Replacing rear coil springs

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Ace
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Posts: 104
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:57 am
My tercel:: '83 DLX 4WD Tercel wagon 3AC

Re: Replacing rear coil springs

Post by Ace »

Just curious why it is necessary to replace the springs. Where they sagging?
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Petros
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Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Replacing rear coil springs

Post by Petros »

for some reason, perhaps from routine overloading, some Tercel spring sag and you have less clearance. most people ask me if I raised mine, which as far as I know has the original springs front and rear. Over 380k miles on lots of rough roads. quality steel holds it shape after many cycles, but I suppose impurities in the lower cost steel causes micro cracks, slip planes in the metal matrix, or was not as good a heat treat, so spring loses strength as well as shape.

only solution is to replace the springs, adding lift bags or spacers only degrades the springs performance further. the other solution is to spend some time wandering around a self service wrecking yard looking for a stiffer spring that can be made to fit. hopefully you will not disrupt the balance or the wheel travel in any detrimental way.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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Mark
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Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:49 pm
My tercel:: 1984 Automatic, 1981 sedan
Location: Victoria, B.C.

Re: Replacing rear coil springs

Post by Mark »

I used to have an '84 Camry hatchback. One of the coils had a clamp on it, preventing one of the spirals from compressing. I assume it was installed because the spring was sagging on that side. They might also be used to create a stiffer spring. They also make ones that forcibly hold part of the spring together, lowering the car.
clamps.jpg
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