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For those if us who are lowered...

6.3K views 54 replies 19 participants last post by  CharmCityES  
#1 ·
How is your road noise? Ride quality?
mine are both horrible...hit a bump, and the whole car shakes, ride on a bad road and you hear and feel EVERYTHING...i mean everything...bump steer? of course!! hit a bump in the process of making a turn and you feel like youre gonna fly right off the road!
If i hit a bump, a solid THUMP is emitted by whatever strut absorbs the shock of the bump...i think the coilsprings are contacting e/o, but i cant say for certain
ive been lowered for over a year, and it has always been like this...handles like its on rails, and rides fine on normal roads, but i have to go slow on bad roads because the car feels like its going to fall apart..
how does it feel with your setup?

my setup is:
TRD springs
TRD RSB
TRD FSB
KYB GR2's (F&R)
all new toyota oem strut mounts (oct 08)
all new poly bushings
2 new front balljoints
 
#3 ·
it sounds about right.

your TRD RSB and FST probably stiffened up your chassis and your suspension WAY more than your TRD springs could.

Yeah.. your car is really bumpy on harsh roads because of your setup. Even though your car feels like its about to fall apart, its actually super stiff so its the opposite :)

when I had my 19's on coils... man lol...

for your next rims cor, I'd suggest you get back your black BBS :) WHY THE HELL DID YOU SELL THOSE?!
 
#4 ·
haha my friend rode in my car after i lowered it.
and said "omg what did you do to this thing"

i have :
TEIN S.TECH's
stock struts( soon to be KYB)
TRD RSB
SE FSB

my door sills and weather stripping make rubbing sounds alot
not really a squeak tho

and alot the s.tech's make a very nice "CLACK CLACK" when i hit a bump
always 2 pops. haha

this happens on dips
speed bumps </3
turning/accelerating

i am going to try and lube them up
if not i am going to buy these
Image

they are tein spring silencers.
its funny how they know their springs are loud haha

the handling is ALOT better than stock.
but still soft IMO. i will see how it handles after the KYB's:thumbsup:

no doubt despite the poping noises.
i do not regret lowering my car.
 
#5 ·
My setup
TRd strut bar
Trd Rsb
eibach Spring
Stock strut ( planning to replace soon)

my ride have a few problem with spring making noise, it seem to go away with some grease, but need to grease offen due to dirt and other stuff getting struck to the grease. My ride seem to feel way more comfortable with stock rim/tires.
My trd RSb is on the autocross setting/ it feel rough when making sharpe turn.
 
#7 ·
H&R springs over here.. i heard some rear clack noise only on major bumps.. then my dad took it back to his dealership and lubed the hell out of it.. now its much better.. the only thing i need to do now is to have the dash rattle TSB.. it only rattles at certain temp though.. about 45-80 degrees you'll hear the damn thing.. wierd...
 
#9 · (Edited)
my current setup:
custom Tein coilovers with OEM strut mounts
TRD front strut bar
TRD rear sway bar(autocross setting)

past setup:
Ksport coilovers
TRD front strut bar
TRD rear sway bar(autocross setting)

past past setup:
oem struts/mounts
TRD lowering springs
TRD front strut bar
TRD rear sway bar(autocross setting)

I have gone through 4 types of suspension counting stock. Cor, what you are experiencing is pretty normal. I am sure your roads are much worse than in my area, so your ride quality is worse over crappy roads. I myself hate it too when I have to drive over bad roads, makes mad. Out of all my suspension, the tein have the least road noise,best ride quality and best handling. They handle like a dream without the super stiff ride for daily driver. I get bump steer sometimes too with my current setup because I am pretty low, so I try to drive slow as possible over shitty roads but sometimes I dont have a choice because of traffic, what I hate the most is fucken railroad crossing with traffic behind you omg, I cant slow down. But overall, cor dont stress too much, what peach said is true and dont worry too much, the struts and etc will be fine. Just try your best to go a slow as possible when you can over bumps/dips/ and shitty roads.
 
#10 ·
How is your road noise? Ride quality?
mine are both horrible...hit a bump, and the whole car shakes, ride on a bad road and you hear and feel EVERYTHING...i mean everything...bump steer? of course!! hit a bump in the process of making a turn and you feel like youre gonna fly right off the road!
If i hit a bump, a solid THUMP is emitted by whatever strut absorbs the shock of the bump...i think the coilsprings are contacting e/o, but i cant say for certain
ive been lowered for over a year, and it has always been like this...handles like its on rails, and rides fine on normal roads, but i have to go slow on bad roads because the car feels like its going to fall apart..
how does it feel with your setup?

my setup is:




TRD springs
TRD RSB
TRD FSB
KYB GR2's (F&R)
all new toyota oem strut mounts (oct 08)
all new poly bushings
2 new front balljoints

Duh!!! What do expect???
 
