Excellent. Yeah I bought the OEM one...shopping for the wires now.

Ill PM you. Have a good rest of your Thanksgiving.

 

Droopy128,

Do you remember the torque on the 3 upper mountain nuts and the 2 lower mounting nuts.?

 

Honestly, I haven't torpue you anything down for number of years when wrenching, gooes by feels and air impact, the last time i torque something is for head bolts.

but i think you should be fine about 30 f/lb for top three

for bottom two you should be good at 100-120 f/lb

 

For RX450H

Top 3 nuts 63 ft-lbs [2 are type A and one is type B ... B needs to be in a specified location]
Lower 2 clamping bolts 214 ft-lbs
Stabilizer Link 55 lb-ft
Speed sensor 14 lb-ft
Top shock (center) nut 52 lb-ft
Wheel Lug nut 76 lb-fft

I would bounce the vehicle, without Torquing the fasteners and then torque them down.

Salim

 

I envy those who live in warm, sunny climates like California, Texas, Arizona, Florida, etc. I live in the rust belt where nuts and bolts fuse together.... add the salt for the roads in the winter, and one has the whole under carriage rusting out.

Thank you to droopy128 and salim who answered. Once I install my Monroe Quick struts, I’ll post the results.

 

A day or two before disassembly, shoot PB-Blaster (or equivalent) on all exposed fasteners [bottom nuts and bolts]. Repeat.

Hammer tools are best to unfasten or a long breaker bar with 6 point sockets. Getting leverage is a problem when you work without lift.

Salim

 

In september I soaked mine for a week before. All four bolts on the rear were snapped off Of course I live just outside of Toronto. Oddly I expected problems from the front but they were no problem and went smooth.

 

During one segment of my previous life, not too many years ago, I used to test and sell industrial penetrating fluids. I really don't want to start a "best penetrating fluid" war, but I have a better solution for you (cheaper an smells better) than PB Blaster (or anything else you can buy at your local box store). Mix up a 50:50 solution of Acetone and ATF and apply liberally -- repeat daily for a week before beginning work.. I've heard from old mechanics all over the US who swear by it. There are some even better industrial grade penetrating fluids (Penetro-90, SiliKroil, Justice Brothers, etc.), but they are generally harder to come by, so I won't venture any further down that road. The old fashioned home-made stuff is much easier to come by and more effective than anything you can find in a box store.

 

Is care required for painted surface or rubber boots?

Salim

 

It’s amazing how something such as a frozen nut/bolt can anger one. In my case the sway bar extension was not coming off the shock...slept on it and the next day my answer was clear. Remove the other end and ordered two new extensions.
With in an hour I had the part off and the new strut back on( less the sway bar extension)

I have done this numerous times in my past. Sometime walking away gives the mind time to think what is the right thing to do. Luckily I own three cars for this very reason.

Thanks F250 for that tip of 50/50 acetone / ATF

 

Care, yes, but it's not anything like getting brake fluid on your paint. It's not going to strip or dull your paint, but it will remove wax-based polishes. Aside from the wax removal, light and brief exposure should be no problem. Still, though, it's really not hard to keep the fluid away from exterior painted surfaces.

Gampa.. glad you got it done.!

 

on my fathers, 2012 RX350 AWD the with around 60k on it the dealership recommended having the front right passenger side strut replaced due to leaking they quoted I think 650 dollars for the strut and labor that does not include new mounts insulators spring or any hardware that's just for the strut and the labor.
I told my father to hold off on that because that's just replacing one strut
I don't think his car has any special kind of suspension I think its just a basic strut is that correct not any high-performance strut or anything it its still factory.

I know on my 2007 ES350 I replaced my front struts with Monroe quick struts
However, i believe that Lexus on the RX that is a Japan Built model used KYB from the factory is that correct or does anyone know what parts were used from the factory for the struts on this car what struts have you used that you like on your RX AWD?
I know that for that 650 they want just to replace 1 strut I could buy 2 Monroe quick sturts and pay the dealership to put them on

 

Well, you will have to convince the dealership to install a part you bring. And why would you pay dealership rates on changing the struts?
Also check if the quoted price includes wheel alignment. With the overhead, it might be worthwhile to do both.

