I am planning to have my Indy replace the rear struts with OEM shocks on my 2001 LS with 159,000 miles on the clock. I'm keeping the original coils. I had the front struts replaced by Lexus around 120,000 miles. The only issue with the rear struts is an annoying creaking noise (which was diagnosed as coming from the shocks) with no dampening issues as the ride is fine. Question....Will I need an alignment after the install? I heard somewhere that the height is changed, but I was wondering if that is the case when keeping original coils and just changing the shock. Thanks all.

 

The annoying creak you hear may very well be coming from one of the 3 rubber components so be sure to replace all of them. The bottom 2 in the diagram are 100% rubber while the top one (mount) is rubber sandwiched between two metal plates. Lexus def didn't cut corners on these especially the large insulator 👍

You may not need an alignment but at least have it checked to verify after the new parts are installed.

 

At 156K you need to replace the upper strut mount as well. And frankly I'd replace the spring. It costs money but it's sagging, guaranteed. You won't need to rush out to get an alignment if it was fine already.