Hi all, currently am tackling the project of swapping my front shocks but have hit an issue. Pictures below show the bottom of the front shock( top is in place and bolted down) connecting to the lower strut bracket (the bottom is lined up in the control arm). However the issue is the that the bottom of the strut is keyed (the flat spot) to the lower brackets flat spot. But they do not align right now as you can see is my issue. Shock assembly does not freely spin. I tried putting the two together and installing them as one piece but then the bottom bracket bolt doesn’t line up. Is there any tips or tricks for this or do I have to get a spring compressor?

 

OEM or aftermarket struts?

 

That would have nothing to do with it.

This is happening because you don’t have the three upper mounting bolts in perfect alignment with the bottom perch of the shock. This is a real pain on the awd IS, GS, LS, etc. cars.

You need to loosen up the assembly top bolts, compress springs, rotate it and try again. Trial and error and it’s a PITA. The way to do this to avoid this is to use the lower control arm as the spring compressor. Like this:

- Bolt the upper strut mount into place.
- With the sway bar, upper ball joint bolt, and steering link disconected, the lower control arm now pivots freely
- Put the lower perch in place in that “C” arm and start raising that half - shock, spring - with a jack from underneath the lower control arm, compressing it with lower control arm.
- As it comes together, you can twist the coil to mate to the perch “step” in the shock.

This is annoying if you don’t know about that indexing flat in the arm/shock before hand. But it can be worked-around with the procedure above. I hope I explained it clearly.

Also, put some anti-seize on that bolt you thread into the bottom of the shock, clean up the threads with a wire wheel before re-assembling. The upside-down installation makes it corrode and makes future dis-assembly much harder and risks rounding the bolt head. you may have already figured this out when disassembling it. I usually have to use a torch to get thee bolts out easily, even in more friendly climates than yours appears to be.

 

Aftermarket parts for LS460 are known to be problematic. I have done the replacement, have you?

Also, "compress springs", seriously? You can either push down the control arm, or mark position of control arm, loosen the nut holding it, install the struts and re-tighten the bolt under load.

 

Well, the struts are aftermarket or otherwise the poster would be looking for an answer from the lexus parts dept he bought them from. Also the description on how this should be done from the post above is just ridiculous because Toyota/Lexus assy's never have to be half installed then partially dis- assembled and twisted into shape to fit.
Comparing new parts to the old ones sounds like hindsight but it works because even something simple like brackets for brake lines or pad wear sensor wiring could make a difference in left to right placement for the struts.

Most people would take that lower strut fork (c-clamp) off with the strut because on awd the bottom bolt is in a tight spot to get at and easier to remove in a vise with an impact. The poster never said whether he was replacing existing struts or doing an air suspension delete which would make a difference in oem vs aftermarket because the air struts/shocks are really offset in the top mount and possibly cause a mounting problem but I'm not sure of that.

 

Oro is absolutely correct. I understand the issues the o.p. is having because I ran into the same issue when I replaced all the shocks on mine.

O.P. - You're going to have to remove the shocks and put them in a vice to hold it in place. I used a large pry bar between the three top studs along with some spray lube between the top of the spring and the top hat. Slowly I was able to twist the top hat against the spring to get everything lined up correctly. I do remember on one shock it wouldn't twist against the top hat. Instead, the top hat and spring would rotate along the bottom perch until it popped into the next position. So, I borrowed a spring compressor from the "loan a tool" service from the local auto parts store and used it to relieve the pressure of the spring to finally allow the shock to twist to the correct position.

Trying to explain more simply: You need to rotate the top three mounting studs into the correct position while everything else on the strut assembly stays put. Like Oro correctly stated, it takes trial and error. You can eyeball the alignment pretty close, remove strut assembly, stick it in the vice to hold it, rotate top three studs against the spring, reinstall strut assembly to see how much more movement you need. It is a pita.

 

You have a RWD which is different from AWD. Your experience is not applicable in this case. Also, there is not trial and error. It is a straight process with some physical labor.

 

I just described how to do it properly; a moment’s thought on your part should have realized that I do know and have done it.

Whether you use aftermarket parts or KYB for the shock, it won’t matter to the problem he’s having. The issue is the assembly technique of the C-arm on the front awd axle. It appears you have NOT done a front awd suspension on one of these cars if that has escaped you.

 

It’s the way you replace the coils when disassembling them on the awd model. It’s different. Without being aligned perfectly, the bottom notch will not line up. The process you describe simply doesn’t work when you swap the springs over. You are ASSUMING a complete strut assembly.

 

Ah, I see the issue - you don’t know how to replace shock/spring assemblies. This is the proceedure when you swap the spring. You can’t disassemble a strut assembly without compressing/decompressing the coil spring. We’re doing a big-boy suspension job here, not a sloppy/lazy parts swap.

Fortunately for the OP, and unfortunately for this bizarrely aggressive yet ignorant counter-argument yours, I happen to have one of these shock assemblies on the bench. Let’s have a gander.

- The indexing notch that is troubling the OP is marked in Yellow.
- The coil perch is marked with a Red arrow; the free end of the coil must end up exactly here.

This is an OEM shock, but ANY aftermarket one would be identical. Aftermarket, Sachs is an example, or OEM, this is the same procedure, and it’s not rocket science. One can now see how not aligning the lower shock/perch assembly and the upper mount is going to create this problem. They can rotate in any of 360 degrees when assembling them on the bench. There are two solutions:

1) Before disassembling the installed unit, you mount it vertically and drop a plumb line off each mounting bolt, marking a scribe on the lower perch for indexing. Then you transfer those marks to the new parts and carefully align when tightening the center shock bolt and de-compressing the coil spring. This is harder to do than it sounds, in fact, because of the coil tension.

2) You use the lower control arm as the spring compressor, and do the alignment of the upper mount with the shock/coil as you jack the lower control arm up. You twist the coil spring into the proper location as it is compressed. Much easier than #1.

 

Oro is dead on for non-air cars. You have to index the strut mount/bearing somehow, I brute force it or I detach the lower arm at the car side to allow me to grab and turn the fork if I didn't align it perfectly when off car.

Air is different

 

I wasn't assuming anything, living in awd country and having done 1 or 2 of this type of strut I've never had to follow the description you provided but I do have a good look at what's in front of me before I start most repairs.

 

I recently replaced my air strut awd model. Was fairly easy to dissassemble. 6 nuts on top, 3 for top hat, 3 for the actual strut. 1 bolt holding the strut to C clamp that attaches to the main control arm. Reassembling was slighly an issue because the bolt would not thread in. My way to align the strut was loosen C clamp from the main control arm, and align with the notch on air strut without installing the lower bolt or upper nuts. Once notch aligned with the air strut and C clamp, I carefully pushed the air strut up into the 3 holes in the body and then tapped the C clamp back into the lower control arm with a rubber mallet. This is while holding the air strut in its existing location with one hand. Just curious , how would I tighten the vehicle under load and which parts to tight under load? This was DIY in the garage with a jack and stands.