I've been calling local independent shops and those that supposedly "specialize" in Lexus/Toyota vehicles to see a quote to swap out the stock IS bushings for the RCF/GSF ones. I'm not having much luck, so curious as to how you guys found places willing to do this and understanding that this is and should be a quick job?

I've emailed shops when provided their contact information, summarizing the key points from this forum about the general time it takes and what is all truly involved (i.e., purely removing 2 bolts and nut from the passenger/driver front) including sharing videos of install via text. But they responded back anywhere with "we don't really do this kind of work" and "we have to go by the labor time logged in the computer which shows 5-6 hours." Quotes were outrageous and hover around $1800+ after tax, but the quote clearly shows removal of the LCA which is not needed and I assume that's the "5-6 hours of labor" that the computer spits out when keying in our make/model. I'm also torn whether to separately buy the RCF/GSF bushings because some shops won't install anything the the customer purchased; they'd have to buy it somewhere for liability purposes as part of the invoice. There was one shop that was 'willing' to get the car up on a lift for free to just look at what might be involved but they're booked out until late next week.

As much as I want to do this myself, I don't have the tools necessary so would prefer someone knowledgeable to do this and the main thing I'm trying to achieve here is mitigate the inner tire wear. I want to also take advantage of the current sale for the Conti DSW06's which I think ends on 6/30 and I'm planning to get replaced at Lexus. Would the dealer do this swap with an OEM part if I supplied it along with an alignment, since hopefully they'd be more familiar with what is actually needed?

Right now, I'm leaning toward just replacing my 8 year old stock (13.4K miles on them currently) Turanzas on my 2018 first that are getting visible inner wear on the fronts and get it the bushing swap done at a later time if this takes any longer to figure out. Maybe combined with the right tire pressure and harder compound of the Contis wear may be better without the LCA bushing upgrade to the RCF/GSF ones. Thoughts?

 

I know, it's tough. I had the same problem trying to find someone willing to install wheel spacers for me. Just friggin' wheel spacers! Eventually I realized I was barking up the wrong trees. Your typical certified mechanics and repair shops generally don't do "mods" or performance upgrades. You need to find shops that specialize in performance parts. Essentially, hobbyists who do cars for fun.

Change your mindset and search parameters. Ask around. Once I realized normal mechanics weren't going to be of any use (which is 99% of all car shops), the search got easier. For me, I eventually found through a coworker his group of friends, who own a garage and simply love cars and work on them for people after their day jobs. They started out modifying Porsche's but have recently gotten into Overlanding (turning crossovers into off-roading vehicles), but they'll generally do any work on any car, as long as it's not a super crazy project that's going to kill all their time. It's a super chill place. Now I feel I can go to them for any other future mods.

Once you find that place too you will want to keep modifying your car.

 

I had to laugh as I type this post. I literally just inquired with my local Lexus dealer who spoke with a "master technician" who also was the shop foreman and said replacing the new bushing assemblies wouldn't help with inner tire wear, when I provided the RCF/GSF part numbers. But, he said he was willing to do it for a generous $1600 including alignment and parts if I wanted to have it done.

He was quick to note as well that the inner tire wear was because of AWD, to which he could probably hear me roll my eyes.

@v8brah, yes you're right - this is becoming unnecessarily complicated for something that should be quick.

 

Unfortunately their ‘book’ is telling them to remove parts that don’t need to be removed. I didn’t time how long it took me to do it, but it wasn’t long, and that included going out to buy a bigger torque wrench.

 

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Sorry if this is a duplicate post, but for some reason it didn't save and the page timed out on me.

I'm going to plan to call around some more to see what folks can do, including calling my local Toyota dealership to see if this is bushing install is something they're willing to do if I supply them the parts (since I know they wouldn't be able to directly order). If nothing, I'll order the Contis and get Lexus to install them then deal with the bushing upgrade some other time I guess. My hope is that given the OEM Turanzas also wear quicker because of the soft compound, in conjunction with the stock bushings, the Contis would perform somewhat better at resisting wear. I'll also get an alignment after new tires are put on, but at a separate alignment shop - not Lexus.

