Camry Sport Suspension

[beurling]

Hi there.

We have had a 1998 Camry V6 Sport in our family since it was 2 years old...it has been a fantastic car with no trouble at all....except for a propensity of killing tyres and alloy wheels!!!!!

The original "Sport" alloys (which were very poor quality British made wheels) bit the dust after repeatedly being battered by potholes....we struggled along for a while not being able to balance them (it never seemed to bother the poise of the car but might explain the way we went through tyres) until this year when one had a long hairline crack up the centre and another had a gouge so deep it had mishaped the whole wheel!!

I replaced them with some better quality rims and replaced the puny tyres (215 40 17 i think) with 235 45 17's....

result..much better protection for the rims from potholes....however this was never the problem with the harsh ride on Camry Sports....the problem is with the suspension......it's like an imoveable rock...every time you hit an undulation or dodgy road service you think the car is going to fall apart...

My question is....is there a way to make the car ride better over the bumps without compromising the ride height (it looks very cool) and not too much of the handling ability (i hate wallowy cars).... maybe a similair sized spring but with a not so hard set up?

opinions greatly appreciated...

[malojie]

hey there

i have a 1998 camry sport myself just got 3 months ago....fantastic car...i used to work in the toyota dealer where i bought it. they tell me toyota cut the springs on this model to lower it...wow!! eh? from a big firm like toyota... they changed the springs in mine before i bought it so im not sure whats in it now..but to answer your question yes you should be able to change the springs and get a low smooth ride.. tell me thought just when you are here do you have any problem with a chattering type noise comming from somewhere about the front suspension both sides? i seem to have that but everything seems firm and good.maybe anti-roll bar bushes?

thanks

[beurling]

hey there

i have a 1998 camry sport myself just got 3 months ago....fantastic car...i used to work in the toyota dealer where i bought it. they tell me toyota cut the springs on this model to lower it...wow!! eh? from a big firm like toyota... they changed the springs in mine before i bought it so im not sure whats in it now..but to answer your question yes you should be able to change the springs and get a low smooth ride.. tell me thought just when you are here do you have any problem with a chattering type noise comming from somewhere about the front suspension both sides? i seem to have that but everything seems firm and good.maybe anti-roll bar bushes?

thanks

Having browsed through this forum I think I may have the answer.

Firstly it creaks like an old pig first thing in the morning.....apparently the noises are from bad swaybar bushings and also possibly/probably the suspension strut mounts...

I have to say for the last 6 years it has always done it and we just put it down to the way the car was...and it never ever bothered me in the slightest...i had no idea there was something i could do about it till i came here..hehe

hope this helps...i'm not doing it on mine at the moment as I have other priorities and it drives fine :)

[ALAN WILSON]

Hello,

I have a 1997 Camry Sport and have noticed exactly the same thing. When cold it sounds like a bag of nuts

is tied to the front wheels. The noise goes off when warm. I sympathise with you over the hard ride and I now know every pothole/ridge in the roads around Liverpool intimately.

While I'm on does anyone have ideas about quieter tyres as mine are very noisy on rough surfaces and I will soon need new front ones. Any suggestions welcome.

Alan

[beurling]

Hello,

I have a 1997 Camry Sport and have noticed exactly the same thing. When cold it sounds like a bag of nuts

is tied to the front wheels. The noise goes off when warm. I sympathise with you over the hard ride and I now know every pothole/ridge in the roads around Liverpool intimately.

While I'm on does anyone have ideas about quieter tyres as mine are very noisy on rough surfaces and I will soon need new front ones. Any suggestions welcome.

Alan

I don't know about quieter Alan but we recently put bigger 235 tyres on our Camry and whilst I can't say it went quiter the ride does seem improved....

I suppose the usual suspects if you want some..continental, dunlop, goodyear, Bridgestone...i wouldnt buy michelin (french) and have a thing about pirrellis being rubbish as had some bad luck with them.

:)

[Bakesy]

I don't know about quieter Alan but we recently put bigger 235 tyres on our Camry and whilst I can't say it went quiter the ride does seem improved....

I suppose the usual suspects if you want some..continental, dunlop, goodyear, Bridgestone...i wouldnt buy michelin (french) and have a thing about pirrellis being rubbish as had some bad luck with them.

