Project Lexus IS 250
CM project 2010 Lexus IS 250
PART SIX: In the final episode, Martyn Knowles fits front and rear shock absorbers (dampers).
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
I'm old school in some departments.The modern term for controlling vehicle suspension bounce is called damping. Known as 'dampers', I still refer to them as 'shock absorbers'.
In fact, the shock absorbers I bought for our Lexus came from a seller on eBay (who I hadn't purchased from before) – they refer to the product in their description as, and I quote: Lexus IS 200D, IS 220D, IS 250, 2005-2012, 2 x front + 2 x rear shock absorber set.
Saying that, I have upgraded my wordage for another car component – the door mirror. Many still refer to this as a wing mirror – even youngsters.
Wing mirrors haven't been fitted to cars since the late 1970s, early 1980s.
Anyway, I digress... our Lexus hasn't needed much in the way of repair. There's no cambelt driving the engine to renew – the timing chains are fine. No suspension problems to speak of. Though there's a few things I haven't managed to cover, like the bodywork cut and polish or finding an Ivory-coloured rear door speaker cover to replace the broken original – I'm hoping to complete those jobs before it goes up for sale.
Shopping online
With 88,000 miles on the original shock absorbers, I thought it wise to show us all how to replace them with aftermarket alternatives. I used A-Z Motor Spares in Stoke-on-Trent (found on eBay) who can supply a full set of shock absorbers for the IS models. Nearly £260 for the lot doesn't sound too bad (including deliver y). If you want OE, visit lexuspartsdirect. co.uk where a rear shock absorber is anywhere between £240 to £275 each! Similar prices for the front shocks.
Although I've used a ramp at my local garage, which makes repairs a bit easier for photography as much as anything, I haven't used their range of air tools in any of the jobs I performed at the location. Instead I've used my trusty Teng
Tools ¼ in & ½ in socket and tool set for all the jobs – including ser vicing the engine, autobox fluid, rear diff and front and rear brakes. Although I did borrow tools from the garage guys, where necessary.
A battery-operated tool has been on my shopping list for a while and I've chosen a Ryobi impact wrench, delivering 600Nm of torque. It's not a brushless model – they are a bit dearer and do produce more power. Also a Ryobi 3/8in cordless ratchet wrench arrived at the same time to tackle those smaller fastenings around the engine bay, etc. First impressions are good. The impact wrench whizzed off all wheels nuts and the suspension components that we asked it to undo. I do own other Ryobi products, so have 2 x 2Ah batteries on constant charging mode, though ideally need to find about £100 to buy a 5Ah battery to keep the wrenches in tip
