1" lift spring spacers

lesabre400 · Post by **lesabre400** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:33 pm

I've found some rubber/plastic spring spacers at an auto parts place. They're just round donuts, cupped top and bottom for the springs to rest in, and split so you don't need to remove the shocks/struts - just spread the 'donut' apart and fit it between the spring and bracket, or between two coils in the spring. Seems like an easy and cheap way to get a nice subtle lift. Anyone ever tried them?

takza · Post by **takza** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:50 pm

Some stuff here:

<a href='http://tercel4wd.com/invision/index.php?act=ST&f=7&t=70' target='_blank'>http://tercel4wd.com/invision/index.php ... =7&t=70</a>

lesabre400 · Post by **lesabre400** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:50 pm

Cool - thanks Takza!
I figured fitting the donuts between the spring and perch would still allow full spring travel. Is there a reason why you put them between two coils instead? Thanks again for the info!

simon1 · Post by **simon1** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:46 pm

I have a tercel wagon with 14 inch rims with P205-70R-14 tires from a dodge caravan with 4 bolt hubs (they fit the toyota!). This necessitated the donut spring boosters you speak of. I have 2 in each spring all around the vehicle. This gave me about an inch of lift. This stiffened up the suspension and it handles nicely on the road. It is too stiff for off roading really. The wheels still hit the inside of the wheels wells occasionally. Not quite enough clearance in the front on tight turns.
I am replacing my front springs and struts soon and I plan to try fitting the rubber donuts into the spring seat so that I can once again get full spring extension. Hopefully it works. I will also have to do the same on the rear when I replace the shocks. I wasn't able to find new rear springs yet.

takza · Post by **takza** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 5:45 am

lesabre400 wrote: Cool - thanks Takza!
I figured fitting the donuts between the spring and perch would still allow full spring travel. Is there a reason why you put them between two coils instead? Thanks again for the info!

Because it's real easy to do? Not too sure about how well they would fit or stay on the ends of the springs.

The doughnuts CAN deteriorate over time...though if they are put in right...not a lot.

Basically with older cars, the springs sag...so boosting the springs between the coils by some method gives a stiffer spring, but still lower ride height than OEM...good for the road at least.

With 2 doughnuts front, steel boosters + shock springs rear...I still sit lower than OEM specs...will put on new springs next year.

lesabre400 · Post by **lesabre400** » Fri Oct 15, 2004 9:09 am

Maybe something like this is a better answer. A bit more work involved, of course:

<a href='http://mku.dhs.org/discovery/Tech/spacer%20install/' target='_blank'>http://mku.dhs.org/discovery/Tech/spacer%20install/</a>

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:21 am

There is a long thread on lifting the Tercel....basic conclusion seems to be that the front struts limit the height you can manage to get to....much over OEM height seems to cause the struts to hit their limit...but this is only one persons experience though.

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:30 am

simon wrote: I have a tercel wagon with 14 inch rims with P205-70R-14 tires from a dodge caravan with 4 bolt hubs (they fit the toyota!). This necessitated the donut spring boosters you speak of. I have 2 in each spring all around the vehicle. This gave me about an inch of lift. This stiffened up the suspension and it handles nicely on the road. It is too stiff for off roading really. The wheels still hit the inside of the wheels wells occasionally. Not quite enough clearance in the front on tight turns.

My next set of tires will probably be 185 or 195 70-14s on steel Escort wheels...have had no clearance problems at all with 195-60-14s right now....including some offroading with a 600 lb load.

2 doughnuts per spring front....saddle boosters and shock springs in back.

Didn't seem too stiff with that payload....offroad. With no load...the back end sits a little too high.

simon1 · Post by **simon1** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:18 pm

I just replaced the front struts and springs on my 84 tercel wagon. This alone increased the ride height in the front.
I also replaced the shocks in the back and while I was at it I put one of the donut spacers under the rear spring to raise things up a little. I had to cut off the bottom groove of the spacer so that it sat nicely on the lower spring seat. The sway bars and the e-brake cables do limit you in putting in a lift in the back. The spacer adds about an inch so nothing too much.
I also tried putting a spacer at the top of the strut and spring assembly on the front. This goes between the top of the strut assembly and the strut mounting tower. I had to install longer bolts for this. I took it out tho because I was getting a lot of noise from the passenger side cv joint. This is still happening, although quieter. I found out that I need to replace the cv joints because they wore in at a certain ride height and don't like the new height. I could probably put the extra lift back in the front with new cv joints but I may not since the front and back seem pretty ballanced right now. I'm also back on my winter tires which are stock 13's so I don't need the extra room.

takza · Post by **takza** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 4:25 am

Not seeing any aftermarket source for new rear springs...so the spacer method you used might be the best method...was wondering about how using new springs in the front would go with using the old ones in the back.

I have the rear springs on my wagon boosted with the metal saddle-type spacers AND 750 lb springs on the shocks and I still am not at OEM ride height.

Thereminator · Post by **Thereminator** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 8:33 pm

Simon,where did you get your springs (frount)and how much where they?

simon1 · Post by **simon1** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:31 pm

I am in Calgary, Alberta and I just ordered the front springs from a local parts store. I think they came from Moog part number cc212.
Let me know if you want more info.

simon1 · Post by **simon1** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:32 pm

oh yeah, the springs were $128 CDN a pair.