Fat man springs...

[Slick]

Here is probably a new one for you. I know everyone is in to lowering their Yarii and stablizing the suspension. My question is... ("fat guy in a little" car (tommy)) I am a fat s.o.b. and I fear my little yaris is squatin under the weight. Is there a suspension out there that will hold up to a fat man? Do I need like stiffer springs or what? I just don't want the car to lean to the left, if you know what I mean. :laugh: But seriously, any ideas or advice? Thanks in advance.

[m911gt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VplfvXXVrJE

Do you want it to be this stiff?

[Slick]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VplfvXXVrJE

Do you want it to be this stiff?

Haha! No, probably not quite that stiff. I just don't want it to sag when I get in it.

[m911gt]

Haha! No, probably not quite that stiff. I just don't want it to sag when I get it in it.

It's a tough call, the springs and dampers aren't super stiff mainly since the car is so light. I have had two different sets of lowering springs and I think the Tanabe's are a perfect stiffness...granted I have them combined with many other suspension modifications. Also, the TRD shocks/struts are a much nicer feeling/handling set up over stock.

This car drives like a bubble until you really start to change suspension components.

Who knows what the stiffest aftermarket spring is? If we could obtain OEM spring and damper rates, I could run a computer simulation to see what spring and damper rates we could use to lower body travel as well as reduce the acceleration of the body mass.

[m911gt]

Anyone else have experience with the program Simulink?

[YarisSedan]

You could probally stack 2 bump stops on top of each other to greatly increase your spring rate without having to spend a lot of money.

[Slick]

What is a bump stop? Im asuming the name gives it away, but what is it literally? Can you give me a link? It would be great if I could just something to stiffin up the front left spring.

[contraband831]

WTF? How big are you, I am a short, big dude...and i have my car lowered with no problems. you aint going to make the car stand on two wheels if that is what you are worried about. Another member MadDog is a Tall Big Dude, and he from what we know has no issues with his ride.

[Klinton]

my buddy weights 340 pounds and drives my car fine man no left lean

[kngrsll]

dont forget dampers, that will help the problem too. you can also get spring rubbers to raise the rates. if you really are that big, you can run a stiffer rubber on the left front spring, with a slightly softer one on the other 3.

[m911gt]

You could probally stack 2 bump stops on top of each other to greatly increase your spring rate without having to spend a lot of money.

your spring rate wouldn't change since it equates to a force per length...you wouldn't really be changing the unsprung length of the spring and definitely not altering the force exerted.

[kngrsll]

What is a bump stop? Im asuming the name gives it away, but what is it literally? Can you give me a link? It would be great if I could just something to stiffin up the front left spring.

http://www.google.com/products?q=longacre+spring+rubbers&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=PEzxSd3nCdnMlQfb-oW0DA&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

[YarisSedan]

your spring rate wouldn't change since it equates to a force per length...you wouldn't really be changing the unsprung length of the spring and definitely not altering the force exerted.

Not if you stacked the bump stops completed so there would be practically no movement

[kngrsll]

Not if you stacked the bump stops completed so there would be practically no movement

then you effectively removed that spring and shock from being useful, ie it wont compress or dampen. He just wants to raise the spring rate a little to compensate for weight.

[Slick]

WTF? How big are you, I am a short, big dude...and i have my car lowered with no problems. you aint going to make the car stand on two wheels if that is what you are worried about. Another member MadDog is a Tall Big Dude, and he from what we know has no issues with his ride.

I am 6' 4" and 395 lbs, so yeah, i'm a hefty dude. No, I'm not worried about the car rollin.

my buddy weights 340 pounds and drives my car fine man no left lean

My car has not yet began to lean either, however, my first and second truck did it enventually and it is only a matter of time before this little car starts to do it also

then you effectively removed that spring and shock from being useful, ie it wont compress or dampen. He just wants to raise the spring rate a little to compensate for weight.

Exactly! I want the ride to semi-enjoyable but at the same time I don't want it to lean when I set in it.

[kngrsll]

I am 6' 4" and 395 lbs, so yeah, i'm a hefty dude. No, I'm not worried about the car rollin.



My car has not yet began to lean either, however, my first and second truck did it enventually and it is only a matter of time before this little car starts to do it also



Exactly! I want the ride to semi-enjoyable but at the same time I don't want it to lean when I set in it.


did you look at the link i posted earlier? what you want is a spring rubber. Longacre makes them, if you watch nascar, they talk about them all the time. They are great for tuning the spring rate of each corner independently (but any change to one corner, results in slight changes to the others, but that is way beyond our scope here.)

That should be exactly what you need... now what rate you need, no idea LOL, might have to experiement a little, but they are cheap-ish, so no worries...

[thebarber]

forget the $ for springs/shocks...

http://www.bodyqueststore.com/Commercial/Treadmills/Nautilus%20718%20Treadmill.jpg

[AznGouki]

^^^^^
Agreed. That's what you can do for yourself.
But for the car to work around you. I would just suggest leaving everything stock. When it leans, change the springs and shocks on all 4 corners. If the factory equipment goes sour really fast, then maybe when you change the suspension go with springs that are factory height but with a higher spring rate, yet retains a stock ride height.
If the load is uneven in a car, some sort of lean will eventually occur. With stiffer springs, it will just be less noticeable over the given time.

[Slick]

forget the $ for springs/shocks...

http://www.bodyqueststore.com/Commercial/Treadmills/Nautilus%20718%20Treadmill.jpg

barber, i'm kinda' looking for a solution within the next couple of years... :thumbdown: Btw, I can almost bench my BODY weight, can you boast my numbers? But I digress, if I got my panties in a wad everytime a fat joke came up, i'd have alot of brown underware :laugh:

On a serious note barber, do you have any idea how much a tred cost in order to support 400 lbs? I could probably buy a entire suspension set-up. lol

All in good fun though