Leaderboard

Hi all, I've been investigating alternatives to purchasing air shocks/struts/bags individually from Lexus at between £700-800 each! Now I've found many suppliers of components but no-one that makes an aftermarket unit or it's constituent components specifically for the RX. Ideally, I'd like to get a failed sacrificial unit to strip down, measure the air bag and shock damper to see if I can contact good suppliers directly (Dunlop, Bridgestone, KYB etc.) and hopefully make a DIY refurb guide. Unfortunately I'm not made of money but would be willing to buy a failed rear unit if anyone has one in their garage? From what I can ascertain, the front units are different air bag "types" to the so there would have to be 2 guides. On a positive note, many people state the system is scary and complicated - before my research started I would have been inclined to agree but the more I learn, the more I see how simple the setups are! The big problems are lack of decent RX information and suppliers. Full aftermarket air strut kits (ie: 2 x Front, 2 x Rear units) for the RX are available at £1200 BUT before leaping into the unknown, I'd like to see if a refurb of the Lexus/Toyota parts are possible to keep things as stock as is possible. If anyone can provide further info, ie: front and rear air bag dimensions, types and if at all possible the original manufacturer (as Toyota/Lexus don't make air bags!) then that would be really useful. Thanks all, Chris

Just picked up a nice S type R, keeping the is300 as the second car and probably will still be the most reliable but hell man, these type r's are fast hehe

Winter reaches Fife very early

Welcome to the LOC,feel free to post up some pictures doesn't matter if you don't we'll still speak to you :)

Sometimes its just better to learn by your mistakes and cut your losses - not saying that it makes anything better but consider the hassle / stress you are going through..... it may be better to just accept it happened - learn the lesson in this case and move on to repair the car yourself. I have learned that what goes around comes around. If its a daily runner then it would make sense to get it done asap You will need to face the guy at some point if you take it to him to repair - would you trust him to do a satisfactory job, I wouldn't

Spotted at the Super Weekend Torquay,last Saturday. V8 5.0 450+ bhp And the colour B) the grill im not sure about yet

Hi. Just an update for anyone who is interested. I had a Olympian hoist put in my RX 400h and it is great. No trouble with battery drain. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Here are the replacement new parts (also includes the "cable ties" that secures the big rubber/plastic accordion style over dirt/dust boot/shield)...

So, after many hours over a few weeks, I've found the following pics on a Russian website (2drive(blocked word), I believe). The following are the only pictures of air struts I have been able to find to show the anatomy of the components. Toyota will sell (as separate items) the two rubber components that fail/perish over time and miles, a rubber "cover" and a "rolling sleeve diaphragm" both parts sourced together are approx £150 per corner. There was a lot of debate about how to affix the replace the rubbers as it appears the lower (and possibly upper) ends of the rubber sleeve are crimped and/or bonded onto the strut itself. Unfortunately comrades, my Russian sucks!! Here are the pics (most likely for the first time on an English/US website!):

Obviousl speeling error....should read "down graded" :)

Ok thanks for the heads up i will wait :P :D

My best mates looking to buy an rcf very soon, the prices really do vary depending on which dealership you go to. in January when they first arrived in UK they were 60k upwards Lexus Nottingham have currently got one for 51k (brand new) fully loaded Mark levinson etc. he's constantly talking to Lexus and they've just thrown a spanner in the works by telling him there's a twin turbo version coming out next year and that the current rcf is only the Very beginning,

Does he have any idea what hes getting himself into !!

saw the same ad, had exactly the same thought

Check out Mytyres for aftermarket alloys, I bought a set for my Mk1......17", perfect for the job, discrete 5 spoke and they are made in Germany and come with a TUV cert.

Fair enough - guess my car is noisy enough now anyway with the exhaust fitted that I don't notice any road noise at all. Drowns out the wife as well which aint a bad thing !! She's is not on the forum or reads it !!

