Not another lowering thread!?!?!

[projektvertx]

Hey all,

No seriously, I have a serious question about lowering the car I tried searching but came up with little information of use as to why I should do what was recommended. So to start, the car is a 1995 Camry 1MZ-FE with about 5,000 miles on Monroe Struts, TRW mounts (Discontinued), MOOG coil spring insulators and KYB strut boots. Also worthy of mentioning are 5,000 miles old OEM Toyota ball joints and some control arm bushings. Pretty much brand new suspension set up OK, so here is my question, how bad is it to mate TRD lowering springs with Monroe struts?? I found a set for sale... I know most people will tell me get KYB's or Tokico's, but my question is why CAN'T I put Monroe's with TRD lowering springs? Will strut life be decreased of will the ride simply feel weird? Can I simply put them in and ride the struts until they die and THEN replace them with KYB's or Tokico's? To the guys who have TRD lowring springs, how are they in terms of performance and comfort? Also, any rubbing issues with stock tire size?

[LynchburgCSI]

Little mini-bump for you man. Just wanna see what others say on this issue.

[JCamry94]

New OEM struts like yours should hold up for awhile! The thing with KYBs or Tokicos is that they are designed for performance (mostly tokicos), so they are made for the extra strain on the parts when they become lower to the ground. I rode with 13 year old OEM struts on brand new eibach pro-kit lowering springs for about 6 months before the front strut blew! From my experience that is ALL that happened. Also when you mate lowering springs like TRD (quality made ones) with performance struts you get A LOT more out of your setup. If you're JUST looking for a little drop, then maybe OEM struts are okay for you, but if you want better handling, get struts too.

[bigbird]

with the TRDs you should be ok. the issue lies in the lowered stance. an OEM shock is designed to be at a certain height, when you lower that height you compress the shock indefinatly. unless the shock is designed for it this prolonged lower stance will ware out the shock. the TRD are not that low and are pretty stiff so i wouldnt worry about they waring the shocks out too fast, possibly never. However, there is another side to it. aftermarket speings on stock mushy shocks ware out faster as well. again, in this case you should be ok, but in general this is the way it is.

[JCamry94]

Originally Posted by bigbird

with the TRDs you should be ok. the issue lies in the lowered stance. an OEM shock is designed to be at a certain height, when you lower that height you compress the shock indefinatly. unless the shock is designed for it this prolonged lower stance will ware out the shock. the TRD are not that low and are pretty stiff so i wouldnt worry about they waring the shocks out too fast, possibly never. However, there is another side to it. aftermarket speings on stock mushy shocks ware out faster as well. again, in this case you should be ok, but in general this is the way it is.

That's what I was most concerned about in his case. My eibachs were very stiff, but not low at all. They destroyed my 13 yr old struts in 6 months!

[bigbird]

aah, but his arent 13 years old. they are fairly new. the TRDs will ware them out faster then stock ones...but not real fast.

[projektvertx]

So pretty much, I can come to the following conclusion: Slap them on and ride on these struts until they die. Any adverse performance effects?

I believe ASG14 has these on one of his cars, I'm still waiting for his reply

[projektvertx]

Originally Posted by LynchburgCSI

Little mini-bump for you man. Just wanna see what others say on this issue.

Thanks man Appreciated I'm still waiting for ASG 14 to chime in about the topic and address some of my performance/rubbing concers

[cruisn76]

One thing you will notice right off the bat is there is a floaty feeling to the car if you are mating TRD springs to used struts. I can tell you that at 5000km with my old KYB and H&R setup it already began to soften up. Once I hit around 10 000km I was getting pretty dissatisfied (but thats me, I am picky) especially on the freeways. If you put these on you will never know what they can be when both shocks and springs are BNIB.

So in the end I got Coilovers instead and although they are much much stiffer they don't wear down as fast and maintain stiffness in the ride (assuming you dodge those nasty potholes)

[bigbird]

Originally Posted by projektvertx

So pretty much, I can come to the following conclusion: Slap them on and ride on these struts until they die. Any adverse performance effects?

I believe ASG14 has these on one of his cars, I'm still waiting for his reply

wow i just realized what you have. thoes are good, rare springs. ASG is riding on thoes with, IIRC, KYB struts. they are great springs, stiffer then his old eibachs but slightly taller.

[EEngineer]

^lol, but u still ride your mushy H&Rs in teh winter :p

so yea

u wanna do performance....go for coilovers
u wanna keep ride comfort, throw the TRD springs on the struts, the monroes might last you 4-5 years depending how you drive...but if u put on tokicos.....it would be must better and longer lasting

[projektvertx]

Originally Posted by cruisn76

One thing you will notice right off the bat is there is a floaty feeling to the car if you are mating TRD springs to used struts. I can tell you that at 5000km with my old KYB and H&R setup it already began to soften up. Once I hit around 10 000km I was getting pretty dissatisfied (but thats me, I am picky) especially on the freeways. If you put these on you will never know what they can be when both shocks and springs are BNIB.

