hmc2261CT

well you will probably be ok, but I would not cut the bump stops, just see what happens you can always remove material, unfortunately we cant add it hahah
and yes post pics and write your experience, Im excited to hear how it goes for you and seeing pics of the before and after. I want this thread to be a helpful one!
also i was thinking, since you have larger tires and are going a bit lower than I am, you may need to trim the inner fenders

xAxAxAxA

I won't have larger tires... 16x8 wrapped with 205/45/R16 are the same diameter as the stock wheels...

hmc2261CT

oh ok from the first picture you put up they looked larger than mine I forgot you said what your tire set up will be. So you will probably be ok

xAxAxAxA

Got the rear done. Definitely got an inch lower without the props. I will have no wheel gap in the rear once the new rims are on. Keep in mind I have 200lbs of bass in my trunk as well, so that helps the rear go lower....

How long was the excess bolt coming from the shocks in the rear? I keep tightening, but I'm afraid to go to far...

hmc2261CT

before I tightened everything, I pulled the shocks as far over as I could to help seat them on the bolt
and as far as how far the bolts stick out, i have the length of the nut plus about 1/8 of an inch or so as well

xAxAxAxA

I've got aabout a quarter showing, but I need some major immediate help. How do you get the top hat off the old suspension? I don't have a spring compressor...

hmc2261CT

to get it off, the best way is to have the cars weight on it, remove the rubber gromit on the top and use a wrench to loosen the nut, this is really the only way to do it since the strut rod will lock inplace and will not spin when the weight of the car is on it, so put it back in and loosen the nut, once the nut is loose you can take out the strut and since you said you had the sportline springs in (which were lower than my pro kit) you will not need spring compressors since I did not need to touch mine, there was barely any load on them once the strut was fully extended. that should do it for you

itscurtsk

are you sure you don't need a compressor when removing the springs off the strut? i have a feeling that the spring will be compress. just be careful when taking off the top nut off the strut and aim the top away from you because it can blast away and hit a person etc. have someone help hold down the spring while removing the top nut if there's no compressor. you can rent one from autozone or oriley, it's free.

xAxAxAxA

If you do what he said, you won't. Take out the nut while the car is on the ground. It won't be compressed at all... The biggest problem is getting the new nut on without the whole piston shaft turning -___- My friend used a rubber tool to hold the shaft while I tightened the nut up top... P.I.T.A....

My Review: The installation is definitely takes time and patience. There are no instructions with the kit so it's all on what you know or see on the internet to guide you... The rear is simple to do. The front however takes twice as long... A tool to tighten the nut after placing the new strut in would be an absolute blessing. Otherwise, good luck! I modded mine prior to install. Honestly, IMO, modded on an other car should work great. If you have 200lbs of audio equipment in the trunk, you might want to put the perch on the back. (You'll see why) The front's aren't as low as I thought they'd be even with mod... however, the springs have yet to settle. However, again, they will probably go 1/4" max til they settle on the bump stop. :/ The ride is great compared to the Eibach springs I had. Same amount of bumpiness, just shorter bumps. (if that makes sense, it's not as bouncy)

Another note: I do have my rims in my back seat, so maybe that'll raise the rear up a small bit... and my tires are worn down to the last 1/16 of tread...

Picture time:
After: (On a hill, but didn't raise the back at all...)


Front: (NO HELPER SPRING)




Rear: (NO PERCHES + >200lbs of equipment + rims)

itscurtsk

okay so remove the nut completely while it is still on the car. i've been just loosening it instead of removing it completely cuz that's what the diy said.

wow for once the rear is actually lower than the front. when you decide to remove the excess weight in the rear, please do a flat horizontal side view picture so i can compare the rears and fronts.

i think i should have mention this mod earlier about top hats which could possibly lower your car another inch or so. i'm not 100% sure about his but it's what i read from the clubxb threads. you can put your tophat on top of the strut tower and connect the rest of the strut from under. bolt down the middle nut. i'm not sure if it may affect turning negatively because the 3 bolts on the top hat become useless since it's not connected to anything. another thing is that the wiper cowl MIGHT get in the way of the 3 bolts on the top hat, you might need to cut it down. also if you have a strut bar that may need to be removed too so the 3 bolts don't get in the way of the wiper cowl.

if you decide to give this a try, update us please.

xAxAxAxA

Reversing the top hat is the MOST dangerous thing you could do... the rear is a finger/finger and a half lower than the front. But like I said. My tires are baldand my rims are in the backseat. I will take as close of an identical shot to my previous post with my whole car so you can see the overall difference.

I had to remove the entire wiper assembly in order to do the front install. It was worth the time because it makes it easier to do anything to all three tophat bolts and strut nut... and remember these are Racelands, the mods I've done are the easiest & safest. If you want any more low dish out the extra money or you'll be SOL when you eff something up.

xAxAxAxA

How mine sit with Racelands. Only 2 days on.

Archangel1183

Wow. I love it. The front wheels don't look as High offset as I originally thought. Nice choice of wheels. Are those BBS LM Replicas?

I think having the chrome on top of the headlights blacked out would look really nice with the blacked out Scion badge.

Like mine.

xAxAxAxA

I would, but I'm broke haha. The plastidip is coming off of the emblem anyways...

And they're more CCW replicas if you wanna call them that. I don't call rims replicas nor 'fake'. Rims are rims.

itscurtsk

looks nice. could you get a side view so i can compare the front drop with the rear and just how low you got? thanks. also those are the xxr 531 right? also how did you get your camber in the rear?

xAxAxAxA

I'll get a side shot one of these days... I keep forgetting.

Those are the XXR 531s indeed.

You can't put camber on the rear of a car with this suspension setup without buying shims; which apparently only Toyota sells the proper ones... aftermarkets don't work? So I just have a small bit a natural camber. Rolled the fenders the old school way and it doesn't rub much.

On another note: to those that want to get a weeee bit lower... on the front struts there are 2 adjuster rings. A friend of mine pointed out if you take the bottom one out (since your sitting on the maxed out one anyways) it should get you a couple millimeters lower... I MAY try this out... but I'm not sure since taking off and putting on the struts again would be a PITA.

xAxAxAxA

Post-install Review:
References ---
- Rims: XXR 531 (+20mm offset front, +0mm offset rear)
- Tires: Falken 205/45/R16
- Coils: Racelands (No front helper springs, no rear perch)

Riding on these for the past couple days has been great. You will learn how to drive your car on your roads; slow. 90% of the time I'm doing the speed limit or less. A warning for those that mod the rear without perches! I have 200lbs of excess weight in the trunk so it may have lowered my rear more and allows more/faster downward travel, but I may have (possibly) bottomed out my shocks in the rear going on large dips in the roads, so be aware of that. With my rim setup: You WILL need to roll your fenders! +0mm offset in the rear is pretty darn flush, if not poking a couple millimeters. Any tire bigger than 205s will possibly not fit as well. After using a temporary method to roll the inside fender (baseball bat) I still continue to rub on bumps going over 45 mph. The metal in the fender WILL slice your tires, so be careful with that.
As for the fronts, since they are still higher than the rear it doesn't rub at all (if any, I can't tell).
The ride is a bit harsher than I thought after the rim & tire upgrade, but for the looks of a low xA, it's worth every bounce. Other than that the setup I'm running is perfect! (as long as the fronts settle a little lower)

xAxAxAxA

My phone picture quality sucks, but I did my best! A little over a week on these things now.

MidnightScion

Great stuff man!
However, obviously you can't even drive over bumpy road without slowing down to a crawl.
Can you imagine what kind of stress is put on otherwise stock chassis when bottoming out shocks/struts?
I've done the opposite,. I've lifted my xA 1-1/2 on Koni Yellows. Now I don't have to slow down for virtually anything. Plus with rear TRD sway bar, it corners like a house fly.
Performance of my xA is simply OUTSTANDING.

I've done it all to enter TSD rally this year. Eventually I will enter Oregon rally next year.
More mods to come...
I wish I could afford Tein HG suspension, let alone GR.N type...

itscurtsk

looks good. hey you had tokico blues before racelands right? is there a difference between the rear shocks? is it okay to use tokico rear shocks with their rear coils instead of raceland shocks?

my curiosity beat me and i ordered a set to see how low these can go, gonna start putting it on this friday if it comes before that day.