If I was smart and practical, I’d have looked for a cheap old RAV4 like this for my upcoming off-road adventure in Nevada in June. This one is all set to go, with a lift kit and big wheels, and requisite TRD Off Road stickers. It’s all set to go. But that’s too easy; I need to take the hard way.
Meanwhile, I’m one-quarter of the way through lifting my xB. I’ve ordered bigger tires. But I think I’ll pass on the TRD stickers.
I wasn’t meaning to, but here’s a bit of an update so far.
I ordered a 40mm (1.5″) lift kit from an outfit in Ukraine that seems to have cornered the market. Given the low price ($102 including air freight), it’s easy to see why. Actually, they’re currently the only ones offering a kit for the xB/Yaris. They’re just blocks of dense polyurethane rubber/plastic that extend the front struts/coils and rear coils.
The guy with the lifted xB I showed you said the fronts were a bitch to install, and the rears easy. So I started on the front. And yes, it was a bit of a bitch. Getting the spring/shock strut out was easy enough; it’s putting in a 1.5″ taller one that’s the bitch. I had to buy a cheap coil compressor, but even that didn’t quite do it. I finally realized that my lower control arm wasn’t dropping down as far as possible because it was still attached to the anti-sway bar. Doh! When I figured that out, I assumed I was home free. Not so.
The original three bolts on top had pointed ends to make pushing them through from below easy. Not the ones from my Ukrainian friends. Stephanie had to help guide them, and even then it was difficult, as the alignment had to be just right or they would bind. But I finally got it, and the other side will be a lot easier (I’m going drill the holes slightly larger).
I’ve spent quite a bit of time mulling over tires sizes. Stock is 185/60R15; I’ve been running 3% larger 185/65R15s for years (above). But I wanted bigger tires, for a bit more lift and of course the requisite looks. Lots of mulling; a bit too much so. The problem is that the smallest AT (All Terrain) tires I could find were 205/70R15s, and they were just too big to fit and would have a 10% change in gearing. That’s an issue, since I obviously won’t have a really low gear. Fortunately, the xB does have a pretty low 4.3:1 final drive (Yaris/Echo: 3.53;1). So it was a question of the best compromise between losing some low gearing vs. a somewhat bigger tire, which would almost certainly have to be a winter tire to get the more aggressive tread I need.
I had pretty much settled on a 195/65R15 Firestone Winterforce tire. But I kept Googling, and one day I put in a 205/65R15 size and came up with a very unexpected result:
Walmart has this “Duro DP3000” that is actually a Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S AT tire, but oddly in a smaller size that even Cooper doesn’t list as available in the US. This is an all-season AT tire with a “Three Peak Snow rating”, meaning no more tire changes in the winter. And only $51! It gets very good ratings. Would it fit? It is an inch taller and 7% more circumference, meaning a 7% reduction in overall gearing. My effective final drive ratio will be 4.0:1 instead of 4.3;1; great for the highway, hopefully not too tall in difficult situations.
I bought a cheap junkyard tire in that size, to do a trial fit, and it just barely works (sorry, no picture). It clears everything except a bit of a bulge in the rear inner front fender liner. A bit of work with a mallet took care of that. It fits just fine in back. They’re coming in about a week. I’ll show you the complete lift and tires then.
A box arrived in the mail the same day as my lift kit from Jim Klein; it was small but a bit heavy. Hmm. Opened it up to find a recovery bolt made for my car. He said he found it in an ’05 xB in the junkyard. This may well be the single most important item I bring on the trip!
There’s a little plastic cover on the rear bumper that covers the place where it screws in the back.
And a spot in the front, now fully exposed after removing the lower bumper cover/air dam. Now I just need to order a recovery “snatch strap”, and a few other items.
Ideally, I’d get a Kaaz LSD (Limited Slip Differential), but that might make it too easy. Can’t have that. And you know how cheap I am…
The easy way out would be to find a Toyota bB 1.5 AWD with LHD steering from the Philippines, like this one. With bench seats and column shift, no less. Mighty rare. The AWD version is significantly different under the skin, in lots of places. It has a solid rear axle and different suspension, borrowed from some RWD Toyota van. And it loses even more of its very limited rear cargo area.
