Legendary's Toyota Crown Majesta - First Post in 5+ Years

[Punknoodle]

I think the issue with the springs is that in his class you aren't allowed to change the suspension from stock

 

[Legendary]

I think the issue with the springs is that in his class you aren't allowed to change the suspension from stock

Oh that's fair enough then. I dont even know what to say anymore, I really don't. I am trying to think of suggestions but there is always so many reasons why our suggestions are invalid.

 

[Punknoodle]

Meh live and let live.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

I think the issue with the springs is that in his class you aren't allowed to change the suspension from stock

That's what I meant. Sorry for not clarifying. So, yes, it's not really reasonable to switch springs every week.

 

[Punknoodle]

Still think that shouldn't stop you from swapping wheels Anyway enough about that. Legendary - your thread now

 

[Legendary]

So a little update. I have been in Adelaide for around 2 weeks now and have had nothing else to do except drive my car around while unemployed. I was driving through the hills yesterday going around a corner at 40km/h, it was a near u-turn rated at 25km/h. As I went around I heard this HUGE snap or bang and pulled over to check it out. I couldnt work it out so I drove along and pulled over a few more times trying to work it out.

When I got back into town I took it to beaurepaires who put it up on the hoist and told me I snapped the sway bar. How the 🤬 you do that I will never know but it looks like im in for a new one. I've been suggested whiteline ones by a few people but really don't have the money for it so I might just have to source another RX one for cheap. I might try and pull it out today as it is bouncing around making an awful noise that turns heads for all the wrong reasons, its quite embarrassing .

Said hills before the incident:

Hoist:

Swaybar:

 

[Punknoodle]

That is crazy, I've never seen that before. Bet the car has a lot more body roll now, surprised you didn't notice it driving back to town.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Holy 🤬! One would THINK the endlinks would've let go rather than the bar itself!

 

[SPhilli911]

Just how hard were you driving??

 

[motortrend]

How the heck do you snap a sway bar! wow, hope it works out and you can get it fixed soon.

 

[Legendary]

Hahah, the reaction here says enough as to how difficult it's supposed to be to break one! I have a feeling that the last accident with the front left might have weakened it but I am not sure. I didn't notice the roll on the way back as I was babying it through every corner but now that I know the cause I can confirm the sway bar makes a huge difference! I pushed it a little yesterday just to see the effect and it feels like you're going to roll out of the seat .

As for endlinks or whatever, I don't know anything about suspension and steering but the guy mentioned something about the bushers on the snapped side being really old and the ones on the other side being recently replaced and a better brand. Not sure what any of that means but yeah.

EDIT: Whoops, in response to Sphilli I really wasnt going as hard as I was a few minutes prior. I was a little through the corner, dropped back to second with a rev match, and just after doing that and beginning to put power down it snapped.

 

[Punknoodle]

Worn bushes wouldn't cause a sway bar to break, as the get worn they get sloppy causing the car to feel loose and causing to to squeak. But not break a sway bar. The sway bar is made of metal that is supposed to flex, or twist, as that is the function of the bar. It's obviously just become fatigued and snapped. It's not common at all though, and I suspect there may have been some problem with it.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Wow, good effort! Surely there must have been a fracture or other defect for that to happen.

The guy probably meant that the forces acting on each side might be out of balance, you should really replace bushes in corresponding pairs to avoid odd force distribution.

This car deserves Whitelines, it's gorgeous!

 

[Legendary]

Worn bushes wouldn't cause a sway bar to break, as the get worn they get sloppy causing the car to feel loose and causing to to squeak. But not break a sway bar. The sway bar is made of metal that is supposed to flex, or twist, as that is the function of the bar. It's obviously just become fatigued and snapped. It's not common at all though, and I suspect there may have been some problem with it.

Yeah god knows what caused it to happen .

Wow, good effort! Surely there must have been a fracture or other defect for that to happen.

The guy probably meant that the forces acting on each side might be out of balance, you should really replace bushes in corresponding pairs to avoid odd force distribution.

This car deserves Whitelines, it's gorgeous!

Haha thank you, but it seems the car deserves an owner with a larger pocket . Depending on how much im looking at for regular ones I may not have a choice but to go with whitelines so we'll see!

 

[Korza]

Haha thank you, but it seems the car deserves an owner with a larger pocket.

A quick search shows that aftermarket sway bars go for around $200AUD. 👍 Not quite as bad as the $2,000-$5,000 I have to spend on my car.

 

[Punknoodle]

Yeah my Whiteline adjustable wasn't much more than that from memory, and it came with new bushes so you can replace those while you're at it.. You will be amazed by the handling benefits too.

