as the title says, Im looking to get some springs and to also get the front and rear sway bar for my tc, specifically this one: http://www.trdsparks.com/displaypart...1&parts_id=706

and from what ive heard with the springs that it comes with, if you drive agressively (which I do) you can / will blow a strut, so I am looking for as good as I can get strut without being too expensive.

Also as you will note, the kit I am getting has a camber kit, and I noticed that its only for the rear (correct me if I am wrong, but im getting it because im thinking it will help correct the angle so I can get a better contact patch) and I was wondering if there was such a device for the front wheels as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

im going the same route. but im also getting the trd struts and doing one install.

 

Technically, you don't need the camber kit for the front and neither do you need one for the rear because there's enough on our existing OEM to adjust the camber.
One issue you'll encounter with those sway bars is the front ones rubbing. My advice is to not even install the front one and just go with the rear setup. IMO ~ a little flex in the front can actually be a good thing in terms of performance.
Another thing to consider is if you only get springs, your shocks are gonna be done quick.
As far as struts, (for me personally) I'm still waiting on the front struts to be made (specifically a 3 point front strut), however there is a 4 point rear one already out made by Ingalls as well as the numerous 2 point front ones.

 

Thanks R2D2 for the quick response, I am actually looking to stiffen up the front because of my S/C..... and hoping to help a little with the torque...

good to know that it can be adjusted enough with stock for the front and the rear.

and by struts i didnt mean the braces, I ment the struts themselves (also refered to as shocks) and I am looking for good struts that arent expensive.

 

im curious..can you elaborate the 'flex in the front' thing. im interested.

 

^ a little flex allows for slight give in steering which translates to slight understeer compared to a front sway bar that'll respond in oversteer (which isn't exactly a good thing on a FWD).

 

That "Rubbing in the front" issue was a bad batch of sways and the problem has been fixed with the new ones.
I have never rubbed the fronts. You DO NOT want to put the Hothckis rear on without the front. I tried it for a week and the rear is way to stiff, which is why they are sold in a set. If you only want the rear, get TRDs.
Also, you do not need the camber links unless you will plan on adjusting for autox. If all you want to do is fix the camber for even wear with the hothckis, just get an allignment. There is enough adjustment to fix it with the Hothckis drop.
Here is a pic of mine with the Hothckis drop afer an allignment:

There are plenty more pic on my cardmomain site.

 

Mr_Meaty,

Are you running with the stock struts (or some people refer to them as shocks) or do you have aftermarket ones?

 

stock.
I had TRDs with stock struts for about 10,000 miles and have had the Hothckis with the stock struts for a couple months now. No issues yet.
If you do wanna get struts, I think the only options are TRD or Koni Yellows.
I think TRDs are full replacements but with the Konis, you need to cut the stock assembly, but the Koni's have adjustable stiffness and the TRDs don't.

 

well thank you Mr_Meaty, I guess ill go with the TRDs because Im not exactly looking to hack up my tC.... lol or maybe I just mis-understood.

 

I assume by deal with the torque you mean get more power to the ground right? If thats the case look into the Ingalls Stiffy it can be found at www.dezod.com well worth the money.

 

I have the Hotchkis Sway Bars and I feel the car 1000000000x better than with the TRD rear sway, plus they are fully adjustable and I feel the car more contolable and I don't have it lowered I'm still running stock spring and shocks. I think that the Hotchkis Sways are excelent and If I buy a new car and they have a sway bar set for it I'll buy it!!

 

trdtcpr, thanks for that ill probably get the sways first and then go from there. What setting are yours on?

 

Yeah, I'm thinking of going with the TRD struts just cause I like having the option of going back to stock. I still have all the stock parts that I have swapped out. Plus, adjusting the stiffness on the rears is a PITA. They have to be completely removed each time!

When I had my TRD springs, I had both sways set to the stiffest setting. That felt the best. But now that I have the stiffer, shorter hothckis spings on, I had to loosen up the rear. I guess since the front is lower, it shifted the center of gravity, and i was getting a little more understeer then I liked (turning the wheel but still going straight).
Now I have the front on stiff and the rear in the middle and I can really pull out of corners, but it keeps straight solid in the straights.

 

how do you know that their is enough adjustment for camber from the factory. Get this im a mechanic at a lexus dealership and recently aligned my buddys tC with a progress drop, dont get me wrong i think its a 1.8 all around drop. He was at -2.0 in the rear on both left and rear tires. The best i could adjust them to was -1.6 on the right and -1.8 on the left. Now i was pulling as hard as i could, almost to the point of bending the suspension arm adjustment point. So for all of you wondering if you need camber kits, im here to tell you yeah any more than an inch and a half of a drop will need camber kits to alow more adjustments. Im not here to argue with anyone, but just to answer any questions dealer related. thanks guys for the time.

 

OK. let me rephrase. If you wanna get it EXACTLY back to normall, yeah, get the cambers. But the progress drop the rear more then the Hothckis I know they Hothckis SAY 1.9 or whatever, but it's not. It's barely lower then the TRDs in the rear. Hothckis's test tC must have had something wrong with the rear. I've seen one or two stock tCs with an abnormally large wheel gap in teh back.

Any way, with the Hothckis drop, and without the camber links, you can get back into spec, just not perfect.

 

hmm so your saying the hotchkis drop is slightly lower than the trds? i doubt that bro, but see you soon on the alignment rack.

 

eh? do you think it's slighty higher then the TRD?
What's your question?
maybe this will help:

TRD rear gap = 2 fingers:


Hothckis rear gap = 1.5 fingers:


Same car.
To me, that's slightly lower.
And that's after the allignment.
I thought you weren't here to argue with anyone?

 

great, thanks for all the help guys, I think what I will do is get the sway bars first, and then get the TRD springs (now before you flame me, I want the TRD ones because they do improve stance and if installed by toyota they maintain warranty for the springs & struts).

 

Front is on soft setting while the rear I have it in medium setting.