New member from Portland, OR - '86 Tercel Wagon DLX

[GotToyota?]

Question about suspension. I'm looking for struts and I've noticed that there only seem to be inserts for the front.

I removed the struts when I first bought my car and I could be wrong but they're sealed factory ones? Or do the factory struts have removable cartridges?

[Petros]

no cartridge on the factory struts, you remove the large nut at the top of the tube and dump out the fluid, rod and piston, than you install the new cartriage insert where that stuff used to be. Best ones are KYB, you can order them on-line or most auto parts stores can order them for you.

[GotToyota?]

Thanks for the help there.

Just ordered a set of replacement struts. Should be here next week. I'm looking into getting ES bumpstops. Anyone know the strut shaft diameter?

Getting tires for the steelies tomorrow.

[scrapz253]

what is the offset on the scion wheels versus the tercel wheels? can't wait to see these on there. thinking of going to 15's next year myself and wanted something wider but need the right offset. is this the one I saw on cl a month or so ago?

[GotToyota?]

You know, that's a good question. I know the offset is a tad lower. By how much I'm not sure. I'll take a look before I get tires put on in a bit.

And Craigslist as in the car or wheels? If you're in the Portland area then maybe, I think the car was on Craigslist 2-3 weeks ago.

[scrapz253]

the car, and im close, so portland comes up on my searches in cl. i thought i recognized that car. nice find.

[GotToyota?]

Steelies put on today. They are 15x6" wheels, offset unknown. Supposedly from a 2005 Scion but the hub bore is different and they have a universal bolt pattern, so I'm assuming they are just universals that happened to be on a Scion at some point.

Found used tires and had them installed. Using a tire calculator I figured out that to make up for the larger diameter I needed to get a smaller profile tire to make up for the overall diameter. This was my intention anyway as I'll be lowering the car. 195/50/15 is the perfect size with just a .10% difference in the speedo and only a tenth of an inch taller in overall diameter.

New vs old.


Installed (old wheels in rear, ignore sagging rear)


Now the fun part, Plastidip to a white finish


Tease pic


Done!




Just ordered KYB's last night and will be installing those along with new strut mounts next week. Still trying to diagnose the hesitation it has. Going to replace all the vacuum lines tomorrow with fresh rubber.

Stay tuned!

[irowiki]

Plasticdip?

Let Me know what sizes of hose you get and roughly how much you end up needing. Gotta install most of the emissions stuff on the sedan.

[dlb]

i didn't think i would but i like the white wheels. i bet the handling is noticeably improved. any rubbing at full lock?

[GotToyota?]

The tires have definitely made the handling and braking much better. I'm excited to see how it handles with new struts and an alignment.

Haven't noticed any rubbing yet.

As far as the vacuum hose goes, I bought 3' before and ran out after doing most of the lines in front of the carb. I'm going to pick up 6' worth today because of how much longer the rear lines are.

[Petros]

do the brake upgrade I outline over in the Repair Guides section and you will have even better brake capacity with those tires. the stock front brake rotors are irresponsibly too light, the 25 mm vented front rotor I show you how to install can all be done with off the shelf Toyota parts, along with a 1/8" shim that you can either buy from forum member Synth or make yourself. I highly recommend both the brake master cylinder upgrade along with the vented front rotors, or you can go with just the vented front rotors.

[GotToyota?]

I'll have to check that out too. Thanks!

[dlb]

Haven't noticed any rubbing yet.

that's good to hear. i picked up these 15x6 '99 miata wheels



and have been debating whether or not to risk the cost of getting tires for them. i didn't want to put any money into tires if they weren't going to fit but if 195/50r15 fit the tercel, they should also fit on my 4wd corolla wagon.

[GotToyota?]

I would just check the tire calculator to make sure your speedo stays in spec. The Corolla might have a different stock tire size. Check it out here:

http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Tire-Size-Calculator

[GotToyota?]

So replaced the rest of the vacuum rubber lines today. Somebody asked what the size was and how much was needed. It is 7/32" vacuum line and it cost me $.75/foot at my local auto parts store.

I ended up using just short of 14 feet. I bought 15 just in case and I have a little extra left over. On a positive note, I think the issues I've been having are mostly gone. Seems to accelerate smoothly without much (if any) hesitation. When I get a chance I would still like to check the timing and put it around 10* but it's much more drive-able now. Very happy.





Also added some rubber shine to my bumpers. They were in dire need of some conditioning.