KYB makes a better quality product than monroe does by a long shot imho.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. I think once I decide to pull the trigger on this I'll go with KYB shocks.
What makes me hesitate is my friend said KYB stands for kill yo back...

 

That's why I suggested them as a low cost alternative to the KYB's. I'd trust Monroe over those 150$ for the set shocks was more my point.

 

If you want a stock ride you have to buy the OEM shocks. Yes, they are made by KYB but the ride IS different than that with KYB GR2's. They are worth the extra investment if you plan on keeping the car and enjoy the stock ride.

 

I've used KYB so far so good. As long as youve done 4 wheel alignment.And all other "suspension" related being fixed.

 

Yep. The GII's are great. I saved hundreds by getting through RockAuto.com. Make sure someone knows what they are doing. Very hard install for rear and need to need to be careful seating them. On front make certain to replace mounts and hardware for noise reduction. Did my 95 @ 205k miles and now better than stock ride.

 

I bought the 4 shock / strut with springs package from Arnott before for $600+, I started to have problems with them in short order. They were making strange noises. I researched the manufacturer numbers stamped on the shocks and found that they were made by Sensen... I ended up taking all four out and replacing them with OEM. No problems since.

Stay away from the Sensen's...

 

KYB IS the OEm manufacturer of shocks for the LS. The stock shocks, made by them, was manufactured exclusively for the Lexus cars, whicch is why somany people are telling you that theGR2's are about as close to replacement OEM as you can get WITHOUT getting OEM. The KYB acronym (Kill Yo Back) is just stupid especially since it wasKYB who made themin the first place. I had them on my 92, which was lowered, as I STILL had a very comfortable ride. Tokico, if they are still being mae,,haven;t looked back at themafter my bad experience with them, would be another alternative for your first gen, but be prepared for a very mushy (IMO) ride. Bilsteins is another good lternative, as mentioned, HOWEVER none were made for the earlier cars pre-dating 95.

 

stumbled onto autohausAZ today looking for a good place to buy oem parts with a decent database and they have quite a bit.
the real reason that Im posting this is because they list Koni cartridges(W0133-1601786) for the front at around 80$ each which easily makes every other option foolish. (IMO of course)
I havent seen them listed on any other site so it could be an error but would be worth checking out.

 

koni hasnt made (1st gen) LS400 shocks in close to a decade, and that part number is invalid for their catalog.

 

http://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts/...91&fp=pp&gbm=a

That's interesting, they do list is as available for UCF10. They are inserts, so you'd have to gut your stock shocks use them as cores. I didn't think that's possible with shocks, I've done that with struts on my Subaru though. With the struts, the inserts are held at the bottom with a bolt, you have to drill a hole in the bottom of the strut. With shocks, you can't do that since there is en eyelet on the bottom of the shock which is used to mount the shock to the lower control arm.

Stan

 

To clear up all confusion,,,,LS uses SHOCKS not STRUTS as several sites suggest. Refill cartridges that you found are no good for the application.

 

Just curious...how much are OEM shocks/struts run? Sewell has front "struts" for $248.70 a piece. Can they be had elsewhere for less? Talking OEM here.