Suspension makeover

[jmanous]

Hi all,

I will do a complete suspension makeup to my '07 sedan
to improve its driving quality.

I have several problems right now (although I have decent (10k) tires & two alignments, Tires are Firestone 195/60r15).
- Lane wandering at speeds > 55mph & occasional (..?) loose steering
also wind affects the car like crazy.
- Sounds from the front suspension over bumps, puddles.
- Pretty annoying body roll.

I have purchased:
KYB GR-2
Megan racing 1.5" lowering springs
TRD rear sway bar
DC sports front strut bar
New inner, outer rod ends (raybestos)
New lower ball joints from Moog

Prices very decent, overall ~$700, thinking installing everything as a DIY.

Anyway, long post, here is a question I have.

Do I need to cut the bumpstops? Has anyone tried any shorter aftermarket ones?

Thanks!

[invader166]

Anyway, long post, here is a question I have.

Do I need to cut the bumpstops? Has anyone tried any shorter aftermarket ones?

Thanks!

I asked Garm the same question after I purchased the Micro Image springs he was selling. (they have a 1.75" drop) This is his exact answer:

Dear invader166,

Great question - I would cut them in half, that is what Tanabe recommends for their DF210 springs, which is a similar drop.

Thanks, let me know how it goes!

That's why I'm planning on getting a second set of bump stops, cutting those and keeping the original ones as spares.

[jmanous]

Thanks for your answer.

Getting a new pair sounds reasonable. Cutting them in half is approx. 1"?

The question then becomes, do you need to align again if you experiment with both?
You need some time to drive around (maybe 3 weeks?) with each pair...

[IllusionX]

Knocking around from bumps is likely top plate or front swaybar links.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[jmanous]

Talking about front sway bar, even with it on car feels pretty bad.

I am also worried about front sway bar link. Its very loose. I can easily move it
with my hands.

Has anybody replaced it? Any noises? Problems?

Forgot to mention milage: 70kmiles. Bought it used @60kmiles.
Suspension is stock. And its horrible...

[Toolaholic]

Talking about front sway bar, even with it on car feels pretty bad.

I am also worried about front sway bar link. Its very loose. I can easily move it
with my hands.

Has anybody replaced it? Any noises? Problems?

Forgot to mention milage: 70kmiles. Bought it used @60kmiles.
Suspension is stock. And its horrible...
I replaced mine last week w/ moogs. I had to because I replaced my struts. And the factory ones weren't coming off with out a fight. Much more reponsive steering w/the moogs. Mileage was 65k

[jmanous]

Great. I will also go with Moog sway links, I noticed yesterday I can move them easily with my hands.

Unfortunately I got stuck trying to replace the inner+outer tie rods.
I cannot separate them (nut and outer rod) no matter how much
WD40 or PB blaster I use, no matter how much force I apply. Maybe I
will use a torch.

Has anybody tried to remove inners without special inner tie rod installer?
If yes, how bad was it stuck?

[tmontague]

http://yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54581Check out my post a short while back regarding removing the outer tie rod from the knuckle on an '02 Echo (same set up as Yaris)

As for the inner which I also replaced -ended up being a worn out control arm bushing but it was worth learning how to do the iners anyway - they were very simple to do with a rented inner tie rod puller from Parts Source.

I used a video on YouTube by ChrisFix who had excellent DIY videos and he has on inner tie rod removal. His Mazda truck is identical to the ones on the Yaris.

I removed the outer tie rods and then turned the steering wheel all the way to the opposite side I was working on.

I removed the rubber boot/bellow and then removed the inner TR using the tool. Installed the new one and made sure I put anti seize on the threads. I then used a ziptie to secure the boot back onto the inner tie rod.

Then attach the outer tie rod back on (turn it as many times as you turned it to get it off so that your alignment iis good enough to get you to an alignment shop).

Repeat with the other side. It's a fairly straight forward job and enjoyable to learn to do. Just use that video online an you'll have have great understanding of everything.

[jmanous]

Thanks for all the advice and the video tmontague.
Will try to replace them tomorrow. Thumbs up for the enjoyable part!
Everybody here says I'm crazy to do such replacement by myself.
Its a nice hobby though.

Let me share something funny. I called two mechanics to get a quote for
inner tie rod replacement. First guy said "I am not interested to install
your own parts". I guess he does not want to loose overcharging for
crappy parts. I told him I got OE Raybestos tie rods, he still said no.
The second guy told me he will need 2.5 - 3hours of $98 bucks per hour
to do it. He will also charge 20% premium over that to install my parts!
Holy ****...

Yesterday I installed strut bar & KYBs with megan racing springs.
I ended cut 1" from the original bumpstops. Boot, strut mount assembly
were all in great shape, so I re-used them. Used a spring compressor to
remove the old ones, but not to compress the new ones, I manage to
push from above. Torqued everything back to spec.

