changing front shock absorber on GX470
 

It's my first time working on my 2005 GX470 to change the front shock absorber. Have some questions on how to correctly and safely change it. Would appreciate your advice on the following:

1) To remove the strut assembly, do I need to remove the sway/stabilizer bar?
2) I have already removed the lower strut bolt, but got stuck on the top part. Should I remove the absorber control actuator and its bracket first (by removing the two nuts at label #3 in the attached photo)? It's not easy to get to these nut and seems like it's round. What tool to use for removing #3? There are two #3s, how to remove the on in the back?
3) how to disconnect #4? Or I can leave it connected?
4) should I loosen nut #2 to help remove the strut or the actuator? Is this the one that is holding the spring in position and loosen it without using the spring compressor is dangerous?
5) Also, it's hard to reach the third nut in the back (labeled as 1 with dashed arrow). So have to remove the bracket first?

Thanks for your help.

I'm attaching a PDF that shows step by step how to remove the OEM coilover. Good luck and remember to torque everything back to spec when finished.
*torque specs are in the PDF* ;)

Thanks so much for this RC. I'm doing this today too and barely have enough room to get my allen key into those stupid screws holding the shock control actuator. What a PITA!

Stuck at step of removing strut
 

Thanks so much for the advice and document. It helps a lot.

I used an allen wrench to remove the outside #3, but got the inside #3 stripped . Like you suggested, rotate the bracket by tightening #2 a little bit so made the inside #3 easier to access. Still no luck. However, I was able to use a screwdriver to slowly loosen the bolt on top of the bracket (but underneath the black absorber control actuator) and remove it completely off the stem of the shock absorber. With the bracket and actuator still attached at the stripped bolt but so easy to access, I extracted the bolt out and replaced it with a $0.70 replacement from Ace Hardware.

With some PB Blaster treatment, I have completed the following:

1) removed stabilizer bar
2) removed bracket/actuator
3) removed lower bolt
4) removed upper bolts 3 of #1

However, got stuck at the step to remove the strut assembly from the knuckle. Seems like the struct assembly has a lot of force to extend, right I unscrew the lower bolt from onside of the knuckle, the absorber extended itself and the lower bolt is slanted. I managed to get the lower bolt out completely, but see the hold of the absorber bushing and the hole of the knuckle is not aligned anymore (absorber being lower in position). Then I used a hammer to try to knock the absorber out off the knuckle base, and it got stuck at a position as shown in the picture. I tried to jack up the bottom of the lower control arm to compress the spring a bit and managed to put a spring compressor on only one side to try to hold the spring as compressed and hoping that it won't fully extend the absorber once the jack is released. This does not work. The lower part of the absorber is stuck there. Seems like the rubber boot will be be in its way even if it can move out further.

From a few videos on U-tube and posts in the forum, seems like removing the strut should not be this difficult once the bottom bolt and top 3 bolts are removed. Did I do something wrong?

This makes me wonder even after I take it off and put the new OEM part on, how to put the assembly back into the right position in order to put the lower bolt in? The angle of the picture makes it less obvious of the mis-alignment but there is about 1/4 - 3/8 inch of difference between the two holes/circles and obviously the lower bolt can not make it through. Any trick to have these holes align so the lower bolt can be put back?

As always, thank you so much for the help.

I removed both of the 19mm bolts on the lower ball joint (the ones that fasten the spindle to the lower control arm (LCA)). With a bit of prying with a crow bar, I was able to get enough movement out of the LCA to get the strut out but in the reassembly phase, I'm having no luck getting my new and taller coil-overs back into place. Perhaps when my brother in law gets here, he'll be able to push that LCA down enough for me.

Why is there so much resistance in that LCA?

Not sure if this would help, but I've heard you can use the factory "scissor" jack or a small bottle jack and wedge it in there between the control arm and frame in order to get more room for the strut assembly to fit.

I just used a 24" pry bar and did what Brian suggested below in the link and used my leg to press down on the pry bar.
http://www.toyota120.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3270

I was able to get the Icon coilover in there but the bottom mount was a little tricky. Icon uses 2 spacers (metal bushings) in the bottom mount to offset the coilover so it doesn't rub on the swaybay. Since they weren't press fit in getting everything to line up at once was a little tricky, especially when doing this alone. :)

I am hoping someone can help me with some advice on removing the shock assembly step.
I followed the instructions word for word, I removed the top 3 14mm nuts on the shock, and the lower 19mm bolt for the lower shock mount, and the shock is hanging there free but it will not seperate from the top part of the mount. its like the metal top hat is stuck to the mount, I cannot get it to separate I tried a pry bar and even a crowbar. soaked it in PB blaster and taking a break to figure it out. did your guys just fall out easily at this point??

as I move the shock around there is a rubber part on top that is flexing under nut #2 in the picture above that holds the coil compressed together. It seems like the strut should have come loose by now, the 3 studs on top do not seem to move at all just the rubber part under nut #2. the rubber part almost seems wedged in there I tried to loosen nut #2 on top of it to relax it thinking it would help release easier but I stopped after a few turns because it doesn't seem right the manual does not mention this at all. anyone have any ideas or have a similar problem? I will have to leave it for tomorrow.

