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I haven't been on the sight for awhile, so not sure of all the mods you have done, but wanted to ask if you're still using the stock shocks ? If so, that could be the major issue. After I lowered mine, I would always warn guys on the forum, if they did any type of lowering, the stock shocks would let you know with some rubbing occasionally. Also I noticed you were running a 35 series tire, a 30 series might eliminate this also...........good luck & let us know what setup you decide, I'm thinking about changing my lowering springs out, for coilovers or an airbag setup. Problem is, I haven't had an issue with the springs & they have served me very well
Yup, stock shocks/springs. Yeah, I'm sure smaller tires would have made life easier. At first, I actually had 35s in the front which literally wouldn't work because they were rubbing the firewall (plastic sitting against it). I think you're right, the stock suspension moves quite a bit, even when people get in and out of the car. Even at the exact same height, I think the coilovers might not even rub because there would be less travel (I'm guessing).
I would recommend to anyone interested in such an aggressive setup to start with coilovers then do the rest.
Aside from the occasional rubbing, the car drives great with this setup. It's weird to want coilovers for height adjustment, not for handling. I can only imagine how great it would drive if I go for the coilovers. We'll see how my mission to reduce the height of the screw goes, maybe I'll get lucky and I can hold off on coilovers for a while. Now that I've seen those ceikas, they're definitely on my radar.
PS. That is a nice looking SC! Wheels go with the silver perfectly. Is that a body kit?
Yea the stock shocks were made for comfortable ride & because the stock wheels set so far back into the fenders, there was never ever an issue with them rubbing,even if it was time for them to be changed. Any new suspension mods or wider tire/wheel combo, will definitely let you know that it's time for a new set of shocks, if nothing else
Yea the stock shocks were made for comfortable ride & because the stock wheels set so far back into the fenders, there was never ever an issue with them rubbing,even if it was time for them to be changed. Any new suspension mods or wider tire/wheel combo, will definitely let you know that it's time for a new set of shocks, if nothing else
Yeah, with 109k on mine, they're probably getting a little soft. I wonder what the stock spring rates are for the 06+ (I think they changed shocks/springs with the face lift).
I would guess they made it softer to deal with the complains about the hash ride of the earlier model year and from my research in this forum:
"Stock SC430 spring rates were 4.8 / 5.8 in 2002"
I figure the number must be less may be 4 & 5 ?
I emailed Jerrek from MeisterR about the coilovers just to get some more information. I think he has posted on here before and a lot of you have mentioned him with positive reviews. One really important thing to note is that he owns a SC430.
Originally Posted by My Original Email
Hello,
>
> I'm interested in these coilovers for my 2006 Lexus SC430:
> https://www.meisterr.com/products/me...0-uzz40-01-up/
>
> I notice the spring rates are a little on the high side for a daily driver (12kg/6kg). I've seen a lot of posts on the forums about older meisterr coilovers with a 9kg/7kgb spring rate that people really found comfortable.
>
> I'm more concerned with the ride quality (I view the SC430 as more of a luxury car than a sports car), this car will never see the track. What made you decide to switch to a higher spring rate and do you offer/recommend lower rates for comfort oriented applications?
Originally Posted by MeisterR's Reply
Hello Joe,
The 12/6 actually isn’t any less comfortable but offer better balance.
I actually had my own SC430 on the ramp to measure the suspension before revising this setup.
That is because the front of the SC430 is very heavy, so it actually need some springs rate to help resist that weight from moving too much.
We redesigned the setup to give more controllable and compliant handling, the 12/6 will not feel harsh at all.
I haven’t had anyone who complained to me that the 12/6 setup was harsh, and I have it on my own SC430.
Sounds like there is a lot to learn about spring rates and coilovers. The dual spring setup on the Ceica's is really interesting, I'm going to try and get a better understanding of what that does. I might reach out to them and just get some more info as well. If there are any suspension experts out there, or anyone with a physics background, please feel free to chime in.
oh, and as far as the screws go. I tried some pan head screws from home depot and it seems like maybe they rubbed less, but i used masking tape on several parts of the fender to see where it's rubbing and sure enough, its the screw. More so on the passenger side for some reason, but both.
