Lowering Questions

[cr1d3r]

I know it's already been answered before a few times, but I just want to ask it myself, what is the best way to lower the T4? I'm looking for anywhere between 1 to 3 inches and a cost effective setup. Also what would be some disadvantages of running it lowered? I really don't ever take it offroad very much so I don't have much use in lifting it. I would also like decent ride quality and stiffer suspension. I am also running the stock wheels and the car is completely stock because this car is daily driven. I think I would really like it lowered though, so any tips, points, or advice would be great!! Thanks in advance!

[irowiki]

I would think lowering it would harm the ride quality?

[dlb]

welcome, cr1d3r. this is relatively uncharted territory so you will probably have to do a lot of guesswork and testing on your own. i only recall two members here lowering their tercels and one was a 2wd which has a completely different rear suspension set up so it will of limited use to you. the other guy was littlered4wd. here's littlered4wd's thread.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7784&p=56869

[Petros]

unless you are looking for a "pimp" look, lowering will do bad things. if you lower it past the point where the CV axles are horizontal, you will grind up the cv joints and have to replace the axles very often, and possible you will scrap the frame or the trans housing when you hit that occasional large bump or road crown, brick or rock.

easiest way to lower it would be cut a coil off the existing springs, this will not just lower it but also stiffen the spring somewhat. you might consider some similar but shorter rear dampeners (shocks).

lowering the car lowers the CG and should improve handling, but no point in doing it with the stock shitty steal wheels, those wheals flex, you can feel it on the hwy (if you know what you are looking for). So first get some wider alloy wheels and lower profile tires. that will greatly improve handling, than consider other modes.

But you will also need to face the fact that these old Tercels will NEVER handle as good as a Honda or other "ricer", the cast iron engine is mounted high over the front differential (and transmission main shaft level), which means you will never get the cg low enough to make it handle like the other Asian import cars.

good luck

[cr1d3r]

Thanks so much for the responses guys! Dlb: I like the way littlered4wd's looks but I think that is too low for where I live(Alabama) and too low my tastes. It just would not be practical at all haha. and Petros, I don't want anything really low, just want to get rid of a little bit of wheel to fender gap and make the suspension a little more stiff. I know it isn't possible for this car to perform like a honda or a "ricer" I hate ricers, lol. I have a car that I can drive to take sharp turns with and go fast, that isn't the issue haha. But I drive 300 or more miles a week for work in my lil ole terc and would just like to lower the cg and stiffen it up a bit. No lie though, I actually really like the way these stock "shitty" wheels look haha, it looks authentic to the car and the way mine are painted they make the car look even more unusual. Just a quick question though, how much would cutting off a coil stiffen it up and would it lower it at all?

[dlb]

it's impossible to describe how much stiffer removing a single coil will make a spring feel but it will definitely lower it a bit. something to keep in mind for trimming though: the top of the rear spring is flat so it sits flush in the upper mount so you cannot cut this end; the bottom is just a square cut so you can trim it BUT there is less distance between the last few coils, and the lower mount is designed to match the shorter end coils. by cutting off the shorter coils, the spring will not sit square in the lower mount. i don't think this would be a huge deal but at the very least, i think it would wear out the rubber piece that goes between the spring and lower mount quicker--the square cut end will probably chew through the rubber, and then might eat at the mount too. i don't know, i'm probably being overly cautious but it's something to consider.

i recently compared the rear springs from an ae95 4wd corolla wagon with the al25 springs and found the corolla springs are 1 mm thicker (which makes them stiffer), have the same # of coils, same inner diameter, but are maybe 1"-1.5" shorter. they should fit well. you might look for a pair of those from a wrecker to try in the rear instead of cutting your al25 springs.

once you get some springs in that feel good to you, you will have to test the stock shocks to see if they bottom out. if they bottom out, you'll have to find shocks that rest lower, or move the shock mounting points.

[cr1d3r]

Ohh ok, thanks for all of the advice, when I start this project I'll look at the rear lower mount and see if can do anything to help with that issue. My local pullapart has a few toyotas I'm going to check out next time I go down there(which is pretty frequently) also. I'm going to replace all of my shocks before I do anything because mine are totally dead, I can compress and decompress my front shocks with my pinky lol. I'll probably do a write up in a month or so, whenever I get some free time from work considering this is my work car/daily driver.

[cr1d3r]

There's also a guy I've been talking to instagram that lowered his tercel and he said he cut his springs and changed the shocks and bottles and used the shorter front bottles from the 2 door version, said they were 2 inches shorter and made the ride alot more comfortable with the cut springs, his name is danny_fossil on instagram if anyone wants to check him out.

[dlb]

what are bottles?

[cr1d3r]

Honestly I have no idea haha, thats just the words that guy used on instagram. The only thing I can think of is the sleeves that the shocks go into on the front struts(if thats how the front struts work, I haven't checked into them that much yet)

[rer233]

what are bottles?

I'm sure he's refering to the front strut tubes, as the 2wd ones ARE 2" shorter than the 4wd.

[dlb]

what are bottles?

I'm sure he's refering to the front strut tubes, as the 2wd ones ARE 2" shorter than the 4wd.

whoah, crazy. i always thought the 2wd and 4wd had essentially the same front ends, struts and all. i remember one member who had both 2wd and 4wd wagons mentioning how much lower the 2wd sat but i guess i figured the springs in his 2wd were just worn out.

[Petros]

I have an extra set of front struts from a 2wd wagon, they are about 25 mm shorter (about an inch) and for some reason the spring is stiffer than the 4wd spring (at least on the set I got, came out of an '85 fwd wagon as I recall). the spring will get stiffer as a direct percentage of teh number of coils cut off, for example if there are ten coils, cut one off it will be ten percent more spring rate (this would be hard to tell, you need a 30 to 40 percent difference to be noticeable, but every little bit will help).

Put on 6" x 14" alloy wheels and 60 series tires on it (I like the Micheline 65 series), get some good shocks/struts in there (KYBs are my choice), make sure all of the bushings, tie-rod ends, and ball joints are all in good condition, and you will find the handling and responsiveness will be greatly improved. so much so that is will be fun to drive it! No need to lower and stiffen it.

[keith]

For tires, there is almost no choice in 13" and 14" tires available. In 13", about the only tire, if you can find any at all are 175-70. In 14", all I have seen lately are 185-65 and 215-70, the 215 is getting hard to find too.

For handling, a 195/50-15 is about the same diameter as the stock 175/70-13. the 14's listed above are larger in diameter so will raise the height of the vehicle.

Personally, I think it is low enough already and I would not lower it any more, but that's me.

[cr1d3r]

Alright Petros, I greatly appreciate all the advice and help! If everything goes as planned I'm replacing all the the shocks in 2 weeks, and I'll see how much better it handles and go from there. I've already replaced my tie rods(inner and outer) so I'm good there. I also need to replace my passenger side cv axle, that would help out tremendously. Now wheels and tires might take a lil bit of time to get though haha, after paying bills I don't have much money left over for extras like that forreal, but I need to start saving and I'll see what I can do.