ScionDP

I've been looking into different types of suspension/handling mods for my first on the TC2 and came across Eibach being at the top of the list in regards to money, performance and quality. I live in Toronto, Ontario where the roads are garbage and the snow piles up in the winter. I'm not planning on lowering it this year but when I do it wont be a whole lot. Just want more rigidity to reduce body roll (sways) and eventually some aerodynamic improvement (springs).

A few opinions would be nice into other companies out there and recommended DIY suspension/handling mods.

Also while researching installation of lowering springs, it seems like camber bolts are necessary to align the wheels after spring installation. Would you need this for sway installation as well?

Red2014tC

I love my eibach spring and sway kit. I installed it on my own in about an hour and a half. If you have an automatic, it will take longer because you have to lower the front subframe slightly. It made a very dramatic difference to the handling of the car. The car sits perfectly in my opinion, takes away that awful stock wheel gap, but it is still perfectly driveable day to day.


As for camber bolts, I didn't bother with them. My before and after camber on the front wheels was not even .25 deg difference. The rears however were a little tucked in. You will need to get an alignment after though because the toe will likely be slightly out after having the drivers side control arm (manual) or subframe (automatic) partially removed.

Renike

Eibach is great as far as quality, currently I have as far as suspension goes is Eibach sway bars and lowering springs(about to be upgraded to coilovers) and Cusco Strut bar.

I must say that they do all improve the feel of the car significantly. I first installed my Cusco Strut bar and I would love to say that to me it made the biggest difference it made the cornering feel better but of course doesn't help with roll that much but made the chassis a lot stiffer/tighter up front. Afterwards I installed my springs and swaybars and gave the feeling that the car was no longer top heavy and reduced the body roll so i would suggest working on the suspension as it makes the car feel alive although it doesn't have the power it should and makes it a lot more fun to drive.

Now somewhat of the bad, when doing suspension of course you will have to get an alignment; which is bad for me because its been past a year since they have been installed and my tires are bald now lol (but got new tires coming) and when lowering the car the camber isn't bad in the front but the back is really bad the rear passenger is more cambered in than the rear driver which can wear the tires uneven and is unsafe but there is a fix to that which I will explain later. This isn't a bad on springs I think it was me installing it incorrectly, but my oem shocks are so bad, when going over speed bumps that it is making a LOUD squeaking noise and embarrassing lol.

I am getting BC Racing coilovers myself(which i will be receiving this thursday) so i don't have to deal with that squeaking noise, as far as the bad cambering in the rear, Megan racing and TB performance(i believe that's the name) have adjustable rear upper camber kits to adjust the camber in the back. I just ordered my camber kit and coilovers on Thursday and received camber kit on Friday since they came from Cali and i live in Vegas


I would highly suggest get the springs and get them installed professionally or at least make sure a mechanic is watching over to make sure they are installed properly. Get the sway bars and the Strut bar.

I will let ya know how the camber kit and coilovers work

Hope this helps!

ScionDP

Your response is actually amazing and very helpful. Just a few questions if you don't mind.

In regards to the alignment, I would need to get it done even after sway bar install and especially after spring install. Did you not get your tires aligned for the year? How much did your springs drop your car? any reason for switching over to coilovers? What made you go with Cusco strut bar?

I'll most likely get the Control Arm from TB.

Renike

Thanks! sorry for the late reply

But any suspension work you do such a sway bars, camber kit, coilovers you will need to get an alignment even if your just changing the sway bar links it affects the alignment

No i didnt get my alignment because i was constantly busy last year and didnt hve the money at the time but it killed my tires pretty much, but i got new tires coilovers and camber kit on the way so once installed i can go to a friend at Toyota that will do the alignment and put on the new tires with balancing for $80 lol

The Eibach springs dropped the front by 1.3 and the back 1.7-1.8; Im switching to coilovers because i want to be able to adjust them and the dampening adjuster for either a softer or harder setting depending on what Im doing.

I went with cusco cuz i liked the look of the strut bar and its the only one i saw that had all 3 holes for all three bolts on the strut tower; which to me it seems more reliable and it is very sturdy but light also.

TCnewguy

See if you have a firestone up there. Get the lifetime warranty alignment before you lower your car. I used to get an alignment every 6 month on my old car for free ;)

Renike

Firestone sucks in my area. my friend and i had to change out his endlinks for his swaybars on his g35 because they were bad and he already had the lifetime but because he car was lowered prior to him purchasing the car they wouldnt do his alignment and plus its $40 for the alignment and $40 for the tires

TCnewguy

^ he should have told them he wanted his money back, or he will call corporate office.

Renike

well the reason is it had to deal with something with people putting aftermarket parts on, but it was a stupid reason but we changed his ball joint like a month ago and he took his car back there and was able to get it done but id rather spend the $40 and save money right now and not deal with it and purchase it later at some point

ScionDP

Thanks for all the info, with more research it seems that Springs and Struts will be best suited for me since it is a daily driven car and winter days of road salt leading to corrosion however I did find that KW coilovers are good for rust proof in Canada but the deal breaker was the car being daily driven. I will drop it between 1"-2" with some time to think of what would be best.

I don't want to get too off topic with this post so in terms of sway bars to purchase, I'll be going with Eibach front and rear. I will also be doing some brand research of spring and strut/shock combo's and will most likely be writing up a post in regards to that topic in the near future.

holdstumt

I would also look into Tanabe suspension stuff. I use their springs and sway bars. They ride really nice on my car. They also make strut tower bars and chassis braces for Scions. That way you can avoid having 50 different manufacturers on your car haha

ScionDP

only if eibach made struts and shocks for the tc I would be in heaven. unfortunately they only have sways and springs. seems like tanabe is the same, didn't see any performance strut or shock replacement. I'm not really a brand loyalist either, whatever is best I try and use that. If it happens to be 1 or 50 brands so be it.

holdstumt

Actually I think they make a coilover for the TC. Check their website?

Renike

no problem dont mind helping out a fellow scion owner but they have replacement shocks and struts that you can buy here http://www.autoanything.com/suspension-systems/kyb-excel-g-shocks-struts i was gonna do this method but decided to get coilovers and it says they are great with lowering springs tho

ScionDP

They do have coilovers but I'm staying away from those and going with spring/strut & shock combo.

ScionDP

It looks like the link you sent me was not compatible with the 2014 tc2 but I think it might have to do with shipping not being offered to Canada and it's weird how one site says it's a replacement for OEM strut or shock then another says works amazing with lowering springs. What I ment before was that if Eibach had struts and shocks to compliment there springs. It would be ideal. I'm sure OEM would be fine but like most other tc owners with eibach springs, there struts end up blowing out on them alot quicker, so I would rather be prepared.

Renike

They should be compatible even if its not listed because all they did with the 14-15 is change the car cosmetically but suspension motor and everything is the same I can see if they don't work for the 1st gen but it should I would check with your local Toyota dealer and see if the 13 has the same shock and struts as the 14-15

ScionDP

Yup, they are the same. Just very limited market to struts and shocks