:)

Did you have any clearance problems with the wider tyres?

Are they on standard Sport rims or have you upgraded, and if so, to what?

I need new alloys after i let my mrs take the car shopping and she managed to kerb a wheel badly enough to buckle the rim. :censor: .....

[beurling]

I don't know about quieter Alan but we recently put bigger 235 tyres on our Camry and whilst I can't say it went quiter the ride does seem improved....

I suppose the usual suspects if you want some..continental, dunlop, goodyear, bridgestone...i wouldnt buy michelin (french) and have a thing about pirrellis being rubbish as had some bad luck with them.

:)

Did you have any clearance problems with the wider tyres?

Are they on standard Sport rims or have you upgraded, and if so, to what?

I need new alloys after i let my mrs take the car shopping and she managed to kerb a wheel badly enough to buckle the rim. :censor: .....

Yes...our old ones were killed with pothole damage in manchester....the standard sport alloys are poor quality and do not have sufficient protection from the tyres.

I went down to the local alloys shop and got a set of mangels i think they are....i bought a set of 4 with all new wheel nuts and 235/45/17 tyres....i kept the best of my old sport alloys as the spare with a standard tyre...will be fine in an emergency.

It's not a huge problem with fitment on the camry...and clearance is all ok...well not had any trouble in 1500 miles since :)

I now have 2 Ca,mry v6 Sports after purchasing a red one to go with our white one....and back on the standard wheels I can tell that the new wheels on the other car are quite an improvement....

I quite fancy a set of buddy club alloys....or Kei....both Japanese makes (so not cheap) and usually found on Subaru's but supply a fitment for the Camry. However just have a look around and ask the question of an alloy retailer and they should be able to tell you what will go on the car...!!!

Any more questions just ask..I love our Camry Sport's...I sometimes wish there was a Camry Sport Owners CLub..lol

[Bakesy]

Yes...our old ones were killed with pothole damage in manchester....the standard sport alloys are poor quality and do not have sufficient protection from the tyres.

I went down to the local alloys shop and got a set of mangels i think they are....i bought a set of 4 with all new wheel nuts and 235/45/17 tyres....i kept the best of my old sport alloys as the spare with a standard tyre...will be fine in an emergency.

It's not a huge problem with fitment on the camry...and clearance is all ok...well not had any trouble in 1500 miles since :)

I now have 2 Ca,mry v6 Sports after purchasing a red one to go with our white one....and back on the standard wheels I can tell that the new wheels on the other car are quite an improvement....

I quite fancy a set of buddy club alloys....or Kei....both Japanese makes (so not cheap) and usually found on Subaru's but supply a fitment for the Camry. However just have a look around and ask the question of an alloy retailer and they should be able to tell you what will go on the car...!!!

Any more questions just ask..I love our Camry Sport's...I sometimes wish there was a Camry Sport Owners CLub..lol

Thanks for your reply.I love my Camry Sport too......i drove over 700 miles on Saturday in France and didn't even feel tired when i got out of the car.Ok, my bum was a bit numb, but thats only to be expected.Great car.

[ALAN WILSON]

Hello again,

I finally bit the bullet and took mine to a dealer to investigate the rattling noise.

Expecting the worst I took my cheque book.

They inspected the suspension etc. and told me they could find no fault and that they

could not hear any rattle on road test.

Suspecting that they were all deaf I left and was amazed to find that the noise had gone.

I can only assume that a wheel bolt was loose and when they relaced the wheel it solved the problem.

Anyway it cost me nothing!

Alan

[beurling]

Hello again,

I finally bit the bullet and took mine to a dealer to investigate the rattling noise.

Expecting the worst I took my cheque book.

They inspected the suspension etc. and told me they could find no fault and that they

could not hear any rattle on road test.

Suspecting that they were all deaf I left and was amazed to find that the noise had gone.

I can only assume that a wheel bolt was loose and when they relaced the wheel it solved the problem.

Anyway it cost me nothing!

Alan

that's good to hear alan!!!

when I started reading your post I was about to lambast the typical uselessness of dealers :)

glad its better!

Si

[chris83donnelly]

Can anyone tell me if any Toyota Anti Roll bar will fit a 1998 Camry