Lifting a Terk?

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:44 am

Notice that your front tire looks "lower" than the back one....if you have equal pressures in them...that's saying that what's in the Toyota manual is wrong...I'd think you'd want both front/back tires to be "squished" (guess that's a word) about the same for best handling and to avoid 4WD lockup on dry pavement in a straight line?

Has anyone checked this idea out?

My wagon sits higher in the back with the shock spring boosters...still have it set up for camping. This also affects what your trans oil level will show at the rear filler.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sat Dec 04, 2004 1:03 pm

Huh. In the pic I dun see too much of a difference from normal with the back up. Did you really notice much?
Well jeez, if you're only running 60PSI in them, and a bit more air will push them a whole inch up.. Those things could essentially be lifts for many sizes of lift. Though, the higher you went, the stiffer it'd get.
Essentially the advantage to air shocks is the fact that air is more "sensitive" to the vibration of the road. In other words, it absorbs it better because it can compress much faster than say a metal spring or oil-filled shock. This produces a softer riding ride but can also reduce sway. They are used in the form of bags on many RV's. When inflated, it softens up the ride a bit, but also stiffen the body up in proportion to the axle. This will prevent the body from swaying back and forth excessively. People also use them on trucks rear axles to balance loads (individually filled bags) i.e. if what you're carrying weighs 300lbs on the driver side but 750lbs on the passenger side. Some trucks even have 4 point systems so they can level every corner. They also inprove ride a bit. A lot of my dads/my friends who own Powerstroke diesel trucks say they'd never go back from using them.

takza · Post by **takza** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 6:17 pm

Talked to somebody about making the boosters and he thought 1/4" mild steel plate would do it...with either a large tube spacer between them or 4 small tubes at the holes.

Said it should be no sweat...and free materials.

Looks to me like both top and bottom plates could be exactly the same OD/ID...at least lookingat it from the top.

Next summer........

Galen · Post by **Galen** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 2:51 pm

My Subaru has a 3" body lift, and I was planning on doing a body lift to get the clearence for the tires which would be giving me the ground clearence. I'm not worried about tipping the car over with a high car (My hatch doesn't have any anti-roll bars) as there are folks on the subaru board that have 12" and 33" mud terrains on their rigs. Again, I'm not worried, I've done this before.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 2:52 pm

Dirtmagnet · Post by **Dirtmagnet** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:47 pm

Finally got a chance to mess around with the car again. I have some measurements on the air shocks on the rear. I put 90psi in them to check and see the max lift. With 90psi, the rear is 2" higher than the front. I measured the shock and it is maxed out.

The shocks do match the MA700 dimensions that Takza found. I have a PDF file on the shock dimensions to compare it too. The max length on the shock is 21-3/8"(from center of bottom mount to top of lower washer at top) and is has 8-5/8 travel. I pulled if off and extended it then retracted it to check.

Here is a photo in the extended position.

Here is a photo of the end. It shows the number that Takza cross referenced. Max-Air 48700-P263V. (focus not good)

The dimensions match the MA700. The sheet calls the top mount to be a S4 and the bottom to be L1/CP3. Do not know how this compares.

takza · Post by **takza** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:58 pm

So between those 2 numbers....if anyone went in to order a shock....they would end up with the same shock you have.

.....sounds like you would also end up with all the boost you could manage relative to the front too.

Good work.......

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:39 pm

TOPIC REVIVAL!!!!
So how much would these air springs wind up costing? They might be a reality pretty soon here, but I dunno about the front spacers. I'd need to know where to get the supplies from heh...
I guess its more improtant to get an alignment done though eh?

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:56 pm

I just put the Max-Airs on my Terc... went to the local Advanced Auto Parts and asked them to search by part number: MA700. It came right up on their computer($69.95). The instructions want you to position the air fittings to the inside of the vehicle, but there is not enough clearance. This might explain why Monroe does not list these for our 4WD. So... by putting the fittings toward the tires, you run the risk of gravel or grit eating up the air lines. Big deal, I want to haul firewood with my Terc. The minimum recommended pressure is 20 PSI to preserve the boots. I'm running about 24 with no cargo and the ride is solid... not too stiff. Now, got to do something about those worn out front struts.

