Rear springs - a solution

[86AL25]

Here's a solution for those sagged rear springs that is readily available, not too expensive, and works well. It also allows you to level the car after loading. We were faced with the usual problem of sagged rear springs on our '86 Tercel 4WD wagon and happened to compare the spring size with the rear springs on my '82 VW Vanagon, to which I had fitted Air-Lift load support air cylinders inside the coil springs.Although the VW used larger diameter wire than the Tercel, the inside coil diameter and distance between the jounce bumper and it's seat were the same. We removed them from the VW and fitted them to the Tercel as an experiment and it worked great.

The details:

IMG_1639.JPG

This is the air cylinder made by Air-Lift (http://www.airliftcompany.com) in their "Air Lift 1000" Load Support line, kit # 60789. The cheapest I could find it in Canada is at Canadian Tire - stock # 22-5936-2 at about $135 for the complete kit (two air cylinders, air lines & fittings). Air-Lift products will be also readily available anywhere in the U.S.A. If one consults Air-Lift's application guide, you will see that this kit fits quite a few different vehicles, but the Tercel 4WD is not listed as it is probably considered too old. In some applications (like my Vanagon and others) the cylinder is placed sideways in the coil; but for other applications you have to drill a hole in the spring bottom bracket for the air cylinder air line, which is what we have to do with the Tercel 4WD.

Installation:

Raise and secure the rear of the wagon on solid jackstands, and remove the rear springs as per manual. I found that the flexible brake hoses were not long enough to allow the axle to be lowered enough to remove the springs easily. Instead, I lowered the axle as far as I dared without damaging the brake hoses with a floor jack under the differential housing, then I raised one end wth a scissor jack while removing the spring from the other end. Because the brake hoses are attached at the middle of the axle, you can tilt each end of the axle enough to remove the spring without tensioning the brake hose.

Mark the centre of the bottom spring seat and make a 3/4" hole. Because of space limitations, you may have trouble getting a 3/4" drill in there - intead, make a 1/2" hole and enlarge it with a "dremel" tool to 3/4". Attach the air line to the bottom of the cylinder and push the cylinder up into the spring. Put the air line temporarily out through the 2nd coil from the bottom to keep it out of the way while re-installing the spring. Once the spring is re-installed, feed the air line through the hole and seat the air cylinder so the air line attachment is centered in the hole. Leaving some slack for movement, attach the air line along the parking brake cable and then poke it through the rubber floor plugs under the back seat. Allow the air line valves to just stick out from under the back seat on either side of the tunnel, where they are easily accessed.

As for the rest - "re-assembly is reverse of removal". We found that 10 psi would restore the car to original height as specified in the manual on page FA-5 and made a handy reference stick to be used at the rear wheel arches to easily check the car's trim after loading. The nice thing about this is that you can level the car, even if the load it is carrying is unevenly placed from side to side. Note Air-Lift's cautions about minimum and maximum air pressures. Only a few strokes of a small hand pump (bicycle tyre pump) should be used to pump up the air cylinders because of their very small volume - never use a compressor air hose.

Use at your own risk, but this has worked for me for 2 months and made a huge difference in handling and stability.

[ARCHINSTL]

Welcome to the Club!
GREAT first post! Thanks!
You must have been a lurker for some time...
Tom M.

[golden_glory]

@ 86AL25; So you are using this air system in conjunction with the 82 Vanagon springs? Any idea what the spring rates are on those? I have long suspected my rear springs are sagged and have been trying to figure out what else might work that is a tad stiffer. Thanks for the awesome write up by the way.

[Neu]

With brand new rear springs(or springs all around) you can generally hope for 1-2 inches of lift, compared to before.

[Typrus]

Buy Pedders. They work great.

[Petros]

Where do the Pedder's springs come from, do you have any part numbers?

[Mattel]

Hey Petros, Pedders are both based in and are a big name here in Australia.

here's a link to there washington outlets for you http://www.peddersusa.com/dealer-finder/33

You have to go back to the Australian online catalogue at http://www.pedders.com.au/catalogue to get the Tercel parts page. If you run out of options over there to get these parts get in contact with me.

TOYOTA

Tercel

1983-1988 AL25

4WD Wagon


Front Shocks
8793 8793 Comfort Gas Cartridge
Front Bump Stop/Kit
4359 4359 Bump Stop & Boot Kit
Front Sway Bar Links & Bushes
EP6455 Urethane Radius_Rod Bush
Lower Ball Joint
PBJ234 Pedders Ball Joint
Lower Inner Bush
6-305 Urethane Control_Arm Bush
Rear Shock
8006 8006 Comfort Gas Shock
3306 3306 Touring Black Gas Shock
EP198 Urethane Swaybar_Link Bush
EP148 Urethane Shock Bush
Rear Spring Standard
7189 7189 Heavy Duty Coil Spring
Rear Spring Raised
7174 7174 Heavy Duty Coil Spring
Rear Polyair
61698 61698 Polyair Rear Coil Kit
Rear Sway BarLinks & Bushes
EP3364 Urethane Swaybar_Link Bush
EP280 Urethane Swaybar_Link Bush
EP3320/16.5 Urethane SwayBar_D Bush
Rear Panhard Rod / Watts Link Bushes
EP427 Urethane Panhard_Rod Bush
EP963 Urethane Panhard_Rod Bush
Rear Lower Arm Bushes
EP7060 Urethane Control_Arm Bush
Rear Upper Arm Bushes
EP7060 Urethane Control_Arm Bush

King Springs http://www.kingsprings.com.au/default.htm also have standard ride height springs listed. Previously they had some raised versions also.

[ARCHINSTL]

Something further on Pedders:
https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... it=pedders
Tom M.

[86AL25]

@ 86AL25; So you are using this air system in conjunction with the 82 Vanagon springs? Any idea what the spring rates are on those? I have long suspected my rear springs are sagged and have been trying to figure out what else might work that is a tad stiffer. Thanks for the awesome write up by the way.

Sorry for any confusion - no, we did not put the Vanagon springs on the Tercel - we just moved over the air cylinders to try on the Tercel because both vehicles had springs with the same inside dimensions. So our Tercel still has it's original rear springs with the air cylinders inside, and it works well.

I posted a photo of the setup with my article, but I notice that the photo doesn't show unless I log in - don't know if this is normal or if I did something wrong when making the post. Can anyone else see the photo? Maybe a moderator can help - thanks and good luck.

[Neu]

I can see it..but i'm always logged in.

[4wdchico]

So which of the two Pedders springs (HD standard or HD raised?) is the best match for a fairly heavily loaded Terc 4wd that has a set of the Moog a/c specific springs assuming an a/c equipped car?

[Typrus]

I got the standard ones.
Took a while to come in, but worth it I'd say.

Picked the back end up maybe 2 inches from where it had been. The 20mm lift ones would probably work great too. They are a higher spring rate if I remember right.

[sdoan]

Where do the Pedder's springs come from, do you have any part numbers?

Petros,

I've had Benz spring make me springs and they did me right (though it was years ago). Leaf springs for an old Healey and coils for an old Mustang. The Healey springs were custom jobs - stiffer with less arch - so I assume they can do custom Terc springs.

Might be cheaper than mail order.

Benz Spring Company
700 S Forest St
Seattle, WA 98134
(206) 624-7733