mulla

Another late poster :)

2005 Altise V6 - Silver

Mods (done in this order):

- 17" 235/45

- Sportivo V6 Muffler swap

- Custom Y Pipe

- Whiteline Rear Sway Bar

- Ultra Racing Front Brace

Only done slightly less than 50,000km's <- Someone that doesn't need to drive to get to work

Slightly off topic, but wondering if the above mentioned bar would fit a Gen 5.5 (2005) V6? By the sound of the discussion it appears that it should be ok?

Thanks in advance.

Yeah, the strut brace will fit the facelift Gen5 with no problems.

Thanks Andrew for the confirmation, will have to try to source one now :)

Does anyone know where to buy these in Australia..?

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And for future reference...............

Details for for the Ultra Racing bar are:

Product: Toyota Camry 02 ACV36R Front Strut Bar / Front Tower Bar

Code : UR-TW2-612

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/Bars.asp?ID=3169

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Slightly off topic, but wondering if the above mentioned bar would fit a Gen 5.5 (2005) V6? By the sound of the discussion it appears that it should be ok?

Thanks in advance.

For those that's interested, I've lodged a claim through insurance. Went to the accident repair center, they didn't question about it being so minor (guess if there's work and $ there's no complaint). Got a rear bar respray out of it, fixed up a few other scratches and dints on the rear bar as well :)

Thanks again everyone that's posted.

Thanks Ronnyboy, other person's car was a bit more severely damage. But also just limited to minor surface scratches (a little more scratched up then me) and the bumper being slightly out of place (slightly more out of place than me).

Thanks all for the prompt response. Will give the insurance a call and lodge a claim :) The other party was also happy to go through insurance, very civilised about this matter.

Just wanted some reassurance that I'm not the only one that wanted a minor scratch fixed through insurance.

Thanks once again, this forum has always been a great help.

Hi All,

I have a 2005 Toyota Camry which I love dearly. This morning I was involved in a very minor accdent other party at fault.

There were very minor surface scratches to the left side of the rear bumper. Also, the left corner of the rear bumper has slightly "came out" and is no longer "flush" to the rest of the car.

Other party has admitted fault and is happy to pay. I would normally just go through insurance since it's easier. Other party is also insured. Would insurance / panel beater think it's too small a job to fix?

Question is, would you guys get this fixed? It's minor enough not to be noticeble when the car is dirty but can be seen if you are looking hard at it. Or I guess after a good wash and wax. I would love to get it fixed coz otherwise I know it'll just keep being on my mind and drives me crazy :S

Sorry to hijack, I know the whiteline struct doesn't fit the V6 since the product description mentioned (excl V6).

As I understood the Gen 5 Sportivo came with a struct brace, does this mean this brace is only present on the I4 Sportivo but not the V6? Doesn't really make much sense if that's true.

Well with the gen 5 Sportivo the genuine Toyota brace fits both the I4 and V6. but it seems the white line one doesn’t bend up like the Toyota one making it more ridged. consequently it may not clear the V6 as it takes up more room.

Ahh that makes perfect sense then. Pity... might hit the wreckers if I'm desperate for one :) Thanks for the explaination tho.

Sorry to hijack, I know the whiteline struct doesn't fit the V6 since the product description mentioned (excl V6).

As I understood the Gen 5 Sportivo came with a struct brace, does this mean this brace is only present on the I4 Sportivo but not the V6? Doesn't really make much sense if that's true.

I think I paid $205 for the sway bar itself and $70 for installation. I did experience a clonking noise whenver I hit a pot hole on the left rear shortly after installation due to the sway bar moving to one side due to my hard cornering ;) Took it back and they've put some clips in place to prevent it from moving again. Now it runs perfectly no weird noises *touch wood*

Highly recommend the Whiteline rear sway bar. Just got it upgraded a month ago and definately noticed the immediate effect. Although, mine isn't lowered only had a tyre / rim upgrade on it. Effects on a lowered car might be less dramatic?

Sorry to hijack:

lateralus - Do you know if adding a front strut brace to a 2005 Altise will make much effect in handling improvements? Approximate costs? :)

Thanks all for the advice, might book in a service next month sometime when I can afford a day off. Spent all my leave on a longer break :(

Hi All,

Originally purchased my Camry brand new in early 2005 (Gen 5.5) and have had dealer service every 7,500km since then. I've always supplied my own oil using Castrol Edge 5w-30, always ran on 98 and occassionally 95 octane fuel (not that it matters here?!).

Now since getting a new job 2 years back I'm lucky enough to be able to walk to work each day thus the Camry only get a work out every weekend when I go do the shopping / going out etc. It was Feb 2008 when I had my last service and now the odo is sitting on 35,xxx and my next interval is at 37,500 if I go by the 7,500km interval.

I was wondering if it's safe to wait until I hit that km interval before I go and have my service done? Or should I stick with the 12month service interval for a low km car?

Doesn't make much sense to me that oil could breakdown just sitting in a sealed engine when it's not running? I did some googling and there's some patchy information that seemed to agree that "time interval" can be ignored and stick to the "km interval".

Just to be safe I thought I'd ask ppl's opinions here which had been extremely helpful!!

