'99 corolla a bit insecure on highway, and headlight problems...

[Sputnik13]

I got a used '99 corolla CE manual transmission with 59k miles a week and half ago. Got it checked out by a mechanic that I trust for the most part, and he said it's in good condition. Drives fine, and I'm getting about 35mpg. Going to this from my 2000 Jimmy (which I still have) it's just superb. Only complaint I have (as far as ride quality goes) is that the car seems a bit too light on its feet at speeds above 60 - 70 mph. I thought maybe adding a spoiler (not one of the ricey ones, something that looks oem...) would give it enough downforce to make it feel more secure, but reading one of the other posts on here it seems as if spoilers don't make much of a difference.

What can I do to make the car ride a little heavier at highway speeds? I don't mean actual weight, I mean make it feel like it's planted to the ground and not going to fly off the road when the wind blows.

Secondly I have aftermarket headlight lamps and whatever those things they attach to are called (ballasts??) because the car didn't come with them (I found this out only after taking the car to my uncle's place, hanging out there, and trying to drive it home to San Diego from Los Angeles at night...). The seller *seemed* surprised and he is sending me a check to make up for the cost of the replacement, but anyway I digress...

It seems I wired the lamp modules in reverse since the light's brighter on low beam than high beam. There were 3 wires and I assume one is ground, one is for high beam, and one is for low beam... Please let me know if I'm right in this assumption, or whether there's some other combination of wires this could be... I mean going from live to ground would seem standard fare but I know next to nothing about automotive electronics (as should be apparent by how I got low and high beam backwards).

Also, are there any good aftermarket headlight replacements (complete replacement) that give a lot of really white light at night? I think xenon HID would be overkill, but I'd like more whiter light than what I'm getting. I was considering such an upgrade for my Jimmy but I probably won't since I will not be driving it much now that I have the Corolla...

Oh, lastly and as a side, where can I get a replacement oem instrument cluster? My Corolla doesn't have a tachometer. I'd like a tachometer if it won't cost me a whole lot to replace the entire cluster. If it costs more than $100 I'll just live without a tach.

[Brian R.]

A potential source of handling problems is your tires. Are they real stiff like mileage tires with little traction? Do you keep them filled with air to the recommended tire pressure? Tires can make a big difference in how a car feels and handles. Think about replacing the tires first if they are ready to be changed in the near future, before the shocks and sway bars. They may be the easiest solution. I would recommend buying quality tires meant for rain traction (if you live in a rainy climate). You get what you pay for in tires.

You can improve the roadability of your car by installing stiffer shocks (struts). They will control your car motion better than the stock ones. Don't get real stiff, just moderate. If that is not enough for you, in addition to the new shocks, put on stiffer anti-sway bars, front and rear. Between these two mods, you will make your car alot stiffer and better handling.