OK how odd is this !!??wtf! ?

[Exiwolfman]

Upper strut mounts when parked on uneven road seem like they are up for some reason even now on even ground as if its floating ...wtf , nothing loose sitting on teins s tech drives normal .



sent from my S4 on Mars

[WeeYari]

OMG! Not another floating top hat thread, and you work for Toyota.

This got pounded to death a few years back.

[Exiwolfman]

Lol I know ...and first time I ever so it lol not like Toyota has classes about floating top hat ..my question ...it's normal I would say or what lol

sent from my S4 on Mars

[WeeYari]

Yes, normal. If you observe the top hat position with steering dead center, and then observe them at full left and full right, you will notice that they change in relation to steering. My guess is that the struts require a floating rather than rigid mount.

There was a time when people would post 'WTF did I do?' threads after changing their springs. The floating top hat is observed post install when checking to make sure everything is tight and right. Nobody ever happens to observe the top hat position pre-install. Those that could 'swear' the top hat sat tight to the strut tower before swapping springs, happened to have made that observation while the car was raised.

[Exiwolfman]

Good point I only see that area when car on hoist I noticed it now cos I was moving some cables around at home and had a look while she sits on all four lol

sent from my S4 on Mars

[WeeYari]

This http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32397 is one of my favourite threads on the subject. Read it through for a good chuckle.

And another one that's kind of fun http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34230

[Exiwolfman]

Lol ...good one and 100% clear on floating top hats 😝 tx for the link :)

sent from my S4 on Mars

[sheekeebut]

Well this clears things up nicely. Now I can start looking at strut tower braces again. The ones that hook up to the body, of course.

And to help disseminate this knowledge to the rest of the 'net:

The floating strut top washer is designed to allow proper rotation of the strut assembly at the strut bearing during steering. If the nut were somehow tightened more, the washer would be pushed more tightly against the strut tower, becoming a major point of friction and defeating the purpose of the strut bearing (in this design).

[Exiwolfman]

Hmmm, why they will have no effect on our cars

sent from my S4 on Mars

[sheekeebut]

I think it's about the body deformation at the towers on suspension movement. I don't know what benefits there may be for rebound, but at compression, a properly chosen brace should give that rigidity once the rubber mount has compressed all it's got.

Only one way to find out :)

And if there really is no difference, at least I have a sexy and mildly expensive conversation piece.

[Exiwolfman]

Ull have a sexy and expensive conversation piece ...the strut is not directly connected to the car only by rubber

sent from my S4 on Mars

[sheekeebut]

From the looks of the assembly and installation instructions for OEM and Tein coilovers, it looks like the only thing in direct contact with the strut tower (hole) is the rubber upper strut mount and the (rubbery) top washer, like a rubber sandwich...

Gross...

[Exiwolfman]

Lmao ...yup

sent from my S4 on Mars

[sheekeebut]

And not even a nice tight sandwich, but a loose, economical sandwich that needs the weight of the metal slice of ham in between to hold it down.

[Exiwolfman]

Its an odd design I don't like it but it works

sent from my S4 on Mars

[sheekeebut]

While the threaded toothpick with the M12 nylock olive keep the top slice of bread flapping above everything, making it look badly installed and unappetizing.

[sheekeebut]

Actually, if I wanted the right analogy, that little olive just keeps the toothpick from sliding out from under this pathetic sandwich.