Rockin' Ron...all summer long

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North of 64
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Posts: 237
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:04 pm
My tercel:: "Bones" 87 SR5 4wd wagon
Location: Dawson City, Yukon

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by North of 64 »

HomeSkool, my kid loves your Tercel best. He'll be old enough to drive in late 2015. Keep him in mind.
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GLet71
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Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:09 pm
My tercel:: '87 6-spd SR5 4wd Wagon
Location: Nelson, BC Canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by GLet71 »

Life in the hood.
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Currently:
Majorette France Tercel 4WD - Fini
Formerly:
'87 6spd SR5 4WD modified Wagon (Ron, the post-apocalyptic summer ride)
'87 6spd dlx 4wd Wagon (Pinkman Got Nuthin', aka Pinky)
'87 Auto dlx 4WD Wagon (Otto, temporary parts car)
'88 6spd SR5 4WD Wagon (Perry, the parts car)
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Nice composition with the T4WD tee hanging on the line. Tres clever!
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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GLet71
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Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:09 pm
My tercel:: '87 6-spd SR5 4wd Wagon
Location: Nelson, BC Canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by GLet71 »

On damn near the one year anniversary of buying Ron, as I am driving home from a night of camping, my sway bar sheared off at the bracket which is welded to the rear differential. I seem to recall this having happened to someone else, what I can't remember is whether there is a correlation with the Barto lift, and extra stress on this area needs to be modified upon repair. Forum member marlinh has totally stepped up and offered to help me with the welding end of things, but we need to find out if welding the bracket in the same place is the right thing to do. Any ideas?
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Currently:
Majorette France Tercel 4WD - Fini
Formerly:
'87 6spd SR5 4WD modified Wagon (Ron, the post-apocalyptic summer ride)
'87 6spd dlx 4wd Wagon (Pinkman Got Nuthin', aka Pinky)
'87 Auto dlx 4WD Wagon (Otto, temporary parts car)
'88 6spd SR5 4WD Wagon (Perry, the parts car)
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dlb
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Posts: 7305
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by dlb »

greg, i just missed your call this morning! called you back, no answer. give me a shout again today when you can.

so that is actually the panhard arm, and you can drive the car with it broken but drive slowly and carefully because there is a danger of the axle shooting out sideways from under the car. the panhard arm keeps the axle in position laterally so without it, just the driveshaft, shocks, and trailing arm hold it in place, and none of those do anything to control lateral movement (with the barto lift, the rear swaybar is eliminated so you don't have that on ron). i've had two tercs with panhard arms that broke in the same spot and driving them felt really mushy, like the shocks and springs were totally worn out. until i got driving too fast, then it felt like i was on the verge of careening out of control and dying in a horrible wreck.

on the last project terc, i had my friend repair the broken panhard arm mount since i don't have a welder. it was easy, took maybe an hour all in. here are some pics of his repair. it's ugly but worked like a charm. the former piece of crap felt like a new car after the mount was repaired.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8& ... 165#p63964
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marlinh
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My tercel:: 'Everett' Blue 87 4WD Wagon (Rocky 86, recently retired)
Location: Kootenays

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by marlinh »

It looks like a pretty easy repair. Looking forward to fixing it for Glet.
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GLet71
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Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:09 pm
My tercel:: '87 6-spd SR5 4wd Wagon
Location: Nelson, BC Canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by GLet71 »

Yeah David, that is exactly the kind of easy fix a person always looks for in a repair! Was it at all necessary to remove the panhard arm in order to prep everything, and did you need to move the brake line out of the way for whatever reason?
Currently:
Majorette France Tercel 4WD - Fini
Formerly:
'87 6spd SR5 4WD modified Wagon (Ron, the post-apocalyptic summer ride)
'87 6spd dlx 4wd Wagon (Pinkman Got Nuthin', aka Pinky)
'87 Auto dlx 4WD Wagon (Otto, temporary parts car)
'88 6spd SR5 4WD Wagon (Perry, the parts car)
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GLet71
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:09 pm
My tercel:: '87 6-spd SR5 4wd Wagon
Location: Nelson, BC Canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by GLet71 »

On another note, Ron was getting progressively worse fuel economy and power. I was beginning to feel the dread of doing a compression test, fearing my motor was due for a rebuild. However, when I finally had a minute to do my spring tuneup, I noticed a bolt stuck in the throttle body of the Weber carb. Yes, a bolt wedged in there, teetering on the edge of falling right through. I soon discovered it had come from the lower plate that fastens down to the carb and seats the air filter. The washer was bouncing away on the plate itself...yikes. I fished the bolt out, tightened it and the three other that hold the air filter plate down, and lo and behold, all four bolts holding the carb to the manifold were totally loose as well! Check ur nutz, people! I'm back to full power and 31mpg again, woot!
Currently:
Majorette France Tercel 4WD - Fini
Formerly:
'87 6spd SR5 4WD modified Wagon (Ron, the post-apocalyptic summer ride)
'87 6spd dlx 4wd Wagon (Pinkman Got Nuthin', aka Pinky)
'87 Auto dlx 4WD Wagon (Otto, temporary parts car)
'88 6spd SR5 4WD Wagon (Perry, the parts car)
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dlb
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Posts: 7305
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by dlb »

