Rear suspension

[why?]

Wait, what? AWD? Which country?

japan, and other countries that get Japanese cars. Toyota, and other Japanese car companies give their home market a hell of a lot more toys than they give us.

[sheekeebut]

japan, and other countries that get Japanese cars. Toyota, and other Japanese car companies give their home market a hell of a lot more toys than they give us.
Well then, bless the Japanese for giving me the only toy I need. It's the lightest car I've ever driven (with exception to Smart, but that's a different price bracket), and I've lived in Europe.

Anyone know how much heavier the AWD version is?

[lormagni]

Anyone knows if this mod is possible also on the 3rd generation Yaris? I saw the hole, but i don't know if it's threaded inside like the 2nd gen

[SirDigby]

it's not that big of a deal if it's not threaded, just get the ol' tap and die set out and make it so...

[tmontague]

Alright, I'm bringing this thread back form the dead with some hopefully helpful hints and updates.

I stumbled upon this thread last week and switched my axle yesterday. I am currently running MI lowering springs and Tokiko Blue's in the rear. I have a custom exhaust that already hit the axle (I'm getting a new one made in a month) so other than the axle still hitting the exhaust on bumps, there doesn't seem to be any extra impacts (gas tank etc).

The rear end feels like it is sitting much lower when I am driving the car and the turn in is much more improved. It's too the point where I found myself over turning on high speed sweeping turns like off ramps. The car doesn't actually sit any lower, it just feels this way. The rear suspension also feels slightly stiffer now and the highway stability has seemed to improve

As others have stated, this likely changes the toe of the rear to proper factory specs which improves it's planted feel and turn in. The increased stiffness likely has to do with the angle that the springs are now compressed in relation to the pivot point of the rear axle.

These are my alignment specs from a month ago
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17991115_10155280982607743_7375207819986427457_n.j pg?oh=c2613e4d8e8385b0b68d0d0c6408052a&oe=5987BB95

If you are doing this mod I'd recommend a tap to clear out the rusted threaded hole. I have an '08 and at first I thought that there were no threads. Turns out rust and oil spray were covering them and the bolts wouldn't thread it would just spin. The bolts have a 1/4" or so of threadless space at the tip which was the reason it was just spinning. The bolt threads couldn't grab the threads in the hole since they were all gummed up. The threadless part allows you to safely tap the bolt into position if need be without damaging the threads, just don't go ape on it.

I didn't have a tap of the correct size so I use a ton of PB blaster to push out any dissolved rust as well as a long air nozzle to spray out any loose rust. I put anti seize on the bolt and used a ratchet to slowly tighten a bit and loosen a bit. Then I'd remove the bolt and flush it with PB blaster. This took about 20 minutes a side (didn't want to damage the threads) but if you had a tap it would take 2 mins as the rust would have a place to go in the grooves of the tap instead of jamming up the threads.

I figured out a convenient trick to getting the axle bushings lined up with the new hole. I used an extra axle stand and a long pry bar, the axle stand gave me a fulcrum where there previously wasn't one. I had the car sitting on jack stands and a jack was placed under the center of the axle so I could move it how I wanted. I then used the pry bar and the bolt to line up the hole. I covered the whole bolt in antiseize before I reinstalled them. Torqued them down to 62 ft/lbs when I put weight on the axle via the jack.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18033209_10155278996972743_3504734358630306425_n.j pg?oh=66c0390598f12bee5593d49059c28d6c&oe=597ADBD1

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18033987_10155278996947743_6853388062700679389_n.j pg?oh=eb570c3ed584f7e00fb4a239d333feba&oe=599AD71A

My bolts were in good shape when I pulled them out, minimal to no rust. I covered the old empty hole and areas around with an anti rust spray

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17952884_10155278996922743_7421914244760881248_n.j pg?oh=b18e00591e676c4c6f910b742f42ca42&oe=599987D3

All in all I'm happy with the mod, especially since it cost nothing. For anyone with a 2010 or higher who said they don't seem to have threads. Make sure you spray out the hole with a penetrant and stick your finger or something to actually feel for threads. I almost convinced myself that mine didn't have any with how much crap was on them. Worst case scenario you could always use a tap and cut your own.

[Neinris]

Fashionable late to the party. I too have joined the club. Lesson learned, make sure to clean out the top hole you’re mounting into. My first bolt got stuck, took me 2 hours to get it out. Easiest way to do it obviously is to lift your car, not the drive on lift of course, support the axle frame, remove shocks then springs. Remove one of the pivot mounting bolt, screw it in and out of the upper mounting hole until you’re able to screw it in flushed all the way. What I did was spray WD 40 in the hole and bolt, worked the bolt all the way until it stopped. Unscrew and remove the bolt, spray more WD40, or something similar, in the hole to push the grime/rust away, wiped the bolt clean with a rag, and keep doing it until the bolt screws in all the way, do the same on the other side. Alignment was a bit tricky, with the outside hole perfectly aligned, peek in how the inside hole is aligned. From there, put the bolt in all the way and then work on getting the inside hole aligned. In my case the bushing needed to go down and forward. I had one person helping me. He used a pry bar to help me bring the inside bushing collar down, while I push in the bolt and the rear of the axle frame to get it aligned. If I didn’t get the bolt stuck in the first place, we would have finished in under an hour.

[OneL30N]

Hello everyone, I too am very late to trying this out. Applying your previous advice and tips I was able to pull off this conversion fairly easily. I immediately felt that the car turns in much sharper while test driving. However I noticed a clanking sound driving over potholes and bumps. I went to check and my exhaust seems to literally rest on top of the axle. Tomorrow I will try to somehow raise the exhaust but I can already see myself putting the axle back to the original position. So if you’re planning to do this conversion and have an aftermarket exhaust/muffler please make sure that it sits within oem location or higher up.
I have a Blitz Nür Spec S muffler (for 1 liter engines) fitted on a 1.3 liter (European Model, 2007).
I’ll link some photos of the problem and a (shitty) comparison photo between the oem and Blitz muffler.

[Neinris]

Your aftermarket muffler is not designed for lowered Yaris', I see how shallow the bend is. My Tanabe Medallion is, it's specifically designed for lowered Yaris'. Check out this thread:

https://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63176

And in this post, I showed how much more room I have even with the mounting position moved, I put the rear on a jack:

https://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=834097&postcount=8

So unfortunately, if you want to keep that muffler, you'd have to switch back to the lower mounting holes. :frown: