Lowering Toyota ALLEX

[GTCRSHR]

ok after reading other posts and not getting much of a answer ineed ... i want to lower my other car (2001 toyota allex), and am looking at the options people have done, and ideas ..

first ARE there any major differences ( will i feel them in terms of ride comfort) between Spring makers ?TRD / TEINS / JAMEX etc ?

Where in auckland is the best place to get them installed (or some where that does the whole job) (dont want to go mag and turbo either)

Should i be looking at replacing my shocks at the same time ? car has only done 60,xxx km,

Shortening the shocks - a) will this make the car lower ? b) will it affect handeling / comfort (i guess this depends on how much they take off so they are not bottoming out)

the average spring look like it takes it 30-40mm lower, What if i want to go lower 60-80 mm ? does this relate to the shortening of shocks ?

Thanks for any help / ideas

[molex]

It'll handle like utter crap if you drop it that far on the standard shocks. There's a reason you can't get off the shelf springs to drop 80mm

If you want to go low, buy adjustables.

[GTCRSHR]

thanks, so would shortening the shocks / getting smaller ones? be a better idea

[1I1]

when people shorten shocks they normally machine/cut the end of the shaft and re-thread it so that the springs remain captive. If you go as low as 80mm lower you will need to have the shocks actually rebuilt and modified internally so that they work properly

[GTCRSHR]

ah i see, otherwise they will bottom out all the time right ?

is there anything bolt in stuff from toyota available ?

[Dell'Orto]

Yeah if you took 80mm off the strut, thats 80mm less suspension travel than normal and most shocks (well, in my brief searching) seem to have a range of 130ish mm. Wouldnt take much to bottom out at all, unless you had uber stiff springs.

[GTCRSHR]

ok, so how do some of these guys get there cars so low ?

on my other car it was different because i built it around the air bags, so thats why its so low, but never had anything to do with lowering springs before

[1I1]

A lot of people seem to be going for adjustables so that they can wind them down and sit the car real low. But usually makes the car handle worse than factory

[d1 mule]

not sure of the allex is there but should give you a good idea of what shocks are about, measure yours up and compare. failing that get adjusties, cheap as these days

http://www.trdparts.jp/english/list_race_shock.html

http://trdparts.jp/english/list_shock-cartridge.html

[molex]

Adjustable coilovers can drop your car on its ass while maintaining travel as designed, rather than 80mm shorter than it should be if you were just to throw some cutties on a standard shock.

My car is not high, chassis is 110mm off the ground (the legal min is 100mm) but I can drop my coilovers another ~90mm further. That is madness, would require very small/skinny wheel/tyre to tuck into the guards. Because they're proper adjustable suspension, changing the ride height doesn't change the height of the spring or remove stroke from the shock. Downside is they're stiff, very stiff. Because they have less total stroke available (they're smaller) the springs need to be stiffer to ensure the cars weight doesn't bottom them out. Japanese sourced coilovers are especially bad for stiff springs.

[GTCRSHR]

ah i see, sounds the way to go,

so Where to go for people who know what they are doing and not just some bozo who just chucks them in,

and do they still need certing or has the law changed yet ?

what sort of options are there different brands ?

thanks very much been really informative

[Timoz]

I would suggest you got for cusco zero 2 coil overs if you wanna go low, but if just for springs i would use C-One lowering springs as they are really good, better than tein, jamax. Stiffer than the TRD ones.

You get get the springs off Sochi at ST Hi-tech at Mt Wellington, for cusco parts there is a cusco distributor over at Albany but forgotten the address... So yea these are my suggestions to you as I got a Allex RS180 6 speed manual too.

[Crampy]

Just a note:
A really low and stiff set up for suspension will not necessarily make the car handle any better and will more than likely make it more uncomfortable to drive in.

Up to the individual though.
I choose a nice balance between comfort/performance over looks.

[Mr Revhead]

yeah, as above
FIRST thing to consider is the use of the car
what you use it for and what you want it to do

going 80mm lower than stock will make your car a pita for daily driving
and as mentioned you will run into issues with shocks
in some cases you can just shorten the spear.
in others, you will need to have a shorter body to retain the travel.
sometimes a search through the catalog will find a shock thats shorter and will suit the car.

imo adjustables are a bit of a waste on a daily driver in some cases, you set it up and never touch it again. therefore kinda wasting the extra features of them.

as far as brands go, if you want to go for coilovers, try and get a brand that you can have repaired in NZ. some brands are sealed and if they fail you need to replace them, you cant repair them.

as for springs, a mate has a RunX on TRD springs. looks very nice.
however they are $$$ these days. TEIN do good springs, a lot of ppl think jamex too soft. shop around for prices and spring spec, then maybe google to see what ppl have thought of them

[GTCRSHR]

hey guys, thanks for the reply, yeah the trd springs have gone up about $100 since i asked you about them, i guess thats the price of steel etc,

car is a daily driver, with the odd time loaded up with paper (heavy) so i would want some fairly stiff springs if it was going to be lowered even further, trying to go for a balance of both comfort(which it is )and a bit better look,

Timoz, can you put up a picture of your car lowered so i can see what it looks like,

just wanting to get rid of the big gap between the tyres and the wheel arch hence the 80mm, but i guess 40 odd would work too, ill try take a picture when it stops raining,

so where would i go to get springs installed ? any good recommendations in auckland preferably some where thats open on the weekends

cheers guys

[Timoz]

Hi GTCRSHR

Here is the photo of my car with Tein Super wagon coil-overs on, pretty comfortable coil-overs. Feels like a good spring and shocks upgrade but height and damper adjustable. I got it when i bought my car tho...(import from Jap)
http://timoz.myphotoalbum.com/view_albu ... me=album01

if an error message comes up just select the alburm than u can click on the photo to see it.

I got 16 inch wheels on so the gap will be a bit bigger

[barryogen]

my old RunX(practically the same as the Allex) had TRD sportivo springs and struts, it was firm, low, and a good ride, far better than most others that I've riden in at the same height.

[GTCRSHR]

$405 including GST to get TRD springs INSTALLED at toyota East tamaki

[rollaholic]

if that includes the springs you'd be crazy not to!

[GTCRSHR]

$405 including GST to get TRD springs INSTALLED at toyota East tamaki

nope springs were $500odd from our freindly TRD sponsor so about $1000 all up