sr5guy

I was considering purchasing a pair of PAO motoring rebuilt air struts for my 2010 LS460L AWD.

I know, I know... it's a risky proposition, but I'm a gambling man. $600/pair vs. $3000/pair, I think its a worthy gamble.

I'm curious if anyone has any experience using and installing them and wouldn't mind sharing their results.

My biggest concern is that the dealer lists a few different part numbers for the rear shocks, with differences for AWD/RWD/Left/Right while these are listed as "universal" fit.

-Matt

roadfrog

I'm like you, it's a risk I'd take....and have...many times, haven't been burned yet.

hfahmy

So, according to this thread https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...line-hose.html you can replace air suspension with non air struts, tape the air lines and call it a day... No lights...

We need more people to do this to dissolve the fear from air suspension on the LS460.

keep us posted if you go this route

sr5guy

Im knew what i was getting into. Lol. Definitely not interested in eliminating the air suspension. I saw what was going on with the active suspension on the techstream datastream and thats just way too high tech for me to cut the cord from.

-Matt

1WILLY1

iTrader: (9)

I sometimes buy Chinese tires and parts and personally haven't had any negative issues with either.

But ive seen only two threads of people trying the Chinese rebuilt struts and both of them had issues, one with the height setting and another was something else, I forget.

Id still give it a try , worst case scenario maybe u can return them for a partial/full refund.

One thing with this forum is people don't always share info, I'm sure many people are using those Chinese struts but they aren't reporting anything back.

lsappsoc

I rolled the dice and ordered all 4 from Guangzhou Tech master auto parts co.ltd, for my 07 LS, I did a few months of research I eventually went for the cheapest air struts direct from the supplier, (ie no Ebay or Alibaba protection) They arrived in about 5 days at a cost of around $1200 Australian. The original issue was a very bouncy almost scary ride. While the vehicle was able to sit at a height, the dampners had failed. I considered coilovers and the Suncore conversion to conventional springs and shocks but eventually decided on the Chinese air units, The front 2 would not hold air or inflate, we discovered what we believed was a bad crimp on one of the bladders, after some photographic evidence was provided the company sent out 2 new front shockers at no charge, these solved the problem, 3 weeks on it rides like a new car. The company stood behind their product, may have had something to do with me informing them that I was a member of this forum and while I never directly threatened to tell the story here perhaps they assumed I might. So far so good, I'll report back if anything changes, Anyone interested in the direct contact in Chine please PM me. This forum was a great source of information along the way and I thank all who posted their advice and experience.

Bryansoe

MacroP

I recently bought two Chinese remanufactured rear Air Struts via Aliexpress. My rear shocks/dampers were gone (airbags were fine though). I had abouncy ride, there was a knocking sound and there was hydrualic fluid all over them. After removal I could easily tell - the right side unit was completley gone when compressed down by hand and the old left unit was almost as bad. Comparied to buying two new originals - these are very cheap. Around US$500 delivered. I'm in Australia and these took less than a week to arrive once I placed my order. 3 days to send the items and another 3 days for delivery. These came via TNT though the ad mentioned DHL. Either way they arrived a lot faster than I was expecting them to.

https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/...Id=32819838382

The Lexus original rears are slightly different from left to right so you get two parts numbers. The Chinese reman units are identical units but still fit fine overall. The difference being the location of the air port when both are installed. Looks like mine are two left units when comparing them to my originals. So the original strut's air port normally sits out exactly perpendicular to the line of the vehicle, however now with the replacement unit on the right side, the air port is biased slightly forward maybe 10-15 degress (counter-clockwise from the top) but the air tubing is long enough to reach. I was getting a little worried during the install. I'm guessing another person will get two right side units which will still work fine.

I then read (after I had removed them) that you need a special service tool to disconnect the air tubing from the port when removing the originals struts which had me worried. I removed the clips holding the air tubing around the inside wheel cavity (the inner liner needs to come out first which is easy) which allowed me to have the unbolted strut sit upright on the ground and lean upright against the brake rotor to see how I could remove the air tubing. I used two very small flat bladed screwdrivers to push apart the small plastic retaining clips inside the port and the tube just popped out with a little tug - and a heap of compressed air too. No SST needed really.

As mentioned in another thread by another member - the sway bar link needs to be disconnected (prop up the wheel hub wiht another trolley jack) to remove the strut and unbolting the small bracket that hold the ABS sensor cabling on the control arm also helps too. Thanks for that.

It has only been a week but so far so good. The car is so different to drive now and this is a true understatement. The rear suspension is no longer floaty and the knocking is gone. No leakdown so far though I've noticed my front left of the car has a 10mm drop after sitting for a couple of days. Looks ike I might have to change the front pair sooner than later. So I had a damper issue at the rear and now a leaking air bag leak at the front though I will need to verify this first that it's not a leak elsewhere in the airline. But if the rear dmapers were shot then front's can't be fast behind regardless. Air suspension 'cool factor' is diminishing fast.

After I finished - I then thought I should have taken a heap of pics for here but sorry I wasn't thinking at the time. Took me around 4 hours all up but I could easily do this in a couple hours now that I know how. I'll report back if I get issues down the track. I expect the front's will be so much easier to replace due to access.

Hope that helps.

car999

My 2010 LS460 AWD ( 120000KM Canada) rear end was bouncing like crazy a few days ago so I searched for answer and found this thread . I am glad to find it but sad and surprised to know that it is a very common problem with the air suspension for this Lexus model .
I was thinking to buy the Chinese re-manufactured ones from Ebay or from Arnott p/n AS-2856 to change them myself .
And then , today when I drove the car ( after playing with the height and sport/comfort mode switches) it is much less bouncy than a few days back.
Has any one experienced this behavior , it looks like a intermittent problem , could it be the air suspension compressor ?
BTW , I looked at the Arnott Youtube it seems to be not too hard to change the air shocks for LS460 AWD .
Thx guys,

jdanielca

look at my thread about air suspension also with arbor you lose all the sport comfort and height high etc

ausLX

@lsappsoc Do you have any updates to report on your air struts? How have they held up? Do they function like OEM ie. does the suspension switch work as normal. I'm looking to replace all my struts. I was going to go with aftermarket coilovers but If the ones you bought are working well then I may just keep the factory air ride.

MacroP

I can't speak for lsappsoc but my Chinese reman units have been fine for the last 9 months or so. I got mine via Aliexpress. Just bought the rears at the time fix as the hydraulic shock absorbers were shot and leaking badly. Suspension comfort control works fine on them as does the raise/lower airbags. Haven't had any leaks thus far. Hopefully they last.

My oringal fronts are now shot though (front left airbag has a small leak over a few days of sitting) so I'll be going down the same route soon with a new 'Chinese pair'. Just found the front pair from the same seller I used last year https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32818936140.html

ausLX

Thanks for your input. I actually decided to go with coilovers, but I will be fitting air cups all round at a later date.

derreckla

How are they riding so far? I bought from the same supplier and I think it might have been you or this thread you referenced them. I replaced the right front and it is bouncy when I drive over 60 miles an hour.

derreckla

Question, could this shakiness be due to not getting it aligned? Do I need an alignment after air strut installation?

Thanks