my ES300 on SC430 wheels :)
03-06-06, 09:27 AM
#6
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: NJ
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Pretty nice, Im lookin to get the stock 5 spoked wheels. do you have your set left over? or was it the splitted 3 spoked? I hate my splitted ones :-\
It's either get the stock 5 stars, or go all out and get suspension and the auto couture supreme br's in 18s
wat you think?
It's either get the stock 5 stars, or go all out and get suspension and the auto couture supreme br's in 18s
wat you think?
03-06-06, 10:52 AM
#7
Originally Posted by Two bit
Pretty nice, Im lookin to get the stock 5 spoked wheels. do you have your set left over? or was it the splitted 3 spoked? I hate my splitted ones :-\
It's either get the stock 5 stars, or go all out and get suspension and the auto couture supreme br's in 18s
wat you think?
It's either get the stock 5 stars, or go all out and get suspension and the auto couture supreme br's in 18s
wat you think?
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03-06-06, 11:01 AM
#8
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Minnesota
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I have the same wheels on my 96 but with the stars, they are pretty sweet! I put some spacers in the back to widen out the look, but I had to roll my fenders..
I would reccomend just dropping the front to match the back. As you can see in the picture the back sags already, the front looks high. I dropped the front of mine 2" and left the back stock.
This makes the front even out with the back, if not sit a little lower.
I am really happy with the wheels and drop on mine, it handles like a dream especially around tight bends..
Unfortunetly I just got in an accident, and my front passenger wheel got pretty screwed up!
Fortunetly the insurance guy is hooking me up with a new wheel...
That, and a new hood, fender, bumper cover, headlight, grill and paint..
Kind of sucks that I just did a valeo retrofit... hmm..
had to get that off my chest!
DRIVE CARFULLY GUYS!
Brad
I would reccomend just dropping the front to match the back. As you can see in the picture the back sags already, the front looks high. I dropped the front of mine 2" and left the back stock.
This makes the front even out with the back, if not sit a little lower.
I am really happy with the wheels and drop on mine, it handles like a dream especially around tight bends..
Unfortunetly I just got in an accident, and my front passenger wheel got pretty screwed up!
Fortunetly the insurance guy is hooking me up with a new wheel...
That, and a new hood, fender, bumper cover, headlight, grill and paint..
Kind of sucks that I just did a valeo retrofit... hmm..
had to get that off my chest!
DRIVE CARFULLY GUYS!
Brad
03-06-06, 11:53 AM
#11
my struts are terrible. i have a set in my garage ready to go on but i need to find some time to do it. the rear is a good height already but the front has too much wheel gap. it rubs like crazy because my struts are so messed up. do you guys know if i can just buy lowering springs for the front?
03-11-06, 06:46 PM
#12
Pole Position
Not sure if you can just buy just the fronts. I've been looking/shopping for new struts/springs but during the search all I saw was a set of 4 no matter where I looked. I would say take a peep at tirerack.com and double check and see if they let you get the springs in singles. If so, I hear the Tein S type are close to stock ride. What kind of struts do you have now?
Congrats on the wheels by the way. I've had my set for over a year now on the 99 ES Coach Ed. With a good suspension setup, you'll love them even more. The handles much better with them on as well (without any suspension upgrade). What tires did you grab and did you use spacers on the back? If not, slap in some 5mm spacers on the rears ASAP or you'll rub when you have passengers or cargo back there (not fun)
As for me, I'm in the process of swapping out my struts (82K miles) and adding in a TRD Rear Sway bar plus installing a strut tower brace on the front so I can have superb handling. I miss that new car feel since my struts are on their last leg (making bogging soungs when I hit bumps). What about you...what's your goal with your wheel/suspension setup?
Congrats on the wheels by the way. I've had my set for over a year now on the 99 ES Coach Ed. With a good suspension setup, you'll love them even more. The handles much better with them on as well (without any suspension upgrade). What tires did you grab and did you use spacers on the back? If not, slap in some 5mm spacers on the rears ASAP or you'll rub when you have passengers or cargo back there (not fun)
As for me, I'm in the process of swapping out my struts (82K miles) and adding in a TRD Rear Sway bar plus installing a strut tower brace on the front so I can have superb handling. I miss that new car feel since my struts are on their last leg (making bogging soungs when I hit bumps). What about you...what's your goal with your wheel/suspension setup?
