Parts for your 1998 Toyota Altezza-Struts

1998 Toyota Altezza struts: what’s actually fitted

For the 1998 Toyota Altezza (XE10 platform, including RS200/AS200), struts aren’t used. Factory technical material—Toyota/Lexus New Car Features (NCF) for the XE10, the Toyota workshop manual suspension section, and period specifications published for the Lexus IS200/IS300 sister models—describe double wishbone suspension front and rear. That means the car runs separate upper and lower control arms with a coilover-style damper assembly, not a MacPherson strut that carries structural loads and locates the wheel.

Why did Toyota choose this? The double wishbone architecture was picked to give the Altezza sharper handling and better tyre contact in hard cornering—ideal for the car’s sport-sedan brief. With wishbones, engineers can dial in camber gain, roll centre behaviour and steering feel more precisely than a typical strut setup. It also helps with packaging for a lower bonnet line and improved weight distribution.

• Camber control: keeps more of the tyre’s contact patch on the road during cornering.
• Steering precision: geometry stays consistent through the suspension stroke.
• Packaging and refinement: allows a lower bonnet and reduced NVH when tuned right.

It’s worth clearing up a common parts-catalogue mix-up: many listings call the Altezza’s front dampers “struts”, but technically they’re shock absorbers with coil springs that don’t serve as a structural locating member. Owners shopping for “struts” will actually be looking for front and rear shock absorber/coil spring assemblies, plus related hardware like top mounts, bump stops and dust boots.

So, while the term “strut” gets thrown around loosely, the 1998 Toyota Altezza doesn’t use MacPherson struts. It uses double wishbones with coilover dampers, as documented in Toyota’s NCF and factory service information and echoed by period technical press coverage of the XE10/IS200 platform.

Does a 1998 Toyota Altezza have struts or shocks?

It has shocks (damper assemblies with coil springs) on a double wishbone suspension, not MacPherson struts. The dampers don’t locate the wheel, the control arms do.

What should be replaced when refreshing the Altezza’s suspension?

Commonly: front and rear shocks, top mounts (insulators/bearings), bump stops, dust boots and any tired control arm bushes or ball joints. An alignment is a must after the work.

How can an owner tell the dampers are due on a 1998 Altezza?

Giveaways include oil seepage on the shock body, knocking over bumps, a floaty or bouncy feel, longer stopping distances over corrugations and uneven tyre wear. A bounce test and a road drive over ripples often make it obvious.