My newly slammed Celsior

[steve2006]

I left the Celsior at a hotel near to East Midlands airport whilst on holiday and came back to a very slammed rear end. 

On the near side I could just get my fingers between the tyre and arch but the offside was so low there was no gap at all.

Got the AA out and discovered that the offside spring had broken and slipped over the bottom mounting.

No other option but a rear lift tow back home, the AA have some clever little devices which they fit around the damper/shock absorber to stop the suspension from bottoming out completely during transportation.

2 new KYB springs ordered, job doesn't look too bad but mine has the TEMS so may be a bit more involved, can't grumble with 23 years old springs and UK roads.

[steveledzep]

Lovely car.  Pleased you have a solution.

[TigerFish]

Nice easy fix at least. Although my Merc looks worse than that each morning when I go out to it.... lol


Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

[Malc]

Steve, was the car actually hit by another or did the springs just collapse through exhaustion and old age ?

Malc

[steve2006]

45 minutes ago, Malc said:

Steve, was the car actually hit by another or did the springs just collapse through exhaustion and old age ?

Malc

Interesting you should mention this Malcolm as there is a new scratch on the offside rear quarter panel and the corner of the bumper, I always hand wash the car so you tend to notice new marks and defects.

Admittedly these cars tend to take more than the standard hotel provided space but looks like some ****** without a care or indeed conscience and probably no insurance decided it was a good target.

This is the broken bottom section of the offside spring, the other was discovered to be intact but nearly fully compressed due to all the weight being on it but given the price of the replacement springs I'll replace both sides as recommended.

 

[Bluesman]

What a real pain to come back to after your holidays.

[GrahamG]

How clever of a 1995 Lexus to have TEMS.

According to Wikipedia this is a special microscope with instruments designed to allow operations through the anus.

Presumably fitted for you to try on the a******e who hit you.

[dendonc]

10 hours ago, steve2006 said:

looks like some ****** without a care or indeed conscience and probably no insurance decided it was a good target.

....oh yea, I know who you mean....he must have been in for red salmon & they had run out on him.........he is always on 'the awkward' side....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB02OytOaNU

[steve2006]

The strut with the broken spring is out and now stripped down, it actually takes longer to remove the rear seat and parcel shelf!

This is TEMS strut so has the wiring which controls valves inside to vary the damping, the connector took a bit of working out as it has 3 pieces to enable the top mount nut to pass over it.

Bushings and mounts are all reuseable even after 23 years.

[Newbie1]

Great to know about the mounts. Often wondered if I need to get some as part of a suspension refresh. TEMs shocks look to be in amazing condition for their age. Piezo seem to last better than the TEMs air shocks.

 

[steve2006]

The springs arrived as promised yesterday (KYB Proflex) so I would assume OEM quality but my local garage couldn't fit it onto the strut until today.

Bit of a squeeze but managed to get it back with just the drop link disconnected and a bit of pushing and shoving so back on the road again.

Going to get the garage to fit the other when it's in for an MOT in a couple of weeks, my days of greasy hands and dirty fingernails are coming to an end these days.