Last edited by tiguy99; 03-11-06 at 06:49 PM.
03-11-06, 11:27 PM
#13
Originally Posted by tiguy99
Not sure if you can just buy just the fronts. I've been looking/shopping for new struts/springs but during the search all I saw was a set of 4 no matter where I looked. I would say take a peep at tirerack.com and double check and see if they let you get the springs in singles. If so, I hear the Tein S type are close to stock ride. What kind of struts do you have now?
Congrats on the wheels by the way. I've had my set for over a year now on the 99 ES Coach Ed. With a good suspension setup, you'll love them even more. The handles much better with them on as well (without any suspension upgrade). What tires did you grab and did you use spacers on the back? If not, slap in some 5mm spacers on the rears ASAP or you'll rub when you have passengers or cargo back there (not fun)
As for me, I'm in the process of swapping out my struts (82K miles) and adding in a TRD Rear Sway bar plus installing a strut tower brace on the front so I can have superb handling. I miss that new car feel since my struts are on their last leg (making bogging soungs when I hit bumps). What about you...what's your goal with your wheel/suspension setup?
Congrats on the wheels by the way. I've had my set for over a year now on the 99 ES Coach Ed. With a good suspension setup, you'll love them even more. The handles much better with them on as well (without any suspension upgrade). What tires did you grab and did you use spacers on the back? If not, slap in some 5mm spacers on the rears ASAP or you'll rub when you have passengers or cargo back there (not fun)
As for me, I'm in the process of swapping out my struts (82K miles) and adding in a TRD Rear Sway bar plus installing a strut tower brace on the front so I can have superb handling. I miss that new car feel since my struts are on their last leg (making bogging soungs when I hit bumps). What about you...what's your goal with your wheel/suspension setup?
hey tiguy, good to see you in this thread. you're the one who inspired me to put these wheels on. yeah, after i got them on i could feel my car handle better even without an upgraded suspension. i'm at 186k miles on stock struts i think. they're terrible. i have a set of KYB's in the garage waiting to be installed but i want to get some lowering springs and install it all at once. and yes, i had the 5 mm spacers on each side like you told me to. when the mechanic had the car lifted, the wheels were less than an inch away from the strut. it rubs like crazy with anyone in the back so i haven't been allowing any passengers until i get the struts replaced. oh yeah, my tires are goodyear essenzas in 225/40/18. got them on ebay for 200 a set, not sure about the quality but i do a lot of driving so i don't care that much.
as for my suspension goals, i think i want to replace the struts and find a cheap set of tein s-techs and leave it alone for a while.
03-11-06, 11:47 PM
#14
Pole Position
Originally Posted by ChrisES
hey tiguy, good to see you in this thread. you're the one who inspired me to put these wheels on. yeah, after i got them on i could feel my car handle better even without an upgraded suspension. i'm at 186k miles on stock struts i think. they're terrible. i have a set of KYB's in the garage waiting to be installed but i want to get some lowering springs and install it all at once. and yes, i had the 5 mm spacers on each side like you told me to. when the mechanic had the car lifted, the wheels were less than an inch away from the strut. it rubs like crazy with anyone in the back so i haven't been allowing any passengers until i get the struts replaced. oh yeah, my tires are goodyear essenzas in 225/40/18. got them on ebay for 200 a set, not sure about the quality but i do a lot of driving so i don't care that much.
as for my suspension goals, i think i want to replace the struts and find a cheap set of tein s-techs and leave it alone for a while.
as for my suspension goals, i think i want to replace the struts and find a cheap set of tein s-techs and leave it alone for a while.
As for me I need a tune up/Service bad (82K miles)! I bought the car from a used dealer here in Chicago for a good price and 71K miles a year ago but from the condition of things now I can tell they just patched a few things up that need repair/replacement (i.e struts) and ignored the 60K service. Things like replacement of spark plugs and some filters/cleanings and 60K mile service items need to be addressed in order for me to give me final gas milage #s.
I know mine went down a tiny bit because of the wheels added weight (they're heavy as hell lol). The mistake I made was buying used Solara OEM struts (off Ebay with supposively 30K on them...yeah right lol) which also crapped out on me not even a year after professional installation.
