Suspension changes

[Craigjm]

Just had a minor service done and noticed the front passenger spring is on the verge of going. Had the car a year now and have replaced the calipers, discs and pads so was thinking i might just refresh the suspension as a whole.

I am not interested in lowering as I think the car is about the right height.

Looking at MR2 Ben (cheaper better places are available but for easy comparison) my options appear to be as follows -

Genuine Toyota shocks with all fitments for direct fit and standard springs £1169
KYB shocks with all fitments for direct fit and standard springs £1201

Questions.....

Are KYB shocks better than the original Toyota? I know they make OEM stuff just surprised they are more expensive

Does anyone have a car with a 30mm drop that they can comment on ride and ease of access? any photos would be good as KYB with H&R lowered springs is £994 so about 17% cheaper

Any suggestions of cheaper suppliers for the full kit ready to bolt in?

[McMr2]

Just had a minor service done and noticed the front passenger spring is on the verge of going. Had the car a year now and have replaced the calipers, discs and pads so was thinking i might just refresh the suspension as a whole.

I am not interested in lowering as I think the car is about the right height.

Looking at MR2 Ben (cheaper better places are available but for easy comparison) my options appear to be as follows -

Genuine Toyota shocks with all fitments for direct fit and standard springs £1169
KYB shocks with all fitments for direct fit and standard springs £1201

Questions.....

Are KYB shocks better than the original Toyota? I know they make OEM stuff just surprised they are more expensive

Does anyone have a car with a 30mm drop that they can comment on ride and ease of access? any photos would be good as KYB with H&R lowered springs is £994 so about 17% cheaper

Any suggestions of cheaper suppliers for the full kit ready to bolt in?

Are those prices inclusive of fitting? If not they seem a bit on the high side. I understand the cost of everything has gone up but I replaced my springs and shocks a few years ago for around £600. This was for a set of tein springs and kyb shocks.

I find the tein springs to be quite soft, so the ride isn't unbearable. It's hard to recall the difference as I only had the original tired suspension for a few months, but I never feel like it's too harsh. The general state of the roads seems to be the bigger issue.

As for KYB being better...depends how you define that. Quality seems fine to me and I understand they are slightly firmer (I can't find a source for that) but only by a few %.

Edit: also budget for a set of rear drop links if they haven't been touched for some time!

[Craigjm]

The prices are not for fitting they are for supply only from MR2 Ben which I know is the most expensive source but it was just a start with pricing. Any suggestions of alternatives gratefully received.

Do you have a picture of your car on the lowered springs assuming it has standard sized wheels?

No idea when the drop links where done if at all because i have only had the car a year, will take a look.

[Carolyn]

Shop around for the shocks. Standard springs are worth shopping around for as well.  MR2 Ben is never the cheapest. You'd be surprised at the price variations

Don't forget gaiters and bump stops (TCB performance parts has them - best order by phone rather than email.)

The drop links will need replacing as you'll probably have to take and angle grinder to them to get them off!

[Gibla]

Pretty sure I sourced Kyb springs and shocks from e-bay for less than £450 just over a year ago.......it does involve a wee bit of faffing about though as the shocks especially with them handed for front +rear need 4 different transactions(as unable to buy them all at the lowest cost from the same source).
So ....if you wanna save a wee bit of £$£ check out ALL prices of the components.

[McMr2]

The prices are not for fitting they are for supply only from MR2 Ben which I know is the most expensive source but it was just a start with pricing. Any suggestions of alternatives gratefully received.

Do you have a picture of your car on the lowered springs assuming it has standard sized wheels?

No idea when the drop links where done if at all because i have only had the car a year, will take a look.

I also got the shocks from Ebay, plenty of places sell the front/rears in pairs which seems to work out cheaper.
If it helps with pricing (bear in mind this was 2017) the cost for me was as follows:

Tein S-tech springs - £120 from MR2ben
Shcok boots/bump stops  -£25 from MR2ben (seems to be fronts only but I'm sure I did the rears too)
KYB shocks - £309 from ebay
Rear droplinks - £33.52 from euro car parts.

