How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Here's some good repair guides for your Tercel :) Look here for help first!
The Professor
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My tercel:: 1987 Tercel SR5 4WD wagon
Location: Western Washington
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Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by The Professor »

Abra-Cadaver wrote:3 of my retreads...
I think I found your problem...
1975 Subaru SuperStar wagon
1984 Subaru Turbo-Traction wagon & hardtop
1987 Subaru RX 3-door
1987 Subaru RX Type-RA 3-door
1987 Toyota Tercel SR5 wagon
1999 Subaru Forester S
2002 Subaru WRX sedan
2019 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited
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C130
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Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 8:03 pm
My tercel:: 1984 SR5 280K Lift and 195 75 14.

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by C130 »

My thoughts exactly, weeks of searching only got me to the wranglers for 250$ a piece. That tracker is ridiculous in all the right ways man! I dig the home made snorkel. Nice work. Tires go on tomorrow. Got a kickass deal on a Yakima rain gutter setup today, time to see if those gutters have any more life in them. And as far as the tire clearance goes, sounds like I may have to get the heat gun and mallet out. WHo did you go with for spacers?
Evan
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ARCHINSTL
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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: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Abra-Cadaver wrote:Yeah I miss that tracker, a guy flew in to NY from St Louis from zuwharrie.com (it's basically this site but for trackers, sidekicks, and samurais) to buy it off me in 2007 i think, and traveled for like 2 weeks driving it back, seeing the sights. Last I knew he dropped a VW diesel motor in it.
Interesting! Since I am in STL, do you still have his name and any details? I could give him a call and see what's up with it.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
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Mark Twain
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C130
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My tercel:: 1984 SR5 280K Lift and 195 75 14.

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by C130 »

Got the tires on :D . I cant stop smiling at it, laughing too actually. I dig the MR2 triangles in white. 25$ rack took some modifiying, just cut and adjust. No rubbing thus far. See how the bumps go. More than likely some will happen off road. Wheels balanced well as far as I can tell, no noise, wobbles or odd vibrations. ANd yeah a safari rack would be cool. I don't think I would really use it that much. Just need to throw the cartop on to lug all my boards to Tahoe. Got some repairs to do, LH inner tie rod end, weird lag(think its distributor related, thought it was the new clutch I put in) and then clean out all the nasty DNA the previous owner left in the thing. They really should be ashamed with the kinda neglect they subjected the wagon to. If the door panels could talk...haha.
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NickC809
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My tercel:: 1985 T4WD
Location: Rough & Ready, CA

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by NickC809 »

https://phantomgrip.com/product/1982-19 ... 20-fwd4wd/

Earlier lockers/LSDs/open diffs were discussed. Has anyone ever tried this brand? The reviews seem to be all over the place.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by Petros »

there is a similiar LSD kit that costs less, about $100 or so. it is somewhere in in a thread the archives, do a search. There is also a link to a youtube video showing how to install it.

good to know there are alternatives to doing a costly rear end change.
'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)
teranfirbt
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My tercel:: '86 SR5 4WD, 5AFE, lifted rear, 195/70/14 tires
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by teranfirbt »

NickC809 wrote:https://phantomgrip.com/product/1982-19 ... 20-fwd4wd/

Earlier lockers/LSDs/open diffs were discussed. Has anyone ever tried this brand? The reviews seem to be all over the place.
From an engineering standpoint I don't trust it. It's made to push and wear on parts that aren't meant or designed for it (faces of the spider gears, additional axial load into the differential housing). It also can't be super effective since it only has 2 friction surfaces. Most factory/proper aftermarket limited slip diffs have multiple friction surfaces on both sides that directly spline to the drive shafts.
Will it do something? Sure, it'll prevent complete one tire fire in the snow or on ultra slick surfaces. Will it wear the diff in ways that it shouldn't wear? most certainly.
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C130
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Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 8:03 pm
My tercel:: 1984 SR5 280K Lift and 195 75 14.

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by C130 »

Abra-Cadaver wrote:
C130 wrote:Got the tires on :D . I cant stop smiling at it, laughing too actually. I dig the MR2 triangles in white. 25$ rack took some modifiying, just cut and adjust. No rubbing thus far. See how the bumps go. More than likely some will happen off road. Wheels balanced well as far as I can tell, no noise, wobbles or odd vibrations. ANd yeah a safari rack would be cool. I don't think I would really use it that much. Just need to throw the cartop on to lug all my boards to Tahoe. Got some repairs to do, LH inner tie rod end, weird lag(think its distributor related, thought it was the new clutch I put in) and then clean out all the nasty DNA the previous owner left in the thing. They really should be ashamed with the kinda neglect they subjected the wagon to. If the door panels could talk...haha.
Looks great, good job. I dig the white triangles as well.
My front door panels are kinda beat, too, near the windows. I think they had a little dog.
I gotta get some paint on my car one of these days.