If My FWD xB does poorly, I might have to consider this. We shall see…
Love your project. Good luck with it. Keep everyone up to date with it.
You’re gonna need a roof basket too for the proper look 🙂 Perhaps a ladder on the tailgate too. It’s coming along nicely though, I’m looking forward to more of this!
Those tires are a bargain at that price, I looked at a similar Cooper but ended up with a Hakkapeliita Rotiiva A/T for the truck that also have the snowflake symbol. While not the same as a full winter tire they get it most of the way there and yes, being able to drive year round on them is easier.
A friend of mine had a set of Rotivas (Rotiivas?) on his Tacoma. They were fine for a couple of years, then he hit a couple of frost heaves which ruined the sidewalls. The truck got real squirrelly. We both deemed it unsafe to drive. He was sure it was front end damage, despite several mechanics telling him it was the tires. Sure enough, new tires fixed it. The sidewalls of the unmounted Rotivas were as soft as an inner tube. We’d never seen anything like it.
General Grabbers FTW. I run these on a Split Bus, and they are Grabtastic.
Grabolicious! Grabowski.
Being Generals though, you have to salute them which gets obnoxious after a while.
Very interesting on those tires. Looks pretty good for the intended useage. The price is nice too. I can’t remember when I bought a new tire for ~$50 ea. Heck it has been a while since I bought a new tire for under $100.
Bummer that it was such a fight to get those spacers in, but I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising trying to stuff an extra 1.5″ in there and the lack of dog points certainly isn’t helpful.
Hopefully the rears are a breeze.
Wal Mart has tires for my Civic for $37. Waterfall Eco Dynamic 195/65R15. I don’t think I’ll be trying them though.
Disgraceful ! There should be a Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to xBs !
How many years has it served you? And this is how you repay it….
14.
I would have taken the easy way out with the RAV4. Besides nothing like a very good reason to buy another car is what I say.
It wasn’t for sale. Just theoretical musings.
Very nice. The xB will likely do great. Over the years I’ve seen some pretty amazing feats off-road by fwd rigs. Just avoid the mud bogging.
Since removing the sway bar helped increase droop travel for the installation, you may as well disconnect it on the trail. Articulation helps traction and you may need help …
That has crossed my mind. But it’s a bit of a pain to remove (having just replaced the connecting links and bushings). And I suspect it may well bang into the lower control arm on compression.
No need to remove it, just remove one of the links when you get to the trail.
Glad you left the TRD sticker off.
Every time I see the letters TRD on a Toyota truck, I cannot stop from thinking TURD. Just can’t.
If you can conjour up enough articulation and ground clearance under the powertrain this should be fine,
engine putting extra weight on the drive axle and good articulation made VWs weapon of choice off road capable for decades your only enemy is weight transfer on steep climbs
Towing eyebolt should be in the tool kit my Citroen has one included in the onboard tools along with the wheel fitting guide and jack wheelbrace etc
Yeah leave the TaRD sticker out
Who in their ever lovin’ mind ever came up with TRD? I read it with a different vowel and have been laughing at this for years.
You’ll need some homemade traction mat bumpers.
And spare wheels up top.
How did the 205mm tire fit on the narrow 4.5″? rim. It did not seem pinched in where you will wear out the center of the tire at normal inflation? Does the front have any clearance for cable chains, or are winter tires alone ok in Oregon without AWD? Not ok in CA.
4.5″ rim? The stock rims are 6″ wide. I don’t there’s been a 4.5″ wide rim since the original Beetle. Or maybe the Yugo.
The tire fit ok in the wheel well. There’s a small bulge in the rear fender well that might need a bit of hammering.
No more room for chains, but I never used them here anyway. Not required with snow rated tires.
My 2010 Honda Fit Base has 5.5×15 rims. I misread the markings and assumed they were the same as your xB. My ’60’s Type 1 VW’s are 4.0, Type 3’s getting the giant 4.5’s!
Hi, What roof basket is that and how did you mount it directly to the roof rack ports?
I have never had a favourable opinion of TRD-anything. Yeah, yeah, I know: Toyota Racing Development. But, like…hello? Are you listening to yourself right now?
What cargobcarrier is that and what mounting hardware did you use to attach to the oem location