Mine are shot. Anyone know the cost to replace at the dealer or is it an easy job if you can find replacements at a scrap yard ?

Thanks

This thread goes around frequently. A lot of people reply, but no one seems to give part #'s or places that carry replacement parts.

The problem I found is that no place has a seperate part # for trunks w/ spoilers. The standard replacement strut is not strong enough to support the spoiler and does not work right. Very few places sell the part to begin with, so I haven't been able to find a place in Florida for the past 3 years. I have been actively looking, so if you find a fair price for a part that works, please post a name and phone number and part # so I can order the part as well.

Thanks,
Keith

If you're talking about the pneumatic lifter cartridges that hold the trunk lid up, I may be able to help you out. First, don't get them from the dealer like I did. They are way too expensive. I believe one brand name is "Strong Arm," but they should be available from any normal auto parts store for $20 or so each. Other people may be able to fill in the details on price and availability since they were smarter than me and didn't go to Lexus to get them. Here's the steps I took to replace mine:

1. Inside the trunk, pull up the interior cloth-like panel that seperates the trunk cavity from the back seat/gas tank area. It's held down with little plastic clips. You should then be able to see the gas tank and the two black metal cylinders attached to the trunk hinges.

2. There are two rubber snubbers (or bumpers or whatever you want to call them) on plastic clips that limit the upward movement of the trunk lid. They are located on the round arms that attach to the lid. Take those off to allow the lid an extra inch or so of upward travel.

3. Using an open end wrench (11 mm, I believe) unscrew the ball portion of the ball and socket joint that is on the top part of the lifter cartridges. It may be hard to start because it has Locktite on it.

4. Using a screwdriver, unclip the metal retainer that secures the bottom part of the lifter cylinder to a stud on the car body. I just pried up the edges which bends the clip, but you get a new one with the new cylinders. There may be a better way to do it.

5. Your new cylinders should come with replacement ball studs for the top part of the cylinder attachment. Screw those into the holes that you took the old ones out of. I used a deep well socket so that I could use a ratchet to do this.

6. Clip the bottom part of your new cylinders onto their studs, and press the socket part onto the new ball studs that you just installed. The lid should stay up by itself now, so you can send whoever has been holding it up out for beer.

7. Put those rubber bumpers back into place paying attention to the little key piece that fits into a hole on the trunk arm.

8. Put the interior piece back into place and take it for a test drive. It's not like the new lifters will make it drive differently, but there's always a sense of satisfaction in the test drive.

These pneumatic cylinders are under a lot of pressure, even when they're too weak to hold up the lid. Don't cut them or get your finger in the way when they are compressed.


Good luck,
Wiley

Got mine at carparts.com.
Mfr: MONROE EXPERT SERIES
Desc: Lift Support
Part#: 901333
Price: $18.38 each (you need two)

BTW They are very easy to replace.
Hope this helps.
David.

Excellent. I will try and track all this down and see if I can replace them. Out of curiousity, does anyone know what the dealer would charge for the part ?

Thanks very much for the help.

Well, I said I wasn't going to admit how I got ripped off buying the cartridges from the dealer, but since you asked....$120....each. However, that was for the model that will lift the trunk lid with the spoiler, and they do work well. I'm still waiting for Lexus to buy me dinner because I usually get dinner when I get screwed.

How true !! I checked the carparts.com site but the only Monroe parts they had were for the suspension and nothing came up under that Parts #. Any other ideas or sites on where to get these or maybe I'm not searching properly. Do these parts work with the trunck with the spoiler as my 92 has the spoiler. Thanks.

I found the lifters on autozone.com. In navigating the parts menu, it asked if it was for with spoiler or without, so I assume they are different parts. The brand name was Mighty Lift and they were $23 each.

I have insulation on the trunk and it is heavy, with two new lifters it still pops right up when I pull the latch.

got them at autozone. Just told them make/model like 20 bucks.

I just replaced mine tonight. The ballstud-nut uses a 12mm open end wrench but, to tighten the ballstud with new trunk shock. It takes a 11 mm. I couldn't find the trunk shock at any Pep Boys, Autozone, or Kragen. So, I wound ordering it online. The dealer wanted me to pay around $120 for the pair I think. That is still way too much. AC Delco makes them also but, don't know if they have a lifetime warranty or not. So, just check out Kragen or Autozone. I wound up paying $45 for the pair including shipping for the Strong Arm with Spoiler trunk shocks. They have both with or without spoiler trunk shocks.

Yes an old thread, but a quick search located the help I needed. I got mine from Checker, they had to special order from CA, but they were here in AZ the same day. They ended up costing around $48 & went in smooth.

Thanks *again* ClubLexus!

~Jason

I don't get really get why there's ever such a problem with this. I got my replacement from carparts.com. Just go to their homepage... which should start out on the replacement parts page.
Select Shock & Strut as your category.
Choose your car year/make/model.

And then under Parts, click Lift Supports.
It gives you 5 different items, all of which you are looking for. I used the Strong Arm and they work great. They offer both the lift supports in w/ spoiler and w/o spoiler models.

Reminder: you probably only have to change 1 of them.

And... for installation... see this thread:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=54182

i also need new shocks for my trunk and i was wondering if it would do the car harm to install more powerful shocks made for the trunk with spoiler, because i am thinking of gettin a spoiler sometime soon. if i install the regular shocks and later get a spoiler will it function properly?

Yes I did the same thing last month to Irene's car and she reports it works great. I'd recommend everyone use the "spoilered" shocks- your trunk is more likely to pop up unassisted, and the shocks are bound to last longer, since they have more gas in them. I posted this in other threads- perform a search for more details.

My GS4 did not come with a spoiler, so naturally it doesn't have trunk shocks. I think I need to see a GS WITH a factory spoiler to see how the shocks fit the trunk.

I modified the springs out back by moving the mounting hole back a few inches to make it stiffer.

Thanks for all the i nfo