Custom parts from T3 for the 5th gen celica
- Thread starter Cuttyman9
- Start date
soarer.jzz30
New member
I'm thinking about going with the 205 bbk, i wonder if i wont need any spacers at all with the new ball joint. Love this thread btw
ALLensTRAC
New member
soarer.jzz30":3n0x3zxq said:
If you're planning on running the front 205 rotors you will need spacers regardless. If you go with an IS300 rotor, 205 caliper, and Rav4 front hubs it should be almost bolt on minus centering the caliper IIRC.
ALLensTRAC
New member
TRDTurko":zzymr9i3 said:
They're not listed because they only offer the arms for the FWD guys (thanks to Cuttyman). No one has stepped up in Cali to prototype a set on a Trac yet. I offered to send the specs but they need a real chassis to test on not just measurements. Until that happens custom is the only way (what I did).
soarer.jzz30
New member
Once mine is is able to make it there I'd be happy to let them use it, just let me have the prototypes!! Lol.
yup, if no one steps up nearby then nothing will be made.
so far they are beyond slow.
flood them with a ton of emails. and when i say flood i mean light up their inbox with emails about future products, timeline on the ball joints, top plates, rear links, sway bar end links etc.
so far they are beyond slow.
flood them with a ton of emails. and when i say flood i mean light up their inbox with emails about future products, timeline on the ball joints, top plates, rear links, sway bar end links etc.
Well it looks like there wont be anything more from T3 soon, according to them their sales have jumped up 30 percent and have a pile of stuff that's been ordered and they have not caught up with that demand therefore new products will cease until that demand is met. Also they stated their machine shop of choice cannot keep up.
they do want to build stuff for this chassis but their "growing pains" are significantly lengthening the time period at which this was supposed to be on.
I've located some parts, I may attempt to create my own to test and if I end up with time once I graduate I may make a handful of ball joints that will end up for sale. I don't know if there is any interest but at this point I'm focused on building ball joints for me because my car greatly needs it.
Since I'm only one person, and I cannot create a market I can only try so hard to get people to T3 to buy parts and show a valid demand but I definitely tried very hard to get more produced for the T180 chassis.
hopefully they will get some stuff done and start showing more interest in producing parts but unfortunately right now I cannot say that my persistence will show any benefit.
Cant say I didn't try.
they do want to build stuff for this chassis but their "growing pains" are significantly lengthening the time period at which this was supposed to be on.
I've located some parts, I may attempt to create my own to test and if I end up with time once I graduate I may make a handful of ball joints that will end up for sale. I don't know if there is any interest but at this point I'm focused on building ball joints for me because my car greatly needs it.
Since I'm only one person, and I cannot create a market I can only try so hard to get people to T3 to buy parts and show a valid demand but I definitely tried very hard to get more produced for the T180 chassis.
hopefully they will get some stuff done and start showing more interest in producing parts but unfortunately right now I cannot say that my persistence will show any benefit.
Cant say I didn't try.
ALLensTRAC
New member
Well that isn't good news! I sent an email last week but they didn't respond. From a business stand point making parts for the 185 really isn't that profitable. There's probably 20 owners total willing to buy the arms and most of them are capable of making their own. As for the ball joint that is a part which will be cross compatible so they would be able to market it to the fwd market as well.
I guess we just take the back seat to the ae86-FRS crowds? Oh well thanks for trying and I'll keep harassing them over the ball joint.
I guess we just take the back seat to the ae86-FRS crowds? Oh well thanks for trying and I'll keep harassing them over the ball joint.
athousandleaves
New member
another one bites the dust... 
Well the part that's frustrating is no one else really attempts to step up and do something about it, there are plenty of companies out there and yet how am I one of few who have attempted this.
Maybe that's why no one produces anything because we have a whole community of people who standby and wait for someone else to put work in. That's the same reason no one has stepped up with a 185 to have parts made off their car, they have "better things to do".
Maybe that's why no one produces anything because we have a whole community of people who standby and wait for someone else to put work in. That's the same reason no one has stepped up with a 185 to have parts made off their car, they have "better things to do".
athousandleaves
New member
I really don't think the community is to blame here to be honest. I have three alltracs that I'd be willing to bring to someone for parts development but I'm nowhere near T3 in California so I, like many other members, can't help get something made to benefit all of us.
If you're looking for someone to blame then point the finger at Toyota for only importing 5000 of the 185 for North America?
There is such a small number of these cars being modified in NA that most companies rarely even bother with us because the business case just isn't there vs the hundreds of thousands of EK/EG civics or Silvia's rolling around out there.
I'd be willing to bet that ACPT hasn't sold more than 30 driveshafts for the alltrac over ~6 years yet they managed to make it work. Everything that the guys at xiii motorsports produce is specifically in short runs of 10 because its hard to find more than 10 members at any one time who can afford the upgrade.
