340massive

Is there a DIY thread with pic on how to replace front an rear suspension 1994 LS 400?

ChileDawg

Don't know exactly what's available on this site regarding front and rear suspension, but just replaced the front and rear struts on my 2000 ls400. The front was pretty straight forward; I was able to do them without really getting stuck along the way. The rear were a different story. Of course, the rear seat bottom and back have to come out to get to the top of the struts. The bottom of the seat pops up out four "clamps" (just grab the bottom of the seat and pull up firmly - it will pop free). There are two in front and one on each side next to the doors. The back of the seat has easy-to-find bolts at the bottom of the seat. It also has bolts behind the fabric flaps in each of the head rest wells. Once those are removed, it slides up and out.

Now on to the good stuff. The rest of the job is fairly straight forward like any other strut job with one exception (in my experience anyway). The bottom of the strut has a rubber bushing like any strut. During the installation, it was tricky to get the bushing to line up with both mount holes. I had to get creative starting the bolt through one side then using a jack to get it as close as i could. Then to finish the alignment, I took a socket with a socket extention, put it on the head of the bolt and forced it one way or the other to flex the bushing so the exit for the bolt lined up with the mount (i had my wife under the car with a flashlight telling me when it was lined up). Once lined up, i found that i could tap the bolt through. A bit tricky, but doable.

Hope this helps someone.

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

I don't know how similar the 90-94 is but I did a how-to for Coilovers on a 95-00 LS. Just do a search and you should find if.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

You mean a thread like the one in this '89-94 FAQ that's stickied at the top of the forum? Under the Suspension and Brakes" heading?

Kram

I just did my 1990 L#400 and all you need to do is take a large flat screw driver and open the bottom bolt bracket after you remove the bolt,the bigger the better this will give you all the clearance you need to remove and replace the struts,PS if the car is over 15 years buy the coil over stut which includes the spring.One more thing-use a piece of sheet metal to cover rear axles and boots and use a spring clamp to shorten the coil assy,this will give you alittle more clearence.Plan on half an hour to remove the rear seats,then have a beer before continuing

Skyhawk474

Replaced my hydraulic suspension (notorious for 1990 - first gen LS400s) with springs and shocks from Strut-masters. I recall all went well with the exception of one rear spring - which had to be convinced into place. Did not have a spring clamp. Although the ride is not the same as with the (very expensive) original shocks - it still runs great and sits up a bit higher. I do get the "Trac" idiot light on periodically - which, I believe, is no more an issue(?)
I'm not exactly sure when the suspension changed in the LS400s - was it 1993? 1994?
(Beer is good during auto repair.)

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

suspension follows the model changes, so 90-94 cars are all the same. then 95-00 model years, and so on.