jag,

Check anything in there that might need replacing too, eg. brake pads, rotors, hubs, inspect ball joints etc. Or even things you'd like to upgrade to, eg. SS brake lines, slotted rotors, Supra big brake upgrade


Jose

 

Up until a little while ago, the only place to geta complete set of 12 control arm bushings was from andrew vlamos... these were predictably expensive at about 750US for all of them, but from what I hear, very much worth it.
I believe toyota/lexus are starting to sell them independently of the control arms, and at the savings of about $100 or so as compared to vlamos.

 

A full set of front/rear control arm bushings will run you about $300 from TMengineering.net, for the Daizen Polyurethane ones.

"Low durometer polyurethane replacement for worn OEM rubber bushings. Solves most irregular tire wear problems and highway speed driveability problems. Complete with hardware, special synthetic chassis grease and instructions. One kit services all arms on front or rear of vehicle."

And from what I have read, they are an excellent product. I plan on ordering some for myself very soon.

 

I would have to warm you about this... I have heard dozens and dozens of testimonies that poly bushings by daizen make the ride very hard and unforgiving, and although it improves handling, it's not worth it. Also, if installation is not done perfectly, they squeek and rattle terribly.

Basically, I wouldnt even try them if this is the case, Vlamos or the newly available OEM would be the onyl way to go if you want to keep your lexus riding like the car it was meant to be. Otherwise, just sell it and go buy a ford or chevy.

 

I have the Daizen bushings on both the front and rear lower control arms, as well as the camber correction bushings on the upper arms. They are stiffer than stock, but not nearly as stiff as a lot of other brands of urethane bushings which use a much harder durometer. I also have the Daizen sway bars, Tein CS coilovers, and 18" rims. Everyone who has ridden in the car, before and after the modifications, has agreed that the car is far more comfortable now than before. I absolutely hated the suspension feel of the car when it was stock. It's all mush with no feedback from the road surface. Now that vagueness is gone providing a much more rewarding driving experience.
I haven't experienced any rattling from these bushings since they were installed 7 months ago. As far as the squeaking goes, yes, they do squeak. However, most of the time they don't. It seems to be caused by climate, maybe the humidity. When they do squeak, you'll never hear it if the radio is on. They only squeak on rough roads at slower speeds (as in 25 mph and under.)
Keep in mind that these are products sold through several Lexus dealerships. If they weren't top notch products, I doubt these dealerships would consider selling them. Lastly, if you're that concerned with keeping your Lexus as it was "meant" to be, I guess you can't modify anything.

 

Cheers P.Williams,

Your advice from a few weeks back really aided me with my suspension installation. The finished product turned out incredible. I'm extremely happy with the DIY installation.

I didn't do the bushing, so I can not comment, but regardless it's still a night and day difference in the ride performance.

Silverback

 

Silverback,
I'm glad you were able to complete that project. I hope I didn't forget anything that caused any headaches for you. I was going by memory when I wrote that. It's nice to see more people choosing the DIY approach. If we all continue to contribute with this kind of information, we can save the money we'd spend in labor costs, which we'll then have to put towards the next project.

Everyone keeps talking about replacing the control arm bushings while they're doing the springs and shocks, but it's actually more involved. You either need a press to press them out, or you need to use a propane torch to burn them out. So, it's not really a simple bolt-in procedure. If you're putting in all new control arms, that's a different story. The Daizen bushings can just be greased and pushed in by hand once the old ones are out, but you have your work cut out for you just getting those old ones out. I chose to use the propane torch method as I figured I could keep from removing the arms completely. I left the ball joints attached and swung the arms around to burn the old bushings out. Once they're out, you need to clean any rubber remains out of the arms. I used a circular wire brush and WD40. Then you can finally install the new bushings.

As long as your bushings aren't giving you any problems, you may as well just wait on those. You'll probably want to have a 4-wheel alignment done after all your hard work replacing the springs and shocks, most certainly if you lowered the car during that process. In a year or so, when you're ready to have the car aligned again, you may consider doing the bushings beforehand. You should also consider the camber correction kits if your car cannot be aligned within the factory specified ranges as a result of lowering the car. Check your tires periodically to determine whether they are wearing unevenly as a result of improper camber settings (the inside of the tread will be more worn than the outside as a result of excessive negative camber.)

Once again, glad I could help and congratulations!

 

I checked out Hoy Fox Toyota/Lexus parts on -line and they were selling parts at 20% off of retail. One local Lexus dealer would only give me 10% off, the other local dealer matched the 20% off price.

I ended up getting the OEM struts and spring insolators (boots). The car has a 108,000 miles and it is remarkably clean underneath. Brakes are good and the bushings are all firm with no signs of wear.

I got the rears done today, first time doing this. The first one took 2 hours as I kind of fumbled my way through, the second one took 20 minutes...LOL

Real easy once I knew what to do. The only stumbling block was getting the nut off of the shock after I had taken it off the car., could not break it loose. Ended up drilling the nuts off both shocks. Quick and painless.

The other trick I found was to use a 2x4 to pry the suspension down to get the new strut in place.

Tomorrow is fun day , going to do the fronts.

 

I for the life of me can not remove the nuts at the bottom of the front struts. I've even used an impact wrench and it just stripped the most front nut. I've got a sway bar but I ain't touching that. I've lowered it and raised it, jumped on it and it won't budge.

 

It's been several years since I've done this, so forgive me if my recollection is a bit hazy, but I believe that the nuts you're speaking of are lock nuts. They're probably biting into the shock flanges, and refusing to turn. Did you try loosening the bolt head on the other side, instead of the nut?

 

I tried both sides man...each time while working the other in the opposite direction.

 

How difficult is it to remove/re-install the sway bar if thats my major obstacle? I read all these stories of people doing these DIY's in less than 4 hours, and I spent about 4 hours on ONE strut and not even finishing it. Can someone help me out?

 

i don't think you need to touch the struts for the sway bars, at least i don't remember doing so. Just jack up both driver side and passenger side so there's no tension in the bar, and drop it out via the 4 bolts for the 2 brackets and take out the endlinks. been a while since i switched mine out so I might have skipped a few steps.
front is easy, the rear requires a bit more work b/c of the exhaust.