Hi all just wanted to show you a quote to get your opinion.


I have been quoted by 3-4 shopd almost 4-5 hours labor to install RSR down Springs on a 2017 Lexus 350 AWD before alignment.

I did have one company quote me 3 hours plus alignment.


I am also getting rear camber arms.


Now, this is the last quote I have gotten:


"We would love to help you out with this, looking at the service manual for this car that rear arm requires removal of the entire subframe to install. Sometimes when we look up arms in the service manual it does say that but we can manage a way to get the job done without dropping the subframe but we have not done these arms on the 3rd gen IS chassis so we will need to quote you according to the service manual. Using the service manual labor times, all the suspension work and adding in the alignment the job is looking like $2,000 in labor as the worst-case-scenario. The exhaust was not included in the labor time but it will likely need to be dropped to get the subframe off so there wouldn't be any additional cost to swap the axle-back. If we can manage to get the arms in without dropping the crossmember it would take about $600 off"


Am I out to lunch or shoud the spring install only take around 2-3 hours even with a rear camber arm install. I know I have a AVS suspension but these quotes are starting to get crazy.





Thoughts???? I am in Vancouver Canada.

 

DIY.........

the rear is difficult but does not require removal of the subframe. though for a shop with proper tools and a lift, it's probably faster.

the front is cake and i can do each side 30 min ea.

the back i never want to touch again. torture.

 

My friend's friend is a mechanic and he put on FSport lowering spring on my IS in his front yard, and did not have to drop the rear subframe. He charged me $300 to do it, and it was about 4-5 hrs.

 

don't forget you will need alignment after. and hope the shop knows what they are doing when it comes to pre-load...

 

Yes alignment I have not included in my estimate.


Reasonable amounts I have been hearing is about 4 hours to install the springs which seems fair.

 

I'm from Vancouver too... which shop is this?!

 

I was quoted between $350 USD and $600 (the last one was on the extreme end, others were between $325-400). Most estimated 4 hours. Of course, this is in the DC market. After completion, the guys said this was actually a relatively easy spring install and shaved off a little on the total price because it didn't take 4 hours. The shop is mostly a tuner shop.

 

That seems like a reasonable amount to me as well around 4 hours.

 

i miss the days where you could do springs in the front yard with a rented spring compressor and a couple beers... daaamn i miss my 01 es300 lol

 

you can still do that with the 3IS. especially the front. absolute cake walk.

it's just doing it by yourself, on your back, in a garage, on jackstands, the rear suspension arms are VERY hard to maneuver back into position to thread one single bolt through. there's a TON of tension on the lower rear arm and it does not want to play nice.

i've worked on and fully rebuilt many cars, engines, etc, including a couple of M3s. a silverado, and other misc., cars. The 3IS rear spring install (particularly installing stock springs since they're higher/more tension) is one of the more nightmarish jobs i've done. if i had access to a lift again, i would probably just drop the rear end to make it easier.

i'd probably rather do rear BMW wheel bearings... and if you knew that job.. that's saying a lot. lol

 

yeah with my luck if i try myself id end up not having a car for a couple day. lol although 2k for a spring install seems a bit high.

before my is I had a 06 TL and put some hr spacers and tein coilovers and they charged 1k but i know why it went up, the stock wheel bolts had to come out and install extended bolts and i knooooow for a fact that was a ***** for them.

 

****er lol

 

damn the censor

 

i also live in van. what shop is this?

my first car was lowered with aftermarket shocks and sport springs, costed $100. my second car was lowered with coil overs, costed $100 and a 12 pack.

 

I went to my local mechanic who has done work for maintenance for all my cars -> usually cheap for everything. I actually had him install my ark grip exhaust for me which was $200 for installment and included all brand new hardware and gaskets. Based off that, I figured it must be reasonable for the installation of my springs as well.

The job in itself was estimated to be roughly 4-6 hours. So I left my car there the entire day. I paid $600 for installation (I have an is350 f sport AWD) of the f sport springs (Brand new for close to $300 with shipping). I also purchased the lifetime alignment from firestone for $190. All in to lower my car on springs was close to $800 excluding cost of springs-> still cheaper than the dealership and the guys did a good job. Had i known it was that steep for labor I probably would've shopped around a bit more, but what's done is done. Happy with end results regardless!

The 3IS is a pain in the ain from what I've heard so I would settle for anything below $400 if I were you! also if it helps, I live in Boston so overall costs may be a bit higher here, but I'm no expert lol