Engine Diagrams and Front End Height

2) Broken springs? They are surprisingly common, and easy to check.

Good luck...

Surprisingly common on Toyotas, " " on Toyotas of 2004 or on recent ones.

Or just surpisingly common on cars in general?

I have no clue whether Toyotas break springs more or less than other cars or whether Toyotas made in different years have springs that break more than those made in other years. I have never seen a broken spring on a Toyota but that does not mean much since I have now worked on exactly one of them. (I have worked on Nissan, Honda, Subaru, BMW, Mazda, GM, MGs, Fiats--never again!--and others, but this is my first Toyota.)

I could have worded that better; by "surprisingly common" I don't mean that everyone should rush out and check their springs. Until I saw my first broken one I thought they *never* broke, but after replacing three of them on cars we have owned over the years I look there first if there is any doubt about the ride height. I was really taken aback when I saw that both front springs were broken on one car that otherwise seemed fine.

In any case, it's still cheap and easy to check.

That would amaze me too.

Cars in general. Thanks.

As an aside, the state inspector made me replace 2 spring, front springs maybe, I don't remember, although the car had coil springs in the rear too. They weren't broken, just saggin, and the car was too low to pass inspection (by him) and when it was done, I diddn't notice any difference in the ride.

Not a Toyota fwiw. I don't remember what it was.

Ive seldom seen broken springs (on cars in general) but I have often seen them sag with age. You can take them to a spring shop and see if they can resize them, or just buy new ones. Note that some cars have a number of different spring choices for the same year and model, so replace both sides with equivalent springs.