Top mounts were all serviceable which saved some cash.

I don't have many good pics but here is one with the standard FL wheels after fitting:



photo hosting

[Beachbum957]

We have run have many combinations of springs and struts.  The KYB work nicely with stock springs, but are underdamped with Tein or H&R. With the Tein and H&R we went with Koni inserts.

We used the Tein S-tech sold in the US which are different than the ones sold in the UK and other markets.  The US Tein apparently lower a bit more.  The H&R are the same worldwide and lower almost exactly 1 inch (25 mm)

For stock height, stock springs and KYB work fine.  I am not sure what is available in your market, but both KYB and Sachs did make replacement springs to match stock.

Here is a 2002 with H&R

[Iain]

Try parts in motion for prices. Always had great service from them.

[SuperArt]

Don't forget gaiters and bump stops (TCB performance parts has them - best order by phone rather than email.)

Gaiters for the coil springs?
I've read they actually trap moisture, is there any benefit to just having them open to the elements?
As usual the internet is full of divisive and conflicting information... don't know where I stand on this.

[Carolyn]

Gaiters for the coil springs?
I've read they actually trap moisture, is there any benefit to just having them open to the elements?
As usual the internet is full of divisive and conflicting information... don't know where I stand on this.

No, not for the springs, gaiters for the tops of the shock absorbers.  They keep the road much off the shiny bit that slides up and down.

[Gaz mr-s]

Rear droplinks - £33.52 from euro car parts.

Ouch!  I bought rears off ebay earlier this year during a 15 or 20% off for £16.14.


Autodoc can be worth looking at.  Front top mounts can be gone at 50k miles, but there are cheaper versions available now that also fit the Gen 7 Celica.

[McMr2]

Ouch!  I bought rears off ebay earlier this year during a 15 or 20% off for £16.14.


Autodoc can be worth looking at.  Front top mounts can be gone at 50k miles, but there are cheaper versions available now that also fit the Gen 7 Celica.

Ouch indeed! It was one of those "b*llocks" moments when you're halfway through the job. Didn't want to wait and they were the easiest/quickest option. Lesson learned!

[Gaz mr-s]

Ouch indeed! It was one of those "b*llocks" moments when you're halfway through the job. Didn't want to wait and they were the easiest/quickest option. Lesson learned!

Yeah, we've all been caught at some point.  I've worked on them since 2016....never bought anything from MR2BEN.

[Craigjm]

The costs above from MR2 Ben include top mounts, dust boots, top cup seats, insulator, collar, and rear anti roll bar drop links which all in is a good £500 of stuff in addition to just the shocks and springs.

I will try autodoc and parts in motion. I cant be arsed to shop around for each part individually to save a couple of quid to be fair so if they can provide 100% bolt in with all the stuff above then great. If im gonna change some of it I may as well change all of it.

Questions -

Are the springs different pre and post face lift. He seems to list standard springs upto 2003 only yet the lower springs do 1999-2006?

Anyone else got experience of KYB shocks with lowered springs feeling under damped?

[Joesson]

For suspension parts I purchased from :

Parts in Motion , KYB shocks.

Autodoc ,    Gaiters for front shocks only, rears were still like new on the rear. Bump stops, Drop links.
NB. For a few extra ££ Autodoc  offer "free" returns. That does work and their prices are often low enough to cover the extra ££.

TCB performance parts , can sometimes surprise at availability and prices.

MR2 Ben do generally surprise with prices, but not in the best way.

But, as @Gibla  said you might have to shop around to find all of what you need.

[Ardent]

Does anyone have a car with a 30mm drop that they can comment on ride and ease of access? any photos would be good as KYB with H&R lowered springs.

A couple of pics taken at the weekend. https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=897903
Plenty of other pics in the photography corner thread.

As a simple B road bandit. The kyb tein s combo works just fine for me. The car had tte springs on when I bought it so have only ever known it to be lowered.
Fresh standard height springs can make a car look a bit 4x4. IMHO

[TheTigerUK]

My total dident work out cheap due to paying a fair amount to have them fitted but hey ho.............