I just picked up the KYB-GA2s today new on Ebay (237 plus 28 shipping) because I got tired of the ridiculous prices on OEM struts from various places and it made sense to grab the KYBs.
My plan is to use these, along with the S-Type Tein Springs. I've found a pretty good source for the Tein S-Type Springs
http://www.k2motor.com/sd-te-skl16-aub00.html
which will lower the car about 1.5 for a cleaner look yet keep the stock ride (something I've heard from a few members on this board). I also plan on installing the TRD sway bar Ive located online for about 150ish here
http://www.trdsource.com/
and will put them in with my new brakes and the strut tower brace (I also have) at the end of the month and call it a day.
Sorry for such a long post but after a few weeks of looking into this I've come to the conclusion that this is probably the best setup we can do for our ES to get new BMWish kind of handling. To me its worth it. What's your suspension outlook?
Last edited by tiguy99; 03-11-06 at 11:54 PM.
03-12-06, 12:18 AM
#15
Originally Posted by tiguy99
Hey Chris its good to know that my ES inspired you. As much crap as I went through with Pep Boys just to get them installed its good to know that out of that experience something positive came about lol. Thanks for the kudos! As for me, I was inspired by Frankwhite and Nixsun79 who both offered assistance when I had questions etc. How's the gas mileage been since you installed them?
As for me I need a tune up/Service bad (82K miles)! I bought the car from a used dealer here in Chicago for a good price and 71K miles a year ago but from the condition of things now I can tell they just patched a few things up that need repair/replacement (i.e struts) and ignored the 60K service. Things like replacement of spark plugs and some filters/cleanings and 60K mile service items need to be addressed in order for me to give me final gas milage #s.
I know mine went down a tiny bit because of the wheels added weight (they're heavy as hell lol). The mistake I made was buying used Solara OEM struts (off Ebay with supposively 30K on them...yeah right lol) which also crapped out on me not even a year after professional installation.
I just picked up the KYB-GA2s today new on Ebay (237 plus 28 shipping) because I got tired of the ridiculous prices on OEM struts from various places and it made sense to grab the KYBs.
My plan is to use these, along with the S-Type Tein Springs. I've found a pretty good source for the Tein S-Type Springs
http://www.k2motor.com/sd-te-skl16-aub00.html
which will lower the car about 1.5 for a cleaner look yet keep the stock ride (something I've heard from a few members on this board). I also plan on installing the TRD sway bar Ive located online for about 150ish here
http://www.trdsource.com/
and will put them in with my new brakes and the strut tower brace (I also have) at the end of the month and call it a day.
Sorry for such a long post but after a few weeks of looking into this I've come to the conclusion that this is probably the best setup we can do for our ES to get new BMWish kind of handling. To me its worth it. What's your suspension outlook?
As for me I need a tune up/Service bad (82K miles)! I bought the car from a used dealer here in Chicago for a good price and 71K miles a year ago but from the condition of things now I can tell they just patched a few things up that need repair/replacement (i.e struts) and ignored the 60K service. Things like replacement of spark plugs and some filters/cleanings and 60K mile service items need to be addressed in order for me to give me final gas milage #s.
I know mine went down a tiny bit because of the wheels added weight (they're heavy as hell lol). The mistake I made was buying used Solara OEM struts (off Ebay with supposively 30K on them...yeah right lol) which also crapped out on me not even a year after professional installation.
I just picked up the KYB-GA2s today new on Ebay (237 plus 28 shipping) because I got tired of the ridiculous prices on OEM struts from various places and it made sense to grab the KYBs.
My plan is to use these, along with the S-Type Tein Springs. I've found a pretty good source for the Tein S-Type Springs
http://www.k2motor.com/sd-te-skl16-aub00.html
which will lower the car about 1.5 for a cleaner look yet keep the stock ride (something I've heard from a few members on this board). I also plan on installing the TRD sway bar Ive located online for about 150ish here
http://www.trdsource.com/
and will put them in with my new brakes and the strut tower brace (I also have) at the end of the month and call it a day.
Sorry for such a long post but after a few weeks of looking into this I've come to the conclusion that this is probably the best setup we can do for our ES to get new BMWish kind of handling. To me its worth it. What's your suspension outlook?
since i daily drive this car and commute to school, i want a comfortable ride and that's about it. at 186k miles, i just need this car to last. 