What did you do to ur Gen III Prius today????

I recently switched out the stock rubber steering wheel for a leather one I purchased on eBay on my 15' Prius Two. I am running into a little bit of a misalignment issue. It seems that the grooves/teeth (not sure what the name for these are) seem to be slightly off from the stock rubber steering wheel to the leather steering wheel which is causing it to not go on as straight. Has anyone switched out their steering wheel and ran into this same issue? Looking for a possible solve. It's not a big misalignment but it's definitely noticeable.

 

Turned this February the 23rd...

 

Awesome milestone.

 

There are quite a few sellers of plastic welding repair kits now. Somehow our plastic fender well front right side - hit something to give it a good tear. Will be looking into repair/weldind that up shortly. Some of the heating irons seem to break off pretty easily when they get hot. It's too common an occurrence with Chinese products sad to say. Even in the US Aerospace industry they will sometimes try & get grade 5 bargain priced fasteners - only to find out they are low quality once they're tested on a Rockwell hardness tester.
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An alignment would fix this issue.

Installed Modellista steering wheel and Ultra Racing Rear strut bar. Really stiffens up the back of the car, makes the rear end feel more planted and not as long.

 

I know some peeps like buying Do Dads for their car so it's "Customized".
But this silly thing,,,,, Do you think you could tell if it was installed or just sitting there under that packing blanket?

A Blind Test with and without it installed.
Ten short drives should be a valid test!

A friend does the set up while you stay away from your car for a few minutes, HeyL, they'd only need to disconnect one side to mitigate all the amazing "Feelings" you are experiencing, right?

My money is on you can't pick it out with any accuracy.

Sorry for the poo poo, I'm just trying to save kids from wasting money on Do Dads that don't do anything other than 'bling'.

 

This mod would probably not make a difference in a stock prius. I would get the TRD rear sway bar to get the most bang for your buck. (progress tech rear sway bar is the same if the trd are out of stock.)


Yes this really does make a difference in my car but honestly this would not make a reasonable difference for a prius unless you have the supporting mods to go with it. (ie: other braces and lowering springs or coilovers, rear sway bar)

The prius is a really light car. Toyota used light pieces of flat metal to support the bottom of the car and I replaced them with hollow steel beams. The braces allow me to change lanes quickly on the freeway with little body roll, it is truly a fun experience and even I never thought my car could drive this well.

The Cusco fornt lower arm bar 942 475 A bolts directly under the transmission mount which supports and stiffens both the engine and transmission, reducing drive line lash and increasing torque and power. Also if you’re lowered this is the first point (instead of your oil pan) that hits the ground if you bottom out on the freeway.

The Cusco center brace 951 492 C stiffens the center of the chassis and this is most noticeable when driving in crosswinds where the wind actually causes the vehicle to flex.

On my car I have 4 cusco braces, a cusco front strut bar, a rav4 front sway bar, trd plus rear sway bar and now this ultra racing rear strut bar. The rear trailing beam is one of the most flexible parts on our cars and this definitely ties the rear struts together which is two of the four points that the rear trailing beam is attached to the car at, the other two being the bushings on the trailing beam where the trailing beam attached to the body.

I can tell a difference in handling but only in the corners when the trailing beam is under the most load. Without a rear sway bar this mod is pointless.

 

How much heavier is your car with all these Do Dads added on. That is a number. Hard fact.

I still doubt you could tell the difference in a Blind Test of with and without the Do Dads.

A brace that "stiffens the center of the chassis" and you can feel the difference with a cross wind???
The 'Body flexes in crosswinds'???
Come on.
If you were to install test equipment that could measure the deflection at the mounting holes of this Do Dad,,,,
How many mm's do you think the Prius body flexes at that location?
I suspect ZERO when driving down the road in a cross wind.

Cusco loves owners like you!
Please tell us more of your 'feelings' with these expensive Do Dads simply bolted onto existing body mounts.

I understand bigger tires and sway bars really are measurable in performance testing. But claims of 'body flex'? Come on....

You said: "and increasing torque and power."
Come on. This bolt on Do Dad can not do that......

 

I am a prius mechanic, I work on this car all day. I really don’t have time for this but it seems you are already set in your ways. Drive line lash is a real thing. My car is much faster without the chassis and body absorbing the forces I put into the car. You probably don’t live in the same area as me but in orange county we get santa ana winds, they blow over semi trucks. Before I bought the braces I bolted a box beam of aluminum that I made to the bottom of the car behind the cat. It was my first attempt to see if any of this even made a difference and with that aluminum beam it was a much more stiff ride. I did this before giving any of my money to cusco but as I upgraded I got more and more braces to stiffen the car. I know this works because even toyota puts a box beam in the center of the Gen 4 prius, three of them to be exact. They knew they had to improve this bracing point in the next generation as they even revised the original center brace on the facelift model prius from a flat plate to two plates with a tube joining them. I drive my car hard. After 200k the oem ball joints were torn and I have seen cars go to 250k with original ball joints without any tears. Love me my do dads but for the average prius owner the prius plus sway bar would be the best modification. Then the center brace and front lower arm bar. The quantum solenoid would be another good upgrade. I would stop at that point if your not doing any autocross or track driving. And my car is lighter with my project lithium hybrid battery saving about 35 pounds and the oems seats I replaced them with bucket seats that weight 20 pounds. The oem seats are much heavier. I have a fleet of prius I manage and mine is modified. I’m not sure if there’s a better way to test it than daily driving my modified car and then driving any other prius I work on. You’re just gonna have to take my word for it.