GLet71 wrote:Yeah David, that is exactly the kind of easy fix a person always looks for in a repair! Was it at all necessary to remove the panhard arm in order to prep everything, and did you need to move the brake line out of the way for whatever reason?
no, we didn't have to remove anything besides the rear left wheel. just jacked the rear end up, pulled the wheel off, ground the surface rust off of the panhard arm mounts on both the arm and axle, cut two plates of scrap metal to match the remains of the mount (top and bottom), and welded them in place. i was worried the heat generated might destroy the lower panhard arm bushing but it wasn't that close and it didn't get too hot anyway so no problem there. i had installed a new steel brake line before this repair so we had to bend it a little bit to accommodate the mount but nothing drastic so that was fine too. no need to disconnect it.

god, you scared me with the talk of worsening fuel economy and power. nice to know it was an easy fix. wish i was getting the same kind of mileage when i was wielding ron. how is leonard?
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by Petros »

all the fasteners that go inside the air clear nor carb that could go down the throat, should have lock-tight or thread-locker on them. when I worked for a professional racing team, we used epoxy on all the screws that could get swallowed if they cam loose, both on carbed race engines, and on EFI engines.
'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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GLet71
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Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:09 pm
My tercel:: '87 6-spd SR5 4wd Wagon
Location: Nelson, BC Canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by GLet71 »

I've held off as long as I possibly could, but I think if I don't make my repair soon, I may just see my front left tire go speeding off down the road without me. At least that's how it feels... Here's the problem: When making left hand turns, I am getting the most God awful clunk, clunk, clunk. It is generally on accelerated left hand turns, not the casual 'downhill' turns. It's as if the weight of the car is mostly on the right hand side of the vehicle, and when there is less weight on the drivers side, the clunking occurs. I came to this description when speeding over a rise, and when the car feels weightless (like catching air, but not even close), the clunking happens as well.

This is not new, in fact it has existed since I bought Ron. It is exponentially worse now, and I hope you all can give me some links to other discussions on this, or at least a thorough walk through. Could the Barto lift have something to do with this? Thanks guys!
Currently:
Majorette France Tercel 4WD - Fini
Formerly:
'87 6spd SR5 4WD modified Wagon (Ron, the post-apocalyptic summer ride)
'87 6spd dlx 4wd Wagon (Pinkman Got Nuthin', aka Pinky)
'87 Auto dlx 4WD Wagon (Otto, temporary parts car)
'88 6spd SR5 4WD Wagon (Perry, the parts car)
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by ARCHINSTL »

I'm throwing out something here, but - check the sway bar-to-control arm and the control arms-to-"chassis" mounts.
Also - guessing here - the upper strut mounts - also the two bolts-per-strut body.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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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: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by Petros »

The clunking on acceleration is almost certainly a worn right CV joint. no cause for alarm, this just happens as they wear, they get more clearance and begin the clunking when accelerating when there is an angle on the joint, like in a turn. I drove mine like that for over two years as an "experiment" to see how long it would last. It never did fail, it just got so bad it was very annoying (eventually, along with the clunking in a turn, it would cause the steering wheel to oscillate back and fourth in timing with the clunking), so I changed out the axle.

Just to verify it is the CV joint, you can jack up the front wheels and wiggle the top to bottom and front to back (if there is movement relative to the hub or steering knuckle it could be worn bearings, ball joints or tie-rod ends, but those usually make a different noise). Than tightly grasp the axle shaft and rotate the wheel back and forth, you should feel some slop or play in the cv joint. It does not take much play in the CV joint to cause the clunking. Again this is normal wear, the clearance causes the clunking when there is an angle on the joint when there is power applied to the axles (accelerating).

The fix is to replace the CV axle. No hurry if there is nothing else wrong, you change it when it gets annoyingly larger. there are some rare occasions where the CV joint will fail catastrophically and will not allow you drive it in fwd. It blow apart leaving parts of the CV joint scattured everywhere, but this is not common at all The 4wd will still work but I do not think I would want to drive it with the axle flopping around ripped out of the CV joint.
'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)
c_j
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My tercel:: T4WD#4: '86 SR5 6-speed, original Barto lift & steel bumpers & winch, also 95Amp alternator
Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by c_j »

If you want to blow that CV, just put in 4x4, turn the steering wheel hard over in extra low and drop the clutch or stab the gas pedal a few times. (I have a related pic somewhere...)

..or if you want to make it last as long as possible, then:
  • do not start the car moving unless the wheels are pointed straight ahead
  • do not drive in 4x4 with the wheels cranked way over to one side
  • plan ahead so you don't have to accelerate when in a turn (or with the wheels turned)
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GLet71
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Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:09 pm
My tercel:: '87 6-spd SR5 4wd Wagon
Location: Nelson, BC Canada

Re: Rockin' Ron...all summer long

Post by GLet71 »

I checked the passenger side CV joint, and sure enough, there is some side to side movement in it. The drivers' side has no play whatsoever, and all mounts, suspension, and steering parts appear to be normal. Time to start finding some parts so I can get Ron back on the road!
Currently:
Majorette France Tercel 4WD - Fini
Formerly:
'87 6spd SR5 4WD modified Wagon (Ron, the post-apocalyptic summer ride)
'87 6spd dlx 4wd Wagon (Pinkman Got Nuthin', aka Pinky)
'87 Auto dlx 4WD Wagon (Otto, temporary parts car)
'88 6spd SR5 4WD Wagon (Perry, the parts car)
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