Salim

 

That is odd for a front to leak. Usually it is the rear ones that leak.

The factory struts were usually Tokico. Some allegedly had KYB. The only aftermarket sources are KYB, Monroe and Sachs. All cost more than OEM. You can get the OEM for a discount from www.mylparts.com or www.lexuspartsnow.com One or both may have a Club Lexus member discount.
Any local import repair shop can replace your struts for far less than the dealer. There is no reason to pay their exorbitant labor rates for this simple repair. The only other component I would replace while doing the strut is the top strut mount bearing. They are under $40 each. I would consider replacing both front struts. I bet an independent shop could replace both front struts and strut mounts and do the alignment for less than $1,000.

 

it is a lot easier to get a dealership to put your own parts on at least Lexus and Toyota in my experience than it is to convince an independent shop to put your own parts on for you.

My Dealership in Utah that I go to and also when I lived in CO and sometimes I go to Lexus and Toyota depending on who can get me in when I need it the ones around here it's 115 an hour labor my guy also give me a decent price on labor
but the dealership since parts and service are different entities in a dealership they have there own department mangers and all they don't care if you bring your own parts or not
when I had my struts replaced last year I brought in 2 Monroe quick struts I paid like 120 each for them and then 200 for the labor for them to install them at the dealership.

earlier in the summer or late spring, I bought my cat converter from Lexus in RI way cheap price and took it to my dealership they charged me like 215 for the labor I think

I just had my brake calipers pads and rotors replaced went to Toyota with my owner parts they charged me 150 for labor

Yes some dealership will rip off the customer for some reason when i used to drive lincolns i could take it to the dealers when i lived in Ohio and they where not bad good allowed me to bring my own parts no problems
When I had Cadillacs GM dealership would not allow me to bring my own parts.

all of the Lexus and Toyota dealerships I have dealt with have no problem with me bringing my own parts.

The reason I like going to dealers for service is because if it's not just a regular maintenance item and it's a technical repair and they have to hunt down the problem they probably see that kind of problem often and know exactly where to go and look
where if I go to independent shop they don't work on my car very often or cars like mine very often takes them more time. I trust the dealerships I go to not everyone feels they can trust them but I feel if you treat people with respect and treat them well build a bond they will take care of you.

the only time I ever had an issue with Lexus was Stevinson Lexus in Denver screwed up the engine compartment battery cover they refused to replace it saying it was already damaged which it was not I called Lexus up a 20 minutes latter the dealership was calling me asking me where to send the replacement part because I lived an 80 minutes outside of Denver and was not driving back for that part.

also with this airbag recall I had on my car Lexus had my car stored for like 8 months they paid me to store it I picked an outdoor storage area and when I finally started driving again i went for a alignment and Firestone as not able to align the car because the rare lateral links where seized up and corroded on a 10 year old car with 170k on it but it would not have been that way if it was not for the fact that it sat all winter long because of the airbag recall
Lexus, I called them up they looked at the fact that I have stuff done at the dealership they had the parts replaced under warranty no charge to me

When Lexus looks up and sees what you have done to your car they can see service and parts purchase what you spend at the delaership if they see your loyal they will take care of you when the time comes and they don't care where you bought the parts aslong as they see the fact that your spending money and being loytal to them in some way or another they take care of us as customers i have found

one time my dealership and lexus customer care asked why i don't buy tires from them or get wheel alighments from them i said because firestone had a package for a lifetime wheel alighment
they said ok awesome we can't do that but we understand and are just happy you take care of your car
the tires i said i buy at costco and get lifetime road hazard and rotatoion and balances they said we include lifetime rotation and 2 year road hazard but not blancing about 2 days latter the dealership calls me up and says Mr Ross for now on we would love to match any service that you get for tires at outside shops