ?

 

Get new struts. Plus probably the front strut mount bearings and maybe the front strut mounts as they do wear after that many miles.
You also need your ball joints, tie rod ends and wheel bearings inspected as all are subject to wear and causing those conditions.
Don't just start replacing parts or telling the shop what to replace. Just tell them your issues and let them do their diagnosis. If you don't like it, get another opinion.

Find a good independent repair shop, not a dealer who will rob you. This vehicle is basically mechanically a Camry for all these parts and any good import shop has worked on thousands of them and will know how to inspect and repair it.

To find a good shop start with those in this searchable link of shops recommended by listeners of the old car repair radio show Car Talk, You can enter your city and state. Then cross check your selections with Yelp and Google to update the information. https://www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files