As far as an alignment goes, I know the shops typically use the predefined factory ranges to get the alignment reading to show "green", but should I just request as close to possible 0 toe for both front and rears to prevent inner wear? Anything else?

EDIT: Just called Toyota and talked with a service advisor then described these bushings and the straightforward work that is involved. Despite me saying it's a direct replacement swap from the original bushing assemblies and that there'd not be any pressing required since the replacement upgrades have the rubber bushings pre-mounted, he said if the bolts are seized and they were unable to get the bushing off they'd have to remove the whole control arm then cited the labor involved. He also gave me a story of just recently replacing bushings and having to remove the control arms on a different vehicle so he told me many times "there is no way to remove the bushing without removing the control arm." We went in circles, so I thanked him and hung up.

 

I remember I too was quoted like 5 to 6 hours to get them installed. But since I am a very good friend with my mechanic, I walked him through how everything would work. Once he saw all of that, he realized the job was not as difficult as he thought it would be. I got them installed and the alignment too. Cost around $700.

 

I've been watching the various Youtube videos out there and found this one:
While not a 2018, it is a 2017 AWD model so I think it should be very similar in setup even though Figs were installed. While the guy used a torque wrench to loosen bolts (lol), this did confirm for me that the AWD model unlike the RWD model, doesn't have anything in the way and no pry bar or anything extra would be needed to swap out the stock bushings for the RCF/GSF ones. And this confirms that this really should not be a hard thing to do especially if a lift is used, but anyway.... I'll at some point get this upgraded.

Just wanted to bump the alignment question here - I'll plan to get my tires and alignment done at Lexus since they do the steering wheel calibration too (it's $289 for the full 4 wheel alignment and wheel calibration + cost of my tire install). Should I say anything to the service advisor to ensure happens as far as the alignment goes spec-wise for the best chance to minimize inner wear (i.e., front and rear toe as close to 0 as possible and equal on both sides?)

Thanks.

 

At the time I did mine, I didn’t know there was a difference between the installation for RWD and AWD, and got lucky with having an AWD, so the install was fairly simple. I didn’t bother trying to get a close to 0 reading for the toe, as the bushing itself mitigates the tire wear.
If you’re not doing it yourself, hope you find a shop that can understand it’s not a big deal to install them (they could do it in 30 minutes on a lift).

 

I'm wondering if the shops which you got a quote from are thinking they need to press out and press in the bushings.

I have a RWD and it definitely didn't take me 5 to 6 hours. If I were to guess, It took about 2 hours (if memory serves), mostly because I was being cautious. I didn't have a pry bar and used a breaker bar to wedge the arm up just a bit and it wasn't heavy. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 4 on the difficulty scale.

I really am surprised that these shops are quoting so much. I noticed your from Tennessee so I did a google search for " Tennessee Car Mod Shops Forums". The search came up with a forum in Tennessee for car enthusiasts. You may want to sign up and ask them for a shop recommendation. =visibleOnly&o=relevance]Search results for query: car mod shops | Tennessee Car Forums at TennSpeed

Hope this helps.

 

Cuh needs a suspension specialist, not a mechanic.

 

Appreciate it. Yeah, just as kj07xk said, it's because they type in "LCA bushing" in their computer to estimate the change and the default calculated labor comes to 5-6 hours because that includes removal of the control arms and pressing in bushings. This is despite the fact I've mentioned the process and even showed Youtube videos. They don't want to hear it.

I'll plan to get this done at some point, but for now, I'll get my new tires installed with an alignment directly afterward. Hopefully, with the harder compound/higher treadwear of Contis coupled with an alignment, perhaps the wear will be somewhat prolonged vs. the stock tires. I know the soft bushings themselves are the culprit though.

 

My local mechanic did mine and did a great job putting them on and aligning it. But a suspension specialist probably would be a better route.

 

My dealer installed mine a few years ago and charged me 1 hour labor. I think it was around $125

 

It's sad how drastically different and inconsistent dealers are in know-how, awareness of issues on certain platforms, etc.