Hey, I'm new to ScionLife-a couple of questions
 

Hey,

I am new to ScionLife.com, I take delivery of my 2006 Black Sand Pearl xA this Thursday (December 22)!! I already have some plans for it, and so I have a couple of questions.
The first is, which lowering springs should I go with, the Hotchkis, or the TRD. I was leaning toward the Hotchkis springs, but then I was thinking maybe I should go with the TRD ones for warranty purposes?
The second question is, which front sway bar should I go with, I am down to three choices: the TRD one, the Hotchkis one, or the DC Sports one?

Thanks for your help/suggestions in advance.

-Mike

1. welcome
2A. Screw hotchkis and trd springs
2B. Tanabe DF210s, better performance, better look.
3A. You talking about front strut bar or front sway?
3B. If you are talking about strut, i'm pleased with Hotchkis
3C. Being virtually all sways are add ons or shock mounts to date, just pick a reliable company to go with. Then when subframe sways come out, sell your existing one for that.

Cya

The xA needs way more drop than TRD or Hotchkis will provide. To answer your question, I would choose Hotchkis over TRD. They won't void your warranty and will get you a little lower.

If it's the strut bar you seek, the Hotchkis is nice, but the DC looks about the same and costs less. Pretty much all of the strut bars for the xA/xB do very little for performance.

Good luck

-THE DON

any aftermarket part not manufactured for scion by scion will void your warranty.

if you install a part on your car that you can't buy from your toyota/scion dealer specifically for your car it is not covered by any warranty and voids the warranty on your car.

if you can buy a part at a toyota dealer, it doesn't specifically mean it is covered by your warranty. it must be a scion OEM part to not void and/or be covered by your factory warranty.

basically here is the deal. if you put something on your car that scion doesn't make, and it messes up your car . . . it isn't covered by your warranty. use your head though. if you install window tint and your tranny goes out . . . they obviously have nothing to do with each other . . . that is of course unless you tint the pistons . . . ;)

Springs: dont under any circumstances buy hotchkis, i have them and the aro speed that i had on my civic once were better. If you want some nice springs and you dont give a crap about the warranty tanabe DF210's or Tein S-Tech, you can also use the H-Tech but thats for a less agressive drop and softer ride

Front strut bar: DC Sports, maybe not best of the best but for the price you get the best bang for your buck.

Rear sway bar: Progress, beautiful beem torsioner and does its job excellently, and its easy to find

Chassis brace: front- Gt-Spec 4 point brace
rear- TRD frame brace

All these parts are the ones tha i have on my xA and they work GREAT!! And i think alot would agree with me, but for your choice of springs DONT go with hothckis you are better of with the tanabe or the teins. If you have any further questions you can PM.

i have the tanabe NF210's its about the same drop as TRD's

https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...r/PA150009.jpg
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...r/PDR_0009.jpg
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...r/PC050005.jpg
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...r/PC080015.jpg
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b...r/PC080017.jpg

i also have done the dc strut tower brace, the gt spec lower front frame brace, trd rear frame brace, progress rear beam stiffener (rear sway bar) and up graded my endlinks and sway bar bushings to polyurethane

Your warranty information is way off. No aftermarket part fully voids any warranty. Of course, aftermarket parts can't be included but they can't void any warranty unless proven a risk factor to OEM parts. For example, springs. So you get DF210's and you have to replace your shocks prematurly, Scion will not cover the shocks due to the fact they are blown because of the DF210 springs. However, that doesn't mean you don't have a warranty on the car it just means they can't cover that particular part in part of the springs you have. If something else came up not in direct cause of the springs, then they will cover it because theres no reason to blame springs because of..just say a unknown cause of tranny failure.

So, in conclusion, don't let all these people on Scionlife scare you with "...warranty this, warranty that". Half the people on here have no idea what they are talking about sometimes. No offense to anyone on here, its not their fault..They are just given misleading information.

Cya

Wow, cool, thanks for all of the suggestions so far.

