amcdonal86 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Can anyone tell me the difference between struts, shocks and strut bars? And what does the front suspension of the LS400 have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenmore Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 You can go to trademotion.com and see the exploded parts diagram for your year and model. Looks similar to my 1990 with shocks inside the coil springs and a strut bar. There are all sorts of parts to renew here, bumper, insulator, maybe even shock mount when changing shocks. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amcdonal86 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 trade motion.com doesn't work for me. :( "Directory Listing Denied This Virtual Directory does not allow contents to be listed." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenmore Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Sorry. http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...m?siteid=213808 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amcdonal86 Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 So from what I gather, struts and strut rods are the same thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenmore Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 This may or may not be technically correct but I think of it this way. The shock absorber is the hydraulic damping piston that sits pretty much vertical (in this case, inside the spring). Sometimes the term strut refers to the entire unit of the shock absorber and spring (and in this case the bumper and insulator). When you change shocks in this car you pull the whole thing out as a unit. This is different in my older Mercedes, where the front shocks sit along side the spring. The strut rods are a different part and lay sort of horizontal from the front wheel to the front cross member. Some year models, you can just change the bushing in the strut rod, making it less expensive. In my 1990, you have to buy 2 whole new units. 1990 LS400 1991 300E 2000 C280 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzHotLS Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 A strut bar is also a device that mounts on the top of each strut tower in the engine compartment connecting the two to give additional strength/stability when cornering at high speeds. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400-foru...-brace-bar.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killerFatty Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 According to CL, http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400-foru...race-bar-2.html (about half way down the page) the 93-98 supra mkIV TT strut brace would drop straight in to the 90-94 LS. Is that true, has anyone done it? Would the gain be worth the price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amcdonal86 Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 This may or may not be technically correct but I think of it this way. The shock absorber is the hydraulic damping piston that sits pretty much vertical (in this case, inside the spring). Sometimes the term strut refers to the entire unit of the shock absorber and spring (and in this case the bumper and insulator). When you change shocks in this car you pull the whole thing out as a unit. This is different in my older Mercedes, where the front shocks sit along side the spring. The strut rods are a different part and lay sort of horizontal from the front wheel to the front cross member. Some year models, you can just change the bushing in the strut rod, making it less expensive. In my 1990, you have to buy 2 whole new units.1990 LS400 1991 300E 2000 C280 Thanks for this info. I guess strut is really ambiguous--as I had suspected! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenmore Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 To see what a strut rod looks like go to the trademotion link above. Enter your year and model, 1997 LS400. Click "Front suspension", then the first "Suspension components", then "strut rod", then "View illustration". Part #12 is the strut rod. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 MBZ 300CE 2000 MBZ C280 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzHotLS Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 His "other" thread has pics so I think he's taken care of. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=54323 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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