Slooooooow

iTrader: (1)

Which aftermarket struts did you go with?
New bushings? New dust boots?

Chances are you're going to need to go with a spring with less drop.
I can vouch for the H&R Sport Spring Set (~1.3F/~1.25R). 3rdElement is vouching for the Eibachs (~1.0"). I've not found the Drop Zones in my research, but 1.8" is a very aggressive drop; apparently too aggressive for your car.

I just did a light search for Drop Zones and found the following:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t188142.html

I don't know for sure - it could just be coincidence that you have the same exact issue, but....

girlswin2

I went with tokico struts. the dropzone looks like a 4 inch drop, there is no way that 1.8 would have the wheels tucked into the wheel wells, like this

FakeSoarer

If the front drop balance out with the rear that will be one mean look . BTW for those who have spring on your car. Can you post some pix and spec. of spring for us to get an idea. PLEASE

Slooooooow

iTrader: (1)

Did you ever make a change and get some satisfaction with your suspension modifications? Or are you living with the drop because it grew on you and you now like being slammed?

girlswin2

I sure did, I purchased H&R springs, I think they're like a inch drop all around, even though on the rear spring it said N/A, but I parked it next to another similar es and my car sits a little lower, there is less gap in the wheel well

Toronto

Couldn't be more impressed with the improvements from larger Australian rear swaybar, bushes, and link pieces.

Greatly saddened that my shop didn't want to install front anti-swaybar bushes because rust/seized on bolts on bush retainer made proceeding look perilous, at least doing it the easy way through the wheel well. Any comments about being stymied or work-arounds are appreciated.

Would you guess new front bushes are not sooo essential even on a '95???

Energy Suspensions (and their similarly named marketing affiliate) have many nice bits and pieces. Although not listed in their index, the front bushes to a 2nd Gen is 23 mm (I am pretty sure) and they make all sizes.

Question: red polyurethane is pretty but is it true that black has some graphite lubricant built-in?

iDrive

I just decided to look at this post just to look. I notice the quote at the bottom of ur post about the Tein springs from the Solara! Is this... true Slow?? Please tell me it is haha.

ahabion

Hey slow, was wondering for the KYB struts, they have a different part number for the 92-94 fronts than for the ones you have listed (which are for the 94-96)... not sure if they are the same or not, reason i ask is because i got the 92-94 parts for my 93... obviously... but my h&r springs (for now) don't "look" like they'll sit right... they look too big for the struts...

any help is definitly appreciated.

Link to KYB catalog:

http://www.kyb.com/catalog/2008_passenger_car.pdf

Slooooooow

iTrader: (1)

Sorry for the delayed response. According to the Camry cousins over on TN it is true. I've yet to see a 2nd gen ES with them installed, although that doesn't mean they're not out there.

Any volunteers?

Slooooooow

iTrader: (1)

Because manufacturers and vendors change part numbers CONSTANTLY, I will always defer to their most recent catalog numbers:


I do notice they break up the model years strangely. They even list the ES250 as 90-92 (not included in the screen clip above). That's the fun part - even if you CALLED them to "make sure" the phone rep would likely be reading from the same parts catalogue that's available online. To make it worse, the vendor you buy the KYBs from overlays their own parts catalog numbering (likely also poorly maintained).

Please inform us of the parts you end up with and fitment?

ahabion

will do, i took it out there and compared it to the one in there right now... looks the same to me... but once i install, i'll let ya know...

shannon

I wanted to add one more brand for lowering springs for my 94 es300.

Vogtland provides an even drop all around. The box says 30-60mm but I don't remember if the front and rear drops are different. I guess it's about a 1.5-1.6 drop. They guarantee their springs will not sag after they settle.

I went with a relatively unknown brand because it was basically in between H&R which was a little too conservative for me (only 1 inch) and due to personal preference I did not want to go with Eibach so my choices were somewhat limited at the time. Dropping my car 2 inches was out of the question and coilovers were out of my budget.

My ride is exceptionally close to stock, and I am very please with my purchase. I believe they were around $200. I do bottom out on pot holes and big dips here and there but that is expected. Otherwise I think it's a great compromise between ride height and looks. I'm running on gabriel shocks...nothing fancy.

TheKevin

iTrader: (6)

Vogtland is very popular with BMW owners

heorung

Hi All,

Slowwwwwww.... please help with some advices.... you are the grandmaster of suspension upgrades in my eyes.

Ok... the time has come for me to rectify my lady's saggy bottom problem... by that i meant my 93' ES300 Gen 2..... my other lady's bottom is perfect.
https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/da.../Sideview2.jpg


For a complete suspension upgrades, I understood it involves bar, spring, bushes and shocks.....anything else I overlooked ???

I live in Australia by the way ... the setup i'm going with will be all Whitelines.
For the time being i'm thinking of putting these in & shocks.

- BTR36 - Rear Heavy Duty Sway Bar - 18MM
- 70393A Whiteline Control Lowering Springs - Front Pair
- 78600A Whiteline Control Lowering Springs - Rear Pair
- KSB566 Strut Tower Brace – Adjustable

(how much will these stuffs lower the car in comparision with Standard ?)

My question is that I see on Whitelines's website, they have shocks to fits but Sloooow did not indicated the parts no. for our ES. Does this mean it has to be custom made? (there is no whitelines outlet in australia - only retailers selling their products) I want to stick with all Whitelines stuff if possible.....

Any help or suggestions will be much appreciated.... i want to finish the suspension upgrades 1st b4 putting in some 18". Assuming 18" will not be a problem after the upgrades. ...also ... do I need to bend the inner lips of the wheel arch so the wheels wont rub ??

Thanks all in advance... this forum rocks ... so helpful and so inspiring... keep up the goodwork everyone. PEACE !!!

Slooooooow

iTrader: (1)

You've pretty much listed it there, Heorung. The springs, struts (shocks/dampers), and bushings are the core components that must be replaced. The dust boots and strut mounts are strictly "replace if you have to," (but they're both cheap and I would; only go Toyota OEM on the strut mounts!). The strut tower brace and the thicker rear sway bar are strictly upgrades, but well worth it IMO.
If memory serves me correctly, the Whiteline springs promised a 1.5" drop.
I don't find that they carry any struts for the Lexus ES or the corresponding Toyota Camry (which we usually have to look for). I don't see any Whiteline struts at all. See the comparisons listed earlier in this thread regarding KYB vs. Tokico vs. Bilstein, or if you DO find Whiteline struts over there, PLEASE give us the part numbers!
[edit: I went ahead and posted a question about struts on Whiteline's own forum here. Hopefully we'll have an answer soon.]

I'm exceedingly jealous here. I was going to go with ALL WHITELINE suspension components myself, but there was an unforgivable multi-month wait with NO ETA for my Whiteline springs.
You'll be fine with 18s and you likely won't have to even roll the fenders to fit them.
You might want spacers to push the rear wheels out a little more flush with the rear fender line. If you do that, you might need to have the fenders rolled.

GOOD LUCK! And please let us know how the parts acquisition, installation and post-install are going and you MUST include pics! Then I can covet your all-Whiteline suspension ES!