"I removed the top 3 14mm nuts on the shock, and the lower 19mm bolt for the lower shock mount,"

If you follow the shaft up, you should have a nut holding the strut in place, it would be above the hat, it will be directly on the strut.

I am trying to take out the shock and springs as a unit. My understanding is if I undo that top nut that you are referring to the strut will fall down, the spring will come loose, but the top hat will still be stuck where it is.

Hope this video help!

Yeah I went back out there today after letting it soak all night, it still did not want to come off =(
I got a crow bar wedged at an angle between the top plate and the mount, and got the biggest hammer I had and went to town on it ( i tried same last night but with alot less force).
well on the 5th large hit the shock just fell down, so it was just dirt and grime holding it in place which is seriously the strongest I have ever encountered.

so thanks for the suggestion guys, it turned out to be a simple problem that needed a bigger hammer, or as I call it "suspension adjustment tool"
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...2/IMG_3624.JPG

Guys the 4mm hex bolt was a major pita. The upward facing and in a dirty location, 4mm is tiny. After 3 of mine came out with a pop sound the 4th one is a inside one. I was desperate and knew I was going to strip it and kept pulling, And I did. The front ones I used a vise grip and hex at the same time. I suppose should rotate the bracket and do that with the back bolts in retrospect.

After almost an an hour of getting a tiny vise grip in the back with the bracket rotated a bit. I got it out.
I think the trick is a lot of penetrating oil a bit before hand, liberally so it can get down the actuator to the threads. The op got the nut off with a screw driver which is good but that but on mine is pretty tight.

it did not come out until I sprayed and waited and tighten the vise grip so it was very very hard to squeeze together. Even so you got like 1/4" to turn the tiny vise grip.

The Allen bolts were the hardest part of the job for me, just a stupid fastener for Lexus to use in that location.

FWIW, I used the Monroe Quik-Struts on it where the spring and strut are a complete assembly and the ride honestly feels better than what was on there. Very cush ride, maybe even better than the LS430 I have.

Thread highjack-
Just replaced my front struts with the 4600 series bilstein. Is there a way to fool the vsc sensor in the top of the stock shock? The vsc lights are on as well as the brake and abs warning lights. Had searched threads and it seemed folks were doing this and not throwing warning lights on. Did I miss something?!? All help greatly appreciated!

Thread highjack-
Just replaced my front struts with the 4600 series bilstein. Is there a way to fool the vsc sensor in the top of the stock shock as the bilstein doesn't accommodate them? The vsc lights are on as well as the brake and abs warning lights. Had searched threads and it seemed folks were doing this and not throwing warning lights on. Did I miss something?!? All help greatly appreciated!

if you left the sensor on there the vehicle won't know. But even if unplugged there was supposed to be no lights.

vsc sounded like maybe you knocked out an ABS Sensor or something ?

VSC is stability control. Not shocks.

It's been my understanding that the part screwed into the top of the shock is part of the vsc system though. I'll get this thing back in the air and look at the abs wiring.

The part on top of the shock controls the Dampening. I don't remember what they call it as I removed it and the light associated with it when I put Bilstein's on and removed the fuse and relay for that entire setup.

It's possible that VSC uses the adjustable dampeners in the shocks to help control yaw (stiffen up one side to prevent lean and improve the tire contact patch), but that's pure speculation on my part.

Chip H.

That's strange because everything I have read you can replace the shock with non active and it should not cause lights.
I have chosen to replace with Lexus part because I have baby who easily wakes up by bumps and so I often use the active suspension.

the front oem shock just costed a little more than other Toyota models and was cheaper than the arnott rebrand bilsteins.

i managed to do the swap by myself with a 18" prybar, my bigger bar won't fit into the hole of the control arm. But it was enough leverage for oem swap as long as I put a lot of my weight on it.
Besides the initial stripped Allen bolts it took time to figure out how to put the shock out of there thru the brake lines. . Scruffed up the axle boot a little but that will be replaced next.

Here is back in with new one. Just need to replace the sway bar endlinks and bushing while it is out.

That's a nice spring compressor - is it a rental or did you buy it?
I'd much rather use one like that than the "clamps of death" that slip off.

Chip H.

