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Hey all,
I am really enjoying the coilovers and rear sway bar and less restrictive exhaust on my 04 rx220 fwd. I am finally ready to purchase wheels and have been looking for something like a 18X9.5 et22 or 25? I still have a few questions: I like the stock 17 wheels and side wall height.
Am I going to loose a little cushion with the smaller aspect ratio on a 18 inch wheel and tire, or is it more tire type and inflation vs actual sidewall height?
Do I need to go with an 18" wheel if I want to do any of the brake upgrades in that thread? I could upgrade the brakes for better performance during towing - and or purchase an actual towing truck? I am maxed out at 4000lbs with brakes and frame design, so diminishing returns. I would also like to use the 17s as winter/snow tire wheels.
On the 18s: What tires do folks like for the 18s?? I am thinking a summer tire vs all season, because it is reported by "engineering explained" that they actually work better in the rain than an all season, but fall down as soon as it is freezing into snow. I can use snow/muds on my 17s for those times. One consideration is load level. If I use the summers for towing - what heavy load tire could I run? I also have enjoyed less sidewall roll with my current overinflated tires, during autocross and towing. When I dialed them back to 34psi they were too mushy at spped on the highway and twisty two lanes. Any thought are appreciated.
I have weighed comments by Felix and MattRX carefully. I have longer studs ready (will never use a spacer). I have been searching used wheels to no luck.
How important is hub bore on wheel fitment? I want everything as oem as possible. I
f I cannot find used wheels I may go with Discount Tire and pick either the Sebring (31lb) or the Vigoroso V1 (21lb) or the KNP (25lb) if I get carried away. I really just want wider satin black wheels that are not that expensive but I have not found them yet. Any and all comments welcome! Cheers
Other mods done or in process:
I removed the driver seat cover and excavated the stock foam. I went to the foam shop and had them cut pieces in a few thicknesses to try each. I had them use the cutout stock piece as a template. I now rest deeper between the side bolsters on an even-back surface. With a t-shirt seat cover I have a very grippy surface to hold myself in place. No air bag removal headaches. Cost Around 15 bucks for each foam piece. I will post a pick eventually. So easy, so worth it for my particular back and driving focus. I think the stock cover could be reused - but in my case the back is a little deeper so perhaps a little extra fabric would be required to allow the full contour to be met with the hog clips that hold covers in place. I think an upholstery shop could install a strip or new panel in the center to widen the stock covers? Mine are 70k miles almost brand new, I have not bother to try yet. I put little dashed cuts in my t-shirt seat cover for the airbag to deploy.
Dash Cover - Glare Reducer: I used a green wool army blanket cut to fit my dash, with the seem edge towards the driver, for a very effective glare reducer. The glare off of the brown dash was horrible - now almost zero, never notice. I do get glare off of the chrome plastic gauge cluster bezels, (much reduced by dash cover). Anyone know how to pop those suckers out to paint black?
Shifter: I still would like to install an oem sequential shifter as I am almost always on the shifter. Spirited driving without throttle control car-balance is just a bore for me. There is an oem shifter I just don't know how top install it yet. Any path of least resistance to get this done before I move on to a more racy car and stop modding this one!!!!
I would like to install a front air deflector under the front bumper between the existing "fairing" and the splash guard below it. GMC tucks etc. often have this black tongue below the bumper for a little mpg help. On another toyota truck, I used a "tire flap" cut into one long piece and secured to the car at two wood strips meeting at an angle in the center, which I bolted below the radiator area. The tire flap has a lip at either end of its width and is made of rubber - so I had a nice air dam and wee lip below the fender - and the truck looked tough : ) I am having trouble finding an old tire flap - so I will probably just buy one. I thought I would use the anchor points below the oem fairing as a attachment point, and carry the flap all the way along this seem to where it meet the wheel well. Wish me luck!
Finishing my exhaust: I will eventually go back and install a high flow cat at some location and then stream line the rear oem section with better pipe routing and a changed resonator. (see my other posts) I LOVE my current exhaust, but i would go for a little more definition if I can get it without too much more volume. I have two good shops, and input based on my standing set up is super appreciated!!
