Club Scion tC

Car Candy Motor Sports
Guest Menu
Scion News
Scion Generation
Scion tC Parts
Aftermarket Scion tC speed shop carries Scion tC exhaust, Scion tC intakes and more Scion tC parts at ScionGeneration.com
Club Scion tC Decals

Show your support for the club and sport some Club Scion tC premium decals on your Scion tC.

Get them now for only $5 shipped! Available in either vinyl or static cling.

New Feature: Geo!
You can now find other users by location! CLICK THIS LINK for details!
Forum Options
Register | Login
Advanced
Viewing Thread
Home > Performance Mods > Suspension & Brakes > Springs Wearing Out ?!?

Springs Wearing Out ?!?

Related threads: ( Click here to view )
07sctc
South Carolina, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 So heres the deal. If you have read any of my recent posts you might know i've been waiting on rims from this one place that sux, but i got another set from a place that is awesome.

i have had s-techs with stock struts for ~27k miles and approx 2 years. since the day i got my car.

so to my point, since i put on my new rims about a week ago (TSW Laguna 18x8 35 offset *pics to come*). i have really been scrubbing on the front left tire but never on the right. I got to looking and i am riding about 1/4 to 3/8 inch lower on the driver side front compared to the front passenger side. it might have always been like this but i dont think it has, but i never measured my ride hight before to know. so i do suggest to anyone getting springs to measure after they have settled.

for three weeks while i was waiting on my rims i had my car on jack stands on the back and front right with the front left being supported my two floor jacks with a stock wheel on in case the jacks gave way. so the suspension way just hangin there. i dont know if the spring could have shifted on the strut while it was hangin or not.

i was wondering if the spring may be "wearing out" and sagging or if they just need to re-settle. i could get another set since they are relatively cheap or i could tear into the install and see if something is out of whack, but i didn't want to do anything til i got on here and asked about it.

thanks in advance all you suspension gurus,
nick






beware of the mad sciontist !

ask me your car audio and electronics questions!!
[#] Jul 03, 2008 09:52pm
krdshrk
New Brunswick
New Jersey, US
  • Godlike Advisor
 I don't think it's the spring, i think it's the strut itself.


Scikotics NJ is sponsored by Lawrence Scion

2006 GReddy Turbocharged Automatic tC
220+ WHP - 14.044 @ 97.02 MPH
[#] Jul 03, 2008 09:56pm
07sctc
South Carolina, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 since i posted i have taken out both front struts, realigned the srings on them and put them back on. i measured them sitting side by side before i put them back in and they were the same. after i put them back in i still have the hight difference from left to right.

i was going to swap the springs from left to right and see if it made any difference, but i couldn't get the nut off the top of the tower.

anyways, does anybody have any opinion?

beware of the mad sciontist !

ask me your car audio and electronics questions!!
[#] Jul 04, 2008 03:15am
andino
Manhattan Beach
California, US
  • Godlike Advisor
 It's just your springs sagging a bit more on the driver side. It because the majority of the time, there is only weight on the driver side so naturally, that side will settle lower. A temp fix would be to swap the spring/strut combo from left to right and vice versa.





Are you in SoCal? Come to our CStC meets!
Located in Socal? Need something Installed?
Have a question and no one is willing to help? Shoot me a PM or hit me up on AIM.
[#] Jul 04, 2008 03:34am
07sctc
South Carolina, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 ^thanks...so can i just swap the full strut left to the right or do i need to just swap the springs and leave the strut in the same place? i would like to have coil overs but i cant see throwin down that much money, if these springs need to be replaced i could do that five times for the price of the coilovers.

beware of the mad sciontist !

ask me your car audio and electronics questions!!
[#] Jul 04, 2008 04:07am
andino
Manhattan Beach
California, US
  • Godlike Advisor
 ^^ PM'ed you back man. But just incase someone else has this same question, I'll post my answer here too.

andino wrote:
You can just swap the whole assemblies from side to side i believe. I know for sure that the fronts can do this but I'm not positive on the rears.






