Well I finally got down to business and changed the manual transmission fluid.
I purchased 2 quarts of MT-90 and raised the car up onto jackstands.
The trany drain and fill pugs were obvious once I removed the black plastic splash guard.
I opened the fill plug first, so I know that it will open. I opened the drain plug and fluid poured out as if it were under pressure. Some fluid will hit the suspention and frame parts. I used a small funnel in the srtut tower hole and had a two foot clear flexable hose reaching down to the fill hole. The old fluid was dark. After the MT-90 was in, it was like a new transmission, smooth.
While I was under there, I saw hair on some of the bolts. I recalled the thing that I had to run over. I was behind an 18-wheeler with two lanes of traffic. The truck cleared this huge carcus that I had to drive over. BAM! When I got home, I realized that the lower lip had to be popped back into place. I did not realize that the BANG was my frame brace bending. See photos of the part.


If i was lowered this would have crashed my bumper cover front and back. I do want a drop, but I am only willing to go down apx. 1 inch. Tein H-tech's right?

 

Wow--what was it you hit?

 

Some kind of carcus. Maybe an ELK. Short grey hairs were stuck to nuts and bolts under there.
What would a lowered person do? CRASH!

This part is the only damage that I could find. Of all the parts I could be replacing, I prefer to replace this one. What is it called at the Scion Dealer?

 

Part numbers are... left one is #51216A
right one is #51215A
the are called reinforcements,front got info off the xB microfich section
Hope this helps

 

Not them, Jethro, this...



I thought he was referring to those at first, too...

 

Wow, that thing got bent. That's crazy. Before I bought a new one I'd try bending it back into shape.
Good find Tomas!

 

Yes, Thanks Thomsas... good find, good copy and good paste.

I don't even own a vice, but this peice may be repairable. I will see how easily it bends, but most steel is stronger than I am.

I am getting a message from above that is is now O.K. to lower the box one inch.
They just needed me to finish hitting road hazards.

But I am not hearing which brand springs to get. My reaserch indicates that TEIN H-TECH will give a 1 inch drop. I am correct, right?

I need some internet car guru (like THOMAS) to say:
"Yes, you need TEIN-H-TECH springs for that 1 inch drop".
All other springs will drop more that 1 inch, most drop 2 inches.
I will be going back up when I buy new tires with taller sidewalls.

This may turn out to be a maintenance story with a happy ending.

 

Sorry, Bob, I won't offer advice on which aftermarket springs to get, 'cause I don't have experience with 'em and just plain don't know.

I'm one of those rare ones: I don't usually offer opinions if I don't know what I'm talking about.

Good luck!

Tom

P.S. I just noticed our boxes used to look a lot alike, Bob...
https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/?photo=9722

Mine looks a bit different these days...
https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/?photo=21672

T

 

My mistake, there are no GURU's like THOMAS.

I was just going to ask you about your improvements. You lost the disks for real wheels.
I recall that old photo, where is your lighted grill part? Are you still at stock height?
Looks like a 1 inch drop if any. Improvements approved!

I meant to say that I want to hear from the drop-heads out there.
(Stick-1nz what say you?)

I will continue to reasearch.

 

tein H Tech or TRD.. they both give 1 inch drop.. both are good brands.

 

Yeah, I really liked the looks of the 'moons' better, but they were just too easy for me to damage. I have four nice ones left out of the eight I started with.

Still working on the lighted emblem for the grill. Having a heck of a time finding the proper scraps of Plexiglas to build it out of. I have the LEDs, stainless steel, and such already, just looking for the plastic pieces.

Stock height? Uh, no. The box is actually riding about a half inch higher than stock due to the larger tires I'm running... 'Round here good rain tires and adequate ground clearance are a plus.

(Either that or I'm too brain-damaged by the nine 4x4s I've had over the years, and think that daylight visible under the chassis is just fine.)

 

Tomas go to home depot they have plexi glass acrylic or lexan whatever you prefer lots of sizes and cheap too

 

Yeah, but all I've seen is thin, clear sheets. I need a couple square inches of 3/8 translucent. (If I can't find that I still need pieces OTHER THAN transparent.)

Used to be able to get scraps like I need from the folks who supply signmakers - haven't gotten to any of 'em yet.

 

are you sure it wasn't bigfoot you hit?