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Ride Height after new shocks and links - out of spec?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by 134HP Bard Womyn Magnet, Jun 15, 2022.

  1. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    The stiffest aftermarket shocks I've been able to get so far is KYB Excel g. I've tried sacks and they're not quite as good. Does anybody have anything better than KYB Excel g's? Wait I'm sure there are some real nice coilovers but I'm not going to like the price. Forget I asked
     
  2. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    The gas charge and an oil dampened shock is there to prevent cavitation but in effect it adds 150 PSI of spring pressure when installed because of the nitrogen charge at 150 PSI. It doesn't have to be 150 PSI but that's approximately what's common when new. Well the gas has leaked out a car can look like it's sagging a little bit. New shocks can lift it back up just a bit and be enough to make it look normal again. Of course that's not the purpose and replacing the shocks but it's the after effect doing so. The improved ride is the biggest effect and biggest purpose but new shocks with a 150 PSI charge has this after effect
     
  3. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    Hey woman magnet, You know none of that content was in your original story right?
     
  4. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    I feel like a car has three life cycles. The first owner buys it new from the dealer on a loan and the day they pay it off they act relieved only to turn around and do it to themselves all over again a couple months later. The second owner of the car is from year 5 to 8. That person often buys it from a dealer with the loan as well but not always. The first owner always takes it to the dealer for repair because it's under warranty. The second owner tries to save a buck and brings it to the local mechanic. The third owner is years nine and up. Generally the car doesn't have enough residual value to justify doing major repairs and oftentimes the third owner doesn't have the money to do the repair anyway. Many times the third owner tries to fix it himself or a jury rigs it. Unqualified repairs seldom work. People love their Japanese car and then they throw Chinese parts at it. This is just a generalization but it's why I don't want to fix third owner vehicles. You have to be in the industry to see it my way
     
  5. 134HP Bard Womyn Magnet

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    Hey all. So a follow-up to my 150k maintenance thread was a not-great trip to a new-to-me shop. Suffice to say trust was not established, but I'll stay focused on the thread title: ride height after this maintenance.

    In other words, I didn't want to derail the thread by introducing all the details of why I felt this shop treated me and my car like crap, which tends to make replies spiral out of control instead of staying focused on the question. Had you just asked "You've said you weren't happy with the shop, what happened?" that would have been fine, but it seemed like you took the shop's side without knowing the story and insinuated that the age of the car and/or customer attitude was the issue.

    If you weren't saying that, no hard feelings...except for the humiliation of being a middle-aged guy arguing about semantics on a Toyota forum, which is slightly less exciting than the way I'd hoped life would turn out.

    Back on topic: this shop won't help me or give me part numbers. Next time I get service (I still need to get transaxle fluid changed since they didn't do it) I'll have the mechanic I trust take a front wheel off and see if we can ID the part and whether it's installed right. And I'll update this thread with any details.

    In the meantime: can I do any damage driving the car like this? Besides feeling a bit high in the front, the car drives fine. I don't notice excessive bounce or roll. It's been about 150 miles of driving since service and the front suspension hasn't "settled" any lower, it's still about 27" from arch to ground. All I care about is not stressing the car in any way. I should note that I rolled by a Toyota dealer and a shop guy too a quick look (didn't put it on a lift or check their work) and he said it "didn't look too bad" but did ask if I had anything in the trunk...
     
    #25 134HP Bard Womyn Magnet, Jun 20, 2022
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2022
  6. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    It's not eccessivly high. I don't even notice it. You really can't hurt the car. If it was a foot high,
    it would be dangerous to drive. Just drive it like a Prius, not an F1 car.

    If you paid by credit card, which is always smart, you can contact them and say you don't feel
    "safe" driving with unknow parts. They could be super cheep inferier chinese parts that could fail
    at anytime, and have them put a hold on payment. That will get the shops attention and get there butts in gear.

    Depends on how bad you want to persue this.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Mine's 26.25" on the nose. That's with stock 17" wheels, nearly full tread, at most couple of psi over the Toyota guidance.

    Off-topic: my go-to tape measure for stuff like this, has a nice round 3" case allowance. I hate it when tape measures have a case with an allowance like 3-7/16".
     

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  8. 134HP Bard Womyn Magnet

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    Thanks for this. Out of curiosity, may I ask what your height is on the back wheels? It's not vital, only if convenient. And yep, my tape measure has 2 11/16" as a housing width...annoying!

    I did use CC and thought it might be too aggro, but reconsidered as I broke out the 14mm socket this morning. They reinstalled the wiper arms totally out of whack, riding about 3-4" into the clear glass on the passenger side. Maybe they left them that way to prove they worked on the front end? Easy fix, but for someone who doesn't know a socket wrench from a spatula, it would have meant a return trip to the shop. Just sloppy/lazy.
     
    #28 134HP Bard Womyn Magnet, Jun 20, 2022
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2022
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    27.25”.
     
  10. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    Note to self: Don't accept credit card payments for repairs on cars over 8 years old.

    Hey woman magnet: why did you only get front shocks instead of all four?
     
  11. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    I figured out the answer. Unsubscribing from this thread
     
  12. 134HP Bard Womyn Magnet

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    Thanks!
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.