I will soon be converting my air suspension to a traditional strut/spring setup. I am looking to retain the closest ride quality to the air suspension ride. Do you experts have any suggestions as to what brand of struts & springs I should go with? Thanks for the help.

 

Stock. A local dismantler should have all four corners. You are mainly after the springs and strut mount...you may get lucky and the struts are still good too.

Search keyword: "kamtra" he did a conversion and wrote it up.

 

Thanks. I ordered Tokico Struts and I am looking at the Eibach Springs. From what I can ascertain, it looks like there are two options for Eibach Springs (pro-kit & sportline). Still trying to decide. As far as the top plates/upper mounts I'm a bit confused. I called the dealer and they told me that they changed the top plates mid way between 1993 and they would need the production date of the car to order the correct ones. They wanted $127.00 each for them. I went out on a limb and ordered 2 used struts (not air) and I just hope the plates fit.

 

Will these work???

 

Thanks RA40. If I don't get some help on converting my suspension, It's going to look like this.

 

you only have one choice for the Eibach springs (pro-kit), and that would be your best choice compared to H&R springs. As far as the strut mounts, those work perfectly fine. I run those KYB mounts on mine as well. The boots and insulators you will only find from the dealer.

 

It's been like pulling teeth getting info on this conversion and I have spent many hours researching. I am very glad that the mounts will work. This is what was hanging me up the most. Thought you could only get them at Lexus/Junkyard. THANKS AGAIN!

maybe i should change my sig for all you 350Z HATERS out there. haha!

 

Looks like you are on your way.

 

Have you checked with strutmasters.com? They have a complete conversion for around $800 or so. I have a '91 LS and did the conversion earlier this year. The struts are Tokiko Blues and the springs are Strutmasters' own spec.

The ride quality is comparable to the air suspension on the 'sport' setting. The only issue I have is disabling the air suspension electronics so that it will not affect the operation of the car. Right now, I have all sensors connected as if there was air suspesion with the exception of the power lead to the air compressor. That one is disconnected. Everything's fine except for the ride height indicator in the instrument panel blinking.

 

I have a question regarding the conversion of the suspension. If the ride is harsher with the replacement non-air struts, then is it possible to use the original factory struts from a non-air LS400 model to do the replacement using the same method ?

 

I just had my air shocks swapped out with the strutmaster kit. I think it rides better or at least comparable to my airs to be honest. At least the rear is softer. With the air the rear seemed really harsh going over speed bumps at low speed. Now it's more the way it should be. The only downside is that the car sits at the same height as the high setting on air. Hopefully as they wear in it'll settle down some.

What I'm trying to figure out is how to turn off the blinking ride height indicator now. Even though the air system is turned off, the light blinks NORM. It's not obnoxious, but I'd like to get it fixed. Apart from taking apart the dash to unplug the air ride system or putting some electrical tape over the light, is there any other way to turn the light off?

By the way, for those of you who develop an air leak and find your LS is sitting on the floor in the morning when you go to work or just after sitting for a few hours, put the car on the High setting and that may help extend your airs a little longer. I'm told where the leak usually develops someplace that becomes more sealed when the suspension is in the high setting. Worked for me anyway.

 

You could just remove the bulb from the cluster. Check lexls.com for a tutorial on how to get the cluster out.

 

For minor air leaks add some green slime to the system , it seemed to work for a few people and stopped any air leaks.

 

My front passenger side air strut just started falling overnight so I think it is time to convert to springs.
I found that Strutmasters sell the conversion kit (does this include the converting mount plate?), but I also found that 'Struts r Us' have a kit too. Anyone used the 'Struts r Us' option? Some of the other threads say that Strutmasters use Tokico Blues which are unreliable.
I would like to go 'non-air' and lower it an inch or inch and a half. What are my options as Lextreme say they do not offer the lowered conversion anymore.