Wheel hop - engine control rod options? aka torque strut

[CoryM]

Hey guys,

I've been getting wheel hop worse and worse. It's either my torque strut, or maybe my ctrl arm bushings. I'd like to start with the torque strut: Are there any available options to upgrade this? Or am I going to end up making my own bushings? I am not finding much so far.

Thanks,
Cory

[SirDigby]

what is a torque strut? what do you mean "wheel hop?"

[CoryM]

I believe Toyota's terminology is "Engine Control rod". It's the motor mount that prevents the engine assembly from rotating when you accelerate. In this case, it is not actually wheel hop, but the engine/trans banging back and forth on that mount (and feels the same as wheel hop). Creates a unpleasant bang, bang, bang sensation and is very hard on things. You will notice it when accelerating just at the point of losing traction.

Real wheel hop is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2eXvhdAviM
Where the wheel hops on acceleration or braking for various reasons (in this case, leaf-spring wind-up). In the case of the Yaris, it would be from the control arm bushings flexing, or the struts bouncing.

I've looked pretty hard, and only found a $250+ unit from asia somewhere. I'll make my own before that.

Cheers.

[SirDigby]

ok. I think I know what you mean. i'll see if I can find something...

[tmontague]

Would the aftermarket engine torque strut not do the job. I think that' the name of it. I lot of people have it on their Yaris and it's located right beside the passenger side engine mount

[CoryM]

Would the aftermarket engine torque strut not do the job. I think that' the name of it. I lot of people have it on their Yaris and it's located right beside the passenger side engine mount

You're probably thinking of the Nitto torque dampener? It's basically just a shock absorber to control the speed at which the engine moves. It would probably work, but I'd sooner fix the problem than the symptom. That's like putting stiffer shocks in when you really need stiffer springs.

[Rigaud]

You're probably thinking of the Nitto torque dampener? It's basically just a shock absorber to control the speed at which the engine moves. It would probably work, but I'd sooner fix the problem than the symptom. That's like putting stiffer shocks in when you really need stiffer springs.

Did you check the trans and motor mounts? Had that issue as you described it last winter with my Subaru............it was a bad motor mount. I replaced them all, motor, trans and the top one nick named dogbone. Like shocks, I don't replace just one.

[CoryM]

The control rod (aka dog-bone) is what takes pretty much all the engine's rotation force. Other mounts support the weight. I'll start with the control rod and see what happens. It's not a bad idea to do mounts as sets, but typically the control rod is fine to do by itself.
Cheers.

[fnkngrv]

I bought the last TRD dogbone that MicroImage had this past winter. I will be using that in conjunction with the Tegiwa Engine Torque Damper for the 99-05 1st Gen Yaris. There is some modification required with that TD. We had to cut off the cowl plate mounting bracket from the strut tower however that doesn't really affect the ability for the cowl plate to be stable as it already has like 74 billion mounting bolts. Also to clear the mushroom absorber on the top of the passenger side engine mount we had to replace a mount bolt with a longer one and then also weld two of the mounting brackets that came with the kit together. All minor stuff, but just something to consider if you are concerned with engine deflection. Last year when I was on the dyno with the 250whp/236tq tune my engine was deflecting I shit you not close to 3-4" in each direction. This caused me a lot of stress and concern hence the mount updates this year. Granted unless you are doing a 12psi boosted setup you won't see that violent of a shift. When I was running 8psi and sitting at 190/180 on my tune my engine moved maybe an inch, but that is still movement. With just the trans mount we could man handle the engine back and forth still to a point with the car parked. Once we put in that Tegiwa unit even with both of us reefing on the engine that bitch doesn't budge so I am hoping for much better power transfer as well as better protection especially for the CV Shafts. I considered doing all 3 TRD mounts, but couldn't justify the cost at the time.


The Nitto part is no longer sold because it was in all honesty complete junk. Guys were resorting to JB Welding the absorber and even concreting them because it wouldn't stay in the adjusted location.


For your reference if you are interested in that Tegiwa unit here is the link to their shop:

TEGIWA ENGINE TORQUE DAMPER TOYOTA YARIS 99-05 (http://www.tegiwaimports.com/tegiwa-engine-torque-damper-toyota-yaris-99-05.html)



Best of luck figuring out the solution you want to go with!

[CoryM]

Thanks for the reply/info. I run stock power levels, but NT01s for autoX and daily driving. Lots of traction there, which is what pounded out the mount so quick. I tried to get a poly bushing to fit a while back, but couldn't source one locally. I ended up just rotating the factory bushing in the mount so that the beefier side is taking the force. It's much improved, but I will have to do it properly soon. I just wanted to not destroy my car at the last autoX event. Just rotating the mount would be good enough for most low-powered cars I would say, but not help at your power levels. I can see why they use such a soggy mount though, these engines run pretty rough at 550rpm with the a/c on....... need to fix a glovebox rattle now.

Cheers.