I just picked up a 2012 xB 5 speed for my daily driver. My last was a '95 Nissan Hardbody with 375k miles on it(still use it for Sunday afternoon trash dump runs). I say this show that I keep my vehicles for a very long time and try to take care of them. I am wanting to do some mods on this little beast just as I do with most of my vehicles. I added dual exhaust the day after I bought the car. I am picking up some 18" wheels and tires for it this weekend. I am planning on my first suspension mod to be the addition of Hotchkis sway bars.
My questions are:
1) If I would like to stiffen the suspension without much or any lowering, what would be the best way to do so? I would love for this little box to handle like it was on rails.
2) Is the strut tower brace worth doing or is it just for looks? I wont ever track race the car but I do like to drive fast through corners. Sometimes.
3) Is there anything else I should have my eye on?

Ryan

 

Strut brace will stiffen up the front suspension but will actually induce more under steer than the car already has. Though it does work well when paired with the Hotchkis sway bars. By and far the best improvement I found was when i added the TP Performance chassis braces to mine. There are three total, Mid Chassis Brace, Trunk Brace, and Traction Bar. With just those I was able to induce slight over steer when taking corners on canyon runs. Enough so that I did add the front strut brace to tame it down a bit. It should team up with the sway bars great but I haven't run both together as I can't run a rear sway anymore with my modified suspension.

Here's a link to their site, http://www.tbperformanceproducts.com/scion-xb2.php

 

Thanks for the link. I notice you don't have the "Rear Mid Brace" listed in your list and it isn't included on their Stage 2 kit. Is there a reason for this?

How much is the trunk brace worth performance wise? I would rather not have that bar in my luggage space and use the rear sway bar if the payoff is comparable.

Do you have other mods to your suspension preventing the use of the rear sway bar or is it the use of these braces?

Thanks again for your input.

Ryan

 

I believe it is the same thing as the mid brace but I would double check with them to be sure. If I remember they re-designed it and I think the old one is still listed.

They do different things, the trunk brace is for stiffening the chassis and reducing flex while the sway bar reduced body roll in corners. That said I think you would be fine with just the rear sway and save trunk space. On a positive note if you do get it it works great for holding groceries in place against the rear seats. lol

Yeah, I can't run the rear sway due to having had the rear beam modified for a 2" drop. Basically the last 5" of the rear beam have been lowered 2". This ends up putting the sway ends 1' off the ground and I felt that was just not a safe clearance.