vensow

Hi Everyone,
I am new member here, just created an account. I need to replace the Front Struts on 2004 LS 430 Base non-sport version. My car has 80400 miles. I am the second owner and I owned it since 51000 miles.

Here is the background:
2-3 months ago, I drove over some bump on the road from road repair. It is one of those square sections with Metal around the square. They didn't finish it well. The moment I hit, I felt that shock/hit on front left tire.
After that I started noticing front end and steering wheel shakes when my front left wheel go over rough road or pot holes and when I go over the same pot holes with Front Right wheel, I don't feel any vibration.

I took it to multiple shops. Some of them not able to find any problems and they said everything looks great, they lifted and checked every thing. My car has michelin tires with 7/32 tread at that time but they are from 2008, so most of them suggested that tires may be causing this vibration as they don't find any possible issues.
So I tried these in order.
1. Balanced the tires by discount tire- Vibration still exists.
2. Wheel are verified by discount tire - no bent rims - Vibration still exists.
3. Done the Alignment - Vibration still exists.
4. Tires rotated just to make sure tires are not issue - Vibration still exists.
5. Installed brand new Pirelli P7 tires all around - Vibration still exists.

Now I took it another shop, they said it is the front strut, that needs replacement. When they press hard on the driver side front end going down and not working the way it should. But the same test was done by other shops a month ago, they said it looks good.
Also when I just start driving from zero speed, I hear very small sound, I don't right word put it, but I feel like something loose or some cushion is missing kind of sound. But once I start driving it will go away( I guess I cannot hear due to increased speed). So when I asked the mechanic did he that sound. He says it may be because of faulty strut, because the sound from strut is more, they cannot hear other sounds, until it is fixed.

They quoted me for 2 KYB part 341392 and Labor 390(3 hours @130) and total came around $780 . I asked what if I still have the issue after replacing new struts, I didn't get any convincing answer. I have read in this forum, people end up replacing so many parts and problem still exists. I don't want run into same cycle and also it happened to me in the past, definitely do not want to repeat the same mistake. I have asked them whether they replace with OEM supplied by me. They are saying these KYB struts are better than OEM. These will be little stiff initially and they get smoother once they break-in.

I have asked an independent mechanic whether he swap my front struts, left to right and right to left. If the front left strut is the issue, I should start feeling sensation when my right wheel go over pot holes not the left one. He quoted me same whether he swap them or he install new ones. He is quoting $250 for swapping and $250 if I need installing new ones both left and right, so a total $500 labor and I supply the struts.

This is what I am planning to do:
1. Just buy one strut, replace the strut($125 labor charge for one strut), see if it fixed my issue. If it fixes then replace the second one also.

This is where I need help:
1. Is it better to go with OEMs(194 + shipping) from - Discountpartsmonster. or KYB (@119 online) or Monroe OESpectrums( $65-$150 online)?
2. Anyone has experience with Monroe OESpectrums?
3. Did anyone of you have experience with Discountpartsmonster?
4. I live in bay area, CA. do you know any independent who can replace these struts for less price?
5. Any other less expensive ways to make sure it is the struts that is causing the vibration, instead of replacing with new one and test?

In the below thread, "marylandlp" is able to find someone to replace at $50 per side, that is an incredible price.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...rbers-diy.html

Replacing parts by myself is no option for me at this time. Your input really helps me. Thanks in advance.

Gronemus

How deep was the hole that you hit? I have a hard time believing that the shock is bad because of that hit. Its hard to give good suspension advice when you can't see or drive the vehicle.

If you are going to have someone replace the shocks you really ought to have them change both fronts at least and not just the left one.

Good luck and let us know how you finally get this resolved...

vensow

Hi Gronemus,
It is not the pot hole, the city did some road work, then left some rectangular block thats stays may be 2 inches high from the road and it has some metal edges. They didn't smoothen the edges. Looks like someone complained, after couple of days, they smoothened it. I am not sure whether it is the one that caused the issue, but other than that incident I don't recall anything abnormal happened.

Definitely I will get both replaced, if the strut is the issue. The reason I want to go with one is to make sure the struts is the root cause. If it is not the root cause, I don't end up buy two struts and pay labor for two struts.

Thanks for reply. Sure, I will update you guys once it is resolved. Have a good one.

rkw77080

Replacing just one front strut can become a safety issue. For example, if you had to brake hard to avoid hitting something or someone, the 1 new and 1 old strut will experience a different amount of nose dive, and will cause the car to become unstable.

vensow

Thank you rkw77080. I never thought from that perspective. Does it mean the car is already in that sort of situation as one of them is gone bad?

Johnhav430

I had never heard of replacing struts on one side, until I was shopping for used LS430s. A Lexus dealer provided me with the work order to recondition an '05, and it had only the right side being replaced. When I questioned it, they said it only needed the right side done (likely from an accident that didn't appear on carfax). I would never do it myself on only one side, imho they should be done in pairs.

If I had to bet, I don't think replacing front struts would eliminate a vibration. I have not replaced them on a LS430 before (I don't know if they are struts or shocks), but I have on a Nissan, and nothing at all improved in the ride (implying nothing was wrong with the ones that came out). Imho the purpose of a shock or strut is to dampen the action of the springs, without them, the springs go up and down much more, potentially forever in theory....

