Mismatched front springs

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rocketscience
Top Notch Member
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2015 12:46 pm
My tercel:: 1983 4WD SR5
Location: Tenino, WA

Mismatched front springs

Post by rocketscience »

Well, I made it a whole year without owning a T4WD but finally broke down and bought a local fixer upper that I'm trying to get going. It needs suspension work and I'm swapping stuff out while trying to give it a bit of a lift, but when I took apart the front struts I realized the springs are mismatched. One has a bit over 1/3 of an extra coil to it and feels like it has a higher spring rate... any insight on this? The shorter one looks stock, it has an orangish dot on the spring, while the other one has a beige dot. Both struts have the same upper perch. It'd be great to buy another of the longer springs if I can figure out what it is, it seems slightly thicker so I don't think cutting it to match is the best idea. I'm going to swap out the rear springs but haven't looked at em yet, is it possible to put them on the front?

ImageDSC00545 by Britton Glenn, on Flickr
xirdneh
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 2121
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:38 am
My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
Location: seabeck, washington, USA

Re: Mismatched front springs

Post by xirdneh »

One could be from FWD hatchback as the overall shock length is 1" shorter than 4WD
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
rocketscience
Top Notch Member
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2015 12:46 pm
My tercel:: 1983 4WD SR5
Location: Tenino, WA

Re: Mismatched front springs

Post by rocketscience »

Thank you, after looking at photos I'm pretty sure the shorter one is stock, I'm not sure what the longer one is but found a post by Petros saying he'd inspected a pair, I think from a 2wd wagon that were slightly thicker and slightly longer but the same height. I'm going to try to get one or a pair this weekend, 1/2 off at picknpull through monday
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