I have bought that one for the job because I read about how stiff the springs are.
The small clamp is perfect fit for these cars, it did not slip and only needed a few pumps. My only complain is the release is just a full release, but I only compressed it 1/8" off the perch so it didn't have much to release.

It is about $140 from Amazon or eBay. Search for 5500 lbs spring compressor. It's a relatively new import tool.

i drove out with the family yesterday it felt a whole lot better with 4 OEM shocks. Less floaty and more composed. The rear made the biggest difference in getting that crashy feeling then hitting the rear bump stops. The front felt ok before but the rear ride was really bad, you had to be in the back to experience it. The truck not doesn't squad backward much when taking off from a stop now.

@bradtank.

Do you have a GX470? If so, what year? I was looking on Monroe's website and could not find a all in one for my 2003 GX 470.

You have to get one for a Toyota 4 Runner. I believe they are all the same for the 4Runner from 2003 to 2016.

The reason the aftermarket doesn't have one is that the Lexus version has electronic controls. You'll lose that, but no error messages or issues. I've had them on for a few years now, they work great. OEM ones from Lexus with that control option are stupid expensive.

Really happy with the ride quality, I had no idea how bad the ride had gotten until I replaced them. I didn't want Bilsteins or anything heavy duty, just wanted a daily driver, luxury car ride.

ahhhhh that is true about the electronic control, I forgot about those.

I have been noticing mine getting really shaky feeling in the front and I don't believe my shocks have ever been changed. I just bought the vehicle this year used. I think getting new shocks will make a huge difference like you said. Did you do the rear also?

I put the Monroe Quick Struts on front, Toyota OEM 4 Runner shocks on the rear and kept the stock air bags on (I didn't convert to steel coils for the rear) It has a smooth, luxury car ride. Total price was like $300 for everything. If you went with the Lexus parts it would be a few thousand.

Before, it has a bouncy feeling to it, like it was never settled on the road. It was a bit firm at first, but settled down to where it's pretty perfect. I have an LS430 sedan also and it rides about the same.

If it has over 100k miles and over 10 years, it's probably due. Some people though don't really notice. My wife couldn't really tell but I could.

VSC lights
 

I just had my front coil and strut replaced with an all in one strut and shock from Monroe. I believe it was the same one BradTank was talking about. I am now getting the ABS and VSC warning lights on my dash as well. Cueball, did you ever get the problem fixed?

Could easily be a wheel speed sensor (ABS sensor). Hopefully the cable itself isn't damaged but wouldn't be too hard to imagine. If you pull the code off of techstream it'll tell you what's up. I accidentally cut my front left wheel speed sensor when switching out the shocks. Had to repair it (quicker and less $ than ordering the part online) which was not bad. No issues almost 10k miles later.

I had a guy do the installation for me. Should he have left the sensor that was on top of the old shocks attached to the wire? We disconnected that from the wire and left it on top of the old shocks after they were taken out.

The wire attached to the struts is for the adjustable ride .. you leave it disconnected if replacing with non-adjustable struts. That won't cause lights to come on the dash. It will cause a code in techstream saying they're disconnected but not a big deal. With the front struts you have to wire tie the wires that attached to the struts somewhere out of the way for safe keeping. With the rears it's a non-issue (rears have a wire that goes into a frame mounted plug so nothing to wire tie).

Long story short you have an issue other than adjustable ride wire. My guess is wheel speed sensor was disturbed or damaged. This can happen when the caliper is not hung up properly and stress was put on the sensor/wire.

Botton Stuck
 

Bottom

After I got all the bolts out it still wont come off. It is compressing down and the bottom mount wont come out..even with a hammer. Do I need to compress the coil spring with a tool?

If you use a pry bar put in one of the round holes in the control arm, then you should be able to put some weight on it, ( most of your weight.. ) to free the shock.
You may need to lightly pry the bottom of the front shock so it would pop out. Some people have the top mount stuck on the top too. It is not clear what your problem is, can you tell which part is already free? You should be able to see a gap off the top mount when you pry the control arm down.

Man, I'm having the same issue removing the top hat. Where did you wedge the crowbar??

I'm tearing down my shock absorbers for replacement. What's the thread count & size of the suspension control mounting bracket 4MM hex bolts? I'm assuming I'll strip them all and will pick them up before I get started. I might even pick up something with a stronger head! Viva le ratchet wrench!

Great PDF, thank you! It sez it's repair manual at the end, but no publisher/author. Do you remember?

Can anyone identify the part # for the actuator bracket? I need to replace them on both sides but can't even find the bracket in a diagram online. I'm stumped.

What bracket do you need? I just converted to Dobs and don't need the sensor for the front coilovers but kept them in case someone needed them.
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