On the first post about Bilsteins, I don't know if anyone has said this, but Bilstein makes a lowering kit for the LS430, which is kind of pointless in my opinion, on a big luxury car. Go with KYBs, they supply most of the OEM struts/shocks for Toyota/Lexus. I've had good luck with them on a Toyota Sienna, but then again, that's a bit different.

 

Make sure you get ALL the parts to do the job. Irontoad has a good diagram for all the parts you need. Rockauto is missing pieces for the rear strut assembly on their website. Also, you will need to pull the door trim and pillar trim to free up the package tray enough to allow you access to the top of the strut. You don't need to remove the package tray. There are bolts concealed behind the head rests and behind the arm rest that secure the seat back in place in addition to the four at the bottom of the seat back. The arm rest has a plastic shroud that is spring clipped in place so you can just pop it out to access the bolts anchoring the upper center section of the seat back. There are a total of 4 bolts. Also, to remove the seat belt retainers on top of the seat back you need to stick a small screw driver into the hole on the back side to release the spring clip while you pull up on the top loop. Lastly, it helps a lot to have an impact wrench with a 10" or so extension and swivel to break the nut off the bottom end of the strut by angling in from below about halfway between the strut and the rear differential.

When working on the front struts put the impact or breaker bar on the nut. Don't try and turn the bolt. The nut has locking grooves. So turning the bolt is really hard to do without rounding off the shoulders. I disconnected the sway bar link from the sway bar end and just swung it out of the way to gain access to the strut nut. You will also need to disconnect the upper control arm ball joint. This is a tapered bolt so you need a press to pop it apart. If you replace the upper control arm don't over torque the bolts or you will bind the joints. Torque to 39 ft. lbs. only. The castle nut gets torqued to 64 ft. lbs.

I do not have air suspension. Original struts and upper control arms went 250,000 miles. They should have been changed at 100,000, but car rides on highways most of the time so the wear wasn't terribly noticeable unless it was hitting big bumps. Pretty impressive all things considered. I replaced springs as well. All stock stuff.

 

Bilstein makes the B14 coilover for the LS.
It is an adjustable suspension kit that allows you to lower (if you want to) or will retain the stock height.
By lowering the car you lower the center of gravity, the car drives more planted. If you need the higher setting (wintertires) it can be done within 1/2 hr.
They also make a B16 which adds additional damping possibilities.
The products are first class quality and offer a lifetime warranty.
TotalCost was C$ 2450.-- incl the wheelalignment

It took the suspension specialist 5.5 hrs to make the swap (I was watching all the time) including the changeover from stock swaybar to the Sport swaybar with all applicable new swaybar links
Nothing from the airsuspension can be used. You need all new components from the stock set-up

 

Coilovers will not last nearly as long as the stock standand suspension. Not sure why the member replaced the coils themselves unless rust was a factor. Steel coils don't tend to go bad.

Any comments on the ride now Semar? Changed a lot eh?

 

Anyone try Monroe struts On their LS430? And how would it compare to OEM?

 

I'll let you know once the ones I just bought are installed. They were advertised as oem equivalent, and that's also what my mechanic said.

 

Monroe is better then the cheap Chinese ones but worse then the Japanese and OEM KYB. This is also why they are cheaper.

 

How long is stock standard suspension expected to last?

 

Depends on road conditions, rim size, and other factors. But they usually last for over 200k miles.

 

I installed Monroe OESpectrum struts on my LS43o and they ride extremely well. I'm very happy with them. I got them when they had a 4 for 3 deal last October ("Shocktoberfest" I think)

 

^
Your Monroe ride comparable to oem ?

 

The ride is great. I would recommend them to anyone. Monroe and KYB are each only about $5 or so different in pricing unless you get 3 for the price of 4 like I did. That aside, I likely would have went with Monroe regardless. Sometimes I don't want to "follow the heard" and try something I think would work just as well. I've had luck with Monroes on other cars so I was confident they'd work out fine and they did.

 

Appreciate the help

I was ready to get oem sport suspension ($752) vs kyb ($400)

For me ride close to oem as possible smooth with a bit less floatiness(mine is 9 years old 65 k miles so worn out )

 

Mine had close to 200,000 on it before I changed them. I don't think there was really anything wrong with them.

 

Maybe my floatiness is normal

I have been away from LS for 8 years so forgot how it rides

Only thing is pressing at all four corners car does bounce a bit

I don't have a shock dyno at home to test thus I thought struts are bad