I just ordered a set of Monroe quick struts from Rockauto. They are recently available for front and rear. They come fully assembled with new coil springs, strut mounts, jounce bumpers, bellows, and of course a new strut. The struts themselves are the OESpectrum line from Monroe and are made in Japan. They are less than $150 each which seems like a great deal considering the price of individual parts plus the reduced labor and increased safety. I plan on installing them next weekend and will keep you posted on how they ride. My '01 has 160k miles and the struts and mounts are completely shot.

 

Please do. I generally don't really like them for imports but if they ride correctly and feel good......

 

That's good news. I contacted their customer service a few months ago and at the time they weren't making rear quik struts. The rep said for a car this old they didn't plan to either.

I checked on Rockauto and it shows only for 01-03 models. I'm guessing because the spring rate for 04-06 is a little stiffer. I still plan on getting them. Very interested on how they ride because I am looking for a softer ride in the rear. Front I used KYB Excel-g struts and reused the original springs and it feels fine. Rears are original and the struts and springs feel a little worn out.

 

For those like me who are not knowledgeable on suspensions, can someone explain how these differ from standard struts? Does the LS430 normally have a separate strut and spring? Is the spring "over" the strut like here in the standard (factory) arrangement... so have same "geometry" but just multiple pieces? These look like "coilovers" as I've heard the term, but not sure what thy replace... I am asking as an '05 ultra owner who might someday need to replace my air suspension or just want newer struts to improve my ride after 140k miles... . Would this Monroe serve that purpose? I would love to be able to go to a standard struts place (Mavis or Midas, etc.) and have this done when need arose, although not sure I trust them to remove the back seat...

 

It would, any strut had multiple parts like what you see here and this IS a coilover but not in the sense that most people think of. Most FWD cars have a strut that also is designed to turn with the knuckle unlike these that are not but the LS does have a multi piece shock/spring assembly. This offering replaces the actual shock/strut(it's no a true shock since it also provides a seat for the spring thus doing more actions than a traditional shock), spring, spring isolators, mount, mount isolator, bearing, bump stop, and dust cover all in one unit vs having to buy each part and "create/assemble" a complete "coilover" to then attach to the car.

 

Got the fronts installed today. Took about 2 hours total for both sides with no surprises. The new spring/strut combo raised the ride height in the front by 1 1/8". It sits really high and looks kind of silly. Rides 100% better than it did. Bumps and road imperfections are now isolated again. A bunch of clunks and looseness in the front end are now gone. I really hope it settles a bit like Monroe says it will as it now has positive camber from the increased height.

 

Did you torque the lower strut bolt with the weight of the car on the suspension? In the service manual it usually stated to bounce the suspension by hand a few times then tighten all the suspension bushings at ride height to prevent binding.

 

Yep. Cycled the suspension a few times and then torqued it at ride height.

 

Ok. Hopefully the springs settle. I measured ride height on mine and found each corner was 27 1/2". This was from the ground to arch in the fender.

 

Mines sitting at 29 3/16 on both fronts, up from 27 7/8. I know my before height was too low and now it's too high. I got stuck while installing the rears so it'll be a few days until I can finish the install. I got the lower bolt on the rear through the strut until it was flush but I can't move it the rest of the way to get the nut started now. I didn't disconnect the ball joint as my puller was too small but I don't think that would help at this point. I'm working 15 hours today so I doubt I'll work on it when I get home.

 

If it’s in the rear right area, you may wanna remove one arm temporarily to remove the strut. Don’t have to remove ball joint.

 

I got the old one out no problem but I'm stuck installing the new one. I just need to slide the strut on a little further. It's resting at the shoulder of the mounting bolt but when I try to pry/move/lift the bottom of the strut the knuckle moves with it. I'll tackle it again on Saturday with fresh eyes and a better mood.

 

I would just separate the upper ball joint. It will give alot of room to get the strut on. On a friends LS I used a mini sledgehammer and tapped where the ball joint went into the carrier assembly and a few times on the upper control arm and it should pop out.

 

Finally got the rears in today. It was easier after I disconnected the upper ball joints with the separater from Harbor Freight. The AutoZone rental piece was slightly too small. Car rides great, feels taut. The new struts definitely solved multiple handling issues. No more bump steer, no brake dive, no more front end clunks. The ride heights are as follows with about 10 miles on them. I'll measure again in a few weeks but I doubt it'll settle much.
Before:
LF 27 7/8 RF 28 1/8
LR 27 3/8 RR 27 7/8
After:
LF 29 3/16 RF 29 3/16
LR 28 3/8 RF 28 1/2
These may seem like significant increases, and they are, but I'm willing to bet it's very close to the original ride height now. Every car on this forum has sagging springs and mounts to some extent. It's just the nature of the beast seeing as they have been under the vehicle weight for 15-20 years. The difference looks extreme because it's being compared to how it looked with lowered suspension. I'll post some pics tomorrow. If my front end settles a little bit I think it'll be perfect. The difference in ride and handling is worth it compared to my 20 year old units, which were made on 1/30/2001.
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911LE, did you need to pull out/forward the rear seats to change your rear struts? Curious because on the Ultra Luxury I believe you need to do that, an it's a fairly big deal with the power seats and wiring, etc. Might be easier on a non-UL but was wondering if you needed to go through that. More generally, I was wondering if I could use these for an air suspension conversion when the time comes and if a regular mechanic (vs a Lexis specialist familiar with back seat removal etc.) could do the job. (Also if these are ok for 2005 model year, since rears are officially only for 2001-2003). Any advice/info appreciated.