#11 ·
now heres the question... why do you all lower the cars anyway if ya'll are complaning about it anyway? i kid i know the answer.. my dad complains in one shitty road we have to ride every sunday to church.. he's like what the fuck this feels like a freakin` space wagon!
 
#12 ·
I have an XLE (with the brace in the back) and TRD springs and a FSB. I like the handling and don't mind the bumpiness. Always need to go slow on bad road, bumps etc just not to scratch the body kit. Just two items I don't like: crossing lateral bumps, raised lane dividers etc - feels like the car jumps over them. I think its mainly due to the FSB wanting to keep the car straight. Other thing is driving over "waves"...if the wavy road matches the ~ the car lengths the car starts to whip like a boat going over waves. But all in all I like it muuuuch better than soft stock.
 
#13 · (Edited)
i dont have an issue when turning or accelerasting....its just the ride quality and noise over bumps
im not complaining about it so much as im curious as to how everyone else's setups are...mine seems to ride pretty well for a lowered car

and to everyone who answered my question, thank you! im glad its not just me :)
 
#18 ·
^... where you encounter the clack-clack from the springs right? next time we meet, lets compare our spring noises. haha.

i'm fairly certain that the noise is purely from the springs. they're rubbing against each other when compressed. heck, you can even see the paint scrape/wear. it's a pretty common problem on aftermarket springs apparently.

trd-vvti posted a diy on lubing/greasing the springs- more specifically, the type of grease that seemed to work the best. i myself will search for that thread some time in the future, but for now, the clack-clack is not that hard to live with, since it's not something that happens every second or whatnot.

my setup ('03 LE):
megan racing springs.
used SE FSB (thank you once again v6secam! looks great and oem!)

i wonder though, if the tein "silencers" will work on other springs. i can't see why not, other than the possibility of putting those brown things on the wrong rungs, rendering it useless in my case. (something stupid that i would do. :lol:)
 
#15 ·
Eibach springs
TRD RSB
Stock STB (for now)
Stock Struts

Ride is fine, my last car was lowered and way tighter..had a rougher ride...i like the way my Camry is.
 
#20 ·
96 Camry Coupe LE V6

H&R's sport springs
TRD RSB
KYB struts
18X7.5 TRD Rims
225/45 Kumhos

Ride is not bad, of course its worse on the rough roads but still not punishing. Handling is awesome. I've found the tires, make all the difference.

I've ran 225/40/18 yokos, and the ride was awful, as was the road noise.
The smoothest combo I have experience with, is when I ran 17x7.5 with 205/50 Fusions. I've since put those on the wifes OEM Honda Accord, and they actually improved her ride and handling.
 
#21 ·
Cor- I think the main difference is the roads. I'm sure the roads in MD are very similar to the ones in WV, and this winter has been harsh.. So many new potholes...I have the same setup as you,(I've always wanted the coilovers, but I am super scared of how they will ride on these terrible roads) and I know exactly what you mean, but in all honesty, the SE's rode kinda rough from the factory, compared to other cars...With my 18s and 235/40s, the car wants to track with the grooves in the road a lot....and the ride of course gets rougher....It almost feels like I'm riding on just rims on some curves...Unfortunately, thats the price we pay!!!
 
#22 ·
the car wants to track with the grooves in the road a lot....and the ride of course gets rougher....It almost feels like I'm riding on just rims on some curves...Unfortunately, thats the price we pay!!!
What do U mean 'track with the grooves'? The SE is more stiff. I like how my SE rides. The car doesn't lean as much when turning.

I know I do drive on bad roads like Washington DC so the idea of lowering never cross my mind. The OEM height is perfect for my needs. :cool:
 
#23 ·
if the road has been worn down by semis and a lot of traffic, it has grooves in it...with low pro tires and lowered suspension, it follows these grooves...

And I never said I didn't like the SE suspension, it's just noticably stiffer than other cars I've ridden in...which is understandable..

You can still lower your car in DC, just do it.
 
#26 ·
50 series tires arent bad. im running 225/50/17's... h&R springs and the ride is just right.. theres just one road here in dallas that hate...

before i had my spacers i had vibrations on the freeway.. now that i have them going to work isn`t have bad coz u do 90-100... heheheh