So I wouldn't be so quick to say this failed because people had better things to do or just didn't care. Maybe there wasn't enough cross posting of this to other forums like celicatech or GT4OC etc? Maybe we all failed to educate other members how these pricey bits would improve their cars?
Too bad it didn't work out with T3 but its not like they're the last tuning company on the planet so until the next guy steps up :shrug:
If you're looking for someone to blame then point the finger at Toyota for only importing 5000 of the 185 for North America?
There is such a small number of these cars being modified in NA that most companies rarely even bother with us because the business case just isn't there vs the hundreds of thousands of EK/EG civics or Silvia's rolling around out there.
I'd be willing to bet that ACPT hasn't sold more than 30 driveshafts for the alltrac over ~6 years yet they managed to make it work. Everything that the guys at xiii motorsports produce is specifically in short runs of 10 because its hard to find more than 10 members at any one time who can afford the upgrade.
So I wouldn't be so quick to say this failed because people had better things to do or just didn't care. Maybe there wasn't enough cross posting of this to other forums like celicatech or GT4OC etc? Maybe we all failed to educate other members how these pricey bits would improve their cars?
Too bad it didn't work out with T3 but its not like they're the last tuning company on the planet so until the next guy steps up :shrug:
Meh, that's why they don't make anything, no motivation by people with fwd cars or awd cars.
Seems to me that outside of CMS and I there has been next to no one approaching companies trying to get something made.
That is what I'm saying.
There are tons of cars to work with since the 4th 5th and 6th gens are all relatively similar chassis wise and the 4th and 5th gen alltracs are very similar as well.
So given those numbers and that few of people have attempted its no wonder nothing gets made.
Seems to me that outside of CMS and I there has been next to no one approaching companies trying to get something made.
That is what I'm saying.
There are tons of cars to work with since the 4th 5th and 6th gens are all relatively similar chassis wise and the 4th and 5th gen alltracs are very similar as well.
So given those numbers and that few of people have attempted its no wonder nothing gets made.
underscore
Well-known member
athousandleaves":3l2vqixr said:
Not to mention the many times a company has promised to produce a part and then bailed on us, half the time without even telling us they were dropping the project. Maybe I'm a pessimist but until I see a company actually state that they have the product developed, produced and ready for sale I assume they're full of shit. People can only set aside money and get bailed on so many times before they stop paying attention to these companies that are all talk and no action.
Awesome-Trac
New member
Cuttyman9":j5d3jnk6 said:
If I can get out of the stupid maintanence stage that my Alltrac seems to throw at me I'd be down to drop a few parts to help you with project development and since I know zero about engineering esspecially what things could work and what can't me going to a company will just make me look like a kid in elementary showing his horrible drawing
RedCelicaTRD
Moderator
Cuttyman9":182coenv said:
Lets see, over those three generations the total number of Celicas sold probably isnt even close to the number of Civics sold in a year. Then there's the part about the car being 25ish years old. Then there's the part about the number of people who would actually modify the vehicle. Then we get to the smaller sub-category of people who want extended ball joints. Basically, there isn't a market. Someone will have to do this themselves if they want it made, either fronting the R&D money or designing everything themselves. Selling 15 sets of ball joints for Celicas vs selling 1000s of sets of shiny BRZ parts; the Celica loses every time.
ALLensTRAC
New member
underscore":1x926lel said:
This X10000!!! Even Quaife douched us out and they are one of the largest drivetrain manufacturers in the world! We even went as far as shipping a front diff to Europe and then they cut ties completely. We even had 34 members ready to spend 1000$ per diff.
As for you and Josh being the only ones trying I'd say that's pretty false. The only reason the ACPT shaft got made was because of Jon Stew, Pat, and Sifu. How about Klue? He's made quite a few parts for us and continues to support the community as a vendor. I personally tried to get the diff made and I still ask about it every time I step foot in my buddies shop.
The problem is companies NEED a chassis to work off of. As you've noticed we are all pretty scattered around the continent. This makes getting a chassis to whoever shows interest a bit of a pain. And the fact that there are only about 5 driving Alltracs at any given one time lol!!!
Besides you're an engineer. If it makes you mad do something about it!!! Make a bracket that uses an off the shelf extended ball joint. How about the buddy club ones for the FRS? With a 3 bolt bracket made similar to Martins setup but setup for that joint we would be set!! Or even cheaper using a late model solution from Speedway motors.
I personally bought this car because of this lack of support/rarity. It makes me step out of my comfort zone and develop my own skills. I like making my own solutions to problems instead of relying on a catalog. Granted it makes it a lot less time consuming to order parts instead of make them but where's the fun in that?
So instead of pointing fingers about why it didn't work let's put our heads together and come up with a new solution to this problem. I was going to order some OEM joints to measure that come from chassis' with support to measure the pitch and diameter. There's got to be a solution out there somewhere damnit!!!!