That is it for now. Thanks for reading. Happy summer driving to you : ) -Mark
Ah, welcome back man! I haven't noticed a huge drop in comfort from going to the 17" to 245/50 on 18x8 rims. Despite the rims being heavy at 29 lbs each, they still vastly improved the handling and grip of the car. Tried 33 psi, 35 and 38. 33 allowed too much sidewall rolling, 38 made the tires like hockey pucks (in my case) but 35-36 was just right, a noticeable comfort change was not observed for me. I think most of the comfort comes from the tire type and brand vs the aspect ratio or rim size. I find Michelin Pilot Sports to be very comfortable and sticky, but they have a little less feel because of the supple sidewall. On the other hand, the Pirellis I used to have on my Highlander had a much firmer sidewall, and while they had less grip, they were a lot less comfortable but had more road feel.
You can still fit the dual pistons with the 17" stock rims which I use for my winter tire setup. 2020-2022 Highlander and 2023+ RX350 brakes are not much bigger at 340mm and sadly require 18" wheels and drilling out the knuckle to M14 and using M14 x 1.5 calipers. The RX500h 6-piston fixed calipers require drilling too but require a massive 20" wheel. What I want to do next is try the 2021+ Sienna calipers which use the same pads and hardware as the dual pistons I currently have from a 2018 Sienna, but the rotor is 34mm wide vs 28mm wide on a 328x34mm rotor. That's plenty of meat up front and should be hard to overheat. The only downside is that the caliper itself is heavy af. There's a set on eBay for about 110 USD for each caliper.
The bore should be fine as long as you use hub-centric spacers. I would go with metal ones if you can, I find the plastic ones break especially when they seize to the hub and you try to get them off.
For the gauge cluster pieces, it was very to pull them out. I got them out by just sticking a small pry tool between it and the dash and pulling. Surprisingly simple and almost no force required. Could possibly even do it by hand too.
For replacing the resonator, I think the max size you could fit is a 14" long case in there. Even with the 14" Magnaflow I got there is barely any room, but it should provide a quieter sound than the stock muffler due to it being larger, longer and oval instead of round. I made a post about that recently
I had the infamous cracks all over my dashboard. I got one of those USA made molded dash covers, but the glare was stupid bad. A pair of good polarized sunglasses took care of that problem for me.
As Matt mentioned above, great upgrade using the Sienna calipers for a thicker rotor. Another option is going w/ the TT Supra front rotors, similar in to the oem diameter, IIRC 12.5'' vs 12.6''. Of coure you'll want to go w/ a pr of reman g3 calipers. I stuck w/ the basic gen3 setup, as it was enough swapping to different pads/rotors...I went w/ Hawk Talon kit, Talon rotors, Hawk performance pads of course since your there, great time to swapout the oem brake hoses, I went w/ Goodridge G-stop SS hoses as well as flushing the old brake fluid w/ new dot 3 fluid. I also went w/ a Covercraft dash pad as I've used them in other vehicles (Mustangs/Camaro's) for yrs w/ no issues. 4 different styles. How the windsheild is installed/fitted dicates a little mocking/modifing, I ended up cutting about .025'' off the front of the pad, so it fits flush w/ the windsheild. I went w/ a blk pad. I find the oem dash pad is real let down even though it wasn't crack. Wheels/tires, I've since switched from TSW 8.5''x18 -20mm wheels to Vision 9.5''x18's, zero offset w/ a 255-55 tire. You could go w/ a 285-50 as the od is 29''-29.10'' similar. Main thing is the strut to tire side wall clearence in the rear. Exhaust wise I stuck w/ the oem resonator & swapped the muffler & convertor, for a 2.5'' Magna-flow converter/ Super Turbo muffler.
Thanks for the info! Leaning towards tsw sebring 18X9.5 et 22 and maybe 255/55R18 tires. As you likely know there are many more options in this size/aspect ratio. Any drawbacks running 29.0 vs 28.5 diameter wheels? Less mpg in stop go? Obviously the changed speedo. The bigger size has more XL load rating options. I would like to go with an XL rated tire because I tow heavy-for-my-rig trailers full of soil etc. Cheers!
