I just ordered the Ground Control "coilovers" and was wondering how they would work with the factory shocks and struts. I am planning on getting aftermarket, but was wondering if the TRD that are available now are a good bet or should I wait and see what ealse comes out soon? As I'm going to be paying for install and alignment now, I was thinking that perhaps the TRD was the way to go. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

Im sure the TRD shocks would work great.

some adjustable shocks might be more fun though.

The Konis I got from Spy Engineering have been great. Very comfy on full soft, very stiff on full stiff.

 

They will work just fine with your factory parts. I wouldnt even pay the money for aftermarket struts and shocks right now. They are designed to work with Koni parts but there is no need to get them until your stock ones start to go bad. How much do you plan on paying for install? You are in LA, I know there are folks out there who do cheap spring installs for Scion peeps, and there is not much difference between installing the GC coilovers and regular aftermarket springs.


Doc

 

Not sure where I'm getting install. I'm going to wait till my rims come in and do install at the same time. Any ideas would be much appreciated (I'm in Hollywood area). What do you think is good price for install for rims, tires (with spacers) and Ground Control? I'm going to be doing a lot so stuff to my xB and was hoping to find a quality place that knows scions and has reasonable prices that is not too far away.

 

the factory shocks are made by tokico u might wanna reconsider changing them unless u have a real reason for it....autocross?

 

our stock shocks are made by tokico??? how'd you find this out? if this is true...wow i'm very surprised.

 

i pulled them off and looked at them when i changed the springs.....ill take pics for all you non-believers tommorow when im putting on my h&r spacers and my injen intake....says tokico right on the side of them....stamped in next to where is has toyota stamped into the metal....i cant possibly recommend upgrading the shocks to any daily driver....the cost would not offset the small difference in performance unless you went to a high end adjustable....

 

Tokico actually makes OEM shocks for a lot of vehicles. Master cylinders too, so don't be too impressed because they still might be sorta doo doo! But luckily, it seems that the stock struts and shocks in the Scions are of decent quality, so they're good choices to use with aftermarket springs. Thing to remember, especially if you go with adjustable springs like Ground Control's coilover spring set, is that you still should not go down too low because your ride will be adversely affected by the limits of your stock struts and shocks. You can only go down about 2.75" with them before your ride becomes almost nill. So just because the Ground Controls allow you to go down a certain amount doesn't mean that you should right off the bat. In fact, I personally wouldn't recommend lowering your car more than 2.5" with them, and if you intend to go down any more, you will want to get some aftermarket shortened struts and shocks (of which none are readily-available in the US yet) to retain some semblance of ride quality and control (and safety!).

 

You can go down all the way. They would have given us a more aggressive drop but decided that was as low as one could go without sacrificing ride quality or safety.
Trust me, they know what they're doing and have done their research...

 

the front shocks made by tokico and the back ones are made by KYB....got under there and looked....woulda got pics for ya....but u can get under there and look yourselves

 

How well a shock can handle a siffer/lower springs has little to do with its quality, and more to do with wether its valved with enough bound and rebound stiffness to dampen the osccilation of the spring.

stiffer springs need stiffer dampening forces.

Sometimes a stock shock can handle a stiffer spring for a while but will wear out quicker.

Basically, if your car starts bouncing, time for stiffer shocks. =)

 

question about coil overs: how easy is it to adjust the height once they are installed?
i mean...can you just like re-adjust the height in minuets....or do you have to lift the car?

 

With the ground control c/o's you will need to lift the car a bit to take the weight off of the coliover, then you use the allen key, loosen the locking screw, and then just "dial" the cuff where you want. The cuffs are designed to use a spanner type wrench so it is really easy. Because you would have to jack it up a bit, I would say it is a 45 minute job to adjust your settings, unless you have a lit, then it is more like 15 minutes!


Doc

 

All it takes is the car to be jacked up, enough for you to remove the wheels in order to physically get to the coilover, and you can just do it at that point. No lift required, I would say minutes instead of hours.