So in the end I got Coilovers instead and although they are much much stiffer they don't wear down as fast and maintain stiffness in the ride (assuming you dodge those nasty potholes)

YAY, someone who speaks in my units, Kilometers Yeah, we got a lot of nasty potholes around here With dwindling state budgets, things have only gotten worst Luckily, in my area, it's not too bad, the city of Westland benefited A LOT from the Commander in Chiefs construction package last year and repaved like 80% of it's roads, it's insane!! (Very clean work, I must say!) But in some areas, like Inkster, to the south, and Redford, to the northeast, it's like a slalom dodging all the potholes. Seriously.

Now I don't know if this is normal, or I just have the wrong illusion in my head, but driving my car and my mom's 98 avy (both 6 cyl. so same weight distribution approx. I'm guessing, althought her car weights in at a good 300kg heavier i think), the pair feel floaty at higher speeds and not as well planted as my dad's 3.5RL. Dunno, just me? But do you mean they got floatier than stock setup, or just floatier than you thought it would be?

Originally Posted by bigbird

wow i just realized what you have. thoes are good, rare springs. ASG is riding on thoes with, IIRC, KYB struts. they are great springs, stiffer then his old eibachs but slightly taller.

Yup, I got these from trd4life:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=323360


Now that I bought them, I don't mind posting the link Yay, now I get to have something like ASG14 in my carI suppose if he is happy with them, then so will I be Do you happen to know if they would rub/scrape or anything in that area?

Originally Posted by EEngineer

^lol, but u still ride your mushy H&Rs in teh winter :p

so yea

u wanna do performance....go for coilovers
u wanna keep ride comfort, throw the TRD springs on the struts, the monroes might last you 4-5 years depending how you drive...but if u put on tokicos.....it would be must better and longer lasting

So driving the monroe's out until they die isn't a horrible idea pretty much right?

[cruisn76]

Originally Posted by projektvertx

YAY, someone who speaks in my units, Kilometers Yeah, we got a lot of nasty potholes around here With dwindling state budgets, things have only gotten worst Luckily, in my area, it's not too bad, the city of Westland benefited A LOT from the Commander in Chiefs construction package last year and repaved like 80% of it's roads, it's insane!! (Very clean work, I must say!) But in some areas, like Inkster, to the south, and Redford, to the northeast, it's like a slalom dodging all the potholes. Seriously.

Now I don't know if this is normal, or I just have the wrong illusion in my head, but driving my car and my mom's 98 avy (both 6 cyl. so same weight distribution approx. I'm guessing, althought her car weights in at a good 300kg heavier i think), the pair feel floaty at higher speeds and not as well planted as my dad's 3.5RL. Dunno, just me? But do you mean they got floatier than stock setup, or just floatier than you thought it would be?



Yup, I got these from trd4life:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=323360


Now that I bought them, I don't mind posting the link Yay, now I get to have something like ASG14 in my carI suppose if he is happy with them, then so will I be Do you happen to know if they would rub/scrape or anything in that area?



So driving the monroe's out until they die isn't a horrible idea pretty much right?

When they were first installed, the ride was nice and stiff, but after xxx km they started to feel mushy and floaty and I for one will dodge every minuscule hole. I never ever fly over curbs and take it nice and easy.


Your monroes are pretty new but it wont feel tight for long once you swap over to lowering springs and by the looks of your road conditions there, you better sharpen those slalom skills. lol

And EEngineer was referring to my winter setup being KYB shocks and H&R springs. I constantly complain about the mushy ride with this setup. In the summer I am all over my K-Sport Coilovers. Much tighter ride!!!!

Only 2 more months till I can swapped them back in.... just 2 more months...

[projektvertx]

Originally Posted by cruisn76

When they were first installed, the ride was nice and stiff, but after xxx km they started to feel mushy and floaty and I for one will dodge every minuscule hole. I never ever fly over curbs and take it nice and easy.

Your monroes are pretty new but it wont feel tight for long once you swap over to lowering springs and by the looks of your road conditions there, you better sharpen those slalom skills. lol

And EEngineer was referring to my winter setup being KYB shocks and H&R springs. I constantly complain about the mushy ride with this setup. In the summer I am all over my K-Sport Coilovers. Much tighter ride!!!!

Only 2 more months till I can swapped them back in.... just 2 more months...

Lol, yeah I've already got pretty good skills at dodging potholes and any extra help I can get thru my suspension setup is great I know exactly what you mean when you say you avoid all the little holes, I do the exact same People often get irritated at how much slower I take speedbumps, even thought the stock suspension should take quite a beating and be able to handle a speedbump at 5-10 MPH. I just don't like abusing my suspension like that...

But I appreciate the detailed experience log, but I guess I will see how they feel when I have them on, decide how I like them and figure things out from there For now, Gabe said he shipped 'em out today, so I'm expecting them sometime at the beginnning of next week. They will be on the car on the first day of March, which is the first opening I have I will take pics of the ride height before and after a week of settle (althought I'm not expecting DRAMATIC change...) I'll also take pics during the job and I'll make sure to write a post detailing my initial impression Should be fun!

[bigbird]

unless your trying to climb stairs i doubt youll scrape anything. they just arent low enough.

and when EE says 4-5years on thoes monroes...thats very good compared to coilovers, so dont feeel bad about it.