The interesting thing is OP is certain this started after hitting an object and on the left side...are the multiple shops that looked at the front suspension, Toyota oriented shops, meaning they are familiar with the LS....did they drive the vehicle and duplicate the issue? My indie drove my car extensively to diagnose a clunk sound, and he concluded install the Toyota shims on the front pads first, and see if the sound goes away, the pads are shifting (also think about replacing the pin and clip, but he didn't think that was it--he could demonstrate a sound when tapping on the pad where the pin goes through). I have the shims now for front and rear, but have not put them in. I saw him with my car on the lift carefully inspecting the front end, he hit both my front tires with a rubber mallet, and there was a slight metallic thud on the right, which he traced to the backing plate. Then he pulled the wheels and found the shims to be missing on both sides (I searched here and it's common for a shop to toss them when doing the brakes--this is pricey, $70+ list, I paid $48 shipped). imho a Toyota indie is as knowledgeable as people on this forum, only they do it as their livelihood, so they are good.....my .02...

bradland

Hitting a bad spot in the road will take a wheel bearing out rather quickly. If the techs who re balanced your tires didn't take a second to check them take the car back and ask them to do so.

BradTank

Suspension issues are tough to diagnose sometimes, but I doubt your issue is a strut. My first instinct would be something like an outer tie rod or lower ball joint.

If that incident blew your strut, you would probably see evidence of like oil leaking out from it. You would also be able to push down on that corner and see it rebound differently than the other corner.

A good shop (or you can DIY) should be able to put that corner of the car up in the air and move the wheel around and check things like the tie rods or lower ball joints. You grab the tire/wheel by the 3 and 9 O'Clock position in the air, and try and push and pull. If you can get play, its the tie rods that need replacement. If you grab from the 12 and 6 O'Clock position and find play, its your ball joints. Compare both sides to see if you can spot the difference.

vensow

Thanks, BradTank, bradland, Johnhav430 for your inputs. One of the shops that I have taken the car, they tested those 3,6'o' clock on the wheel. They don't see any issues. Some of them lifted the car said, everything looks clean and tight.
An hour ago, I took it another mechanic. he has very good reviews and known for honest feedback. He told me upfront that he is not specialist on suspension. He did push the car down on the left side, it is going more up and down. The rear is more stiffer. He said, the struts seems worn but he is not 100% sure that replacing the struts will fix the vibration issue. He mentioned that he have seen cars with much worse struts and they didn't cause any vibrations. He didn't test drive the car.
I am not at all an expert on cars, but for some reason I too feel struts are not the root cause. As of now this is the I got from this thread that I need to check again.
Wheel Bearing, Outier Tie rod, lower ball joint.
From other threads, I got the list of LCA bushings, Strut mounts.
So including all Wheel Bearing, Outier Tie rod, lower ball joint, LCA bushings, Strut mounts.

So do you guys think, I need to go and ask a mechanic to check the above mentioned parts? Any idea what is the reasonable price they can charge for this?

terminater

OP, have you considered filing a claim with the city where this incident occurred? I don't have any personal experience, but I have heard of other's success with filing a claim due to a cities negligence in repairing a road properly.
Regrettably, I can not comment on your actual strut issue except to say that I do recommend you replace both struts and not just one.

vensow

Hi terminater, I did read about filing claim to city a while ago. As I mentioned in the original post, they smoothened it out after couple of days, it is difficult to prove. I am already spending so much time on finding the root cause itself, filing this claim and working with city will need more time, I personally feel it's not worth it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Johnhav430

Are you in San Francisco? I just googled and found this place--it would sound like a place who could find the issue. And if you're not in SF, same thing, I'm pretty sure CA is loaded with Toyota specialists....you really want to find someone who can have that "been there, done that" mentality with your car. Meaning they'll find the issue, you don't need to tell them what to do....my indie is 70 miles away, so he has to be really good for me to drive that far away (actually there is nobody nearby which is sad lol)

https://www.yelp.com/biz/toy-shop-sa...=toyota+repair

vensow

Thank you Johnhav430. Most of the mechanics who have great reviews on yelp, they are not available over the week-ends. The one you referred has good reviews and I am 40 miles away from it and from there my work is around 65 miles. In bay area it takes hours to go that much distance in the week days due to traffic. A while ago one of my friends, referred me to another location, that is also not available in the week end, but they have Lexus Master Certified mechanic, so taking it there on Monday. The person over the phone is really nice and the moment I mentioned about LS 430 he mentioned how good car it is. Definitely I felt comfortable, which I was missing when I checked with other mechanics.
One of the mechanics I have taken in the past is Japanese car specialists. Will update you on Monday after my visit.

vensow

Hi Everyone, Took it to Lexus certified master technician yesterday. He replaced the front sway bar bushings, which improved the steering feel. But for the vibration issue, he thinks either struts or upper control arm or both. To test he needs at least day. He wants to replace one part then test drive it, if vibration still exists then replace the other part. But he quoted it will be either $1000 or $1800. It is disappointing even certified master technician not able to figure out. I have to admit I don't know how difficult is the process. But I had high expectations as he is certified by lexus as master technician.

So final update: still don't know the root cause.

JffGRY706

sorry you are having problems. I have had my car since 72,000 miles. currently have 128,000 miles. I have replaced 3 of the 4 shocks. everything else is fine. motor mounts are good. ball joints are fine. control arm bushings are okay. car drives straight and there are no vibrations that I can feel. I have my service at a Lexus dealership and they told me when the shocks were bad. they would tell me if any of that stuff needed to be replaced. I have to wonder how bad are the roads where other people have to drive. I drive on Texas state highways and farm to market roads. I love driving on the interstate highways when I get the chance and really like the concrete smooth streets in the big cities. I have been told that some states paint dirt black and call it a highway. the roads in Texas must be a lot better than the roads that you have to endure.