I just ordered a set of 2" goldlines for my xB and was curious about something. Will installing them cause my stock shocks to blow under normal driving conditions? I called Toyota, and they said no, but I wanted to get your opinion since you guys own the cars too. Also, how much of a factor is scraping? I'll only have about 4" of clearance and was wondering if that's a problem for you folks too.

:ponder:

You will have more than 4.0 clearance unless you have a body kit. The shocks may blow after time but not too much faster than normal.

from experience, on a 2" drop, expect your struts to last around a year..

how will i know when they are done and I need to replace them?

I agree with Tamago, lowered springs will decrease the life of your shocks/struts to about a year (if you're lucky). Although I have heard many stories of people blowing a shock or strut in the first month after lowering, so have some cash ready for the TRDs. You will know you need new struts if you begin to hear a hollow sounding rattle coming from one of your front wheels. You can tell when the rear shocks are blown when you hear your bump stops being hit when you hit big bumps or when you have a lot of weight in the rear. Just for safe measure, unless you're really strapped for cash, I would replace the shocks/struts immediately after you install the springs (doing both at once will save you labor time). That's my experience.

I agree with Tamago, lowered springs will decrease the life of your shocks/struts to about a year (if you're lucky). Although I have heard many stories of people blowing a shock or strut in the first month after lowering, so have some cash ready for the TRDs. You will know you need new struts if you begin to hear a hollow sounding rattle coming from one of your front wheels. You can tell when the rear shocks are blown when you hear your bump stops being hit when you hit big bumps or when you have a lot of weight in the rear. Just for safe measure, unless you're really strapped for cash, I would replace the shocks/struts immediately after you install the springs (doing both at once will save you labor time). That's my experience.

I have had my car, since june of 03, lowered it in july of 03, got 28,000 plus on her right now, and I am still running stock struts and springs, one of my customers, has 56,000 miles and is still running his stock springs and struts. Too many urban mythes runnig around out there. If can't speak from experiance, hold it in. The I heard from a friend who had a friend gets old. Bill

so with the TRD shock/struts, I wouldn't have to worry about blowing anything? Or is it just gonna happen again with them?

I have had my car, since june of 03, lowered it in july of 03, got 28,000 plus on her right now, and I am still running stock struts and springs, one of my customers, has 56,000 miles and is still running his stock springs and struts. Too many urban mythes runnig around out there. If can't speak from experiance, hold it in. The I heard from a friend who had a friend gets old. Bill

yeah, but how much did you lower? what kind of roads do you drive on?

my last car's shocks lasted all of 4 months after lowering. i am speaking from personal experience. i have also replaced stock struts with KYB's on several cars after the struts went out.

oh, on that note, did you know that struts/shocks are covered under warranty FOR THE LIFE OF YOUR SCION ? (barring any modification, of course)

how will i know when they are done and I need to replace them?

when your car starts bouncing off the road lol.. believe me, you'll know

hey check my link, stock struts, goldlines,,,,,, peep it

I have had my car, since june of 03, lowered it in july of 03, got 28,000 plus on her right now, and I am still running stock struts and springs, one of my customers, has 56,000 miles and is still running his stock springs and struts. Too many urban mythes runnig around out there. If can't speak from experiance, hold it in. The I heard from a friend who had a friend gets old. Bill

good to hear, but how much did you lower it? So far I've been hearing a lot more about they are gonna blow and less that they'll make it.

I live in vegas,where every street except las vegas blvd sucks,full of expansion joints , an hole covers, and potholes. I also have goldlines with a 2" drop. it does take some practice, and some slowing down, you cannot hit speed bumps at full speeds.
Pheonix,I a fro cochise county oringinally, lived in douglas for a long time, we used to lower cars there by cuuting springs back in the day, I am talking early '80's.

S.Florida, I also was stationed in Savana,GA where we had cobblestone streets andi had corrolla sr-5 I lowered by cutting the springs drove it for three years back forth to FT Bragg andupanddown the east coast on stock struts. I apologizefor coming off as a jerk. But i here the same stories here in vegas, maybe I hold my outh in right position to have the luck I do with struts and shocks. Bill

TRD shocks will not last much longer than regualr shocks/struts. They will however ride better but at a huge cost I'll stick with stockers till they blow.

Too many urban mythes runnig around out there. If can't speak from experiance, hold it in. The I heard from a friend who had a friend gets old.

