Touring Suspension Parts Research

Woo Hoo Berkshire!!! :high5:

Can't wait to read more about how it all comes together...

Keep us up to speed.

Dave

Ps: also glad your Prius was shot and not you.

 

i just replaced the stock suspension on my 04 (90K miles, completely worn out struts) with the touring struts/springs (kept front springs - they are identical for touring and non-touring versions):

front struts (L and R specific)
rear struts (one pair, they are not side specific)
rear springs (they have similar preload, but are more progressive)

total parts cost online (toyotaoemparts.com) was $435 including shipping.
everything had to be special ordered which took a couple weeks.
i didn't bother upgrading to the rear "touring" sway bar, nor did i replace the strut seats or mounts since they were all fine.

installation is time-consuming and therefore expensive - i had no choice but to pay over $500. there is some significant disassembly that's required to get the struts out, and brakes have to be bled (lines are routed through the struts for some stupid reason) and an alignment done after.

my local toyota dealership (in canada) is hideous in general and wanted $1000 for parts and $1000 for installation!

the difference is enormous and worth every dollar, especially if your car is as beat as mine was:

far less brake dive
less rollover in corners
better traction
less understeer in high-speed corners
more progressive rear suspension - handles loads much better
far less wandering at freeway speed - as much as the BT plate improved this initially, the new suspension furthur improved it. i believe to eliminate it entirely would require all the tom's braces as the frame is very flexy, i suppose to keep weight down.

i'm running 195/60/R15 michelin pilot exalto a/s which are awesome tires, highly recommended! they're on motegi sp10's - cheap, light, nice looking.

i'm sure the sportivo kit performs much better still, but lowering the car even a half-inch is just not an option up here in BC.

 

Hi clarklewis,

Thanks for the great write-up.

So you did not replace the Standard's front and rear stabilizer bars with the Touring's stabilizer bars?

That is, in terms of different Touring suspension parts, you only changed to the Touring's rear shocks and springs?

 

Wow! So it seems that by simply upgrading your front and rear struts and rear springs, you improved your handling significantly! So after buying the parts, doing the suspension work, and buying the tires and wheels, what did you end up shelling out?

What kind of roads are you driving on? 90k and shot springs sounds rough...

 

I don't think we can replace the Front Stab bar at home?
It'll require dropping the sub-frame just to get to the stab bar.....looks painful without any shop equipments.

 

like i said, i didn't upgrade the sway bars, just the 4 struts and rear springs. i have enough of a speeding problem as it is, so i didn't want it to handle too well!
this all cost $435 plus $550 installation.
the sp10 rims were $400 and the michelin's were about $500 (they replaced the horrible stock goodyear allegra's).
i've got winter tires on my stock rims.

the car was seeing a lot of rough gravel roads and often heavily laden with bikes and gear. i'm surprised the stock struts lasted as long as they did. our canadian roads are rough compared to yours!
i've since bought an 08 4-cylinder toyota tacoma pickup for bike shuttling and offroad use, so the car's staying on pavement from now on...

 

If you only had a lift...

Sweet, thanks for the clearup's! And thank God for good roads...although I'm sure some of the roads here in the Tri-state area could be tied for first in roughitude.

 

Nice! Keep up the good work! :high5:

Dave

 

Thanks Berkshire.

From both your and clarklewis' experience, it sounds like that just replacing the Standard's rear springs and shocks with the Touring's rear springs and shocks will result in a dramatic difference.

It's going to be interesting to hear what differences you feel when you install the Touring's front and rear stabilizer bars and/or 195 tread width tires.

 

I'm wondering how much gain you're really getting with a ~1mm thicker sway bar? Especially with already a torsion beam rear suspension...

From Sigma's site:
Regular: 21 mm front, 19.1 mm rear
Touring: 22 mm front, 20 mm rear

Also wondering where the KYB GR2s fit in this spectrum... Are the touring shocks monotube or still twin tube?

 

1mm difference in swaybars can definitely make a noticeable difference in handling. It won't be night and day (usually need 2mm-4mm to really change it, but that's more for highly tuned suspension setups), but it will still be very noticable.

 

It'll be interesting to see Brian/BT Tech's front sway bar when they come out with it.

 

It appears that allot of none touring models lean to the left making a 1/2" difference form the left to right rear of the car. Now that you have upgraded to the touring model struts in the rear, can you please look to see if your car leans to the left when parked on level ground. Measure the left and right rear up to the same point on both sides of the car. My car leans and I am trying to find a way to correct it. Thank you

 

I was told by my dealer when I had it in for an alignment that he left side is 1 full inch closer to the ground than the right. I guess that's why the handling feels like crap. If I turn right - with a little speed - the car feels like it's going to roll over. If I turn to the left, it tracks nicely and has very little body roll. I guess it was designed for NASCAR racing.

I'm guessing if I replaced the left side suspension pieces with right side pieces, it would handle better and sit parallel to the ground.:flypig:

 

Check out my post at: "Inspect very carfully before purchasing!" You are not the only one with this problem. Tell your story on the other post, so others will believe there is an issue. Thank you

Check out the photo of my car, it is 1/2" lower on the left side.