2006 GS300 Rear Shock Absorbers on 2006 GS-450H?

[Sami Tilander]

13 hours ago, ZXSpectrum said:

I believe they would fit directly to the OEM mounting points as it looks like its a complete replacement for the Shock/Spring/Top mounts.

I can confirm this. They bolt directly to the shell... I've not noticed any difference on the road noise. Very silent car (except when the rear bearing was gone)

BR.Sami

[steve2006]

The part from Lexus apparently comes with all the other associated bits as shown not just the damper unit.

[PCGuru]

Sorry Steve, but no it doesn't. It's the bare damper strut.

I bit the bullet and ordered a pair at the cost of £287 ish each. The morning after the night before, the price has risen to £320 each, on the orders of Lexus HQ.

How they can justify the cost for these parts is beyond me.

My local independent charged me 5 hrs labour plus Vat to fit them, and I have to taken their word that it took that long. "Seized bolts", apparently.

It has made a positive difference to the car, mind. The osr is definitely goosed. I can't get it to move at all & there's definate evidence of leakage, whilst the her is in much better condition, if anyone wants to buy it! They are the same part for both sides.

Had tyres rotated, balanced and tracking done today, ahead of our trip from Manchester to Cornwall on Saturday, for a week of socially distanced and facemasked r & r!

[ZXSpectrum]

Just to bump this as i am looking to get them replaced. 

Has anyone done this yet? KYB Rear shocks for GS300 are currently £150 a pair from a company on eBay. I have seen the video of the guy that replaced the front ones with GS300 struts and went straight in with no issues. 

I dont mean to seem as if i am penny pinching but currently i dont have the money to spend on 2 x £300+ each when i can get a full set and replace front disks and pads at the same price for similar money. 

I am just trying to get the car running and driving a little better (And pass its MOT in Sept) for a little while until i can afford to replace the car. 

Thanks for any help anyone can offer. 

[ZXSpectrum]

After finally getting my car back i can update this thread.. 

The KYB GS300 shocks fit on the GS450h with no issues and no noticeable difference to the drive of the car whatsoever. I had all 4 replaced and cost me £100 more than just one OEM GS450h front shock. The motors on the top of the struts to adjust dampening have just been tied out of the way. 

[ZXSpectrum]

On 12/20/2021 at 5:06 PM, ZXSpectrum said:

After finally getting my car back i can update this thread.. 

The KYB GS300 shocks fit on the GS450h with no issues and no noticeable difference to the drive of the car whatsoever. I had all 4 replaced and cost me £100 more than just one OEM GS450h front shock. The motors on the top of the struts to adjust dampening have just been tied out of the way. 

I thought I would update this thread as I have had the shocks on the car for about 6 months now. 
 

After initially driving the car back and around for a little while I posted my original update and the view was what I thought at the time. Right now after the weather getting a little better and me driving more over the last few months my opinion has changed a little. The car still runs and drives fine however the car does feel a little rougher on the ****ty U.K. roads. When you drive on a nice smooth bit of tarmac it’s as nice to drive as it used to be but if the road is anyway slightly rougher than that the ride does suffer a little. I am guessing that it’s as some other people on this forum and the Lexus US forum speculated that the springs that are on the 450h are stiffer which is causing the slight roughness on anything but a smooth road. I would compare it to installing stiffer lowering springs but not changing the shocks. I really do comparatively low mileage (less than 4K a year) and as my drive to and from work is in traffic so it’s not being throw into corners or driven hard and wasn’t with the original shocks so I could t really comment on performance driving. 
 

In short I would recommend the swap if you are ok with the reduction in comfort as a trade off for getting your car back on the road for a little more than a quarter of the price of a new set especially if they fail an MOT. I have had the tracking done and it was a fair bit out but that did have little effect. I was also considering replacing the gaskets and maybe the top hats on the shocks but I may be “upgrading” the car in the future so I can live with it. 
 

I still have the original shocks and would actually be interested in getting them refurbished and refitted but after  a little search I have struggled to find a reliable company in the U.K. that can  do this for me so if anyone has done this or knows a company that undertakes this kind of work I would be happy to look into this further. 
 

I guess another avenue I could explore would be a complete coilover kit such as TEIN flex Z or BC Racing which both are about 800 a set but I am not sure if that will revert the ride quality to original or better or if I want to spend that sort of money on a car I might be getting rid of soon after already spending a few grand in the last year on the work it had done on the engine and batteries. 
 

I hope this gives a little insight into this swap for anyone that is interested.