You absolute madman! I'm excited to see how those calipers look! You'll need a 9/16" drill bit to drill out the knuckles and 4x M14-1.5 caliper bolts (90105-A0435). The pads and brake hardware are from the normal dual pistons cars (aka - 3rd gen RX), the rotor itself has to be from a 2021+ Sienna or 2021+ RAV4 Prime. I ran 235/65R18 on the Highlander temporarily which are the tires that came on some 2020 RX350 rims I got. The bigger size did not negatively affect my city mpg by a noticeable amount, maybe on a 4-cyl it would, but even my 3.0 had no issue turning the heavier rims and rubber.
RAV4 P rotor: 43512-48140 x2
Sienna 2021 rotor: 43512-08060 or 43512-78020 x2
Rockauto has some too, but for now it seems they are cheaper OEM at least from Toyotapartsnow.
Caliper should include a "34", indicating it is designed to house a 34mm thick rotor. The normal dual pistons say "28" to indicate a 28mm thick rotor
stock seat cushion removed from seat frame. cut around perimeter of "problem area" and then peeled it back as I cut it away from rear most fabric like layer. down to the fabric backing you can see the "springs" and the ridge of material above visible spring - that hits many drivers in the upper back. The lumber which comes in too high for my skinny but is above first crease and bottom visible spring. back in car with new foam in place. I tried varying thicknesses. Foam shop uses old piece as template. You can see where the t-shirt cover has left black cotton on the foam everywhere but the silk screened fish pattern. I still have not pulled of the top gray foam strip.
I really enjoy how I sit deeper into the back of the seat, and especially how the side bolsters really hold me there. Because the seat cover is only t-shirt cotton it really garbs my shirt without being obtrusive. I think you could fit the old covers back on, but they may need to be widened a little (?) to fit around the slightly deeper seat? (deeper = more surface area to cover). I think you could even have an upholstery shop sew in a new center panel and bolster sides in a more grippy material and then have them reinstall, or do it yourself, so almost no telling it was done. When I called many shops it was $$$$$ to get a seat re-cushioned non stock shape. But if you have the seated already shaped the way you like - they can cover anything : ) I searched everywhere on how to fit sport seats and deal with the airbag - this avoids the whole headache and gives a way better driving experience in my opinion. The lumbar mechanism is way too high for me so I may add a small wedge under the main pad for long drives. I love my seat! Cheers!
Well here is the rig with new wheels: 9.5X18 offset 20 and tires: pilot sport suv 4's at 255x55x18. Wow what a difference from 225 cheap tires. They are even more comfortable. I get a little rub at full turn while parking. Combined with coilovers, rear sway bar and more throttle response with opened exhaust and intake filter - very different car.
I went half an inch too wide with this set - oops! You can see a little bit the tire is wide of the fender . My area is very rainy and I cannot afford water spray escaping the wheel well on the highway etc. So I am installing some "mud flaps" under the oem splash guards. Here is a pick of a rally-flap that is about twenty inches tall and I have "dry fit" it in front of the oem guard and run it up the fender well to make a splash fender flare.
I am thinking of ordering very tall ones from a company called CRE. They are the same shape, with the tallest version at 36 inches. This would allow me to run the flap up the fender to about one o'clock on the fender arch (covering the highest spray areas). But ultimately I think I would like to go all the way to the front bumper seem - which is more like 48 inches from the bottom of the wheel arch and therefore would require two pieces.