I'm going to see if I can find a truss head screw that works. Also the #12 x 3/4" pan head screw (sheet metal) didn't seem to grab tightly enough. I'm going to try these (#14 x 3/4" Truss head):
I originally thought the OEM screws were sheet metal screws, but holding them side by side, a wood screw looks like the closest match to the thread pitch on the original.
Kudos for all your research.
I think Jerrek should have mentioned that the car belongs to his wife, so he makes sure that his wife gets the best coilovers setup, and us, the SC430 owners, can rip the benefits of MeisterR coilover.
For your SC430 we are usually using 15kg front and 10kg rear for sport setup. So for comfort we advise you to go with 13kg front 8kg rear with our front and rear helper springs.
Our helper springs compress fully under the weight of your car instead of the main spring and gives you a better comfort on street/bumps as well as a better handling on bumpy roads.
Very interesting... Their recommended spring rates are even higher, even for comfort.
There's such a wide range, the Megan Racing EZ coilovers are 9kg/7kg.
I can't tell if the helper spring is a groundbreaking improvement or a marketing gimmick and opinions seem kind of split when I googled it.
EDIT: They emailed me a coupon code for $50 off for first time buyers incase anyone is interested: CEIKACUSTOM
Very interesting stuff. Now I'm leaning back towards wanting a dual spring setup. If anyone on here has a dual spring coilover setup, please chime in with your experience.
adding to your research, I got this from KYB.
"The twin tube design is the most common one in use on cars, light trucks, SUV’s and vans. It’s a cost effective unit that provides excellent handling & control characteristics for most driving conditions. The monotube design offers additional performance and can have a more aggressive ride."
adding to your research, I got this from KYB.
"The twin tube design is the most common one in use on cars, light trucks, SUV’s and vans. It’s a cost effective unit that provides excellent handling & control characteristics for most driving conditions. The monotube design offers additional performance and can have a more aggressive ride."
So it looks like our research is pointing us in the same direction. Do you have the spring rates to post for those? Might as well curate it all in this thread.
Coilovers are so funny because most people get them for track use or a street car they fancy as a track car, lol. (My miata has coilovers that would be perfect for Auto-X, I have yet to ever drive 20 minutes on a Sunday to do it, lol).
Hmm.... So maybe twin tube is the right direction. I'm still unsure about helper springs, they sound good in theory, not sure if anyone even makes a twin tube dual spring setup or if that's just completely unnecessary.
The other thing I've been asking each manufacturer about is height adjustment, because unlike most people, i need to LIFT the car a few mm because it's already dropped 30mm with RCAs. MeisterR said it was no problem, Ceika said the "oem height" option for $100 more would work, and I'm waiting to hear back from cusco.
Also, it's worth noting that TEIN makes single and twin tube coilovers, even though I can't afford any of them, lol. I have JDM fanboi envy.
If any of you fellow nerds want to really dig into the details, these 3 videos are a great foundation. "Engineering Explained" is one of my favorite youtube channels, he breaks down everything about cars into science and data.
I think to get a comfort ride setup requires a pairing of damper & spring rate correctly. MeisterR 12/6 setup is not the same as Cusco 12/6. I don't know about the rest, but we all know now that the owner of MeisterR has a SC430 riding on the same coilovers setup that they sell to the rest of us.
I've been looking at my car and measuring, the most I can drop is .5 to .75in, so not sure if it's worth spending $1000 to get coilovers, especially I have all new KYBs around.
As for Joemg, I think your strut is bad, that's why you keep bottom out and hit the fender/screw. Replace the whole thing with OEM is expensive so you might as well, go for a set of coilovers.
quick video from KYB for monotube & Twintube
04-19-20, 09:19 AM
