Front spring upgrades

[Tercel_jon]

Ive read bartos thread on his ultimate atventure wagon and so Ive decided to do the "bartos lift" cause his car is just so badass.

However, Instead of replacing my front springs and hat with a ~1986 camry spring and hat, can I get the front spring and hat off of say a 90? Corolla all-trak? Im getting the rear axle out of the car. There isnt a single camry of any year in the entire 8 acre junkyard...If I cant use the all-traks springs and hat, theres another yard I found online, but its on the other side of raleigh...

[dlb]

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4428&p=32986&hilit= ... ill#p32986

check out petros's post, 9th down i think. hell, read all his posts. he did a lot of work and there's lots of relevant info in there.

[Petros]

Get the whole all-trac front strut, it is not only more stiff, the tube is larger in dia. lower end is the same, and if I recall, it should add about 3/4" if life even with the same spring. You may have to change the hat out, or drill new holes in the top of the strut tower, but this may be a better choice for the front since the all-trac is not as heavy as the camry. If I could get some all-trac struts cheap for my Terc I would, it is just the correct up-grade I think.

[Tercel_jon]

Petros, your just a genius when it comes to tercels aint ya? Thanks. Ill be sure to get the front struts when I go saturday.

only thing is, its $27 for each strut and the springs alone are only $11 each. I might have to put off those tie rods another month. :/

I would change out the hat, but I ruined my passenger side strut somehow. If you jack the car up, the strut falls out of place. I guess Ill have to resort to drilling holes.

[Petros]

sounds like the upper strut mount failed, it is a large bonded rubber doughnut/mushroom kind of part. Get the whole strut assembly including the upper mounts since you need to replace them anyway. The metal part is what gets bolted to the strut tower, the other metal part (on the inside) is what the end of the strut shaft attaches to. The bonded rubber between the two metal parts allows the strut to move slightly to prevent binding when the lower arm swings up and down (since the lower end moves in an arc, the upper end has to be able to change angles). The rubber also provides some isolation from road noise.

On the race cars we would replace the rubber part with a metal spherical ball joint for more precise control, all of the rubber mounts and bushings were replaced in all the moving parts of the suspension. I was considering "upgrading" my suspension the same way on my daily driver street car Datsun 510, and my boss talked me out of it. the metal spherical bearings would not only give a harsh ride, they would wear out too fast. The stock rubber bushings were better for street use.

I keep thinking of simple ways to replace those large rubber donuts that act as tension struts and attach the front anti-sway bar. It is a simple arrangement, and many other manufacturers at the time used a similar design (Subaru among others), but it really sucks for good handling. I would install a separate "hard mounted" tension strut (to form an "A" arm with the existing lateral link), and than have a separate adjustable anti-sway bar. It should improve handling and braking quite a bit, and reduce tire wear.

[peter_tuning]

My adjustable suspension with gas-charged shock and garter

[Tercel_jon]

sounds like the upper strut mount failed, it is a large bonded rubber doughnut/mushroom kind of part. Get the whole strut assembly including the upper mounts since you need to replace them anyway. The metal part is what gets bolted to the strut tower, the other metal part (on the inside) is what the end of the strut shaft attaches to. The bonded rubber between the two metal parts allows the strut to move slightly to prevent binding when the lower arm swings up and down (since the lower end moves in an arc, the upper end has to be able to change angles). The rubber also provides some isolation from road noise.

I was just gonna undo the 3 bolts on top of the tower under the hood and the two that connect it to the hub. Than to put it in my car, drill holes and bolt it in.

I keep thinking of simple ways to replace those large rubber donuts that act as tension struts and attach the front anti-sway bar. It is a simple arrangement, and many other manufacturers at the time used a similar design (Subaru among others), but it really sucks for good handling. I would install a separate "hard mounted" tension strut (to form an "A" arm with the existing lateral link), and than have a separate adjustable anti-sway bar. It should improve handling and braking quite a bit, and reduce tire wear.

Hmmm I like the sound of that hard mounted tension strut Idea.

[terceldude]

oh that's sick...Where did you get it?