Spring Compressors - Don't buy the ones I did! The Lisle 62300 looks good but does not work so well. Very awkard to bolt up the u-bolts and the ears don't stay parallel with the bolt causing them to bind. Even with a liberal lube of chassis grease, you could see the metal filings. The Sears 47057 lived up to its bad reviews. Very robust but no way to access the bolt head with an impact wrench and, in some positions could not get a ratchet and socket on it. This may be a good design for a straight spring but not a tapered one. They did get the job done and I definitely felt safer with 4 "suicide sticks" instead of just 2.

Strut bearings - save $55 and service the old bearings. My Koyo's looked almost as good as the brand new ones.

Strut mounts - spend the extra $$ here and get Toyota factory mounts. They are much more substantial than KYB's.

Struts - I got KYB's which were made in Japan. They were super nice although the ride seems stiffer.

Bottom insulator - Use Lexmex's trick with the vinyl tubing. Works like a charm.

At 98k miles, I am glad I did this job. The right mount and strut were definitely bad and the left side was weak. I can't see too much difference in the ride but I'm glad the job is done. Think I will wait on the rear's though.

 

Thanks for your comments. I'm facing this job one of these days. I've seen the KYB GR-2"s for a little under $400 for all four delivered. Does that sound about right?

I wasn't sure what you meant by "strut mounts." I plan to replace the rubber seats (upper and lower in front, lower in rear) and possibly use Lexmex's tubing.

I downloaded parts diagrams from Carson Toyota (l-tunedparts.com) to see what I may need. I started in on my daughter's Intrigue not long ago and had a devil of a time trying to get those two strut mounting bolts hammered out. Did the RX cause you any problems with those?

 

Don't think you will do better than $400 delivered.

Yes, the two bolts which connect the strut to the steering knuckle were hard to loosen. I used a breaker bar with a 14" pipe wrench extender.

The mount is the very top part which bolts to the top of the wheel well. The top rubber insulator and metal "cap" (fits between top rubber insulator and strut mount and captures the strut bearing) are reusable. I think the metal cap will always be reusable whereas the top rubber insulator could be torn and need replacing. There is also a bumper which slides onto the strut rod which should be reusable.

 

Once you loosened those bolts, did they tap out of their holes without much trouble? that's where I had problems before -- had to give up and ask someone to make sure they pounded out instead of threading out.

 

You have to wiggle (shake hard) the strut to get the 2 bottom bolt out. Once you remove the three nuts on top, the strut will fall out by its own weight if you are not careful.

 

I'll take your advice -- thanks for the tips! Gotta do the brakes first. Just got the pads and rotors today....

 

I've got KYB GR-2's on my QX4 and I'm really happy with them, their tower mounts are junk though. Good idea to go OEM.

Billy

 

Thanks Art for the input on your experience. There are always things to be gleaned from others experiences that often make our work easier. You even learned about spring compressors Sure wish HF still sold the ones like I have, not only were they cheap, but really work well. You keep it up and you're gonna be an old pro in a lot of things!

 

Roger, SnapOn (actually Blue Point) makes a style which I think you had - with the curved fingers that hook around the spring. It's around $66 which isn't too bad.

 

Evening Art- Sorry that I'm not more computer literate when it comes to posting links, pictures and the like- but maybe some day I'll be able to find the time to learn those things- I hope so! Meantime, go to e-bay and type in item # 370221743708. These are the ones I have 2 sets of (they are 2 to a set, that's the way they're sold). DO NOT think because they are cheap that they will break or are no good. That is far from the truth. I have changed dozens and dozens of struts with these (primarily with one of the sets), and though that set is getting a little worn, that was always with a 1/2 in impact which is HARD on 'em. I can assure you, you can't buy a better or SAFER set of strut compressors than them, and they start on e-bay as cheap as $10. a set!!! Now you know what I've used all these years- nothing but the finest!

Addtl: There quite a few on there selling these same compressors.

 

Those bottom bolts are indeed fit very precisely. One tip is, if you are using an impact, to run them out with tie impact. The threads will help them back right out. If they just turn initially, just a little pressure on the threaded end of the bolt will get them started.

 

Roger, I was doing some parts surfing and discovered Moog makes a cam bolt kit for camber adjustment. I'm thinking about trying Moog strut mounts on the rear - about $25 cheaper per mount than Toyota factory OEM.

 

You mentioned a cam bolt kit- is there a reason you mentioned it? I was aware of the kit but haven't said much about it because my experience in doing alignments that have no adjustment (either none as Lexus or have the top plate (adjustable) spot welded with massive spot welds), is, unless you have tire wear problems, LEAVE SLEEPING DOGS LIE! Trust me , I had to deal with it all the time. It was normal for the Ford Taurus's to have 3/4 degree of negative camber (don't remember now what it called for, but no where near that). The Lincoln (I believe Continental) that was built on the same floor pan as the Taurus but with air susp. were always OVER 1 degree negative! There's more to it than I have time for here but I quickly found that if there was no sign of tire wear, and no chance of this being caused by the accident (it wasn't), LEAVE IT ALONE! They always drove great and I discovered that neg. camber did not cause tire wear or driving problems, it depends on the steering geometry of the car. Some it will and others- none. Too much to post here, but my advice to anyone wise enough to take it, if NO PROBLEMS other than an alignment shop telling you it is out of specs. in neg. camber, IGNORE IT AND DRIVE ON! That's IF NO problems.

Have a great day Art. Regards, Roger

 

My experience with Moog is that they made very good parts. The only disclaimer I would add is one minute a major brand you've known all you're life is still high quality and overnight they decide they have to be competitive and now are having the parts made in Zimbabwe. That was the experience I had when I put the Goodyear Gatorback timing belt on my DIL's RX. Always respected GGB's quality and the belt was made in a country somewhere in Africa and the rest of the story is... that's why I had to change it at 30k mi.!
I trust you'll be fine with Moog.