I have the TRD springs/shocks and sway bar on my tc and I have to say the handling was greatly improved. Better response and felt much more confident taking turns at a higher speed. Still very smooth but you do tend to feel the road more. Here are some pics of my FM. http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...page_id=728754

 

Ranthese my ride is smooth. Very smooth. Yes the feel is better as well but I think it is smoother then stock. You shouldn't post claims unless you have driven a tC with each type of spring, cause you don't know.

I'm not saying any one brand is better, I am just telling my experience and opinion.

 

running stock shocks with drop springs will fry them after a while due to the higher spring rate. maybe a year or two. generates more heat in the shock.

 

Yeah, I did that by putting aftermarket springs on my MR2 with the stock shocks. Won't do that again. I'd rather just do the job once, not twice.

Anyone sporting the Tein Basics? I was thinking of going with those instead of the TRD shock/spring combo.

 

I had doubts about the claims going around regarding the S.Tech's, but after having them on my ride for a little while now, I can give them nothing but praise. After having ridden on H&R, Neuspeed, & Eibach on previous rides, I'm a believer. The ride really is very similar to stock.

 

Hi everyone, this will be my first post in this forum and I will like to get a set of spring in my tc but to be honest I’m not sure about the TRD springs. I have heard many miss feelings about the TRD springs ride and handling. I have had many cars in the past and have try many spring and the best ones so far for me are the Eibach , I use them in my Supra, 300zx, and in the RX-7. Yes I have had my share of cars and I just want to try this tc and turbocharged to see what it can do. However, the Eibach is in my opinion e a better spring all around, better performance and better handling than any TRD spring I have tried.. TRD do not make their own springs or shocks, c’mon guys just look at the price!! You can get a set of TRD spring and TRD sway bar fro $195.00 You pay for what you get, sure it will be better that stock but I’m sure it can get better….. I know that Eibach is a bit pricy but you can get them for about $209.00 I know some of you will disagree on this one but I am just giving my honest of what I have tested in the past. Some of you may be happy with your TRD spring but I think Eibach is a better spring.
Im still looking for a good set of shocks…I know that TRD uses Bilstein shocks for some of their applications
http://www.usatoyotaparts.com/Produc...il_40_651.html
http://www.usatoyotaparts.com/Produc...il_40_622.html

if they use the Bilstein for the tc I will get them for sure, Im still looking.

 

i dont know if they still do, but a few years ago TRD springs were produced by eibach for the applications i was interested in... and exactly the same as what eibach offered. so saying TRD springs are inferior to eibach is silly if that's still true.

 

You are correct TRD had use some Eibach springs in the past for some applications just like they may still use Eibach today. TRD is also known to use KYB, Bilstein shock among others, unfortunate TRD is not using Eibach for the scion tc. To avoid the confusion I just got the real thing “Eibach,” just like Steve Millen only uses Eibach on all his streetcars projects. And yes TRD springs are inferior to Eibach in the scion tc.

 

i'm thinking about getting H&R with the TRD struts and the TRD sway bar. does anyone here have that and can say how much that feels compared to stock? no offense to the tien people, i just don't want that much of a drop. i'm just debating over getting H&R for springs, and getting TRD or Hotchkiss for sway bar. also, how much low is the drop with eibach and how does it feel?

 

im still not convinsed about the lowered springs and needing an aftermarket strut/shock ...

more heat..? in what way does the strut/shock generate heat..? i am very familiar with the inner workings of a strut/shock.. and for the life of me cannot see any thing in the strut that generates heat.. other than the seal in the valving.. and that is the only friction you have.. using a lower stiffer spring reduced the overall travel of the strut. given this.. you have less movement in the shock.. less movement means less heat generated by friction of the seal...

i wiill buy that the stock strut will blow out sooner because of the more aggressive driving you do once you have lowered it.. BUT that is just the valving wearing out because of the more agressive driving.. NOT because of anything the spring is doing to it.. a aftermarket performace strut/shock has better valving design and or components made for aggressive driving and hense will last longer...

if im off base.. please point me to something that says you NEED to do this... i understand many say that they have expirienced this failure.. but is it trully directly related to the springs.. or to the driving you are doing because of the springs...

 

this is from a shock manufacturers website, so take it w/ a grain of salt i guess

Q. Can I use sport lowering springs with my original shocks?
A. Very few original shocks have the damping necessary to properly control sport lowering springs. Even if they work reasonably well when first installed, the higher rate springs will cause the factory shocks to wear much faster.

http://www.tokicogasshocks.com/faq.html

my own feelings:

i think it depends on the car. we've all seen the honda bouncing up and down because the shocks couldn't take the higher spring rate of their lowering springs, then there are also cars like the MR2, MINI, and Miata, that all have pretty stiff shocks from the factory. they don't seem to suffer the "porpoising" problem that economy cars do if lowered on factory shocks. i think if you have a brand new scion with less than 30k miles, and don't excessively lower it, you should be fine. that said, there is a huge "driving feel improvement" to the addition of shocks IMHO.

 

thank you codemunkee..!!! yes the grain of salt is needed when reading shock manufacturers comments.. but this make alittle more sense than a heat related failure.....

i will agree 100% that changing the springs and struts together will give an improved driving expirience..

 

as pointed out, it is due to the higher spring rate. the shock is there to dampen the motion of the spring so the car doesn't bounce uncontrollably down the road. it turns motion into heat.

imagine a shock on the car, the piston moves in and out. now imagine moving it in and out repeatedly and quicky, albeit with less movement. that is what a stiffer spring will do to it. the piston rod on the stock shocks i pulled out of my civic after running pro kits for a while were actually burned from the heat buildup. nice rainbow color on the chrome

and prokits are progressive, ~1" drop springs. just imagine what a fixed rate, 2" drop spring would do to it.