 

[Legendary]

The whiteline one is found here for 265;
http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_detail4.php?part_number=BSF19X

Depending on how much another one comes to I can definitely consider it, I just have to hold off for a little while. I did just get employed but I havent started yet so I will wait for that.

 

[Punknoodle]

If you really must drive around in it, I'd remove the old one incase it were to dislodge somehow while driving. Just be very careful driving as the handling will be a lot different. A friend of mine had a Wrangler and he took the sway bar out before we went away on a 4wding trip to get more articulation on the tracks, he had to drive quite slowly, the roll was terrible.

 

[Legendary]

If you really must drive around in it, I'd remove the old one incase it were to dislodge somehow while driving. Just be very careful driving as the handling will be a lot different. A friend of mine had a Wrangler and he took the sway bar out before we went away on a 4wding trip to get more articulation on the tracks, he had to drive quite slowly, the roll was terrible.

Ive read up on it and it should be fine to drive around, no worries so long as I get onto a new one as soon as I can.

I went around to a mates to remove it, turns out it was easier than I thought and to my surprise it's actually an aftermarket MRT one. God knows what happened to the original, this cant have been any better .

 

[Punknoodle]

If that's the case I would send an email to MRT with a picture of it! You could score a new one, would be good PR for them. With the Internet these days all a company needs is one bad forum post and customers go to Whiteline instead. At least if you have a nice story that goes along with it that they sorted it out for you then that's ok. If not a replacement, at least a sizeable discount.

The reason I think this is quite plausible even though you don't know the age of it or where it was purchased from, is because we aren't talking about a gearbox, or a brake caliper or anything that has a chance of failing under normal circumstances, we are talking about a great big solid bar that should be nigh on impossible to snap, and it could be down to poor materials..

Worth a shot, don't go demanding anything, just ask if they have any explanation as to why it could have failed and maybe ask what the warranty is on them. I wouldn't go telling them you don't know how old it is just yet, but obviously if they ask you tell em the truth.

 

[Legendary]

If that's the case I would send an email to MRT with a picture of it! You could score a new one, would be good PR for them. With the Internet these days all a company needs is one bad forum post and customers go to Whiteline instead. At least if you have a nice story that goes along with it that they sorted it out for you then that's ok. If not a replacement, at least a sizeable discount.

The reason I think this is quite plausible even though you don't know the age of it or where it was purchased from, is because we aren't talking about a gearbox, or a brake caliper or anything that has a chance of failing under normal circumstances, we are talking about a great big solid bar that should be nigh on impossible to snap, and it could be down to poor materials..

Worth a shot, don't go demanding anything, just ask if they have any explanation as to why it could have failed and maybe ask what the warranty is on them. I wouldn't go telling them you don't know how old it is just yet, but obviously if they ask you tell em the truth.

I like your thinking! Perhaps being such a rare case they may indeed help me out a little, everyone I have spoken to about it are amazed. Looking at MRT's website it looks like everything they sell from that front is Whiteline branded anyway? So they may have sold their own stuff at some stage or the one that broke is indeed whiteline. I'll take a better look at it tomorrow, I didn't get a good chance tonight and we have assumed it is MRT due to the MRT sticker on the bar.

EDIT: http://www.mrtperformance.com.au/about-us/the-best-warranty
By the looks of the Warranty, if it is an MRT supplied part it would normally be covered but it does say it wont be if I am a subsequent owner of the car after it was installed.

However I think I can reason with them that this is quite ridiculous and regardless of who owned it or how it was driven/ maintained, that is a part that really shouldn't go.

 

[Legendary]

It looks like it came from a wreckers and has an MRT sticker on it with a 7 digit phone number, so it must be super duper old. I did give them a ring, not mentioning how old it is but they reckon there is nothing they can do.

I just rung up a Subaru wrecker and picked up a standard one for 100 bucks, its no thinner or thicker than the other one so whatever .

 

[Legendary]

So I just realised i've had the car for a couple of days over a year now. Time has gone by very quickly and it's changed quite alot visually, either that or its just a few changes that change how the whole thing looks .

Heres a quick throw together of how different it is now. I suppose I can write whats been done;
15" Wheels - 17" Volk Racing SE37's
Standard RX Spoiler - Standard WRX Spoiler (STI spoilers are overkill)
Standard Tail Lights - STI Tail Lights
Rear End Collision - New Bumper, 3.5" Single Tip Exhaust (sounds awesome for what it is)
Front End Collision - New Bumper, Resprayed Bonnet, various new lights and grill and stuff
First Headunit - Alpine Bluetooth Headunit - Alpine Bluetooth Headunit + iPad 32gb
Snapped Swaybar - Possibly a downgrade to a yet to be installed standard rx sway
WRX Shocks + Lowering Springs purchased before christmas yet to be picked up from a GTP member 1000km away .

