lift kit question

[terkill]

because of the delicate 4wd system on the tercel, is there any extra percautions that must be checked or done before lifting it? i am going to make a lift kit or use a universal one that a friend of mine has and i was just wondering about it since as it is you need the same exact size wheels/psi or everything goes haywire.

[Petros]

The biggest issue is the angle of the front half shafts at the CV joints, if you go too far they will wear out fast. Raising it about 1.5 inches or so (2 inch max) should not be a problem. The only way to get more than this you have to lower the engine/trans (which means making new mounts). This of course means you will not be getting as much clearance. There would be some point where the u-joints on the drive shaft will suffer the same problem, this is not as severe nor do these cost as much to replace as the front CV joints. The steering tie-rods should handle it fine presuming you are not going too high. If you do then you will have to lower the steering rack too (it might be possible to heat and reform the steering arms to raise the tie-rod end, but I can not imagine there is much to be gained this way).

If you use taller tires and wheel combo you could gain a bit more clearance, but there is a fender clearance issue (unless you are willing to cut-out or alter your fender wells). On the '85 and latter Tercel you are already running the 4.1:1 final drive ratio so the taller tires will work out fine (though your speedo will be a bit off). The earlier models with the higher final drive in the diff would be tough to get moving with taller tires.

These cars do not have a separate frame like on the trucks that you can just put spacers between the fame and body to get more fender clearance, so you either have to limit the total amount of lift you can live with, or expect to do major surgery on the various body and components that will affect the angles on the CV and U-joints, and the steering gear. IF you plan on going that far I would suggest you do it on another vehicle besides a Tercel, it would be a shame to butcher up a good Tercel and ruin its ride, handling and comfort. These cars were not ever meant to be off-road racers, just cars that can be driven on snowy roads.

What does this "universal lift kit" consist of? I am not sure how that would be possible on a car like the Tercel.

[terkill]

yea i was told from a couple of friends that these:
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Prod ... 19/c-10101

would work out fine, its just the handling would be different. i am going to keep the same tire size and everything, it is just for some more clearance, not over 2". it is an 87 tercel deluxe too, btw

[4wdchico]

Before you add a set of those spring spacers to the front struts you may want to see if you have 2" between where your struts are now and where they hit their top out limit. If those spacers put the struts fully extended, or even very close, to the top out bumpers expect a horrible ride and much shortened strut life. Suspension is designed to be run with some sag. Then, on the compressed end of things, coil bind becomes a real possibility with those spring spacers. Oh, the joy, if you start coil binding the front end you could cause damage to the strut towers.

I'd suggest getting a new set of front springs, the front of your car will most likely be higher than it is now.

I would not mind if somebody made some water jet cut shims to go between the top of the strut and the strut towers. Say 10mm thick so one or two could be run for a small bit of lift.

[terkill]

that sounds like a better idea, thanks a lot for the tips and information
do you think you can give me some links of good coils or some good companies? I'm new with foreign cars, im usually more of a chevy fan but these toyotas have caught my eye.

[ARCHINSTL]

The following paste is from a post I made last November after installing the new Moog (I think)/AZ #212 springs:
One thing - with the new springs/struts, the car now sits approximately 1 1/2" higher at the front control arm measuring point; LOTS of space between the tire and fender lip. The FSM spec at the control arm bolt is 235mm, my old was about 200mm, and the new is about 238mm, or just above the OE . That is an approximate measurement, as it's on a gravel driveway. I think the headlights' aiming will be a lot better now!
The 13"s look kinda wimpy now.

Incidentally, I investigated use of the doughnut spring spacers for the rear, so beloved by takza , and actually checked with the Mr. Gasket company itself after buying some- it seems that they need less than 1 1/2" space between the coils to be effective - and Goldie's 170K springs still had that or more, so they could not even be inserted and stay in place. ADV took them back.
Note - I could be wrong on the maximum spacing, but whatever it was, Goldie's distances were still too far to use them.

Apparently - the only new rear springs are from Pedders in AU - they are available through the USA supplier in CO, for about $170 the pair... Typrus bought these for one of his Tercs, but I dunno if he ever installed them. The only other possible OE source is a Canadian Toy dealer, at least in North America.
Tom M.

[terkill]

yea moog seems good, i replaced the rear air shocks in the back of my elky with a pair of those. ill check out and call this automotive place my dad swears by and see if they have any good ones to suit the job

[keith]

would work out fine, its just the handling would be different. i am going to keep the same tire size and everything, it is just for some more clearance, not over 2". it is an 87 tercel deluxe too, btw

Unless you put tires on with a larger diameter, you are not going to get any more clearance. Look at your rear axle, no matter how high you jack up everything else, the center of the differential to the ground will not change unless you change the tires. The whole purpose of raising the body is to get clearance for larger tires.

If you have good springs right now, that is the car is not sagging, you can go about 2" larger on the tire diameter and about 10mm wider. If you don't want to change rims and want plenty of "cushion" for rough trails, you might try to find 185/80-13 tires. They were used on early 80's mid sized GM cars and are getting hard to find, and a bit pricy when you do find them. They are also not the high quality tires you find in the more popular sizes. This tire is about 2" larger in diameter and will yield about 1' extra ground clearance.

Another popular option is to find some 14" rims that fit and go with 185/65-14 tires. You can get fairly decent tires at a good price in this size. This tire is about 1" larger in diameter and will get you about a 1/2" more ground clearance. 175/70-14 will also yield about the same, but that tire may be harder to find. Someone here was or is running 195/70-14 on their t4wd, I don't think they lifted it and they haven't mentioned any clearance problems.

You also could try some low profile tires on 15" rims, like maybe 185/60-15. That should get you into the 1" extra clearance area as well. Any larger and you will need to do some lift, and even then you may hit the inner fender wells on a tight turn. Oddly, I found that 185/70-13's did hit the inner fender well on tight turns, but the 185/65-14 did not.

[terkill]

i might actually have a set of tires that are like what your talking about, and yea the car is sagging a lot, its the original springs/shocks and even from looking at it, it looks like theyve seen their better days.