Bill, I don't have any friends who own Scions (except for you guys on here), so all of what I say, unless I note otherwise, is personal experience. It is not a myth because it happened to me with only 9,000 miles on my car. I have a 2" drop riding Spy Drop springs, which I rode with stock shocks/struts for about 8 months before my driver side strut blew. Now, I'm sure if you never ride with any passengers, you have the stock steelies or lighter racing wheels, and all of the streets you drive on are perfect, than yes, the stock dampers will last the lifetime of the car. I have heavy ___ 19" wheels (3 peice cast knock-offs), I'm always riding a group of friends around on the weekends, and I live in New Orleans which is just a bunch of concrete and asphault on top of a swamp, so the streets are moderately to extremely rough; my factory dampers never had a chance. I'm surprised I haven't gotten an egg or blown a tire yet; I used to flatten tires in my lowered truck all the time (riding 18's with low profile tires).

I don't like being told I don't know what I'm talking about when I do, so please, keep your comments to yourself. A sponsor should be humble and informative, not speaking down to people.

I was wrong about the off candor comment, and i apologize, my car is always loaded, I go 280 and I am the smallest in possey. I have light wieght 17" with no profiles 40's. I cut my rubber snubber down when I installed my springs and I have lowered about 20 scions andso far not a single blown strut. I guess I just have good luck then. Bill
http://www.lvracingscene.com/events/2004/2004-10-01/IMG_0109.jpg

i installed tanabe's.. 1 week later frt shock are blown.

daaaaaaamn....1 week that's quick

Worst case scenario, you can swap your springs to stockers or pay for it ($60 if you shop around), and have the factory replace the shocks under warrantee. Pay another $60 and you are back to being lowered. Cheating? Yes, but $120 is cheaper than a new set of shocks/struts. If you swap the spring yourself, it will be free. I'm not sure if you'll need to realign the wheels again. . . probably. . . tack on $40. . . not expensive by any means (considering the alternative).

I wrote to GoldLine and asked them about this.

Here's the response I got from Jeff at GoldLine:


Gold Line (along with most other spring companies) design their product to
work with factory shocks/struts. Not to say that overall ride/handling
quality cant be improved by going to an aftermarket shock/strut.

Unless the aftermarkets are guaranteeing a certain lifespan, who's to say they won't blow out as well. I don't see the logic of taking out perfectly good shocks and struts to replace with ones that may not last any longer. Are the aftermarket shocks and struts designed to work with a drop?

not that i know of. That's why i gave toyota a call. They said that they wouldn't make a bit of difference.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but it is my educated guess that TRD has tested their stuff to work with each other. So, if you make the assumption that 1" TRD drop springs work with the TRD struts/shocks, one more inch shouldn't make much difference. When I compared the stock struts/shocks to the TRD ones while I was installing them, the TRD ones appeared to be larger (wider cylinders), so it is my guess that they have compensated for the change in ride due to the car being lowered an inch (or two).

That being said, I feel something else must be added; your suspension parts, especially dampers, will have a lifespan that is proportional to the way you drive and the driving conditions you drive in. I tend to drive my car hard, especially around corners, so I expect to wear parts quicker than normal. If you baby your car and take turns and bumps below 10mph, your equipment could last the lifetime of your car.

You can ride the factory equipment as long as you want, but remember that it's your car and your safety that you are gambling with.

when I called my Toyota dealer, they told me that the TRD shocks/struts were to be used instead of the coils and they don't go on an xB. Kinda sounded like they didn't know what they were talking about.

TRD shocks will not last much longer than regualr shocks/struts. They will however ride better but at a huge cost I'll stick with stockers till they blow.

So you're just stuck in a loop of buying the stock shock/struts? There's gotta be something longer lasting out there.

I think he'll replace them with TRD's when the stockers blow

tokico, and kyb both make aftermarket struts for the xb which are cheaper and far superior, both kits are also adjustable. Bill

mmmm. . . tokico

I searched for the Tokico and KYB's for the XB and came up with jack. I didn't find them listed for the XB on any site.

both manufactors had them at SEMA last year, Check Koni also, I know Nish has a set and I pretty sure that they were tokiko. I called him I am waiting on return Call. BIll

just got off the phone with Nish, I was right he has tokico adjustable shocks and dampenners, pm him @ 2ndSquare, or www.nishdesigns.com and email Gary for info. he is a distributor for tokico. Bill