today i was daydreaming. i almost passed up mt left turn. i slowed, checked the side mirror then turned gracefully over the median, and into the road i needed. looked down when i was entering that road - 55 mph!
no strain. no pain. done like an avalon. but mine is in new condition, mechanically. maybe putting yours into new condition while keeping the stock (or almost) setup would be a good idea?
hanging hi-performance parts on a worn-out chassis definitely is NOT a good idea...
I can understand your desire for better handling, but I'm not so sure larger anti-sway bars are the solution on the 1st gen Avalon. Actually my '96 seems to handle fairly well for a passenger car, and without much body lean. Just changing the worn-out sway bar bushings ($20 in parts, and a half-hour job) seemed to help the handling a bit.
I imagine if you were to lower the suspension with stiffer springs and add wider wheels THEN heavier-duty sway bars might be a good next step. But I'm not so sure the Avalon is "that kind of car". You have to ask yourself if you really want to go down that road, or enjoy the car for what it is: a nice, smooth, reliable daily driver.
Camry parts might fit. The first gen Avalon shares a lot of components with Camry. I'm looking at sways too, but handling was greatly improved when I installed Vogtland springs and Tokico blues. The car is about 1.8 inches lower and running on plus 2 wheels and tires (215/50 17's on Konig's.)
Last edited by ImDisaster; 10-25-2010 at 09:21 AM.
I was wondering is the UR(Ultra Racing) strut bar for on the camry will fit on the avalon??? Same thing for the Whiteline or UR FSB and RSB sway bars. UR also has a Front Lower Bar / Front Member Brace.
Those look similar enough where I'd be tempted to try them out. I guess if they didn't fit, it'd be easy enough to sell them to some one on TN. Which isn't bad for a worst case scenario.
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Black 95 Avalon XLS 170k
Spectra Blue 02 Celica GT(Rolling Chassis)
2009 Kenworth T-660 (Cat c-15) 447k
Hmm... I'll check if the oem part numbers for the sway bars are the same for the camry and avalon. Then that should tell me if the fit, if not I will just call them.
Camry parts might fit. The first gen Avalon shares a lot of components with Camry. I'm looking at sways too, but handling was greatly improved when I installed Vogtland springs and Tokico blues. The car is about 1.8 inches lower and running on plus 2 wheels and tires (215/50 17's on Konig's.)
ImDisaster,
Your car looks hot! Where did you buy your Vogtland springs? I'm thinking about installing a set of lowering/slightly stiffer springs, but can't find anybody (Eibach, H&R, Neuspeed...) who lists a set specifically for the Avalon. Even Vogtland doesn't have them on their site; did they at one time?
There doesn't seem to be much aftermarket support for Avalons. Maybe it's generally assumed that ALL owners prefer to treat them as "old men's cars"? (Certainly not me; I'm pushing 60 and still like a car that performs well and looks good .)
they're all interchangeable. i'm running camry sway bar links, solara struts, solara strut bar and camry springs. the solara, camry, and avalon are all interchangeable within the years. the 97-99 avalon are = to 97-01 camry and 99-03 solara. the 95-96 avalon is equivalent to the 94-96 camry. from what i heard even the 00-04? avalons are the same (possibly if not they're off the newer camrys)
edit: so for rear sway bars we have the TRD and whiteline and for a front saw bar we have the whiteline front sway bar/ braces. whiteline seems to be the only brand that carries suspension parts for us.
The problem with using Camry performance springs for the Avalon, even if they DO fit, is that (correct me if I'm wrong, but) the Avalon is heavier than the Camry. Thus you need a spring rate tailored for that extra weight otherwise the car will sag.
I can't find ANY suppliers who offer springs specifically for the 1st Gen Avalon. I've tried Eibach, H&R, Neuspeed, Tanabe, and even Intrax (which aren't supposed to be very good). Vogtland doesn't list 1st Gen Avalon springs on their website, yet IMDisaster says he purchased their springs for his Avalon last year. I've sent Vogtland USA an Email and left them a voice mail but haven't had a reply...what's up with that? With all the old Avalons still running around you'd think there would be SOME demand for parts like this.
I saw those on the site, but why won't those fit the '95/'96 Avalon...anybody know? If Vogtland responds to my inquires maybe I'll find out; I hope you have better luck making contact with them than I have.
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1999 Toyota Avalon
.)
With all the old Avalons still running around you'd think there would be SOME demand for parts like this.
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