Good morning, all!

I'm a long-time lurker but first-time poster. I thought I might start this thread about some LS340 suspension work that I plan to complete in the coming days.

I'm going to replace the strut assemblies on all four corners of the suspension with . . . A1 Auto suspension parts. But, it's not why you might think. In fact, this will wind up costing me more than just replacing everything with genuine parts straight away. More on that in a moment.

It's semi-universally accepted that Chinese suspension parts are low quality and a poor substitute for the truly stellar Lexus components. But, how big is the gap, and could that difference be represented somehow (albeit roughly) in marginal difference per dollar? All we have are anecdotal stories (of which this is one) of individual experiences. Rarely do we see what I have planned here - I'm going to replace the very well-loved Lexus suspension parts with A1 parts and do my best to measure the difference. After that, I will replace the A1 parts will genuine Lexus parts and do the same. I expect to measure (subjectively) a significant difference. But, we shall see.

It'll be more difficult to measure things like ride comfort, which is very subjective. It will be easier to measure things like failed components and abnormal sounds.

In the meantime, I bought four A1 suspension assemblies (two front, two back) and a couple of sway bar links (front) for a grand total of just over $400. Genuine parts will probably cost a little north of $1,500 all in. Labor cost for these purposes will be zero, because I will do everything in my garage - even the wretched rear suspension process - twice. I'll net to zero the alignment costs (again, twice) because I assume I would need an alignment using either method.

Will the genuine parts be $1,000 better than the A1 parts? Probably. But, we will not know until we try.

Ash

 

Interesting post. Yes, I paid $1500 for just the rears at a dealership last fall when one of them finally blew up, not bad after 20 years. Fronts were done in 2021. I think the parts you are ordering will be like tires and I have commented on this before. Everything will feel great new, but the longevity is where the expensive stuff earns its' worth. I will be curious in your 10-year follow-up to this post.

 

How many miles does your car have?
There's so much going on with an LS suspension, 2 ball joints in the front, huge LCA bushings, robust spring insulators, etc.
Your current shocks/struts are not new so replacing them with new, albeit Chinese made, parts flaws your study from the start.

Parts vary widely in quality. Even parts made in China can vary in quality. I shudder to think how many shops send cars out on the streets with $4 tie rods!
More importantly and in the interest of your "measurements" genuine Lexus/Toyota parts are obviously excellent quality but this is measured in longevity.
CA2WALS430 has already mentioned this. The chinese parts will likely feel fine for 6 months to a year while the Toyota parts will last up to 10 years.

But hey it's your money and your time so.....

 

Yah it's "cheaper" in the short run but everytime you change the struts you need to get an alignment if you don't have camber adjustment for the rear you need that, also alignments should be done with new tires. So add up all that 3 times minium for 5 years it is for more expensive than the oem suspension. Just my opinion and personal experience.

 

I redid all four corners of the GS this month, with OEM Kyb shocks and mounts. Total cost was UNDER $400 (RockAuto).

I’m not too proud to use A1 parts - in fact am going to order some axles from them tomorrow. But for shocks/mounts, the OEM KYB units are not expensive.

 

So, this has been back to school week, and work / kids sports have been crazy. I just now kicked off my project.

I took some measurements of the parts with calipers. The A1 sway bar links looked and measured pretty close to OEM.

BUT my oh my. This happened as soon as I loaded the suspension:

 

So…this is suboptimal. The sway bar link broke under light suspension loading.

I reinstalled the completely shot OEM sway links, and I don’t have enough confidence in these products after this to sink time into the rear suspension. So, I finished the front corners, and I’ll


test those for a bit. I’ll replace them with OEM sooner than originally planned.

 

That’s not a bad idea! I know the right answer is to use OEM suspension components, and I will! This is more of an experiment than anything else. I was planning to order from Longo or someone similar, but it’s nice to hear they’re available at RockAuto.

 

Right! There’s a big difference between short-run marginal costs and long-term costs.

Plus, I think it’s safe to assume that we lose some performance if we don’t use OEM. It’s harder to evaluate that.

 

I think I’m around 220k or so in this one. Maybe a little less (215k), but in that ballpark. It’s definitely time.

I replaced the LCA bushings with the ones that fit another model (IS? GS?), and it feels okay, but when I do this job the right way, I think I’ll also order the real bushing and press it in. Might as well make it right!

I took some measurements of the springs with a caliper (replacement was a bit larger diameter and the steel base was larger by maybe a few mills). That’s not really indicative of anything important, because it could be inferior steel, and even if not it could have different performance characteristics - it’s more of an anecdote than anything.

The front ones sit maybe an inch or so taller than the old ones when installed. Maybe they’ll settle in soon.

Ride comfort is . . . maybe average passenger car quality? I’m sure it’d feel fine on my old Accord, but I’m not enamored so far on the LS. The struts and springs are functional in the sense that they have not broken yet. Again, maybe they’ll soften a bit.

 

The springs softened a bit after sitting overnight, and I drove it on the highway for about 15 miles. Initial observations:

- ride height is still noticeably different between front (new A1) and rear (old Lexus). Maybe this will continue to equalize with more time on the new springs. It’s hard to say how much my 20-year old springs have sagged. That being said, I quite like the ride height of my old springs.

- to this point, I think I’ll loosen and re-torque the bottom strut nut after it sags a bit more. Intuitively, it seems like sag would change the angle of the bushing relative to the control arm.

- ride quality has improved on the A1. It’s still not Lexus smooth, but it’s smoother than it was initially. Maybe mid-life strut Accord level. I’ll monitor for improvement or decline.

- handling is poor. This may or may not be related to the A1 setup, and almost certainly is contributed to by the shot sway bar links I had to reinstall paired with a height and firmness mismatch between front and rear. It’s about on par with a 1980s Oldsmobile right now. I'll monitor for improvement or decline.

More to come!

 

Buy once, cry once.

 

Also the Multi Quote function won't hurt you either

 

Just buy KYB, they are the OEM and their aftermarket units are about the same as OE sport struts. On my 02 I replaced everything front and back all at once with OE lower bushings for the front arms, tie rods, ball joints, wheel hubs, sway links, and KYB/Delphi for all the struts and arms.

I had the effect of feeling exactly like my 58k mile 2006 car but lower and firmer from the more aggressively valved shocks....aka exactly what I wanted. If you only replace some stuff you won't know what the car is supposed to feel like especially at 130+

 

My 2006 LS needs front end work too. I was thinking about ordering Moog parts from Rock Auto. Perhaps less heretical and less worthy of a garrote or auto da fe from the purists. But dang, even ordering from a “discounted” Lexus dealer, the front end parts are expensive. If not Moog, who makes the best aftermarket suspension parts? For background, I did replace my struts and strut mounts with OEM parts. But I’ve still got front end issues and the next step (I think) is to replace the ball joints and tie rod ends. As far as I can tell my upper and lower control arms are ok.
Any and all suggestions are welcome.