Late to the party, springs/shocks feedback? 09 sedan

[kobe52]

Hi fellas

Little late to the party but looking to do some suspension upgrades on my modest DD 09 sedan. Ive started a new job with a longer commute and as everyone knows- high winds, small car drift problems. So part of the problem is unavoidable but was looking to add a little more stability/control if that's possible and I saw a couple of older threads mentioning the TRD shocks strut/springs.

Already installed the TRD rear sway bar a while back which definitely made huge differences, run wider top brand tires in non-winter, smaller185-60-14s for winter.

The older threads have mostly gone TRD shocks/springs combo, which Ive found and ready to order but wondering for any feedback for the other combos- TRD springs/OEM shocks, TRD springs/tein b6, TRD springs/KYB shocks.

And if from ya'lls personal experience if this can really make a ride difference on my occasional DD windy highway drives. new car option prob 1-2 yrs out with the terrible inventory availability in Canada's Toyota dealerships.

thanks

[mitch9521]

I have Megan Racing springs on stock struts, rides pretty well. But stock struts are not made for lowering springs, I'm on my second set of rear struts at 152,000km lol

[kobe52]

Originally Posted by mitch9521

I have Megan Racing springs on stock struts, rides pretty well. But stock struts are not made for lowering springs, I'm on my second set of rear struts at 152,000km lol

hey fellow canuck! how do you find the lowered springs with the snow we get? things get plowed well here in the city but there's occasionally the situation where things arent plowed yet on fresh snow falls.

I think im going to be settling on TRD springs + Tein B6 shock struts due to it being a straightforward purchase from rockauto. TRD shocks a little trickier to get atm. And getting KYB Mounts and bumpstops.

[mitch9521]

Originally Posted by kobe52

hey fellow canuck! how do you find the lowered springs with the snow we get? things get plowed well here in the city but there's occasionally the situation where things arent plowed yet on fresh snow falls.

I think im going to be settling on TRD springs + Tein B6 shock struts due to it being a straightforward purchase from rockauto. TRD shocks a little trickier to get atm. And getting KYB Mounts and bumpstops.

My car is only dropped 1.5", if the snow is crazy deep then I basically just turn into a snow plow but 98% of the time it does fine. I run the stock tire size(175/65/R15) for extra ground clearance in the winter and low profile 16s in the summer months.

[Compeer]

I made my own rear lower brace and also recently put on that cheap chinese front strut, cars way nicer in corners and I dont feel like im being thrown out of my seat anymore even on stupid tight cornering. When I had the tien flexz that was really nice too, Kind of soft with lots of grip, the bad sway in the rear was gone and that was running tein flex z and no sway bars. I suspect when i reinstall the tien suspension again soon that the cars handling will be extremelly nice compared to before.

I have trd sportivo springs and the blue shorter trd sportivo shocks and the car was still a whale in the wind, feels better all around now with the sway bars. rides nice really happy with it, honesty, if you have the money this set up is really nice.

So would recomend getting the front sway bar as well and seeing how you like that first, its your cheapest option and with or with out the other upgrades it will make the car feel nicer.

[kobe52]

Originally Posted by Compeer

I made my own rear lower brace and also recently put on that cheap chinese front strut, cars way nicer in corners and I dont feel like im being thrown out of my seat anymore even on stupid tight cornering. When I had the tien flexz that was really nice too, Kind of soft with lots of grip, the bad sway in the rear was gone and that was running tein flex z and no sway bars. I suspect when i reinstall the tien suspension again soon that the cars handling will be extremelly nice compared to before.

I have trd sportivo springs and the blue shorter trd sportivo shocks and the car was still a whale in the wind, feels better all around now with the sway bars. rides nice really happy with it, honesty, if you have the money this set up is really nice.

So would recomend getting the front sway bar as well and seeing how you like that first, its your cheapest option and with or with out the other upgrades it will make the car feel nicer.

sweet setup!! ya i saw the front strut bar install from the arvin yaris youtuber guy. was it the tanabe sustec? all the parts are tough to get and pretty pricey now anyway since they're so out of production date.

I dont hear any obvious noises so theyre probably not totally shot yet but will inspect to see if getting new tie rods/ball joints/stabilizer links may help as well? Not too sure how those parts rank interms of affecting straight line ride stability that im looking for. Im not a car mechanic but in a similiar trades industry so I have all the tools and buddies to keep install costs at a minumum.

[kobe52]

So finally got it installed this week. Figured out why ride comfort felt real unstable maybe more than usual stock.

The struts and shocks were so shot that I could compress the shaft down with 1 finger. Basically riding on the springs my buddy says. Good that the stock springs were still stiff enough the car wasnt full bounce castle mode.

Gonna drive the car for 125-150mi for the springs to settle then take it for alignment next week. Already notice how much lower it feels getting in and out of the car.