LS430 suspension!

The-Acre · March 13, 2019

As we all know, the concern for anyone with ageing air suspension is always there. I've been in contact with Strutmaster in the US and they've come back with a very tempting offer which I think I'll go for. When I bought my Celsior a rear shock had oil misting and the corner was a tad bouncy, so my thinking is if one was leaking the others may not be far behind. As the car is immaculate, and I plan to keep it, converting to conventional suspension seems to make sense. All in, with shipping it's £1,150. I reckon that's not bad, and that's with taxes paid up front.

cruisermark · March 13, 2019

Hi phil I don't understand why you are going through this extra expense when suspension failures are far and few between. You car is also low mileage which reduces the chance even further.

mine is on 140k plus and no signs of leaks or problems.

What happens if your car is written off??

messi · March 13, 2019

I wouldn't get anything from strutmaster. For some reason they get alot of orders completely wrong and I have heard they having got the correct struts for ls430 even though their website says they do

Why not just get get bc coilovers for £600 - £700?

The-Acre · March 13, 2019

6 hours ago, cruisermark said:

Hi phil I don't understand why you are going through this extra expense when suspension failures are far and few between. You car is also low mileage which reduces the chance even further.

mine is on 140k plus and no signs of leaks or problems.

What happens if your car is written off??

I understand what you're saying, and I may be doing the wrong thing, it's just peace of mind, but as you say, they don't fail often. It's going in to a trusted garage next week to have the suspension and steering joints and bushes thoroughly checked. I'm going to ask their opinion first. If they say there's any sign of wear I'll order the replacements straight away. If they say everything is solid and clean I'll think about it further.

The-Acre · March 13, 2019

2 hours ago, messi said:

I wouldn't get anything from strutmaster. For some reason they get alot of orders completely wrong and I have heard they having got the correct struts for ls430 even though their website says they do

Why not just get get bc coilovers for £600 - £700?

They asked me for my VIN so they can be sure the new struts are correct. Most coilovers seem to be Chinese, but Strutmaster are made in the US which gives me more confidence. They also make them specifically for the vehicle you request them for and claim they will sit at the right height without sagging after some time.

PJD · March 14, 2019

I rarely worry about the suspension on my 130k mile 2004 LS430 (touch wood!).

Why worry about things you can't control. I also don't see the point of downgrading a major component for peace of mind. Deal with it if/when it happens... which it probably won't :)

The-Acre · March 14, 2019

59 minutes ago, PJD said:

I rarely worry about the suspension on my 130k mile 2004 LS430 (touch wood!).

Why worry about things you can't control. I also don't see the point of downgrading a major component for peace of mind. Deal with it if/when it happens... which it probably won't 🙂

I guess it all comes back to the fact we hear only about the problems, so it plants a seed of doubt! I'll see what they find on Tuesday, if anything. If all is sound I may take everyone's advice and hold off for a bit, but if there's any hint of a pending problem I'll order the parts from the US. I suppose the good news is the fact that the conversion system is very affordable. Thanks all for your comments.

GrahamG · March 14, 2019

With these air struts you cannot assume when one fails that the others are also about to. Their service life seems to be any where from 60,000 miles to the lifetime of the car and their only good quality is that they can be renewed singly.

After reading the very mixed results on the USA club site of departing from Lexus suspension I would never take the risk with such a major component.

RgrWynne · March 14, 2019

37 minutes ago, GrahamG said:

With these air struts you cannot assume when one fails that the others are also about to. Their service life seems to be any where from 60,000 miles to the lifetime of the car and their only good quality is that they can be renewed singly.

After reading the very mixed results on the USA club site of departing from Lexus suspension I would never take the risk with such a major component.

Hi Graham, you are quite right, the air struts can be renewed singly, however I understand the recommendation from Lexus is that they should be done in pairs. I think that you only hear about the ones that fail, which tends to amplify the problem. Cheers, Roger

The-Acre · March 14, 2019

1 hour ago, RgrWynne said:

Hi Graham, you are quite right, the air struts can be renewed singly, however I understand the recommendation from Lexus is that they should be done in pairs. I think that you only hear about the ones that fail, which tends to amplify the problem. Cheers, Roger

As far as the rear goes it would probably make sense to replace in pairs as access is much more difficult. I'll see what Tuesday brings before decision making.

GrahamG · March 14, 2019

I would appreciate any clarification on this question of replacing air struts in pairs ie both on the same axle.

I know of individual struts being replaced singly by Lexus main agents so I am confused to hear that Lexus recommend renewal of pairs.

LexusPartsDirect · March 14, 2019

On 3/13/2019 at 2:15 PM, The-Acre said:

As we all know, the concern for anyone with ageing air suspension is always there. I've been in contact with Strutmaster in the US and they've come back with a very tempting offer which I think I'll go for. When I bought my Celsior a rear shock had oil misting and the corner was a tad bouncy, so my thinking is if one was leaking the others may not be far behind. As the car is immaculate, and I plan to keep it, converting to conventional suspension seems to make sense. All in, with shipping it's £1,150. I reckon that's not bad, and that's with taxes paid up front.

Hi I am completely new to this so be gently but why get them from the US, I can ask the guys in my Lexus team to find genuine ones for you if you like, We have a discount code for members as well plus we guarantee to beat main dealers.

