shouldibuy

I'm in the middle of replacing all my struts and various other suspension components, and I noticed when transferring the springs from the old struts to new that the old struts seem much stiffer than the new. All four of the new KYB struts are slower to extend than the old/original struts. I've replaced shocks before, and strut assemblies, but never struts within assemblies like this. So I just figured, huh, what do I know? But I can't help but wonder why these seem so much softer. The time they take to return after being pressed in is basically the same on all four struts, just as it's faster on all four of the old ones.

Has anyone else noticed this? The old struts are marked KYB as well, but also say Toyota and have a Toyota part number.

I'm replacing them because the car was dipping a bit when braking, and it looked like both of the rear struts were leaking. Though I'm not sure if they are now that they're off the car.

Johnhav430

If it were me, I would go OE. I know that KYB has a good name, but I was not impressed when I used KYB on my Maxima. In my mind I thought the ride would be restored, instead it was degraded....the reason for replacement in the first place was torn boots and leaking. Yet the ride was even worse once the front struts and rear shocks were replaced by me. I would hate for that to happen on the LS430....just my one-time and only experience with KYB.

p.s. KYB may be OEM based on what you observe. But the Japanese cars don't seem to allow for direct comparison, like the Germans, where you can buy the identical OEM part and save money, and know it's identical....with Japan it seems to be guessing...

StanVanDam

I haven't been in your situation, but I would go with OEM if I was. I would venture that KYB makes hundreds of different spec struts for hundreds of different cars, and likely different ones for the same car (e.g. LS430 sport package vs LS430 non-sport package vs LS430 aftermarket). The specifications and characteristics of an aftermarket strut is not likely going to same as OEM, so you cannot expect the same ride.

coolsaber

If your budget allows for it and you want the longest life get the OE part from Lexus/Toyo


These vehicles are getting up there age, and most go for the KYB. They are probably the OEM, and probably the closest. No one really knows how Toyo speced their own struts, but the closest is that without breaking the bank. Due note that if there are other issues or wear that you dont replace, dont expect miracles.

Then you have everything aftermarket which is probably going to range from amazing to crap at diff price points.

Romanova

If you have money to blow, then go OEM. Plenty of us have used KYB replacements without any issues. I wasn't about to spend $430-ish for two rear struts when they(KYB) were only $216 from Amazon.

shouldibuy

Did you notice the difference I mentioned, between old and new? They struts are assembled, and three of four are installed in the car. But I'm still wondering why they seem softer than the old.

Romanova

Didn't seem any softer to me at all, seemed to mirror OEM performance. My left rear had a blown seal, though it still seemed to function fine when I removed it and took the spring off. Having used KYB on numerous other applications in the past, I had no qualms about using them again and will certainly use them when I get ready to replace the fronts on my LS.

shouldibuy

Just a quick update:

The new struts are in. In spite of the fact that they were much slower to extend after being compressed compared to the struts I took off the car, the ride is indeed firmer. More rattles in the car, more bumps felt. So I'm perplexed with regard to the difference between new and old that I noticed with the struts out of the car--but I don't have a lot of experience with suspension work, so I guess I don't quite know what I was expecting. But the performance seems good, and it seems like all the parts I installed are staying where they should.

coolsaber

Normal, give it a couple of miles, and slowly the stiffness goes away and it settles

Thecar

I was interested to see whether you could give a further update on these shocks, as I am considering buying KYB as well.

Thanks!

shouldibuy

The rattles went down, and they seemed to soften up as well. Overall, the car feels good. I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again.

BUT!... Don't forget to swap the bump stops from the original mounts/boots if you're doing it yourself. I reused the read mounts but replaced the front, and neglected to swap the bump stops because I didn't see them.

Thecar

Awesome, thanks for the info.

weldthedif

My experience with KYB is they last for about 15-20k miles before they are shot. they are cheap for a reason, go OEM

Ellesse

Kyb is the oe manufacturer though, toyota doesnt make their own struts/shocks

bbtri

The reason the old struts expand faster than the new is that the old ones still hold the gas pressure but the damping is degraded so the gas pressure is pushing against less resistance. The new struts have the full damping intact so they extend slower.
My experience with aftermarket struts has been good, they just last 80,000 miles rather than the 100K I would expect from OEM.