Did you get an alignment yet?
Nope, trying to source some tie rod ends before I get it done. Camber is off but believe it or not it still drives true.
The Professor
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Posts: 650
Joined: Wed May 12, 2010 6:38 pm
My tercel:: 1987 Tercel SR5 4WD wagon
Location: Western Washington
Contact:

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by The Professor »

teranfirbt wrote:
NickC809 wrote:https://phantomgrip.com/product/1982-19 ... 20-fwd4wd/

Earlier lockers/LSDs/open diffs were discussed. Has anyone ever tried this brand? The reviews seem to be all over the place.
From an engineering standpoint I don't trust it. It's made to push and wear on parts that aren't meant or designed for it (faces of the spider gears, additional axial load into the differential housing). It also can't be super effective since it only has 2 friction surfaces. Most factory/proper aftermarket limited slip diffs have multiple friction surfaces on both sides that directly spline to the drive shafts.
Will it do something? Sure, it'll prevent complete one tire fire in the snow or on ultra slick surfaces. Will it wear the diff in ways that it shouldn't wear? most certainly.
Agreed. Phantom Grip and all similar designs are GARBAGE.
1975 Subaru SuperStar wagon
1984 Subaru Turbo-Traction wagon & hardtop
1987 Subaru RX 3-door
1987 Subaru RX Type-RA 3-door
1987 Toyota Tercel SR5 wagon
1999 Subaru Forester S
2002 Subaru WRX sedan
2019 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited
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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: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by Petros »

not sure I would call it garbage, it is a compromise at best. no illusions that it will not grip or perform as well as a true limited slip diff. But I would see this an economical step up from an open diff. Yes, it will wear out faster. No, it will not work as well as a full limited slip diff. It would be nice to spend over $1000 to get a proper set up, spend perhaps another $1000 to have it custom fit to the small Tercel4wd rear diff, or spend even more adapting a larger rear axle assembly to fit in the Tercel4wd. Which might be called for if you are running 160-200 hp in your Tercel (which means at least an engine swap), and likely with that much power, and a "real" limited slip, you would bundle up your transmission in a few milliseconds.

So if you are running around 100 hp, the stock drive line, this half step (very) limited slip diff seems like a good options. If you are running a big powerful engine, and you adapt a stronger transmission, and a bigger rear axle, than a full proper limited slip would be called for.

I have not heard any issues with reliability of these retrofit LSD kits, only that they do not grip as well as a regular full LSD. You get what you pay for, it would cost you about ten to twenty times more to adapt a full LSD rear diff to the Tercel4wd. Even if you improve traction 10 percent for a few hundred dollars, it would be worth it.

However, If you risk trashing the rear diff when you are using one of these kits, than it would be a serious concern (and than I would call it garbage too, in fact, worse than useless). I did a search on all the car forums about this kit in the past, but could not find any instances of complete failure. the only complaint was it was not as good as a full LSD, but well worth money.

what would be really great if there was some simple way, retrofit or kit or something, to completely lock out the rear diff for slippery surfaces. and unlock it for hard surface roads.
'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)
ccmt
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My tercel:: '86 4WD SR5
Location: Washington, D.C.

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by ccmt »

Hows this lift working long term? any trouble with the CV joints?
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by Petros »

yes, forum member Synth discovered a new set of CV axles wore out in 6-7 months as a daily driver. Too much angle on the front CV axles will wear them out.

not really a good solution except to keep the front lift a modest 1" or so, and use taller tires to increase ground clearance. there might be a way of cut and welding the front suspension and engine mounts to change the geometry, which means lowering the engine/trans combo. Which also means you loose the ground clearance you are trying to gain by raising it.
'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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My tercel:: '87 6-spd SR5 4wd Wagon
Location: Nelson, BC Canada

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by GLet71 »

I went through a few CV axles early on, and other than buying 1 new (lasted 1 year plus a day so no warranty) I've been going through used ones. The two I have now have been on there for two years, but I don't drive my car like a rocket ship through the corners anymore, so maybe that's a factor too ;-)
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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NickC809
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My tercel:: 1985 T4WD
Location: Rough & Ready, CA

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by NickC809 »

I just completed my lift via this thread and I couldn't be happier!
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seancromie
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My tercel:: (ROVER) 1987 tercel 4wd
Location: Vancouver B.C.....

Re: How to lift your Tercel 4wd

Post by seancromie »

do you have a link to he coils you used? i haven't had much luck other than king springs on eBay and thats a little more then I'm willing to spend..
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