5 minutes after getting home tonight, I hear a POP! sound followed by air hissing. I go out in the carport to see what it is and find the front left of my '02 LS Ultra gradually dropping to the ground. Air shock just blew. Unbelievable, considering I just ordered $3400 of front suspension parts for both sides. I have all the suspension parts except one of the two air shocks, it was backordered and will arrive Monday.

After ten years and 110k miles, couldn't it wait just another few days? I can't believe this *****. If it weren't for the backorder I would have been dropping the car off tomorrow to get it fixed. Suppose I still can and hope they let me keep the loaner til next week.

Am I lucky this happened just after I ordered the parts? Or am I unlucky as hell that it couldn't hold out just a few more days? I did notice a full moon as I pulled into the driveway. Maybe I should go buy a powerball ticket. Or maybe I should just curl up in a ball, sit in the corner and suck my thumb.

 

Think about it this way: you got the most use out of your old air shock. You're not going to be throwing away a part thinking it might still have some life left.

 

very true!

 

You may have had torn rubber boot around the shock... I have one torn in the rear slightly, and i use duct tape to cover it... There's air bladder directly under that boot.

 

Its Karma

 

Looking at the positive side - sounds like you are very lucky and smart to have ordered the parts when you did.

 

$3400 Did you ever consider going to an aftermarket air suspension instead of doing maintenance on the stock?

 

No. I am replacing everything up front, upper and lower control arms, ball joints tie rods, bushings, shocks. Want to keep it stock.

 

Aftermarket airsus is a boy-racer joke, compared to original electronically controlled active suspension by Lexus.
So i'm +1 with ancdmd on keeping suspension stock.
Only mod i may make is to replace stab bushings with polyurethane ones...

 

Lol honestly the stock air ride is a joke. It is prone to failure and can barely keep it self level (see gangsta lean ). A good aftermarket air setup like Airrunner struts with Accuair air management is years ahead of the stock bags and self leveling.

I would say your lucky it failed after it got you home and not while you were driving down the road.

 

I am not personally that arsed about levelling. Although at 207k kms mine are all stock and factory. Nothing been replaced, and car performs leveling perfectly.
My fav is ride control. It's equipped with 6 gyroscopic sensors and each shock have 17 settings of 'hardness', and each one being adjusted about 10 times per second to give proper active suspension feel...

 

I say this is a good thing. u saved a potential buyer the hassle =)!

 

A full low-deflection polyurethane bushing kit would be great, same tight feel as stock without the harshness of most high-deflection poly bushings, and unparalleled durability compared to rubber bushings. I believe a kit is coming soon from Daizen. Not soon enough...

 

Very interesting...

 

I hope youre not serious