Gumart1 Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 After looking at several options regarding my failing air ride on my high mileage 91LS, I decided from a financial standpoint that it was better to buy a conversion kit with a lifetime warranty vs. buying replacement air ride components. Not only does my car have little resale value with high miles, but I don't drive enough miles in a year to warrant spending the $ on air, especially when it will deteriorate from age even without driving. But I was conflicted because I didn't want to give up the smooth handling of the air struts. The drawback for me until now was that the conversion kit manufacturers used KYB struts and compared the ride to a '96 Maxima, not exactly the ride I wanted for my Lexus. Several members have successfully converted but most admit the ride is firmer. Finally, after talking to Arnott Industries, who sells the rebuilt air suspension components, I learned that they are just starting to offer their own conversion kit, that is said to ride at least AS SMOOTH as the existing air ride on the Lexus. What I was informed was that they "personally designed a new shock with the dampening valve similar to the air suspension shocks. The coil springs are manufactured by one of the largest spring companies here in the US". This plus a lifetime warranty as long as I own the car was pretty appealing. I just ordered over the weekend and should have them by the end of the week. $699 plus a $50 rebate for sending the old cores back prepaid. They come already compressed in the springs so I plan to do the install myself. If I'm feeling handy, I will try to take pics of the process and post them. I know that there is already a tutorial for the Strutmasters kit. I'm really excited about the prospects of keeping the qualities of the air ride without the hassles of the air component failures. Will give an update as soon as I can move my fingers again in sub-zero Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prix Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Good info, gumart. If I'd known about this before replacing a few air shocks, I may have gone this route instead. Plse. post a follow-up so we know how these stack up against the air shock rides. After looking at several options regarding my failing air ride on my high mileage 91LS, I decided from a financial standpoint that it was better to buy a conversion kit with a lifetime warranty vs. buying replacement air ride components. Not only does my car have little resale value with high miles, but I don't drive enough miles in a year to warrant spending the $ on air, especially when it will deteriorate from age even without driving. But I was conflicted because I didn't want to give up the smooth handling of the air struts.The drawback for me until now was that the conversion kit manufacturers used KYB struts and compared the ride to a '96 Maxima, not exactly the ride I wanted for my Lexus. Several members have successfully converted but most admit the ride is firmer. Finally, after talking to Arnott Industries, who sells the rebuilt air suspension components, I learned that they are just starting to offer their own conversion kit, that is said to ride at least AS SMOOTH as the existing air ride on the Lexus. What I was informed was that they "personally designed a new shock with the dampening valve similar to the air suspension shocks. The coil springs are manufactured by one of the largest spring companies here in the US". This plus a lifetime warranty as long as I own the car was pretty appealing. I just ordered over the weekend and should have them by the end of the week. $699 plus a $50 rebate for sending the old cores back prepaid. They come already compressed in the springs so I plan to do the install myself. If I'm feeling handy, I will try to take pics of the process and post them. I know that there is already a tutorial for the Strutmasters kit. I'm really excited about the prospects of keeping the qualities of the air ride without the hassles of the air component failures. Will give an update as soon as I can move my fingers again in sub-zero Chicago. ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dole2000 Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 Gumart 1 how did the job go? I have a 91 with 228K and I get the feeling that I might have to do something. I wonder how your conversion went. I would prefer to do it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lextreme Posted April 17, 2006 Share Posted April 17, 2006 How long is the down time? For the price its very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gumart1 Posted April 18, 2006 Author Share Posted April 18, 2006 I just finished everything up over the weekend, and I can report that the suspension work made a huge difference, as expected, because I bit the bullet and replaced the majority of the front end along with the air ride conversion. No more creaks or rattles and the front end is like new with 253k miles! Along with the Arnott conversion kit, I changed the lower control arm bushings (OEM), upper control arm bushings (Daizen), stabilizer links (OEM from Drivewire, about $55 for both shipped!), stabilizer bar bushings (OEM), and stabiler bar cushions (OEM, not cheap). My advice is, if you plan to keep the car for any length of time, if you like to do the work yourself to save $, have higher mileage and know that these parts haven't been changed before, to do them all at once. Some of these parts like stabilizer bar bushings may look OK, but people have reported that changing them fixed their problems regardless. They may be cracked and brittle but difficult to spot. I highly recommend the Lexus Repair Manuals which were very helpful here. Lexls.com also has great tutorials on most of the front end. One thing I would not do if I were to change the rubber bushings is to burn them out. I had a great time making a fire, but in the end I still couldn't get the outermost metal sleeves out of the arms, so I ended up finding an engine rebuilding shop to press them out and press the new lowers in. My total cost was $54 for the labor and it was worth it compared to the price of one new upper control arm ($300+). I lubed every inch of the upper bushings, and I do not have any squeeks, for awhile at least. Most of the conversion to the Arnott struts was very easy. I took my time while I worked on the bushings so I did it over the course of a week. If you are just converting the struts it can be done in a day easily. The rear was a PITA because you have to remove the seats and some of the rear trim. The new struts come already assembled and the springs are already on, so the whole job is really just just getting to the old ones. You will also remove the old actuators and air tubes. The one disappointment with the Arnott kit is that there are no instructions, but again if you have the repair manuals you will be fine. Arnott claims that their conversion kit has a damping force that will mimic the soft air ride. Unfortunately I am not able to confirm this for sure because at the same time I replaced my upper control arm bushings with polyurethane, and my ride is definitely stiffer than before I converted. But my true feeling is that I lost some of the smoothness of the air shocks. It's still an excellent ride overall, and I'm happy I converted. Now I have all new parts including springs and strut mount cushions. I think Arnott has them on E-Bay for $599 now, that's a steal for all 4. I was pretty scared to take that test drive, but I was so relieved when I drove off and didn't hear a peep. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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