New Strut Rods Installed

[Harky]

There is a tutorial on this...but I thought that this post may clarify things for some anyone considering this fix...

I bought repalecement strut rods (complete) from lexuspartsonline.com for $97ea. I chose this route rather than the bushings only cuz I've read that bushing replacements can be a hassle. For just a little more, I got the whole enchilada.

The job took me about 1-1/2hrs per side using standard hand tools. These suspension bolts are TIGHT and I needed a breaker bar extension (steel pipe) to get the leverage to break things loose and retighten them.

With the car up on jack stands under the frame (wheels hanging free)...

I had to remove the wheels (of course), calipers, and rotors...easy.

I removed the lower thru-bolt of each shock(strut) and the upper connection of the stabilizer link. There was no tendency of anything to spring loose... the suspension was pretty relaxed.

Remove thru bolt and short stub bolt holding the strut bracket to the lower control arm. Set it aside

Remove the nuts holding the strut bar to the control arm.

Place a jack under the wheel hub and carefully jack the hub to raise the control arm. This takes some of the load off the strut rod attachment bolts. Use a hammer to tap the strut rod out of the control arm (it's a snug fit).

Mark the alignment washers on the front of the strut bar for reassembly, then remove the thru bolt and pull the strut bar out.

The reverse of this process gets thing back together easily. When attaching the strut bar to the control arm, start the long bolt and tap the bar down a little, then use the jack under the hub to raise the hub, the strut rod will pop home as you raise the hub. (A couple of taps with the hammer may help a little.)

I also took this opportunity to replace the rotors with new Brembos. There was a little prep involved in that.

If I had to do it again, I could probably get it in an hour per side.

The existing bushings were pretty badly cracked and split. The car is 11yrs old and has 106K on the clock. It started clunking at about a year ago (90K) and just kept getting worse. Also, I noticed that the front end seemed loose and handling was a little vague...not bad, just different from the way it used to be.

All in all, not a difficult job...and the improvements in ride and handling were very satisfying.

So if you 95 and later guys are thinking about doing this...go for it!

[miamistyle]

Glad to see you did it yourself, and good job on the Brembo upgrades!