I am hearing a funny rattle sound in the front of the wife's 98 ES300 everytime we drive over a bump.
I think the sound is coming from the shocks or strutts when they fail because I had a similar experience with my 91 LS400. Does anyone have a similar experience ? Also, is changing the strutts / shocks something that I can do or is it too difficult or dangerous for the do it yourselfer.

Thanks in advance

 

I am hearing a funny rattle sound in the front of the wife's 98 ES300 everytime we drive over a bump.
I think the sound is coming from the shocks or strutts when they fail because I had a similar experience with my 91 LS400. Does anyone have a similar experience ? Also, is changing the strutts / shocks something that I can do or is it too difficult or dangerous for the do it yourselfer.

Thanks in advance

I had that rattle on my 99 RX, left front. Lexus replaced everything free of charge, even though I was out of my 50K warranty. I would not do it yourself. I personally know how to do it, as I have read the book so many times, and have assisted someone with a QX4 down here in doing so. The strut was loose in my case. But since I didn't pay a dime, I ain't complaining.

 

I have never heard of a dealer replacing a part for free unless it was either a recall or safety item.
I have 122,000 miles on it and I doubt that they would change it for free.
What's your secret?

 

James, there was /is a TSB on the strut tower mounts for RX (99 anyway). Some of us got replacement struts out of the deal, too.

And as LexMexico said, replacing struts is not a DIY( as in, it's possible to kill yourself with the coil spring) unless you have a spring compressor. Not everybody has one of those lying around...........

 

mooretorque,

This is a portable spring compressor. Before I had my strut problem, Toyota here used the portable clamp to compress the springs so we could realign the rubber support on the lower part of the spring. I also saw the wall mounted spring compressors, but that requires taking out all of the parts.

As far as my secret, yes, there was a TSB, and I strenously argued it. I don't have the data in front of me, but a friendly mechanic (who used to work at Lexus) gave me some paperwork that showed that the optimum time for a strut to fail (if at all) occurs well after the 50K miles (warranty limit). Being an attorney, I pressed this issue and got it taken care of free of charge including labor. When my strut failed it was very close to 55K. I had this done in January, but my warranty had expired in October by the 4 year limitation.

 

without warranty, how much would it cost to fix the rear struts on say a 92 es300? Mine feels like there is no shocks at all and the sound is a very annoying and loud rattle.