Parts for your 1998 Toyota Crown-Strut mounts

1998 Toyota Crown strut-mounts — are they used?

For the 1998 Toyota Crown in the S150 series (e.g., Royal Saloon and Athlete grades), traditional MacPherson strut-mounts are not used. Technical literature for the S150 Crown — including Toyota’s New Car Features material, the S150 repair manual, and Toyota Electronic Parts Catalogue diagrams — specifies a front double wishbone suspension and a rear multi-link arrangement. In this setup, the shock absorber and spring don’t act as a structural steering member like a MacPherson strut does, so there’s no strut top bearing/“strut-mount” assembly. Instead, the front has separate upper and lower control arms with ball joints managing geometry, and the damper is carried with a simple rubber insulator at the body.

That’s why “strut-mounts” aren’t relevant to most 1998 Crowns: the design doesn’t require a load-bearing strut top to locate the hub and manage steering. Steering pivoting happens at the ball joints, not through a strut bearing at the top of a tower.

Important note for taxi variants: the Crown Comfort (XS10 series), sold alongside the S150 Crown and widely used as a taxi, uses MacPherson struts at the front and therefore does have strut-mounts. If the vehicle is a Comfort/Taxi model, strut-mounts apply, if it’s an S150 Crown Royal/Athlete, they don’t. This distinction is reflected in Toyota service documentation and EPC listings for the respective model codes.

What to service instead on an S150 Crown:

• Front upper and lower control arm bushes and ball joints
• Front shock absorber upper insulators (sometimes casually mislabelled as strut mounts)
• Stabiliser (sway) bar links and bushes
• Rear multi-link bushes and shocks

Typical symptoms worth checking include clunks over bumps, vague steering, uneven tyre wear, or fluid weeping from dampers. When replacing bushes or ball joints, final torque should be applied at normal ride height, and a full wheel alignment is recommended.

FAQs

Does a 1998 Toyota Crown have strut-mounts?
Most 1998 Crowns in the S150 series do not, because they use double wishbone front suspension. The taxi-focused Crown Comfort (XS10) is the exception, with MacPherson struts and strut-mounts up front. Checking the model code will tell which one it is.

What should be serviced instead of strut-mounts on a 1998 Crown?
On an S150 Crown, focus on front upper/lower control arm bushes and ball joints, front shock absorber upper insulators, sway bar links and bushes, plus rear multi-link bushes and shocks. These parts do the work that a strut-mount would handle in a strut-type setup.

How can someone tell which Crown they have?
Look at the model code on the build plate or rego data. Codes like JZS151/JZS155 point to the S150 Crown with double wishbones (no strut-mounts). XS10/XS11 indicates a Crown Comfort (taxi) with MacPherson struts and strut-mounts. A quick visual under the bonnet helps too: a large strut top with a central nut suggests a strut, double arms and a smaller damper insulator suggests double wishbone.