Floating Strut Mount Fix & KYB AJX Install

[ccyaris]

This mod was finished last year and I just concluded testing. This is a major fix to address a problem that plagued Yaris especially if used in competition. The floating strut mount problems have been discussed in several posts and solutions tend to be very pricey. In doing my research I drew on the ECHO that has struts bearings bolted to the chassis. I tested the ECHO 3 bolt strut bearing but they failed during normal driving. This prompted me to seek a more heavy duty solution from the Toyota parts bin.

I settled on the MATRIX XR/S strut bearing paired with KYB Adjustable Gas struts 734021/2 for the Celica GTS. This with the GTS stock springs, seat and insulators gives a nice alternative to the pricey coil-overs. For the rear shocks the 07 FOCUS KYB 741067 Adjustable Gas Shocks worked nicely.

To mount the strut bearings one additional hole must be drilled in the strut tower, same dimension as the ECHO. The MATRIX XR/S strut bearing had to be trimmed further to fit the smaller space under the YARIS strut tower.
I opted to also cut off the strut tower hump to facilitate easy replacement without having to removing the entire windshield wiper cowl. This also make it easier to adjust the front KYB's ride settings.