Possibly other stuff that I can't remember.

Im looking at mid year to replace it with a Nissan Skyline R32 GTS-T, I haven't got a particular one lined up or anything but that's the goal .

 

[Rykon Zero]

I personally would never replace it, but it looks really nice.

Congrats on having a car for a year!

 

[Legendary]

I personally would never replace it, but it looks really nice.

Congrats on having a car for a year!

The main reason is that it's creeping up to 250k's, it's on 239 so it'd be nice to get rid of it while it's still worth something .

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

Why the move from 4WD to FR?

Is this a question of the drivetrain, or just wanting to have an R32?

My friend's got one, he's almost always tinkering with his R32 GT-R, and almost never drives it. Do you just want the R32, drifts, or a bit of both?

Edit: last post before I switch fonts.

 

[Punknoodle]

My god it needs lowered. I don't like the iPad install either, but externally it looks good and you should be fairly happy with what you have achieved

 

[Legendary]

Why the move from 4WD to FR?

Is this a question of the drivetrain, or just wanting to have an R32?

My friend's got one, he's almost always tinkering with his R32 GT-R, and almost never drives it. Do you just want the R32, drifts, or a bit of both?

Edit: last post before I switch fonts.

Hmmm, a slow AWD car is a VERY good learning car. There is so much i've done in that that would probably kill me in any other car. Speed, fast cornering, excess power through corners/ everyday driving but that's what thats what you do. As a young male you're out there to find your limit, some people more sensibly than others. That car doesn't go near fast enough to kill you nor have any issues with handling that would cause you to lose control so I am glad I bought it to learn how I am as a driver, how the car performs etc etc.

In order to buy another awd car i'd want it to be quick, thats why I was looking at a WRX 04ish but I have decided I dont want to spend that much on a car. So obviously, as a young driver im going to go for the obvious somewhat powerful FR approach. To this day I have still never pushed a rwd car, let alone driven one thats near quick enough to even have fun.

My god, im going to sound like SUCH a tool, such a stupid teenager with the following but yes I want a Skyline cause I think they are damn cool, they pull ladies and lets face it, at this age its okay to have fun where fun is due right, you've all been there . It's also there to be fun when you want it to be, the only time I find my car fun is when im pushing it and I dont like having it scream to have fun nor push it when cornering to have fun. Turbo RWD gives you that fun straight line pickup without too much effort or speed, gives you that little bit of fun unpredictability when you want it (the difference between a stupid teenage hoon and someone like maybe myself is knowing when and where to do it and when to stop pushing it).

Buying a new car also gives me the opportunity to fish for something with lower k's which will help my mind believe that spending money on that car isn't as much of a waste as it has alot more life in it and I am likely to keep it longer.

So to sum it up, yeah im in it for a Skyline, yeah im in it for the fun, drifts or however you want to put it. Im also in it to progress into a bit of a different and faster car to understand myself and that type of car as well. Its a step up from the training wheels in the little Impreza is on .

My god it needs lowered. I don't like the iPad install either, but externally it looks good and you should be fairly happy with what you have achieved

I have those shocks and springs that I bought before christmas still sitting at Turbo Lags house. The shipping to QLD was going to be 260 when I only bought them for 200 so I really didn't think that through. Im still going to get my hands on them though, don't worry .

As for the iPad thing, each is to their own I guess. Alot of people like it and its fairly unique, kinda just did it cause I can you know?

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

I think I have more fun in my Impreza than my friend in his R32. The R32's the dream car of almost every red-blooded being in the world, whereas my Impreza wagon's the sort of car fewer people would mind seeing run into the ground. So, while he meticulously transforms his R32 into some track eating monster, and then still never proceeds to drive it up to its limits, I'm driving my Impreza at its limits every weekend this summer. It'll be great fun. This time, I don't even have to worry about the pylons, since I would only be scuffing my own front bumper.

The choice, as always, remains with you, but, keep it in mind, there are likely people who will hunt you down/hate you, if you did to your R32, what Rowan Atkinson did to that poor, defenseless McLaren F1; a car that should never have been taken up to excessive speeds by a non-professional driver. Especially not on the public streets, either.

Edit: the same friend who has the R32, also has an RX-7. While he has since learned how to control the RWD, his first autocross sessions in that RX-7 were horrendous. The pylon count was even more horrendous. Take it easy, if you do get an R32, at least for the first few days. RWD is more likely to bite, and less likely to be as awesome as I find the WRX/Impreza's AWD system.

 

[Korza]

Mel, have you actually driven a FR before?