04/12/21   Rear KYB Shocks   AGR ebay   £144.22
04/12/21   Front KYB Shocks   AGR ebay   £182.69
13/12/21   Springs Rubbers etc   TCBP   £229.20
31/01/22   Drop links   eBay   £39.99
20/05/22   Fit & Track   ETS   £370.00

[McMr2]

A couple of pics taken at the weekend. https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=897903
Plenty of other pics in the photography corner thread.

As a simple B road bandit. The kyb tein s combo works just fine for me. The car had tte springs on when I bought it so have only ever known it to be lowered.
Fresh standard height springs can make a car look a bit 4x4. IMHO

The costs above from MR2 Ben include top mounts, dust boots, top cup seats, insulator, collar, and rear anti roll bar drop links which all in is a good £500 of stuff in addition to just the shocks and springs.

I will try autodoc and parts in motion. I cant be arsed to shop around for each part individually to save a couple of quid to be fair so if they can provide 100% bolt in with all the stuff above then great. If im gonna change some of it I may as well change all of it.

Questions -

Are the springs different pre and post face lift. He seems to list standard springs upto 2003 only yet the lower springs do 1999-2006?

Anyone else got experience of KYB shocks with lowered springs feeling under damped?

I can kind of see how that might be the feeling in certain situations, if you really lean on it on smooth roads or a track. There's a certain feeling from tightly damped, modern cars that this combo doesn't seem to have, but as @Ardent has alluded to they're good for 'real' roads in the UK where you actually might want a bit of compliance.

It's easy to make a mess of things when mismatching springs and dampers but to me this isn't a radical departure from the standard setup.

[Gaz mr-s]

I cant be arsed to shop around for each part individually to save a couple of quid.

Buying from ebay with 20% off will save you a lot more than just that.


I had a pair of lowering springs, I think they were H & R on new shocks & they didn't work. Going over gentle speed bumps the nose was shooting up in the air, the springs barely compressing.

TTE springs were reputedly made by Eibach, who still make springs for the car, - whether they're identical, I don't know.

Another option is cutting a coil off new std springs.  Two on here have done it. (not me)

[Craigjm]

Anyone know a decent specialist somewhere in the midlands that will fit parts that you supply or can get them at a good rate? this isnt a job I want to do myself and now one of the springs has snapped so needs doing before the MOT. My local mechanic guy cant do it as the spring compressor they have isnt small enough

[Joesson]

@Craigjm said:
My local mechanic guy cant do it as the spring compressor they have isnt small enough

I wonder what size/ type of vehicle that mechanic works on?
The springs on a 2 can be compressed with a simple manual screw thread type compressor, but that takes several minutes to do and so a busy professional garage would have a quicker gadget to do that job, or an apprentice.
Rogue Motorsport a"Toyota MR2 specialist"  are in Warwickshire, I have read mixed reviews. @Topdownman has used a guy in the Birmingham area iirc.
But, as has been said before, any family type independent well established garage would be suitable. And likely not be daunted by the need to compress those small springs!

[Craigjm]

Yeah I should have said anywhere but rouge. They always quote like a months lead time and then a huge price thats probably half the cost of the car.

[mr2garageswindon]

You really don't need a specialist for this job.
Even a mobile mechanic is worth looking into.
Probably not cost effective to remove the shocks and send em down to me to do then send back.

[Craigjm]

You really don't need a specialist for this job.
Even a mobile mechanic is worth looking into.
Probably not cost effective to remove the shocks and send em down to me to do then send back.

Yeah i know its not about being a specialist in the car its about being willing to fit customer supplied parts. Most places wont do it these days including the mobile guys

[Topdownman]

@Craigjm @Joesson

Yes, I use Nathan for work on my 2 for most stuff;
MrTwos

Cant recommend him highly enough!

He will fit your supplied parts, is very knowledgeable about Mr2s (no surprise there!) and is very competitively priced. Well worth travelling to see him.

You will need to book it in, you cant just turn up though.