10 - Springs and Brace

I found the stock springs on my box to be somewhat harsh, especially over speed bumps. So I did some research to see what other people have done. On ScionLife, I found Cionide's thread about Tanabe NF210 springs which he started at the beginning of 2008. The thread is over 20 pages long and was still active in December of 2011. In the thread people have commented about their experiences after their install, and most found that both the ride and handling were improved.

In December of 2011 I sold some items on eBay to finance the purchase of my Tanabe NF210 springs. Also I bought a strut tower brace on eBay. After contacting a friend who has a well-equiped garage, I was ready to begin.

(This mod took place on December 10 2011.)

Here is a picture of the Tanabe NF210 springs out of the box. NF stands for Normal Feel. The springs provide a drop of about 1.7" in the rear and a drop of about 1" in the front. They are about 5% stiffer than the stock springs. Notice that the smaller diameter rear springs are progressive (variable) rate, which help improve the ride quality. The OEM rear springs are linear (constant) rate.

Here is a picture of the strut tower brace from eBay. The red middle portion is aluminum and the black end brackets are steel. It costs much less than the TRD strut tower brace, and in my opinion the bolted end connections do not detract from the strut-to-strut bracing function.

Here is the stance of my car prior to the install. Note the gap between the rear fender and the tire.

I'm fortunate to have a friend who is handy and owns a number of tools, including hydraulic jacks, safety stands, metric hand tools, an electric impact wrench, and coil spring compressors. Also he has experience replacing coil springs, having lowered his Mini some years back.

We began by raising up the back of my car, then placing it on safety stands.

Per tCTaco's DIY Spring Install on ScionLife we first unbolted the rear shock absorbers, which allowed us to lower the beam axle and remove the rear springs.

Here is a comparison of the linear stock rear spring (left) and the progressive NF210 rear spring (right).

It was very easy to install the new rear springs, then reattach the rear shocks.

Car on the ground, rear springs are done! Now for the hard part: the front struts.

After jacking up the front of the car and putting it on safety stands, we removed the front wheels and unbolt the front struts, being careful not to damage the hydraulic brake lines or the ABS connections.

Right front strut removed and ready to disassemble.

We used the spring compressors to allow us to compress the spring, disassemble the strut, and remove the stock spring. Per Tanabe's directions I trimmed the internal bump stop.

Here is a comparison of the linear stock front spring (right) and the slightly stiffer and shorter linear NF210 front spring (left).

We compressed the new spring, installed it onto the strut and reassembled it, then bolted the completed assembly onto the car. Here is a picture of the completed right front. We repeated the procedure for the left front.

My friend has some really cool tools, including these racheting box-end wrenches. Note the lower wrench also has a built-in swivel.

Tools like these really came in handy when we had to loosen the upper nuts on both struts in order to remove them, and also at the end when we reinstalled the struts and also installed the strut tower brace.

Since the front-to-rear rake was slightly decreased by the NF210s, I also adjusted my headlights using an 8mm socket.

All done! The ride and handling are improved, and the car feels a bit tighter during cornering as well.

Before

After

Next: Hooks and Console

You can send your questions or comments to BrickPig2011xb@gmail.com

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