I also agree that Ian Duncan Smith should take up fishing and maybe a game of bingo every fortnight rather than sitting in Westminster. I seem to have open a can of worms here, I didn't start this topic to have a discussion about who's wrong or right. Maybe it's best if admin deletes this topic and we all continue to post about the many, many faults of the Lexus Ls :)

I think all air setups will wear over time (just like normal shocks & springs) but have more components and most bits are very expensive to replace. I think trouble is most mechanics, including the Lex dealers, are a bit clueless when it comes to fault finding air suspension issues and like to replace multiple bits hoping to eventually stumble across the failed part at some point (or until customer can't afford the "fault finding" process any more!) I know mine is currently giving message c1751 in an error code which means something like "compressor circuit continuous current". So, let's swap out the air compressor for £1300, eh? Simple fix or so it would seem? When I reset the code, the compressor and solenoids work fine! Odd that! So, what could the cause be then? When looking at each air strut, I had one that loses air almost as quick as it is put in by the compressor (most likely a split/tear in the air bag on the strut now it's 12yrs old and 108k miles use). This causes the air compressor to be run longer than it's programmed "safe" value of 99seconds (to protect it from overheating and breaking, good job when they are that expensive!) and log the c1751 error. The suspension computer then disables the air system for 10 mins or 3 engine starts, warm ups and then shut downs, before re-enabling the system to see if the fault remains (weird terrain and other issues may have caused the error rather than something breaking/wearing out). If the fault persists, the air system is then disabled for 70mins of continuous driving or another 3 start/warm up/shutdown cycles. As all of my struts are not currently holding the air pumped into them, the compressor doesn't get a signal from each wheel height controller to the compressor saying "I have enough air thanks, I don't need any more, you can turn off now", the poor compressor stays on until the computer freaks out at the 99 second count and shuts it off. My current frustration is sourcing replacement air bags for the struts. A £100 repair for almost all air suspension cars except my RX as Lex will only sell the whole strut (which includes strut tower, shock absorber and air bag) for £600-800 depending whether front or rear (fronts cost more)... I haven't found out who makes the bag component for Lexus struts so can't source a replacement that way (yet, maybe!) but a lot of household name companies (Bridgestone, Dunlop, Firestone etc) make air bags... The above also holds true if your air bags are fine and a shock absorber has failed (leading to ride problems) - the shock absorber cartridge or whatever you call it on a normal car setup would just be replaced for a few quid, but on the air suspension the KYB shock part/model is not listed, so you've guessed it, gotta replace the whole air strut! (Hey, at least I know KYB make it, so there is some hope!!) Sorry if I have bored you all! Chris.

Yeah, I have seen only a couple on eBay at the moment £250-350 but some look very scabby for the money and as most are getting to 8-10 yrs old, I'm sure they wouldn't last long fitted to an RX as a replacement. Also have the air holes to the bags open to the elements will be letting damp air in which is a bad thing from what I have learnt. I keep making offers upto £50 in the hope one of the sellers gets fed up advertising/holding out for big money. As soon as I have news I'll be on here to keep you all up to date! On another positive note, I've been designing a new housing (mainly replicating the Lexus part) for the height sensors so they can be "printed" using a 3D printer :) This should bring the price of a replacement down to £50 each or lower!

Well at last i have had time to get moving on the 1JZ conversion. Been working so much over the holidays i havent had anytime to get up to the garage (RB tuning) to start work. Ross who owns RB tuning had already drained all oils and taken rad out so got the aircon rad out. Got front bar off and inlet manifold (what a pig it has soooo many wires/pipes going either into it or connected to it) After a big of wigglen we got the engine apart from the gearbox Then jacked it up to get the gearbox out (which is pretty light and small after the bellhousing) Took wire loom out, was going to try and not cut it but theres just to many wires going blooomin everywhere. Managed to keep all the FCON wires together with all the sensors etc Overal a good first day, working rest of the week so not going to get much more done, but hopefully next week after stuff is ordered and arrived and ive picked up the 1JZ work can really get going :D