My opinion - KYB Excel-G front struts
 

Well it's been about a week now since I had the stock struts swapped out for these KYB Excel-G struts. Original left front strut was leaking. I have to say these struts make a perfectly acceptable, if not out right enjoyable, selection to replace OEM - and very affordable. I had read that some found them bouncy and what not. No bounce at all for me. Very smooth, solid and predictable in the corners. Now I know just how bad my other struts had become. When it happens slowly over time, you just don't notice. You know they're not good, just not how bad. These are night and day better. Now I think I'll do the same to the rear.

I definitely recommend these struts to anyone looking to replace OEM struts. I'm assuming rear shocks would perform the same.

how many miles do you have on the RL at time of replacement? also, please keep us up to date with durability of the KYB shocks as I've read they are not as durable.

Same, I've read that they aren't that durable. I'd love to have you follow up long term on the KYBs and see other users share their experience. I haven't read too much follow up on people swapping out with KYBs other than they aren't that great...

... update from me: I had my shocks and struts replaced several months ago, sometime in October of last year I think, and all perform as I just installed them. At that time I had steering rack replaced, inner and outer tie rods and honestly, different car ever since.
What made me do the work was the tires that started to loose thread on the inside a little bit, so tires were shot and I waited a bit to get those replaced. I had general g max, performed well the first year I had them installed, other just under three years tires wee simply way too loud, killed almost love for the car, so, definitely not recommending them ... no wonder they were about hundred ten or so each.
It did not help my brakes were going bit as well so it started ruining my enjoyment of driving the car.
What did help was suspension work and shocks, struts.
Additionally, es with z23 kit from rock-auto, love them, been few weeks now...
Swapped ties with Pirelli Cinturato p7 all season plus from tire rack... What a DIFFERENCE!!!!!

My car is now again the same car I fell in love with!!!

For all guys with RLs with 100-105k miles or more, do following:
change suspension, shocks struts tie rods if needed...
check and replace engine mounts, you will need to change those wuite soon...
get your brakes changed, brake them in per specs, and ensure you do brake fluid flush...
ensure tires are good, dogo cheap...

love your RL all over again!!!!

Ok, I will stop now before I start writing about my favorite vacation spot, first car I drove, what bicycle I have, and where is the best burger in the world hahahahah... laterrr...

PS Will continue eporting on both, suspension work and brakes kit from rock auto...

How's that for detail :haha: I like it, thanks!!

I guess I should get to it as I am approaching 113k. Thanks for the update.

just check your leaking, and bouncy ride strut no need to replace them if they still good. I had the KYB excel on my IS300 for 3 years 50k miles and the ride quality is the same minus the premium price from Toyota, there is no leak or any problem what so whatever I found out later that KYB is the supplier struts for most Toyota/Lexus car.

I think engine mounts are more likely to give out before suspension (struts/shocks) if car is driven normally.

Just replaced my shocks all around with the KYB's. I have a somewhat different setup in that I kept the A-Spec springs and replaced the A-Spec shocks.

I like their behavior. I thought the combination of OEM springs and shocks allowed too much hobby-horsing movement of the body atop the suspension in some high-speed turn-and-brake maneuvers. This combo seems to be more forgiving than A-Spec over the bigger undulations while still maintaining some control, although the stiff springs still make the car pound over the small stuff a bit.

(As for the A-Spec shocks, they weren't worn out to my knowledge, and the installer told me they showed no evidence of being deteriorated, just stiff, so I'll probably try to sell them at some point. The car is used for granny duty these days instead of long-distance highway travel at speed, so the handling advantage mattered less – and hey, I'm getting older and developing a delicate posterior.)

Durabillity, only time will tell. KYB says the shocks won't last if they're on a car lowered more than an inch, and the A-Spec springs lower it 0.75 inch. We shall see.

Good deal, we shall see! Definitely keep us posted.

Can anyone comment on durability and ride quality of Sachs struts?? I heard that they make oem shocks for many (Bmw etc).

I have been following this forum ever since I bought my 2008 RL 3 years ago but never posted before. I can say 1000 thank you's to all of the members here for saving me $1000's of dollars on DIY maintenance. I just replaced two motor mounts (front and side) this past weekend but the rocking sound didn't got fixed. I still have one rear mount to replaced. I'm also going to replaced the front struts in about two weeks. Any tips on replacing the rear motor mount and struts? Also, Does anyone know the torque specs when replacing the struts and rear motor mount? Thank you.

How hard was it to replace the front mount? I also have a clunky sound from front left. First i thought it was struts but after replacing them it didn't go away. Now i plan to replace transmission mount i think that is the culprit. I think you need to drop subframe for rear mount, it's a huge pita. You can find the service manual here: G4: Service Manuals And TSBs - LegendWiki
Manual will have all the details. How many miles on your RL?

