How to increase Payload Capacity of Scion tC 2007?
 

I am going to be installing Air Lift part #-75687 on my car soon.

This is rear air strut assembly.

From my understanding, load capacity for this car is ~880lbs?

I will be permanently installing an extra ~1,450lbs of weight in the vehicle.
It is a 2seater.

I need about an additional ~350lbs of weight to support humans.

So, let's say 1,800lbs total..

This means i need a minimum of 1,000lbs added for support to the payload capacity.


Now, onto the details-

Air lift told me air struts alone will not help with increasing payload capacity...

So, does ANYONE know all the ins and outs of what effects weight capacity restrictions for a vehicle?
PS- i already know brakes do but that's being taken care of too.
This weight primarily is focused at the very rear of the vehicle(about 900lbs of it, the other ~500lbs is focused in the rear seat area)

I am not mechanically savvy so i must have installers do all my work for me so i need to know what to look for parts-wise to upgrade payload capacity..but i know NO parts and i have NO stock weight specs on said parts...

Will I be able to get accurate help here or do i need to go through Toyota to get this information?

What are u installing thats so heavy?

I would think a lot of payload restrictions comes from the structural integrity of the frame and body.

Yup, which is why my parent's 2001 Highlander is rated to tow 3000 lbs while my XB is not rated for any towing despite sharing the same engine and transmission.

To the OP, I wish I had better advice to offer but it sounds like you really need a different vehicle platform.

Yeah, you should just get a different vehicle that is better suited for whatever you're doing.

does anybody have a picture of the underside of the scion tc, particularly the back half?

A few performance shops want to see the underside of the vehicle so they can look into reinforcing the mounting points for the suspension and the basic layout of the chassis in the back...

It's gonna be several days fro now before Toyota puts my car on a lift so they can look into possible weak points for this mod.

What are you putting in it that weighs that much? Just curious... On a truck, stiffening the rear suspension helps with payload capacity, but I doubt this would apply in the same way to our car. You could also start removing panels to drop the stock weight. Pull the back seat, swap to a carbon fiber hatch, you could drop a couple hundred pounds that way.

I haven't been in this thread in a while..

Reason is because i've been talking with a Scion Engineer and a couple of custom chassis shops http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/f...ault/smile.gif

As of this moment..
Scion engineer states the following-
420lbs is rated limit for rear based on stock parts...

After upgrading to Air Struts and heavy duty Hubs(this is optional but a good idea regardless),
the next weak link is the framework itself.

Framework rating is as follows-
No more than 1000lbs of weight centralized in the rear.
No more than 1500lbs of weight dispersed throughout the vehicle.

Going beyond these numbers will result in the car physically twisting apart if hit a bump strong enough and total the car instantly....
So.. that's definitely not ideal...

So, i have an appointment tomorrow for an inspection on what, where and how the underbody can and will be reinforced to prevent such problems....
If they cannot do it, there are 2 other shops that have already stated they do this for a living and are willing to check it out, but at this time one of these shops is backed up until i don't know when so I'll just see what is found.

Is this a ridiculously large system or are you sticking 3 jackhammers in the trunk?

Just found out it's not worth it...

The whole underbody would have to be Plated from the firewall back because of the unibody structure...

So basically, an entire new frame is to be welded...
This shop i talked to said they have to do this on Mustangs a lot when drag racing.

So what does this involve on the tC?

He said about 100lbs of steel and 2-3 weeks of labor!
The ENTIRE interior on and near the floor needs to be gutted and i mean everything...
Carpet, seats, sound deadening and the computer inside, any wiring, anything on or near the floor.

Why?

He said when they go to start weldling the underside of the floor, the inside of the car will be covered in smoke from the heat of the floor and do not want to start a fire!

Estimated man hrs and cost-
50hrs
Cost - $3,000

Trying to keep this under wraps of what you are doing?

oh, yes, the reason...

I am an importer and Director of sales of measuring equipment used for Car Audio and Industrial environments for measuring sound pressure...

This car i have is being built for the car audio world as I am still an active competitor.

But due to the limitations of the vehicle itself, a large truck would suit me better, but not right now..
Until the car is payed off, i will continue to use it as the daily driver.

At this time, we are going to once again break my record of equipment that has ever gone into a scion tc by installing the following-

4 18s
4 5,500w amps (22,000w total)
Several batteries
~300lbs of steel and birch.
1 390A alternator
4/0 (not 4awg) cabling ran throughout vehicle.

We had to drop almost 400lbs by removing many extra batteries and some wood in the equation.