Yeah I think so far I am leaning toward the Hotchkis...that is if it is an OEM part, which I have seen a few Scion Dealer websites that are selling it, and another site that claims that it is indeed an OEM part. I am not looking for anything too drastic, and I don't want to void my warranty. Although I agree that the xA does need to be dropped quite a bit for it to look really good. But, for all intensive purposes I believe that the Hotchkis or TRD should be fine for me.

As for the strut tower bar I am still undecided. But I see a lot of people are suggesting the DC Sports so maybe I might go with that one.

First things first after I take delivery...I have to get the windows tinted (not sure what I want to go with, but I think I want to go the darkest I can go that is legal in NY), and I also have to go with a security system (No way am I going to pay $500 to the dealer for that), and I might get heated seats at this place that I know that does it on Long Island!

Thanks for all the help and support so far!

-Mike

Congrats on you car bro. If you want to see how the Tanabe DF series springs look on an XA. PM me, I just put the Tanabe DF series springs and DC sprots strut tower brace on my friends car on saturday. Maybe you could come out this friday night and hang out. I know he will be there with his car. He just got his about 3 weeks ago and he loves the new suspension I did for him.

I'd go with hotchkis for the springs and the sway bar for the $$$$.

With my personal experience, I'd say go with a Tanabe DF210 drop. I have them on my xA and the car looks awesome once the springs settle to their full drop. The ride will be a bit on the harsh side over the worst surfaces but smooth roads are no problem. :D

Quote from the link below:
"Legally, a vehicle manufacturer cannot void the warranty on a vehicle due to an aftermarket part unless they can prove that the aftermarket part caused or contributed to the failure in the vehicle"

Everyone needs to read the sticky below... the truth about voiding your warranty:
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=55338

Would have been easier just to have agree'd with my post. :lalala:

Cya

Yeah I mean, I don't know I am just the type of guy that I don't like to mess with the warranty...especially since I did not take the extended warranty (at least not right now...I figured...new car why waste the $$$ on that right now...I can always get one later on). Plus I also have bad luck with that crap...my luck is I would go with the Tanabe's and something does end up going wrong and then I won't get Scion to repair it even if it is no fault of the non- OEM part that I put on...TRUST ME...I have learned my lesson with that crap. I want to go for "looks," with a little bit of performance, but at the same time not running the risk of problems with the dealer.

So, from what I understand TRD and Hotchkis springs are both considered OEM. At least I see Scion Dealers online that are offering the Hotchkis springs, and another site I can't remember which one stated in their description of the Hotchkis springs that they are OEM. When I take delivery of the car at Smithtown Scion on thursday I am going to ask either Steve or Vito what is OEM and what is not. If they say that Hotchkis are OEM then I am going to go with those. If not, then you know what...screw it I will go with whatever I decide. Because honestly the xA begs to be dropped!!!! It needs it!!! It wants it!!! It shall have it!! lol

-Mike

I like my TRD springs... enough drop for me anyhoo.

Wow, well I just got off the phone with Smithtown Scion confirming everything for tomorrow (he was letting me know everything was set up with my insurance, etc), but while I had him on the phone I figured I would ask him the question regarding the springs.

He informed me that the Hotchkis Springs are NOT OEM, and that they would void the warranty if something were to go wrong with the suspension (I guess from reading the sticky on warranty they would by law have to prove that it was because of the non-OEM part that I had put on that caused the defect). Be that as it may...I don't want any problems in terms of warranty so he said that the TRD Springs would be covered under warranty because they are Toyota (but believe me I am no moron I also know he is trying to sell Toyota/Scion products). Anyway, I am probably going to go for the TRD Springs when I do upgrade them eventually, and I am probably also going to replace the struts with TRD's as well. I just don't want to hear anything from these people in terms of the warranty. I am a little disappointed that the drop will be less, but hey what can you do you know. Sometimes we are at the mercy of the dealer. :(

I know this a day late and a buck short but...
From my over reading of Scion documentaion the TRD stuff is not covered under a Scion warranty but another TDR warranty. Now, I have no clue how that effects the the socks, but there you go.

Do the spring swaps yall have done affect the CV joints or any other part in the steering?