Advice on wheel spacers and sway bars needed!

[Lars]

Hi everyone!

So, I just bought a brand new (to me) Toyota Yaris. Well... it's almost new, only 14 thousand kms when I got it, and it's in mint condition... so yeah...

Anyways! I wanna make some easy-on-the-wallet mods to start with, and I was looking in the thread for best/worst investments (which is an awesome idea for a thread, thanks so much) and so... I need some advice!

I went to a tuning car shop here in Germany and boy-oh-boy... did that guy seem clueless or what?? So I think I'm gonna go for a DIY here... at least if I f*** it up I'm the only one to blame for.

So, let's start with the wheel spacers... I have already done this with a car I had, a VW Golf, and I really like this mod. Extra stability, aggressive look and not so expensive and not "intrusive" on the car... so yeah, want to do it again! I've got the 2007-2011 5 door hatch back (only european version?) btw, which comes standard with 185/60R15 wheels. And I was thinking... 10mm in front, 20mm in the rear? What do you guys think? Too much, too little? I can post pictures if needed!

And... the sway bar. I also did this on my VW Golf, also a great mod! Stability when cornering improved so much, it was great, but on my Golf I installed it in the front. I saw in the good investments thread people talking about the rear sway bar only... the guy at the car shop said "always start with the front"... and then he showed me some tricky strut bars... which had to be bolted on... so I thought... well, let me first talk to people who know about this.

Even if I kind of agree with the guy... well... come to think of it, I guess I don't really agree... sway bars reduce roll... and where you should reduce it depends on how your car is behaving... it it's oversteering you should stiffen the front... understeering stiffen the back... so I'm gonna go ahead and assume that the Yaris understeers like there's no tomorrow, and stiffening the back is probably a good idea. And it seems like a very easy DIY as well, so should I go ahead and just order the rear sway bar?

And... from where? I've seen a very active user around (Cali?) that ships internationally... I would rather go and pick up the stuff from somewhere, because usually there's no one home... and I'd rather not have this kind of stuff sent to my company

Anyways, thanks in advance for any insight!!

[1.5]

I ran 25mm in the rear when on stockies its deff not too much

[WeeYari]

As has been said many, many, many times before, the rear sway bar is by far the best bang for the buck mod you can do. As for the front, under normal or even spirited circumstances, adding bars is primarily cosmetic. Only time any benefit can usually be felt is if you take part in autox events.

As for spacers, 10mm in the rear is a starting point for pushing the rear track out to align with the front track. When dealing with wheel spacers, anything over 5mm will require new studs. Over 10mm in the rear, installing extended studs would be difficult. At that point it would probably be wise to start looking at hub spacers.

[1.5]

playing on what Wee said, there are Hub Spacers that bolt between the axel and mounting hub and dont require extended wheel studs and usually are considered safer. They come in 10mm (standard starting point) and 13mm for a little more aggressive stance

[WeeYari]

Originally Posted by 1.5

playing on what Yari said,

It's Wee!

[1.5]

Originally Posted by WeeYari

It's Wee!

my bad lol fixed

[Lars]

For starters, many thanks for your replies!!

So, at least for the sway bar I got my answer! If you know where I would be able to get one of them here in Germany I'm all ears (or eyes)! :) And which one? There's a recent thread where two were suggested, white line and TRD... white line seems more customizable, but TRD seemed a lot easier to install... and since I'm probably gonna do it myself... I'm leaning for the TRD.

Now... for the spacers... I'm getting mixed signals from you guys :)
While you said that you ran 25mm in the rear and it wasn't too much... then you said that hub spacers are safer and easier to install... so what would you go for if you were me? Or, in other words, what would you go for if you didn't have much know-how, nor many tools, and you want something that would be relatively simple to install (but I'm willing to learn and read fwiw...).

Thanks again!

[cali yaris]

Whiteline is an extra 10-20 minutes to install, but is superior in every other way, including having two settings.

Spacers depend completely on what wheels are being used. Did I understand correctly you are using the stock wheels and tires?

I carry the Whiteline bar, spacers of both types and I'm happy to ship to Germany. I don't have TRD (since they won't sell to 3rd party shops), so I can't help you with that one if you choose to purchase it.

[Lars]

Hi Cali!

Yes I'm running stock wheels. For my engine (73kW on gas) these 185/65R15 are the only size that I'm allowed to have without going to some inspection to add the new sizes for it... so I think I'll keep the stock wheels, grip seems enough with these, but they do look pretty ugly and especially the rear wheels they're too tucked in.

