It's amazing how rare these things are, they are all over the place for every car EXCEPT the LS 400. Paying the dealer $100 apiece is out of the question. Can anyone offer any suggestions? I saw an offer to sell a pair of new ones for $55 on Ebay, I couldn't get my purchase in fast enough before someone else beat me to them. Thanks in advance.

LS400GUY

the reason that they are so much is that some companies consider the internal oil to be a hazardous material..while working as a tech..i replaced rear liftgate struts, and they cam from HMC is a package marked HAZMAT...one thing to look into..i kno for older SUVs, you can buy universal struts for the lfit gates from big autoparts stores..i woudl check into the same for your car.

I don't know if you're still looking for some but I know Tein makes struts now. Never looked if they make 'em for LS's but you could always check their website.

tein makes HOOD struts???

I bought a small vice grip pliers and keep it attached to the left front shock absorber stud inside the hood. I simply snap it into place on the lift strut when I work under the hood. Cheap and secure.

I use a small pair of locking pliers that I snap onto the left front shock stud under the hood. When I want to keep the hood up, I simply attach them to the strut. Chaeap, and surefire. Dealer wanted over $100 for a hood lift.

when working as a mechanic, i did the same thing when cars had bad hood struts. im not surprised that the stealership wanted 100 bucks...did you check any aftermarket stores?