Suspension upgrade (thoughts, comments, suggestions)

[WJN333]

Let me start by saying that I like the comfort of the stock suspension, but the look and the feel when driving aggresively leave something to be desired. I know I want to lower it, but not the full two inches (I know 1.6 but its gonna settle), to prevent too much scraping. So far Im thinking Tokicos with Eibachs, from what I have searched/read here, and after talking with local wrenches. To counteract the full two inch lowering I was thinking about spring spacers (one inch if I can find them). It is my hope that this will give me the slightly lowered look, solid feel, and enough ground clearance to keep me from scraping too much.

That being said, is the TRD Rear Sway Bar, and Front Stut Tower Brace worth the extra investment? I enjoy modding my car but not just for the sake of modding it. How much in the arena of comfort are these two mods going to subtract from the ride, and add to the sporty/controll feel?

One person I spoke with suggested that I take this project in phases, but I dont have the money to burn on all the labor. Any insight would be appreciated, even if its yelling at me to search more .

Thanks
Bill

[WJN333]

O yeah, polyurethane bushings for the front, and possibly the rear sway bar if I go that route.

Thanks

[SmokeoUtRObert]

how much do the polyurethane bushings go for?? i pulled an all nighter last night and installed some ground control coilovers with kyb gas shocks. the ride is good... a lotta people are sayin that the ground controls will cause death but i think it might have been bad installation... but who knows my car might f*** up in the middle of the freeway

[djsaltine]

Keep an eye out for the Tein H springs, they're supposed to lower it only 1". I don't know when they'll be available.

Contact RJ, he might be able to give you more info: RJ@UPFD.com

[Jackass-Jeff]

how much do the polyurethane bushings go for?? i pulled an all nighter last night and installed some ground control coilovers with kyb gas shocks. the ride is good... a lotta people are sayin that the ground controls will cause death but i think it might have been bad installation... but who knows my car might f*** up in the middle of the freeway

in high speed hard driving you'll die =P it's not a true coilover, do don't claim that. It's simply a height adjustable spring sleeve

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You may want to go to the next meet the nor cal guys have so they can give you rides in their cars and then you can decide which ones arae too rough.

Spring spacers will screw up the spring rates... so I wouldn't recommend it.

[Fletch]

How about this, just put the RSB on (@ race setting) and see how you like it. Maybe that will be enough...

TRD front strut tower brace will not add any chassis rigidity over the stock piece. It was necessary with the S/C kit for belt clearance, correct me if I'm wrong.

Struts and springs should be installed simultaneously. The eibach/tokico combo is really not all that aggressive on this platform, IMO. Makes the car look soooo much better though, should be mandatory if you are gonna run +1 or +2 wheels.

[WJN333]

Yeah, looks good with 17 inch rims, but needs to be lowered to look right.

So for me (without a S/C) the front strut tower brace would look better than the stock unit but for now would not have any functional difference?
Spacers are bad?

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

So for me (without a S/C) the front strut tower brace would look better than the stock unit but for now would not have any functional difference?
Spacers are bad?

Yes to both q's!

Edit: To think outside the box, you may want to see this:
http://www.solaraguy.org/viewtopic.php?t=14964
BTW: i'm currently at 16K miles on this setup!

[bassthrive]

So for me (without a S/C) the front strut tower brace would look better than the stock unit but for now would not have any functional difference?

Save your money. They do the job equally well, the only difference being clearance for the supercharger.

[Jackass-Jeff]

if you REALLY NEED TO get spaces... get HR spacers... forged and will not kill you if they break.

[1st Gen Sol]

how much do the polyurethane bushings go for?? i pulled an all nighter last night and installed some ground control coilovers with kyb gas shocks. the ride is good... a lotta people are sayin that the ground controls will cause death but i think it might have been bad installation... but who knows my car might f*** up in the middle of the freeway

^^^^ hopefully that doesn't happen on the freeway b/c I'll feel really guilty..... ...........Rob, hook me up with some pics of how the ryde looks with the ground controls.


I'm waiting for the Tein H-Tech springs to come out. It lowers teh front 1.4 inches and the rear 1 inch.....I also don't wanna scrap the ground coming out of parking lots, bumps and hitting dips in the road.

....dunno when there coming out.....if you call RJ about the H-tech springs....let me know the info on them.

[WJN333]

What if I forgo the aftermarket springs and put on the tokicos with stock springs? I know it wont lower it , but will that stiffen things up a bit all the way around?

1st Gen Sol, Ill let you know what I find out when I email him.

Jackass-Jeff, I like the way that Solara looks in the picture in your post, looks classy, what kinda suspension do you use? Just the Tiens and Tokicos?

[Jackass-Jeff]

What if I forgo the aftermarket springs and put on the tokicos with stock springs? I know it wont lower it , but will that stiffen things up a bit all the way around?

1st Gen Sol, Ill let you know what I find out when I email him.

Jackass-Jeff, I like the way that Solara looks in the picture in your post, looks classy, what kinda suspension do you use? Just the Tiens and Tokicos?

Tokicos only will stiffen the ride and not lower it. It's good if you really don't want to lower it.

I have the Tein Super Street coilovers. It's height adjustable and the shock "dampening rate" is adjustable... perfect for minor tuning from rough to soft and height control... nothing beats a 1/2 finger gap.

[WJN333]

Ahhh coilovers, very nice. Im too simple minded, I could never keep track of all that adjustable stuff. lol

[1st Gen Sol]

^^^^ thats why I sold my ground controls.

....coo, let me know when you get a response WJN333 from RJ.