Just Replaced Struts.

[Sexus ES300]

Just replaced the struts on my 98 es 300 and WOW it rides very smooth and i dont have that annoying !Removed! clunking noise anymore.

its a fairly easy diy, i bought all the parts from advance auto parts (besides the top half upper mount and the bearings from autozone, btw bearings are included with the top half) all Monroe (had to order some through advance but they arrived in two days).

Instructions: http://www.turboninjas.com/camry/sa.pdf Page 50 (it leaves out the tie rod looking thing btw)

jack up the car

remove the wheels

remove the clip that holds the abs sensor

remove the bolt that holds the brake line and the abs sensor

remove the bolt on the strut that looks like a tie rod(need a screw driver with a hex head and an open end wrench)

remove the two big !Removed! bolts from the strut (takes a good bit of force)

remove the three bolts under the hood that connect to the top of the strut

pull the strut out.

compress the spring (advance was kind enough to let me use their little shop that had the tool and an impact wrench)

remove the top bolt that holds the spring and take off the spring.

put the new rubber coil spring insulator on the new strut

put bumper and boot on the new strut

put the compressed spring on the new strut

put a new upper mount/bearing holder with a rubber mount

put a new upper mount w/ bearing on top on the other part of the upper mount

screw the bolt to the strut

make sure the lines line up on both parts of the upper mount facing outwards (away from the car)

decompress the spring

remount and rebolt all the stuff and your finished. didnt take me long after i figured out how to do it.

Tips mark the old struts left and right so you know which mounts and springs to do

Do one at a time you dont want to confuse the two

make sure the arrows/lines line up together and face outwards

make sure the bearing between the upper mounts stays in place when decompressing

Heres the parts links:

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wc...MS_977409282___

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wc...MS_977402575___

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wc...S_1110300339___

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wc...S_1160310127___

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wc...S_1014687040___

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wc...MS_406954666___

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/p...p;parentId=46-0

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/p...p;parentId=46-0

advance forgot to order the other half of the upper mount so i want to auto zone( price was higher)

btw the other half what im talking about isnt on the advance website so if you go in to get it specifically ask for it

Actual parts list:

Strut front left $57.59

Strut front right $57.59

Boot kit with bumper x2: $28

Upper mount plate/bearing holder and rubber spring insulator x 2: $28

Lower Spring Insulator (right) $15

Lower Spring Insulator (left) $15

Upper mount plate with bearing (top half of upper mount) left $78

Upper mount plate with bearing (top half of upper mount) right $78

With a grand total w/out tax: $357.18

If you can find bearings you can discard the expensive upper mounts (top half) which would reduce the cost significantly

The names for some of the stuff is probably not accurate but the links should help

Sorry for the long write up and not including pictures (i forgot).

Id be happy to help anyone with the replacement just post here for any questions

[tomf]

Good job on the replacement. However, with all the parts that you replaced I would recommend using Monroe quick struts. The whole assembly is new, fully assembled. I replaced my front struts for $270 plus saved a boatload of time. I just dropped out the old assembly and installed the new ones. The reason I choose the quick struts was that I wanted to replace the struts and the mounts. The cost was the same for both.

[Sexus ES300]

I considered that but my springs were fine and the cost was slightly more with the quick struts. It only took about an hour to put the springs on the new struts so it wasnt bad, but yes that would be alot easier with the quick struts.

Do you mind posting a link to the quick struts for this model so people can locate them easier.

[tomf]

For a 1999 ES300, Just go to Amazon and search for "Monroe 171679 Sensa-Trac Struts and Cartridge". That's front left. And "Monroe 171678 Sensa-Trac Struts and Cartridge" for front right. Use their compatibility feature right on the page to see if it fits you car. I went with another vendor listed under "more buying choices." considerably less expensive.