Are you in SoCal? Come to our CStC meets!
Located in Socal? Need something Installed?
Have a question and no one is willing to help? Shoot me a PM or hit me up on AIM.
[#] Jul 04, 2008 04:28am
07sctc
South Carolina, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 i didnt have time to swap the struts before work today but i will when i get home. if swaping them doesnt solve the problem, i will be getting new struts and springs in the future cuz mine will probably wearout before too long, i would like to get 40k out of them if i can. would it be a good idea to rotate the front struts like tires every so often to even out sag? or does sagging just affect certain springs? also has anybody had trouble removing the nut on the top of the strut that hold the spring on, last night i tried to loosen it with the strut still in the car and with it out of the car, with the spring compressed and uncompressed. all it is doing is turning the shock itself and wont let loose.

beware of the mad sciontist !

ask me your car audio and electronics questions!!
[#] Jul 04, 2008 06:22pm
BlazednSleepy
Chatsworth
California, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 get rid of those crappy stock struts/shocks and get some tokico's or something..The smartest thing to do when going that low is to just replace the shocks/struts. This was bound to happen its not the springs its the struts/shocks.

[#] Jul 04, 2008 06:32pm
07sctc
South Carolina, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 so you think if i replace the struts with aftermarket then it would solve the problem, or are the springs part of the problem too? i want to fix it the right way but also the most cost effective way.

beware of the mad sciontist !

ask me your car audio and electronics questions!!
[#] Jul 04, 2008 06:51pm
BlazednSleepy
Chatsworth
California, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 yes i think they would solve your problem..The stock struts/shocks just cant handle the spring rate. Once you get new struts/shocks everything will run much smoother especially ride quality. and you wont have to worry about your struts/shock blowing out. But i would wait for more opinions just to be on the safe side but i honestly think they need to be replaced.

[#] Jul 04, 2008 07:01pm
andino
Manhattan Beach
California, US
  • Godlike Advisor
 Struts don't effect the ride height as much as a sagging spring would. I have coilovers and many of my friends do as well and we have to set the driver side slightly higher to compensate for the consistent driver load.





Are you in SoCal? Come to our CStC meets!
Located in Socal? Need something Installed?
Have a question and no one is willing to help? Shoot me a PM or hit me up on AIM.
[#] Jul 04, 2008 08:48pm
07sctc
South Carolina, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 thanks for all the input!! i think i am gonna just swap the sides for now and wait and upgrade struts later and also get new springs then. if i can find coilovers for the price of new struts and springs then i will go that route, that is what i would like to do anyway but just cant see putting out a grand right now for that when there are other things i would rather use the money for. hopefully swaping side will put off the inevitable for now. ill let you guys know how it turns out. any body with personal experience with spring sagging please add some input to this thread. there are many of us with stech and others that will encounter the same problem after a year or so of use.

beware of the mad sciontist !

ask me your car audio and electronics questions!!
[#] Jul 04, 2008 09:12pm
07sctc
South Carolina, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 so while everybody is out shooting fire works and doing all you do on the 4th, ive been sitting here at work all night with not much to do but think about this spring thing.

here is a temp fix i have come up with so you all let me know if you think it will work.

the only problem i am having is a little scrubbing on the drivers front tire. the ride is still ok so how about this...after i swap the struts from side to side if i still have a hight difference i can use washers between the top of the strut and the body were the strut mounts to the chassis. there is plenty of thread on the nuts and i really only need to get a little more than 1/4 inch of clearence to match the other side.

do any of you think this will work out, if it came down to it i could get some aluminum plate and make a spacer out of it that matches the top of the strut so that there would be full contact where the strut meets the body. tein garantees that their springs wont sag more then 5mm which is about how bad mine are so i figure they wont get any worse.

let me know if this TEMP fix would work, til i want to upgrade later on.

thanks again



beware of the mad sciontist !

ask me your car audio and electronics questions!!
[#] Jul 04, 2008 11:34pm
07sctc
South Carolina, US
  • Chief Mechanic
 alright so i just got home from work a little while ago and started on swaping the struts from left to right but i soon found out it CAN'T be done. the mounting tab for the sway bar (i guess thats what it is) would be on the wrong side. so what do you guy thing about the spacer deal? ... the more i think about it the more i want to get coilovers! from what i have learned with this car one thing always leads to another. but the good news is that i am gonna be working an overtime day next week which will give me about $400 after taxes which could go to a set of ground control coilovers, but i would just have to use them on my stock struts for now.

beware of the mad sciontist !

ask me your car audio and electronics questions!!
[#] Jul 05, 2008 07:03am

TOP: Home > Performance Mods > Suspension & Brakes > Springs Wearing Out ?!?



Quick Nav:
©2008 Club Scion tC - Community for Scion tC enthusiasts.