Fill in this form and someone will price it all up for you, https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/contact-us-genuine-lexus-parts/

Better to compare - I would like to think we would beat the US price.

The-Acre · March 14, 2019

13 minutes ago, LexusPartsDirect said:

Hi I am completely new to this so be gently but why get them from the US, I can ask the guys in my Lexus team to find genuine ones for you if you like, We have a discount code for members as well plus we guarantee to beat main dealers.

Fill in this form and someone will price it all up for you, https://www.lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/contact-us-genuine-lexus-parts/

Better to compare - I would like to think we would beat the US price.

Are you referring to conventional coil struts rather than air? I did buy an air strut from you which is working fine, I'm just thinking ahead as I plan to keep the Celsior as long as possible. There's also the sensors on each corner to factor in to it, so doing away with air also removes the risk of them failing. Thanks for replying.

PS, when I said I bought an air strut from you I'm thinking of lexusspares direct, apologies!

LexusPartsDirect · March 14, 2019

4 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

Are you referring to conventional coil struts rather than air? I did buy an air strut from you which is working fine, I'm just thinking ahead as I plan to keep the Celsior as long as possible. There's also the sensors on each corner to factor in to it, so doing away with air also removes the risk of them failing. Thanks for replying.

PS, when I said I bought an air strut from you I'm thinking of lexusspares direct, apologies!

I was going to say my first post and they had already used us, that would have been amazing 😛

No worries, I will be monitoring this every day, So if you or anybody needs parts please let me know, I can't say it enough we beat main stealer prices 🙂

The-Acre · March 14, 2019

10 minutes ago, LexusPartsDirect said:

I was going to say my first post and they had already used us, that would have been amazing 😛

No worries, I will be monitoring this every day, So if you or anybody needs parts please let me know, I can't say it enough we beat main stealer prices 🙂

So let me just check this with you. Some LS430's in the US didn't have what they call the UL package, which meant that some had conventional suspension, as did some on the JDM. So are you able to supply/source those? Failing that, it's interesting to know you can beat main dealer prices.

LexusPartsDirect · March 14, 2019

20 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

So let me just check this with you. Some LS430's in the US didn't have what they call the UL package, which meant that some had conventional suspension, as did some on the JDM. So are you able to supply/source those? Failing that, it's interesting to know you can beat main dealer prices.

Our catalogues are limited to European specification models if you can provide us with the part number we will, of course, be more than happy to find out if they are available for ordering. After a brief glance at our catalogue, I can see that there was conventional coil-over-strut suspension available for EU models.

The-Acre · March 14, 2019

52 minutes ago, LexusPartsDirect said:

Our catalogues are limited to European specification models if you can provide us with the part number we will, of course, be more than happy to find out if they are available for ordering. After a brief glance at our catalogue, I can see that there was conventional coil-over-strut suspension available for EU models.

Interesting. I'm not sure how to find the part number though.

LexusPartsDirect · March 15, 2019

14 hours ago, The-Acre said:

Interesting. I'm not sure how to find the part number though.

Best thing if you have been in contact with the US is to ask them for the part number 😛

The-Acre · March 15, 2019

1 hour ago, LexusPartsDirect said:

Best thing if you have been in contact with the US is to ask them for the part number 😛

Hmm, I don't think they'll be too keen on providing that info, it's my money they want!

LexusPartsDirect · March 15, 2019

8 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

Hmm, I don't think they'll be too keen on providing that info, it's my money they want!

let me see what i can find out for you 🙂

ambermarine · March 17, 2019

Alan

The Lexus dealership parts guys are under instruction not to let out information that precludes them from a sale and if you are asking for part numbers that to them is a red flag.

The-Acre · March 17, 2019

2 hours ago, ambermarine said:

Alan

The Lexus dealership parts guys are under instruction not to let out information that precludes them from a sale and if you are asking for part numbers that to them is a red flag.

I've discovered that, they don't like giving info that won't benefit them!

steve2006 · March 17, 2019

Hi I’m back, been on an intensive 3 month training course and a 2 week Caribbean holiday to recover!

Based on the UCF31-AETQK C-JPN 3UZFE 6FC model the following part numbers apply for the air struts.

Fronts 48010-50130 both LH and RH.

Rear RH 48080-50130

Rear LH 48090-50130

All fairly priced at $1260.68 each!

The-Acre · March 17, 2019

On 3/17/2019 at 2:56 PM, steve2006 said:

Hi I’m back, been on an intensive 3 month training course and a 2 week Caribbean holiday to recover!

Based on the UCF31-AETQK C-JPN 3UZFE 6FC model the following part numbers apply for the air struts.

Fronts 48010-50130 both LH and RH.

Rear RH 48080-50130

Rear LH 48090-50130

All fairly priced at $1260.68 each!

There you are, we were getting worried, thinking you've deserted us! Any idea how I would find the part number for a complete coil spring assembly? I went with another member a few weeks ago to see the Celsior he bought which has conventional suspension, so we know it exists. His is a 2004 I think.

steve2006 · March 18, 2019

21 hours ago, The-Acre said:

There you are, we were getting worried, thinking you've deserted us! Any idea how I would find the part number for a complete coil spring assembly? I went with another member a few weeks ago to see the Celsior he bought which has conventional suspension, so we know it exists. His is a 2004 I think.

Sure I’ll look up the part numbers.