Needing an 85 or later SR5 rear axle...

[MR2Di4]

Hi all, after a summer's worth of scouring the local yards and all my usual haunts I have determined:

A: I am driving what is very likely the ONLY T4WD on my island.
B: There are no serious sources for parts to be found within 500 miles.

I'm in Ketchikan, Alaska, normally a haven for rusty cars but due to some recent scrap metal entrepreneurs sucking up all the beaters and rebuildables, finding heavy-ish parts for anything is getting hard. I need a new rear axle because shortly after repairing my rusted-out panhard bar's body side mount, the axle side mount decided to show just how weak it really was and snapped off.

Not only that, but it also managed to take my driver's side upper mount and snap it too. Really pisses me off since I just put new bearings in this axle last fall. Now driving it feels scary and I just know it's only a matter of time before a sudden maneuver or a real need for it's 4WD will finish it off.

I've almost reached the point of getting my money's worth from this car so I can't justify spending a whole lot, but if anyone has an axle they'd part with I would be willing to pay a reasonable amount, plus cost of shipping. Worst case, I just need the axle housing, but I'd prefer not to have to rebuild the entire assembly. Any takers? Obviously my location prefers someone in the Northwest (Seattle-ish) area that could throw something that heavy on a barge heading north, but I'm open to suggestions...

[dlb]

this is a shot in the dark but forum member joemcdonough89 did a road trip to alaska last winter. his car broke down and he wound up meeting a few other tercel nuts who helped him out with the repairs. you could get in contact with joemcdonough89 and see if he could put you in touch with the folks who helped him out. maybe they've got some parts they could spare you. here's the post where joe found some help.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6& ... =15#p64852

failing that, i had a friend repair the panhard arm mount on the axle, it was pretty easy. there are pics of it here.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8& ... 32&#p63964

but i understand that you have some pretty severe rust going on which may preclude such repairs, and that not all panhard mount failures are repairable. just thought i'd throw it out there in case you needed some motivation to try welding it.

can you post pics of upper driver side busted mount? i don't have a terc right now and can't picture it, even after looking at the FSM.

[MR2Di4]

Thanks dlb, I'm in kindof the same situation and that's about the repair I have planned. I just figured I'd put some feelers out in case my repairs fail.

[Petros]

doing a weld repair locally would be by far the cheapest way to go. there is a T4wd in the local picknpull, but pulling it and getting it packed for shipping would be time consuming and likly cost about $200, plus the shipping. the axle bearings were shot, so no point in shipping you the heavy axles, it should get new seals too. I bought the diff out of it, but I see no need to ship that either since it will add another $40 in shipping costs, plus what I paid for it.

I have a client that makes 2 or 3 barge deliveries to various places in AK each year. I am sure he could take it, but you would have to wait. I am sure shipping costs my commercial carrier would be well over $100.

So getting a whole axle to you even from the Seattle area would cost about $300-400 or more. Plus the work you would have to do to get it in shape with new seals, gaskets, etc. you can likely make a stronger mounting than the stock one anyway. If it were me, I would weld what you have. You can have done by monday.

[MR2Di4]

Yeah, I'm kinda leaning that way. Perhaps I'll see about borrowing my friend's welder this weekend and attempting some repairs. My Zombie thread is long past due for an update anyways...

[MR2Di4]

Muwaaha ha ha ha! It will LIVE...

My brother, who works for one of the scrap metal places, found me an '84 T4WD! It's crushed up top but the rear axle looks intact and all the mounts are in good shape. I'm also getting a rear bumper, gas tank and whatever else I can salvage. (Yes I know the axle ratio is different, but since all I'm really after is the tube and mounts I figure I can pull my axles with their new bearings and unbolt the third member and swap them into the '84 tube. I've already had the axles out once, so they should slide out easy...) The engine is gone, but the transaxle is in place and I'm thinking of grabbing it too, in case I ever want to go to a 3.73 gearing.

There will be updates coming soon!

[Petros]

if the trans is usable you can use it by swapping out your front diff/bell housing assembly, it will bolt right up. The trans is worth getting just for parts even if it is trashed, it will have usable parts that may come in handy if you intend to keep it going for as long as possible.

Get the rear axle assembly and all of the links and tie rods with rubber parts, you may need them eventually anyway. If the drive shaft u-joints and center bearing is good grab that too, they will wear out sooner or later.