Front Struts and Mounts Replacement

[tharun3435]

Hi --- I have 2012 Lexus IS 250 AWD with 56k miles on it. recently the steering became hard to turn. upon inspection by a Mechanic, he has mentioned right front strut went bad and leaking fluid. I am looking to replace struts and strut Mounts on both sides. as for struts I am mostly fixed on KYB Gas - a - just(551127 and 551126), those seem to be the most recommended ones. I am really confused on Mounts. KYB has many negative reviews from people who used them. can anybody share some ideas for good replacement brands?
should I go with OEM those seem to be really expensive, I am trying to avoid them.?

any suggestions would be hugely appreciated. Thank you in advance!!

 

[spasm3]

OEM . I think you may have a problem other than struts. I've never had a strut/strut mount make steering difficult, just noisy.

 

[UG_Passat]

FRONT SPRING & SHOCK ABSORBER. 2012 Lexus | Lexus Parts & Accessories Online

2012 Lexus FRONT SPRING & SHOCK ABSORBER

parts.lexus.com

Yikes... $163 each...

Not too many choices on Rockauto.

And people say German car parts are expensive.

The Audi TT strut mounts on my car costs $27 each from Febi-Bilstein. Add bearings, bumpstops and dust cover, and it still doesn't reach the price of a single lexus IS250 strut mount

All of the install parts I bought to replace the shocks and struts all around (including nuts and bolts) probably did come to the price of a pair of the lexus front strut mounts.

 

[tharun3435]

OEM . I think you may have a problem other than struts. I've never had a strut/strut mount make steering difficult, just noisy.

do you think wheel alignment can be the issue. i do have misaligned wheels but thinking of performing the alignment after replacing the struts and mounts.

 

[tharun3435]

FRONT SPRING & SHOCK ABSORBER. 2012 Lexus | Lexus Parts & Accessories Online

2012 Lexus FRONT SPRING & SHOCK ABSORBER

parts.lexus.com

Yikes... $163 each...

Not too many choices on Rockauto.

And people say German car parts are expensive.

The Audi TT strut mounts on my car costs $27 each from Febi-Bilstein. Add bearings, bumpstops and dust cover, and it still doesn't reach the price of a single lexus IS250 strut mount

All of the install parts I bought to replace the shocks and struts all around (including nuts and bolts) probably did come to the price of a pair of the lexus front strut mounts.

i know. KYB is the OEM supplier of the strut for Lexus vehicles at least for 2nd gen IS. I am not sure about the strut Mount supplier. i am mostly finding KYB as recommended or in stock on most online stores.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I myself would go with Monroe struts but that’s just me that’s the only ones besides Gabriel or Blistein that have worked for me. For the mounts I say probably the same.

 

[Trav]

Bite the bullet and go OE at least for the springs (if they are sagging), mounts, boot and stops. If the OE struts are a bit pricey and you really want to go less expensive the KYB Gas A Just is at least a monotube.
If I were doing it on my own car I would just assemble new struts with all OE parts like a quick strut and install them.

 

[willbur]

i know. KYB is the OEM supplier of the strut for Lexus vehicles at least for 2nd gen IS. I am not sure about the strut Mount supplier. i am mostly finding KYB as recommended or in stock on most online stores.

Call KYB tech support and ask about your quick struts. They have been very cooperative about mine and reported no issues but identified models where the mounts were defective. These were produced at a factory in India. This was several years ago and I suspect those issues were addressed by now. YMMV

 

[slacktide_bitog]

KYB Gas-A-Just shocks and OEM mounts.

Unfortunately, the only quick struts that seem to be available for your IS250 are cheap Chinese FCS

 

[tharun3435]

KYB Gas-A-Just shocks and OEM mounts.

Unfortunately, the only quick struts that seem to be available for your IS250 are cheap Chinese FCS

yeah, no quick struts available from KYB or Monroe. there are bunch of cheap ones available like duralast, trq, fcs etc.. i wish there were some good ones out there.

 

[AutoMechanic]

yeah, no quick struts available from KYB or Monroe. there are bunch of cheap ones available like duralast, trq, fcs etc.. i wish there were some good ones out there.

I’ve had really good luck with Duralast over the past few months that I have been using their suspension parts they are well made in my opinion. Feel quality as well. Much better than Advance or O’Reilly brand ones that I looked at