Deepa1600, Thank you for the info on the Service Manual. My RL has 134,000 miles, got it when it had 94,000. To replaced the mounts, it went rather quick after removing the radiator fans ( now, that's a pita ). I wished I had taken pictures but I had a friend helping me and he was short on time. I follow some of the instructions from another post but it went like this.
1. Removed the top engine plastic covers and radiator reservoir tank.
2. removed the 4 radiator fan connectors behind the radiator, removed top radiator hose and secure it up with a zip tie for minimal spillage. There are two more electrical wiring connectors around the radiator (one by the bottom corner by the battery side and the other one is on the opposite corner ) those two alone are a pita. I was getting frustrated and almost took the whole radiator out but some how I managed to un-clipped them and the two fans came right out. You will spend more time removing the fans than replacing the mount. After this step it gets really easy.
3. lift the car and put 2 jack stands on the frame behind the wheels. Make sure the rear breaks are engaged and to put a wheel bumper stops or a piece of wood. Be extra careful when lifting the car on two jack stands.
4. removed the under car shield (a friend told me to apply wd-40 on the plastic clips before removing them) it kind of work, I only broke 2 clips. Found replacement honda clips at a local Auto Zone for $3.49 for a pack of 3.
5. I used a 2x6 piece of wood to lift the engine block about 2" to 3" inches.
6. removed motor mount top bracket.
7. *** Make sure the horizontal bolt connecting the mount comes straight out in a vertical position, otherwise it may get striped ***
8. removed the 4 screws holding the motor mount to the frame.
9. disconnect hydraulic line under the motor mount.
10. repeat steps backwards and you are done.

Tips, my A/C didn't work after replacing the mounts. I went back and found one of the fan wiring clips was not connected all the way in. Make sure you heard a "clip" when reconnecting the radiator electrical wiring clips.

The side mount is really easy, I had to removed and push to the side the power steering fluid reservoir tank in order to removed the side mount. To remove the power steering reservoir tank from the metal holding bracket, just hold the tank with both hands and pull up and set aside.

anything I can help, please don't hesitated to contact me. I will see if I can take some pictures of the radiator fan wiring clips. Like I said before, the hardest part is removing the radiator fans, after that, it gets really easy. It took us 4 hours because we didn't know how to removed the radiator fans, other wise it would have been 2 hrs of actual work.

Is there any update to this on how they are now?

I can post my findings.
I put KYBs on mine after 120k on the stock suspension. They gave a night and day difference showing that the stock ones were past their best.
However now the KYBs have done 100k they are worse than stock when replaced.

Might look in to getting some adjustable suspension for it now.

Since my original post I'm now two years in to my KYB's and so far they've been no problem. The ride still feels good. Certainly better than the OEM originals I had replaced that were soft and "flat" feeling.

Nearly two years in on my KYB's. Still liking them just fine.

^ can you folks state the mileage you've put on the KYBs so far? two years is less impressive if you only drove 10k. I've replaced my shocks with oem at 115k, now with 152k, and still drives great. However, I plan on buying KYBs at 200k when the time comes due to price. thanks!

Benjamin, my mileage has been rather low, maybe 20k. I can't attest to the durabililty of the shocks beyond that.

Although, as I mentioned above, my A-Spec springs lower the car by 0.75 inch, near the maker's stated 1" threshold for out-of-spec dimensions. So in that regard, you could figure I've been torture-testing them a little bit.

Thanks for the update, Tony! How about you Swake?

I'm just over 26K miles on these now. My daily commute is mostly back roads. Lots of fun turns to blast through and a fair amount of potholes too! The shocks still seem to be holding up nicely.

Thanks for the info Swake!

Thanks for your update swake457. Greetings to all.
My 05 RL purchased new is still below 80k miles and about to get new front KYB shocks.
I will first replace my TOYO Versado Noir's with approximately 40K miles, only due to age.
I recently did a valve adjustment and the engine feels better than new.
The RL is a most pleasurable ride, but mine sat a lot because I drove company vehicles.
These have been my greatest expenses so far, as I hardly use brakes.

I've been through two sets of KYB Excel struts on Toyotas and they were good to 50K miles; after that the ride quality significantly dropped.

Good day guys. I have an 07 RL with 140k plus miles. I have some clonking when I go over rough roads. I have a question about the KYB struts. Will they work without coils, or they are installed with the original coils that are currently on the car. Thanks

Struts are just that, struts. You need to remove the original from the car and move the springs over.

You need the coils, no need to replaced the coils you can keep using the originals. Check the struts for leaks as the problem might be the engine mounts and not the actual struts. Just double check the mounts as I replaced all the struts and the problem continue, only to find out that the clonking was because all 3 engine mounts were busted.