LS430 Anyone here converted to springs?

[CDB1984]

I have just taken delivery of a set OEM shocks and springs from the USA to replace my utterly terrible K sport coilovers. Having suffered the appalling ride and bottoming out rear shocks due to totally the wrong spring rate for close to 80k miles enough was enough.

My questions is does anyone have any pictures showing the OEM ride height on standard shocks and springs? Its been 2 years since the OEM air suspension died so can't really remember how it sat (very high at the back and low at the front from memory)

I like the way my car looks and wouldn't want too much of a height increase as I feel it would look rather silly.  The car actually looks a lot lower than it is in reality Never seems to make contact with the ground even on the unpaved roads surrounding our house and would like to keep it looking as close as possible to how it looks now. 

Lowering springs can be ordered and have them installed along with the new shocks to save doing the job twice however I was wondering if I could "get away" with simply installing the standard setup. (Springs would have to come from Japan via Nengun where shipping costs more than the item you buy)

 

 

[The-Acre]

I've considered this in the past but I came to the conclusion I would probably stick with air if a problem should arise.  The normal position is actually the opposite to what you remember with the front always looking a lot higher than the rear.  On mine the height at normal setting is 28" from the ground at the centre of the wheel to the wheel arch and 28.5" at the front. 

If I should ever decide that a conventional setup is the way to go I would, after much research, buy from Strutmaster in the US as they make them specifically for each car. With delivery and prepaid taxes it still works out at only about £1,100 for the set including delivery and taxes. It's a personal thing of course but I prefer the LS to sit at the original height. 

[BigBoomer]

Plenty of images on Google. Just search for "LS430 side" and click on Images.

I also prefer the air shocks.
If you buy new Lexus parts then air suspension is stupidly expensive to repair, but there are plenty of used parts available so I'll stick with air thanks. 😁

[CDB1984]

Thank you for your reply, I will get the measuring tape out and double check 🙂 

As for suspension I have gone for OEM Kayaba Shock absorbers and Springs from amazon.com ($750 delivered) and OEM springs. The non ultra luxury LS430's in the states all got normal steel springs. We only got the air system in Europe 😞 

Front Part number for the shock is 48510-59805  + Top Mount 48680-50110

Rears are 48530-59845 and 48755-50100

I think I will just install what I have and then see.

 

I wanted to double check what the ride height is on conventional factory springs as opposed to air. My air suspension is long gone.

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, CDB1984 said:

Thank you for your reply, I will get the measuring tape out and double check 🙂 

As for suspension I have gone for OEM Kayaba Shock absorbers and Springs from Amazon.com ($750 delivered) and OEM springs. The non ultra luxury LS430's in the states all got normal steel springs. We only got the air system in Europe 😞 

Front Part number for the shock is 48510-59805  + Top Mount 48680-50110

Rears are 48530-59845 and 48755-50100

I think I will just install what I have and then see.

 

I wanted to double check what the ride height is on conventional factory springs as opposed to air. My air suspension is long gone.

When I checked with strutmaster they said their struts would make the car sit at factory level so I'm assuming both air and coils would both sit the same from the factory.

[Newbie1]

On the LS400 factory coil and air have different ride heights, camber, toe etc.

[CDB1984]

Just in case anyone is interested in converting to springs. I installed the Touringtech struts from the USA ($560 USD landed) The car looked comically high with a similar arch gap to our Volvo XC90. It looked utterly ridiculous in fairness.

eBay.com item number 291818943480

Normally I would have preferred to go with the OEM spec KYB shocks however these came in at such a good price it was hard to overlook. Especially given they came with the top mounts too. They are allegedly made in the states and and seem to be quite nicely made.  

Ride quality was very similar to the OEM air system. 

Ordered a set of RS-R Down Springs from Japan Used - 150GBP including delivery. (Delivery cost more than the part however these usually retail for around 300 USD new) Ride quality is ever so slightly stiffer however the car still corners nice and flat similar to how it did on coilovers  but without any harshness. (Think e38 BMW levels of comfort for those who have driven an older 7 series or 5 series)

When I removed the coilovers I also found the problem - It looks like they sent the wrong ones for the car and I've been riding around on is300 coilovers for the last 65k miles. Still my wife managed to sell them for 400 GBP so recouped quite a lot of the money spent on the new shocks and springs. (She is a lot more thrifty than myself and sells pretty much anything we have finished with 🙂 )

Picture below of how she sits now.  (Excuse the state of the driveway still waiting for 30 tonnes of gravel to be delivered once the temperature drops below 30c)

Overall I am very happy with how this has turned out.  - Replacement exhaust next 😞