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Hi All,

Thanks everyone for the input. Was told that the swaybar has indeed moved to one side and thus causing it to hit the subframe when I go over a bump. In the end they added the hose clamps excatly as in Terry's photos!! Lol for a moment I thought the mechanic was actually reading these posts :)

But yer they were telling me that the stock bar had the locks to stop sideways movement but the Whiteline didn't. Apparenty they had a chat with Whiteline about this issue as well and hopefully it'll be added to future designs :P

Anyway thanks again for everyone's tips. Also Peddlers who were extremely helpful and patient in the entire process! Sorry couldn't help the advertisement there ;)

mbruce - Did you have the Whiteline BTR39 and you had those rubber rings already there? Hm... interesting.

Thanks Terry for the detailed explaination and photos. That's what the mechanic also reckon when I called him for it to be re checked. He reckons that's what's happening too that the bar has moved either left or right and he said there's these locks that can prevent this. Going back there this morning, hopefully it'll be fixed once and for all :)

i got same noize as u, but i do not have sway bar, i can always hear the noize when i passed the speed hump fastly, but can not hear the noize when i slowed down. After that, i went to different suspension store to check out, no one are able to find out the problems. At the first, i thought that was the problem with these shocks, and i changed them, but it still has the noize. But, one thing u can have a try, take everything out of your car to try again. Also, i went to the Pedders suspension store to do 28 points safety checking, and u may ask on that store, itz $14 and pretty detail. All the best.

Yer tried doing that already, took all junk out of the boot including the matt, spare tyre, jack / tools. Unfortunately, noise is still present.

1: If Poly bushings, make sure they were greased (or as I did, Teflon Tape, it last longer).

2: Sway Bar Link not fully tightened.

I was watching when they were installing the swaybar, liberal amounts of grease was applied so most likely it's not tightened properly. Fingers crossed thats all the issue, wish I had the tools to tighten it myself. :(

But thanks everyone that's assisted!

Hmm.... Interesting, so it could be a loose bolt eh. Movement of the swaybar could mean it's not tightened sufficiently? Certainly hope that's what's causing it and not something more serious. Will mention this to the mechanic.

Thanks all for the tips.

Hi All,

Had a whiteline rear swaybar (BTR39) intalled this morning in my Gen5.5 Camry. Cornering ability has drastically increased, am very happy with the upgrade :)

There is a slight issue tho, whenever I go over a speed hump or hit a medium / large pothole at say 20km/h+ or so, I can hear a faint "donk" sound like the swaybar is hitting against something from the left rear wheel. Small pot holes or uneven roads are not an issue (no sound), likewise going over speed humps at low speed is ok as well. Right rear wheel is not an issue no sound from there.

Might ring up where I got it installed on Monday to make an appointment for it to be checked out again.

But does anyone know what might be the issue here? So I'd have some idea when I bring the car back to be checked.

no australian camry v6's ever got the vvti 1mz's, only the 2az (with the exeception of the 2gr-fe in american camrys obviously)

the lexus es300 had the 3vz-fe up until october 1997 before replacing it with the non-vvti 1mz-fe. they powered the es up until october 2001, until they replaced it with the vvti 1mz-fe that put out 158kw over the standard 145kw. but they ceased production in 2005

Ahh.... Always thought the V6 had it too. Learned something new today :)

Thanks heaps for everyone's input!

the lexus 1mz's have vvti, so yeah, they have a different ecm

Do you mean VVTL-i? I thought our Camry has VVT-i as well? Seeing that's written all over the I4 Camry.

Hm... turns out to be a very informative thread :)

Seeing Lexus with the 1MZ do call for 95 Octane, it would probably suggest that the 1MZ could benifit from 95RON without mods? But I would imagine the Lexus would have a different ECU to the Camry?

for a gen 5.5 camry with a 1MZ-FE, you should NOT advance the timing unless you get knocking. apart from the fact that the 1mz's have a very sensitive knock sensor, modern engines have the ability to adapt to the fuel they are using and slightly adjust the timing electronically to suit the application still within specification of the engine. if you put 98ron fuel in your camry, the ECM will do the rest.

1mz-fe have a relatively high compression ratio anyway (10.5:1), so 98ron fuel will run just fine with a factory setup

Ahhh ok... Just thought I'd do something to take full advantage of the extra 10c that I pay for 98RON. :P If the ECM will adjust accordingly I guess I'll leave it as it is then. Thanks for the info as usual!

I am not sure if a dealer would really want to advance it past factory... but if you went to a mechanic and told them you wanted to run 98 octane and have the timing advanced a little im sure they could do it for you.

Ahhh.... Yer I figured as much. Very last question (s), could I just go to any mechanic to do it? Like I know there's guys that advertise as being exhaust / muffler specialist, would there be ones for engine tuning? Also do you know roughly how much I should expect to pay for such a change?

Thanks heaps once again. Keeps my brain ticking while at work ;)

if it is a N/A engine, advance the ***** out of the timing.

Oooh, thanks for the swift response :)

Hm... where could I get something like that done? It's just my gen 5.5 V6 Camry so yer it's N/A. Would the dealer service place be able to do that when I get a service done? Doesn't "sound" too hard a thing to do. Sorry I'm a totally n00b when it comes to mods of anysort!

Hi All,

Sorry if this is a silly sounding question. I know what higher octane fuel does as in preventing premature iginition in higher compression ratio engines.

I remember seeing people loosely referencing the ability to "tune" an engine that originally not requiring PULP to take advantage of the higher octane thus producing more power. I've tried going through some old threads here and google but I haven't found any details as to what this "tune" really boils down to?

Was hoping that someone here can shed some like as to if this "tune" really exists, what it involved?

Thanks heaps in advance as usual.