I cant describe you how pleased I am. The body roll is reduced
a lot (I would say ~75%), the steering is much more precise and stiff
on the highway, but the comfort is approximately the same levels as
with the old suspension.

The only annoying part was the 6mm allen bolts.
The sway bar link bolts were rusted so the allen key literally
destroyed the allen socket (and my hands). In the end I had
to kill the old links in order to remove them. They had free play,
but you could tell they could last longer. Anyway I planned to
replace them anyway, I just had to pay $50 bucks (per piece)
to get them ASAP from Autozone. I got Moogs, online they sell for $38
or so. They are twice as thick as the old ones, and they have a
nut instead of the original allen socket just after the "boot"
which is now gone (they are Moog problem solvers) which makes it
so damn easy to tight.

http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/suspension/sway-bar-links

The reduction in height is currently 1", I guess in a couple of weeks
will lower a little bit more - maybe 1/4". Yaris looks actually pretty.

[tmontague]

That's pretty surprising about the mechanics price quote/refusal to do the job.

I'm assuming the labor is due to the fact that 90% of the job require removing seized end links which complicates things.

To be honest it was one of the most straight forward DIY's I have done and that was done on a car with 360,000km on it always driven in the salt belt.

Once you get the outer tie rods figured out the inners are easy since they are always protected from the elements by the boot/bellow.

Keep posted how the job goes, you should have no issues. I'd recommend renting th inner TR remover as I don't think the Yaris' are accessible without it. Some vehicles you can fit a wrench in there, I don't think you can in this case

[jmanous]

So last updates.

Replaced the inner/outer tie rods without any issue as tmontague mentioned.

Did an alignment. The guy initially refused to align the car cause
it was "lowered". In the end I imagine he went for OEM settings
and the car drives straight. Highway handling is much better although
I still cannot get rid of the suddenly light steering wheel (at high speeds).
Unfortunately after all these changes, (inner/outer/sway bar links and strut bar,
lowered center of gravity, new struts and alignment), I cannot get rid of it...
Maybe tires? (firestone affinity 195 60 r15)

After a few hundred miles enjoying the stiffer car I have to mention
the bouncy ride, especially on the highway. Not that it was unexpected,
just thought it would not be that annoying. The weaker KYB GR2 is obviously
not able to keep up with the strings' high rate action. I expect the struts to
die at 10-15K miles - if I am not going to kill them :)
It was a mistake to put the GR2s on. Should have invested on something
stronger.

[IllusionX]

Im running on 195/55R15 and my steering follows the groove on the road alot.

Stock shocks with MI springs.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[jmanous]

Any sudden "loose" feeling? Like wheels have suddenly different directionality?

Most of the times the steering is solid and trustworthy.

[tmontague]

Good to hear it went smoothly. Did you end up renting the inner TR tool to get the job done? I'm surprised the guy originally refused to align the car, the Yaris is simply toe in/out and a shop like that will only look at front wheels.

In regards to the struts. I'm in the same position as you, I'm currently using oem struts (only 8,000km on them) with lowering springs but I'm looking for a good stiffer/sport after market option. I was going to go with Tokiko Blues but they are no longer made for the Yaris. TRD's are an option but they run $400 USD off of SparkTRD.com

Let me know what you end up going with, I'm sure some other forum members will have some input on what is currently available

I also have the same driving sensation as Illusion posted about above. I don't have any sudden loose feeling but my car will track all over the place especially on newly paves roads or cement with grooves in it. Keeps me awake/aware on the highway.

[jmanous]

I did rent the tool, which BTW is great, since all these special purpose tools are free. There is not enough space to grab the screw so in the end its easy after you separate the inner/outers.

Regarding struts, I already regret not paying $250 + shipping more to get the TRDs.
But you learn as you grow. KYBs GR2s for now, till they split apart... :)

[justjesus]

Thanks for all the advice and the video tmontague.
Will try to replace them tomorrow. Thumbs up for the enjoyable part!
Everybody here says I'm crazy to do such replacement by myself.
Its a nice hobby though.

THOSE people are the crazy ones. I wanted to get some work done on my front suspension bits and got a quote from the local big name chain. The price shocked me. WAY more than expected. Even the tech asked if it's a hybrid cuz it seemed excessive. I ended up doing the job myself and saved several hundreds.

With my personal experience, tires have been the biggest factor in the play on highways. My "sport" tires pretty much eliminated the tire wandering feeling. Maybe cuz they were wider? Not sure.

For a while, I was running the Micro Image springs (i miss them so much) with Tokico Blues in front. The blues helped some, as I thought the fronts were blown. Turns out they were not, just softer!