I'm thinking very seriously about modestly lowering the xB2 I bought a couple weeks ago. I'm interested in the look and handling improvments, but this is tempered by a need to be able to handle the occasional interstate pothole and rough road, as well as a desire to have a reasonably comfortable ride.

Although I've installed a TRD rear sway bar, I'm not in any hurry to replace everything in sight, only what's truly necessary. Hopefully I would still be able to use the stock struts and other components (outside of the springs, of course .)

From reading, both TRD and Eibach drop the front by 1", and the TRD drops the rear 1.5", whereas the Eibach drops it 1.2". I'm attracted to the somewhat lesser rear drop since the vehicle will be hauling cargo at least some of the time and the rating is 850 lbs (including me at about 150 lbs). My thinking is it makes sense to leave extra travel at the rear.

Can anyone help me understand the differences between these two xB2 spring kits? Are there any behavior/ride advanteges of one over the other?

Thanks much -- Trevor

 

no experience with either but definately dont get the DF if youre hauling around that much weight. i got some of my friends to help me move and 5 guys 200+lbs each was scrape-tastic.

from what i gather and some civic & integra experience lowering the car a little like the trd/eibach wont really mess with ride comfort. you would get a much different ride quality with say the DF or some trd shocks.

http://newscionxb.com/scion_xb_perfo...on-t643.0.html

 

I saw a couple photos of a Tanabe DF xB2 and it looked really great, but I'm pretty sure the drop would indeed be way over the top for me ! I also looked at their NF springs set with the 1.7" rear drop, but the intended cargo usage and occasional dubious road conditions push me towards the TRD and Eibach options.

 

If you are worried about the rear drop I'd suggest go with eibach pro-kit. I have the TRD springs and the drop is quite a bit compared to stock on the rears.

 

I've read through the other threads talking about springs and haven't been able to draw a bead on these two sets relative to each other. For that matter, I really haven't seen much at all on the Eibach pro-kit, and only a little on the TRD! I guess neither is radical enough to draw much attention on this forum!

Still, I've decided to go for less rear lowering, this in light of cargo expectations and my theory that less lowering means more distance before the stop is encountered. So, I've placed an order for the Eibach Pro-Kit and I'll just have to see how it works out ! I really don't thing I'll mind if the rear is a smidgeon higher than the front (there ARE historical precedences for this in the hot rod world ) and I think I'd prefer that to any possibility of the unloaded rear being lower than the front.

Thanks, and if there are any further inputs, I remain interested !

 

What do you mean by "cargo"? I think it would take a lot of weight to raise concerns with any of the springs that are ~1.5" lower in the rear. I have NF's and love them. The ride is actually better than stock, especially on big/hard bumps (trust me some roads here are a nightmare). Sometimes I wish I went with DF's, but my last car was slammed and I didn't want the harsher ride this time around. Eibach makes great stuff though, so I'm sure they'll be nice. Be sure to post up pics when you get them installed.

 

I guess "cargo" as I'm using it is a flexible term meaning anywhere from 40 pounds to several hundred. Since I'm roughly 150, that would leave as much as 700 pounds of "stuff" in the cargo area (ie. behind the front seats!) I didn't buy the xB as a car, but rather as a wagon or van -- focal point being the 70 cubic feet of storage ! perhaps I'll one day raise the rear seats from their flat position, but I can't readily anticipate the occasion!

My xB2 purchase was based on two rationals, one as a cargo hauler, the other as an economical daily driver. In essence, you could say it's a truck replacement. Although a 1/2 ton truck could clearly carry far more, its gas mileage is a relative disaster and the cargo area is unprotected ! True, there are items the truck would be clearly better suited to, but I've not sure such sizable items are in keeping with my personal limitations. As much as I hate to say it, my personal capabilities are not what they once were !

 

i got the eibach prokit
feels really nice and not too low

well not low enough for me
im going more performance
i like canyon driving so im going with coilovers a little down the road

u can take a look at my pics its a decent drop
looks alot better than stock trust me

 

Thanks very much,

Looks well nigh perfect to me! I'm not looking for anything even vaguely radical, and to me, that looks like it could be stock (though obviously not xB stock !) Same color as mine as well!

By the way. Did you get a four wheel alignment after the spring installation? If so, what did they come up with?

Much appreciated -- Trevor

 

There's no use doing a 4-wheel alignment. The axle beam rear suspension is non-adjustable. The only thing somewhat adjustable is camber and you have to use shims behind the hubs for that.

With a drop as small as the prokit, I doubt it will change the front much at all.

 

i jus went to local shop had done
they just did it anyways

 

Delete!

 

Delete!

 

Thanks!

So it sounds like, after installation, I should probably get the front checked just to make sure. Don't want to accelerate wear on the new tires if I can avoid it. I'm expecting a McPherson spring compressor to arrive nex week from Whitney, and so if weather permits, I hope to have the job done by next Friday. If there's anything I should be aware of going into it, by all means lay it on me ! (I'll be skiing off the downloadable TRD spring instructions -- Eibach didn't provide any.)

I can certainly understand that -- that was basically all the single sided Eibach instruction sheet had to say on the subject. Seems like every step in this "accessorization" process translates into a bunch of bucks, so I'm hoping to at least save that particular expense -- it's adding up !

 

If you use the TRD instructions you'll be good to go, assuming you have experience messing with cars. Those instructions are just about perfect, and it lists all the tools you'll need.

The hardest part for me was the 22mm bolts. They're mega torqued and have threadlock. Just use a long pry bar/breaker bar. Everything is pretty straight forward though.

 

Thanks! I've collected a pretty fair tool selection over my years of trying to avoid paying standard service rates and dealer parts costs . If neither my 5/8" breaker bar, nor 1/2" torque wrench (which is longer) can handle those bolts, then I'll be in trouble. My worst situation was trying to remove an axle nut from the front of a Honda Civic CVCC way back. I broke a 1/2" breaker bar on it, and that led to my purchase of the 5/8" (the largest in the Sears store arsenal at that time!) Fortunately, the Craftsman guarantee replaced the broken bar for free !

 

Maybe you guys get a choice between 4-wheel and 2-wheel alignment, but it would appear the specs call for 4-wheel, and so that's what I had. It turned out the front toe was exactly on the edge of spec and the rear is a bare smidgeon out. They restored my front toe and the rear is unchanged (as expected.) Front camber and castor are in spec and the rear camber is a mix, but ony barely out on one side. I would have liked the front cross-camber to have been a little tighter than max spec, but I guess it will do!

 

My understanding is that the only available alignment adjustment from the factory on our '08 xB's is the front toe. Camber can only be adjusted with the addition of camber bolts or plates, and Caster is not adjustable. Rear toe is also fixed by the rear beam axle - no adjustment.

I paid $60 at a performance alignment shop that does xB's all the time, and they told me all this. They're right next door to one of the best xB spring install places in the San Francisco/San Jose bay area, so I respect their information.

 

I don't have any feel for how much play there is in the front knuckle to strut bolts, but any play there at all will result in variability in the camber (I noticed the instruction for adjusting front camber comes down to cleaning those surfaces.) It's possible my .4 degree passenger side camber error is entirely due to play in that fitting, but I don't know. I only know my cross camber error is also .4 degree, and that just happens to be the max spec!