 

You don't have numbers for quantifying any of the Do Dads. You have feelings. I take your word that you feel things!
You said, "with that aluminum beam it was a much more stiff ride." That may be measured with test equipment.

Like me,,, I like the feel of the stock 15" wheel and 195/65-15 tires. In a blind test I could tell the difference.
I just sold the stock 17" wheels and tires that came with my Level 5.
I can measure the MPG improvement with that change of tires/wheels.
I suspect you may be rolling on stock rubber size by your MPG display, but then 'where you live' those miles could be mostly downhill on the average.
Out here on the lonesome prairie we get outrageous winds also. I can't visualize feeling any difference in driving with a direct cross wind with some Do Dad bolted to the bottom of my exhaust tunnel. The tire side walls are still doing most of the flexing, as it should be.

I used to do autocross in my yute. Now it takes testing and licensing just to get out and flog your car around a closed course.
I may pursue that just to see how much fun my Bolt can be!!
I work in aviation on the development side with lots of testing and quantifying. Feelings are not a metric.

Sorry for the back and forth.
I'm just trying to save the young and impressionable from dumping hundreds , or thousands??, on Do Dads that may do nothing.
Kids, save up for memorable vacations!
Nobody cares what's bolt on the bottom side of your Prius.

 

Well this is the accessories and modifications part of the forums…
Finally got some time and installed extended length studs and open ended lugs and finally got around to doing the rear brake lines in stainless. Going to get some wheel spacers to fill the rear gap to replace my old 10mm spacer with lug studs. Also installed HKS Super Fire Racing spark plugs and flipped my tire….. Running about -2.5degrees of camber in the rear. Got some 1in tube foam for the rear bar. The next round of mods are on their way from Japan.

 

We love seeing mods...

 

You're "toe" setting is off. Toe'd out too much.

 

I have fixed this issue but you are correct. It was drifty out there with toe out. I shimmed it to -2.5 camber and .10 toe on both sides according to the shims. Just need to check it on a rack. Previously I had -.5 toe with -4.8 camber previously.

 

Since no one has given you the answer... you can make an adjustment at the tie rod ends.

Make a small adjustment on one side of the car, ensuring you keep track of how many degrees or rotations you turn the adjusting nuts, then make the appropriate opposite adjustment on the other side of the car.



Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Read bysaul's post again.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I did, what's your point? He was asking for a solution, I gave him one.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

"I have fixed this issue but you are correct. It was drifty out there with toe out."

 

Sorry Pal,
1. I have to point out that any torque control Do Dad to stiffen the engine mount system,,, Does not make for a Power Gain.
It is not measurable.

2. While battling strong cross winds you are inputting corrections to the steering wheel that make the tires work and the side walls flex.
This might be the equivalent to ~0.1 - 0.2 Lateral G's, only your body is not experiencing those G's. Just the sidewalls of the tires are working it.
(I love the LKA on my Level 5 with the ATP package. It acts like a Yaw Trim in an airplane. I don't have to hold a force on the steering wheel with a strong cross wind! It battles the wind for me!)
Now when you are at the limit on a Skid Pad and pulling the awesome 0.7 - 0.8 Lateral G's your body and the tires experience that.
Steering against a strong cross wind is not putting that much load on tires-to-body, so there cannot be that much of your fabled body flex in the Prius.
If there was test equipment that could measure the flex at the points where the Do Dads mount, it would be so minor that there is no way you can feel any difference while sitting in the driver's seat.
It is not measurable.

3.Now the tires, sway bars and shocks/struts can definitely be felt as you move from a stock Prius to your modified Prius.
Performance tires alone will increase your Lateral G's a lot! (If you auto cross, this alone will make the car faster thru the cones!!)
That is measurable!

And there are ways to measure Before and After performance mods. (You might not like the results.... )

Cusco loves you guys! Carry on!!!

And now you're running 2.5° Neg Camber..... all show-no go. I'm out.....

 

@bysaul states "I recently switched out the stock rubber steering wheel for a leather one I purchased on eBay on my 15' Prius Two. I am running into a little bit of a misalignment issue. It seems that the grooves/teeth (not sure what the name for these are) seem to be slightly off from the stock rubber steering wheel to the leather steering wheel which is causing it to not go on as straight."

So, the internal spline on the leather steering wheel that he purchased on eBay does not line up with the male spline on the steering wheel shaft. See picture below which shows the internal spline on the steering wheel.


So, your solution "an adjustment at the tie rod ends" will not solve his problem. The solution is to send back the leather steering wheel that he purchased on eBay, because the internal splines are not made correctly.