I say "dry fit," because I would likely glue the flap down to the oem guard - so it rests snug and or install a small fender spacer trim about 1/4" between them and up the fender well. It is difficult to make any thin material, or non oem part to not-look "wavy" and out of place - so if anyone has suggestions for very modest fender flares I am all ears. The benefit of this style flap is that it is affective at catching some spray, and it does not look too obtrusive from the side because it is thin. The down side is the flat surface of the flap vs concave, is it does allow spray to exit the side vs drip off a curved flare with a lip; and it does not look very oem. I my searches I found some ~2018 rx350 wheel trim - to see if I could Frankenstein it on my 330 - just retaining the profile and inner lip and cutting off all the inappropriate tabs. The fender below is also dished to receive these black flares. I don't really have junk yards to try fitments of these - but I will keep searching for unobtrusive ideas. Screwed the flap through the oem holes on the splash guard and ran it up the fender with another screw. Ideally I would like to go all the way to the fender seem.
I found my coilovers had been installed without securing the locking nuts properly, and the left rear was flexing!!!! I am glad I am healthier to do more work myself now. I inspected, cleaned and readjusted all four. On the backs I did find the top shock tube was threaded far enough down into the bottom tube to be stable - if it was locked in place. I ended up lowering the car another 1/4" in the back anyways and locked them good. On the front the installers said there was no more drop capable - because the top shock tube was bottoming out in the lower tube, and therefore could not be screwed lower. I found that I could adjust the strut tube up, by loosening preload to move rings down and top tube (strut) up a little more. It did not seem to impact the strut preload(?) Then I was able to lower the coilover further without it bottoming out in the lower tube. So the front is lower 1/4 inch now too. I hope that makes sense!
I also adjusted the preload front and back. I think preload is measure in the length of the compressed spring, so I replicated the distances I found. I have the helper springs which complicate a little. I decided to set my helper spring preload at 4cm length, which is not much. In the back the shop secured them down at 4.5cm so I left them.
Does anyone know the stock height of the car front and rear? And where it is measured from? I noticed when I dropped the back 1/4 inch it changed the handling of the car in a bad way. So, I have added the same front drop to compensate and return that eager turn in feel. My total drop should be around 3.25 inches front and back. The car now sits at 30.75 inches front and 31.0 inches in the rear (as measured to the top of the fender arch through center of wheel).
I might try softer springs from Summit at 9 and 6 vs my 10 and 7 now. I don't think the strut valving will be too off?
I would like to further combat body roll. Question? Will installing the better version oem fsb bushings I bought (MattRx?) make much of a difference? Is the next step a front sway bar? Will it match my rear cusco 18 or 19mm bar? Cheers for any suggestions! I love driving this car.
Great progress so far! Nice tire & wheel setup! Those are some SERIOUS meats on there, lol! Do the tires rub on the inside or outside? I think the 25mm Cusco FSB or 26mm 3rd gen RX FSB will make a nice difference. There's a 28.5mm bar on the 4th gen RX350, but not sure if that's too big or not, and I bought the brackets to test-fit them, they are WAY too big, and the bushing style is different. Not being an AWD makes the job easier as there's no transfer case in the way, and you have your choice of FWD & AWD versions of the sway bar, both fitting with no issue (AWDs HAVE to get an AWD FSB to clear t-case!). At first I was worried it would induce more understeer, but it kept the car flatter up front which definitely reduced camber change under cornering and made the macpherson struts happier, so on my two AWDs it actually allowed for a higher limit. I bet even a FWD RX it would help out. I tried polyurethane sway bar bushings in the past on my Highlander, and while they made a small improvement under hard cornering, generally you wouldn't notice their benefits during daily driving. However, you would notice THEM a lot more as they rode a lot stiffer w/ little give. I think the FWD models could use a massive 22mm rear sway bar, it's too bad no one makes one.
MheityRX, Anytime you change/adjust the ride height your also changing the front/rear toe angles. So I'd figure out where you want your right height set at & get your front/rear camber & toe set, also making sure the s/w is set straight. Make sure the trust angle is really low, prefer 0.......BTW, I'd be using a truck for your towing, being a unibody & fwd....Me, I'd go for a later model Hog truck...'02-03 f150 CC Harley edition w/ the 385hp 5.4.....or a earlier '00-01 sc...Super comforable leather seats btw......
08-02-23, 06:23 PM
Next Mod RX330 fwd: Ready Wheels and tires!
