Do Tercel sedans have power steering?

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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tercle
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Posts: 210
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 9:57 am
My tercel:: 1985 SR5
Location: Seattle

Do Tercel sedans have power steering?

Post by tercle »

Was it just wagons that got PS?
jimcrazy
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Posts: 515
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:33 pm
My tercel:: 1985 4wd 1986fwd 1983 4wd

Re: Do Tercel sedans have power steering?

Post by jimcrazy »

my 86 hatch had p/s
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Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Do Tercel sedans have power steering?

Post by Petros »

I think it was optional, I have seen very rare SR5 hatch backs with PS.
'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)
tercle
Top Notch Member
Posts: 210
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 9:57 am
My tercel:: 1985 SR5
Location: Seattle

Re: Do Tercel sedans have power steering?

Post by tercle »

Pulled one from a 86 hatchback today in Lake Stevens.
It just arrived on the yard today.

(It had AC, but no power steering.)
GoldenHatch
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Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2018 1:11 pm
My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel 3dr Hatchback stock

Re: Do Tercel sedans have power steering?

Post by GoldenHatch »

Tercle- I live in Granite Falls. I drive a Gold 85 FWD 3dr hatchback. Do you know anything about lowering my car 2 or 3 inches? Springs/struts and rear shocks? Thanks for any help.
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Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Do Tercel sedans have power steering?

Post by Petros »

You are on your own lowering the Tercel hatchback. No one ever made after market parts for it, or racing car parts for it. so you either have to cut a coil or two off the springs and see what you get experimenting, or spend time in the wrecking yard looking for similar size springs from other cars that might fit that are short and stiffer. it is a lot of experimenting.

it is critical that you maintain a stiffness balance between the front and rear springs or you can drastically alter the oversteer/understeer behavior that could make you loose control of it in a minor slip or panic stop. you will also have to find shorter length dampeners (shocks) that are adequate and do not over dampen the system. Usually going through shock catalogs, knowing your mount type and length you can shop the store catalogs and find something to try out.

years ago I worked for a factory backed racing team (nissan), and several smaller outfits as well, and I had helped design and built suspension systems for several different race cars. I learned a lot about suspension system design (they are not quite so mysterious now to me), but also know that just randomly replacing parts could lead to a big disappointment. It always cracks me up when I see some high school kid with too much money buy a bunch of crap out of a catalog and put it on his honda civic, and end up with something lowered, but actually does not handle as well as the stock set up, and certainly rides harsh, for no appearance benefit.

You can find a way to improve the Tercel suspension, but it will be a trial and error process. If you want to run by this forum what you were thinking or have in mind, we can share with you our thoughts or suggestions to help you narrow it down faster with minimal errors.

What is you goal for the car? make it look cool, or improve handling? improve cornering, or acceleration? how large a tire and wheel I are considering? what is your primary use for the car? this will give us some idea of what you want to accomplish with the mods.

Good luck with that.
'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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