I finally got a chance to get my 2008 ES350 to Firestone for an alignment, after driving it for 6 months with it pulling to the left, and having a vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds. They said it was pretty far out of spec, but were able to get it mostly back in spec except for the camber. They said I would need new camber bolts if I want that fixed which would run around $400 for all 4 wheels. They also mentioned that the front struts were leaking and quoted like $750 to replace them.

So, the alignment helped a little but I still have a lesser vibration and a lesser pull to the left than I did before. I'm going to try switching sides on the two front wheels to see if that changes anything. But I'm kind of concerned about the leaking struts. I don't really want to spend that much if I can do it myself easily without too much hassle. I have all the tools and everything and I do work like that on my cars sometimes, I've changed out CV axles, alternators, radiators and stuff on other cars, so I'm sure I could get it done, just wondering if it's worth the effort to do it myself, or if there are any special procedures or tools required for this car. And any other insights anyone might have on my vibration/left pull problems would be welcome. Have a great day everyone!

mileage is now at 121,300 ish

 

Easy job. 3 bolts on top and removal of 3 bolts at the bottom. One of them being the sway bar link. Do it yourself and use KYB struts

bad struts can cause pulling to the left/right. Also make sure your car has the correct tire pressure for all wheels

 

Strut replacement requires a spring compressor which can be rented or loaned by some auto parts stores. Compressed springs are very dangerous as there is a lot of pent up energy that can cause serious injury or death if one is not carefull. There are many youtube videos. I highly recommend using an electric impact wrench to turn the spring compressor bolts as doing it by hand will take forever and wear you out. You will kill the battery using an electric wrench, so have a spare battery. If you have never done this, get help from an experienced friend, or follow the options below.

You can also remove the struts yourself, then take the old struts and new struts to a local independent shop and ask them to compress the springs and swap everything over. They will have a commercial grade spring compressor and air tools that can make fast work of this, also since they do this all the time, it will be done quickly and correctlly. When changing struts you have to pay close attention to the alignment of the strut mount to the bolt holes so it goes back into the same position so your alignment is correct afterwards. They will probably charge less than an hour labor to do this swap. I did this once when my spring compressor would not fit on some struts I was changing.

Or you can buy quick struts with the springs etc all together and then it is a simple unbolt and bolt back in. But make sure you get the strut mount in the correct position.

Also the sway bar links will likely have to be cut off and then replaced as they are usually rusted on and you cannot un bolt them due to rust the bolt stripping out. You also need a torque wrench.

Where are you in MD? If in Montgomery County I recommend Beahm's auto service or Satellite Motors in Silver Spring.

Good Luck.

 

I'm actually in Texas, so not as worried about rusted bolts as others might be. I've got spring compressors and a Milwaukee 1/2 drive impact, so looks like I should be able to get this one done, with plenty of caution as always.

That being said, maybe getting the part that has the spring included might be the better way to go. I'm looking to restore this to original ride quality and getting it to where the front end doesn't scrape on bumps.

 

The KYB or Monroe quick strut does replace the strut mount and bearing, spring and strut. You need to allow a few hundred miles for break in and for the ride to soften a bit.