Paul

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 11:33 pm

>.< AAP is spensive. Better check Napa and AZ's sites and stores.

takza · Post by **takza** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 9:18 am

Paul wrote: I just put the Max-Airs on my Terc... went to the local Advanced Auto Parts and asked them to search by part number: MA700. It came right up on their computer($69.95). The instructions want you to position the air fittings to the inside of the vehicle, but there is not enough clearance. This might explain why Monroe does not list these for our 4WD. So... by putting the fittings toward the tires, you run the risk of gravel or grit eating up the air lines. Big deal, I want to haul firewood with my Terc. The minimum recommended pressure is 20 PSI to preserve the boots. I'm running about 24 with no cargo and the ride is solid... not too stiff. Now, got to do something about those worn out front struts.

Paul

Great! Somebody bought a pair.....and put them on.

Might be a good idea to slip a length of vacuum hose over those nylon lines to avoid most damage?

Could you say where you ran the lines to?

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:08 pm

The vacuum hose is a good idea. The "kit" comes with several air line mounting clips that pop into a mounting hole that you drill. I used one on each side - on the bottom of the inner fender, routed away from the tires, but not so tight that it kinked the airline. From there I went along the back and above the fuel tank. There's a small area of trunk sheet metal you can see between the tank and the rear bumper.

Sheet! I just took a picture of the "tee" valve mounting, but can't figure out how to post it. Pick up your carpet, if you still got it, and check out the sheet metal stamping at the back center - just slightly to the passenger side. This area was below a peice of rubber tape that protected some wiring. There's a low rib stamped into the steel on my '83 that was perfect for mounting the tee valve. This recessed the schraeder valve so it wouldn't stick up too far. Plenty of line is included, so you may find a better location. I think it would be cool to have a small gauge near the dash, so you could keep an eye on the shock pressure.

rbangs · Post by **rbangs** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 8:03 pm

So I have a question concerning this 2" lift that noone seems to have touched.
Why couldn't you use these air shocks on all 4 corners??

AbusedJalopy · Post by **AbusedJalopy** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 8:58 pm

The rears are shocks, external and independent of the springs. The front, however, uses struts, which are located inside the spring/strut that make up a unit. I'm sure there would be some way to do it though.

Some people on here mentioned lifting their cars higher than what's shown (1"-2"). I have personal experience with going beyond that and just like everyone else said, the main issues are the sway bar and axle geometry. We raised ours by taking a strut tower mount identical to ours, sawing off the mount part, and simply welding it onto the top part of our existing one so that we then bolted the new unit combined unit the same way, only now it was longer. This resulted in having to use spring compressors just to get the new struts on their, which was a royal PITA. For the rear, we used a piece similar to the cup that spring sits in on the bottom and welded it to that guide piece that sticks down from the top. These were also a pain to get back on.

This resulted in a huge lift, both front and back, well over 3", closer to 4" or more inches. The first thing noticeable was that the car handled like crap. We use to be able to take corners very hard and if it started to slide, it would slide almost comletely even front to back. Now the car felt unstable at any speeds over 10mph and it would oscilate in terms of body roll. After driving a while longer, the front started to bend inward quite a bit. It seems that the sway bar can not provide the outward push to hold the wheels in their correct camber. Now that we have dropped it back down, the front is still bowed inward, probably due the sway bar being permanently bent. Also, when the car was raised, tight turns under throttle or while hitting bumps, the axles would grind beyond belief. So much grinding that the steering wheel would pulse.

So in short, don't raise the car more than a small amount unless you have a serious redesign in mind. The methods I used to raise the car though are still effective. Just weld something on to the front strut, and for the back, if you look where the spring goes, you can see that all it takes is a cylindrical spacer. You wouldn't even need to weld it since it's held under load. If anyone wants a better description of what I did, or pictures, I'll see what I can do.

clbolt · Post by **clbolt** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 7:15 pm

I'll add my concern about this setup. I ran air shocks for tire clearance lift on a couple of vehicles back in the 80s. Keep in mind that if you're running big tires and either rip off a line or blow a shock (I've done both) while off-road, you'll be walking out. My vote would be to contact Downey to see if they'd be interested in making a run of springs, or in sharing the technical info on the wind. Another possibility is that a production spring exists that could be used to give the desired lift in the rear of the Tercel. With the tech info from Downey, spring specs could be searched to find out.