So I was thinking 10 front, 20 rear. But I did see on your site the H&R's which are TUV approved and they come in 10/15 only right? So maybe I should go with those? Just take the wheel out, insert spacer, put wheel back on with extended nuts and I'm good to go?

I can post pictures of the car if necessary :)

But it's simple it's the XP9F with the 1NR-FE engine model!

[1.5]

Originally Posted by Lars

For starters, many thanks for your replies!!
Now... for the spacers... I'm getting mixed signals from you guys :)
While you said that you ran 25mm in the rear and it wasn't too much... then you said that hub spacers are safer and easier to install... so what would you go for if you were me? Or, in other words, what would you go for if you didn't have much know-how, nor many tools, and you want something that would be relatively simple to install (but I'm willing to learn and read fwiw...).

Thanks again!

I said "usually are considered safer" because people give wheel spacers a bad name. I have no problem with them and never had but people install the extended studs incorrectly, dont apply proper torque settings, dont check their bolts or lugs ever so the spacers cause those people problems and they like to blame the spacer. If you have that same negative feeling towards them then the hub spacer may be better for you. I have torque wrenches and work on my car all the time so I know when I install them theyre good and i always check them.

Also I was adding to what Wee said about 10mm being a perfect starter size. If you decide 10 is where you'd like to start then you have the option of going with a hub spacer instead of a wheel spacer.

[cali yaris]

Just take the wheel out, insert spacer, put wheel back on with extended nuts and I'm good to go?

No, anything larger than 5mm will require that you swap for longer studs to accommodate the extra thickness (because less of the stock stud would show through the spacer). H&R/Ichiba kits come with the studs included.

Hub spacers (rear only, 10mm or 13mm), since they are installed from behind, do not require changing the studs.

[WeeYari]

My 2 cents;

Since I live in an area which lays down large quantities of salt during the winter, I prefer wheel spacers. I don't particularly care for the way salt and aluminum play together.

With wheel spacers, I just remove them when switching over to snow tires in the fall. Put them back in come spring time when I swap the summers back on.

May be paranoia, but I don't relish the thought of a hub spacer corroding on me.

[Lars]

Ok guys thanks a lot.

I think I've decided for the 10/15 h&r spacers. They are hub centric which means the vertical forces will not be applied on the studs and I think those measures are tuv approved, so I think it's a good start. It was also the measures I applied on my vw golf and I liked the result, so yeah!

And again, should be easy to apply right? Take wheel off, insert spacer, put wheel back on with new extended studs. Any other precaution I should have? Spray some anti-corrosion or whatever?

Cali how much would it be total price for these including shipping?

I'll look around and try to find them as well, since they are German I should be able to find them cheaper here then shipped from the US! But if the price is not that different I may still order them from you for the "service" :p

Thanks again!

[cali yaris]

^ Thank you, appreciate the opportunity. I will PM you tomorrow when I can weigh them for shipping.

[Lars]

Originally Posted by WeeYari

My 2 cents;

Since I live in an area which lays down large quantities of salt during the winter, I prefer wheel spacers. I don't particularly care for the way salt and aluminum play together.

With wheel spacers, I just remove them when switching over to snow tires in the fall. Put them back in come spring time when I swap the summers back on.

May be paranoia, but I don't relish the thought of a hub spacer corroding on me.

WeeYari, saw this from you on an archived thread:

So yes, it is as simple as all that.

- pull of drum
- start a lug nut onto the stud to protect threads and tap out with a hammer
- insert new longer strud through back of mounting plate. There are only a couple of spots within the drum where there will be enough room to slid the new studs in.
- slid on washer and nut, and tighten down

Done.

This made me understand a little bit more of what I'm up against...

I have disc brakes in the front and drums in the rear... so I guess I need to know how to disassemble drum brakes and disc brakes to be able to install my wheel spacers... sounds a lot of fun!!

But... I have zero tools, so I think I'm gonna install them next to a car auto shop... and I'll buy the tools as needed

PS: Cali, I found an online distributor with free shipping in Germany for orders above 100 eur... so... yeah... not sure if ordering from the US will be an option, but you can still let me know of your rate!

[Lars]

Just ordered 10mm/15mm spacers and spring kit, all from H&R.

Will provide pics :)

[1.5]

Nice pic up. You will enjoy the feel and looks