New to this... I want to do a solid axle swap (SAS) on my 85

[prelyt]

I have a 1985 toyota tercel and I was thinking about doing a SAS for some 4wheeling. How would I go about completing something like this? I have a friend who can help me physically do it, but as for starters, I just need a point in the right direction. What kind of axle should I be looking for? Would it be possible to just pull one off an old jeep or 4runner from the same year or close to it? Anything else I should be thinking about?

sorry to come off as such a n00b, but this is something I would really love to get done. Thanks.

[Petros]

welcome to the forum,

What is the reason for wanting to swap the axle? To eliminate the differential? the easiest way to do that would be just to take out the existing third member and have the spider gears welded together. that would make it useless for street driving, but it would get what I think you are looking for.

If you go for another axle all togehter you need to do a lot of cutting and welding to make the mounts, you would also have to find a 4.1:1 ring and pinion gear to match your front gear ratio (the '83-'84 Tercel used 3.73:1 and the '85 and later used 4.1:1 ratio front and rear).

There is not much reason to go to a larger axle since that engine will not put out enough strength to damage that rear axle. So until you do an engine swap, no reason to change the rear axle, it came out of the rear wheel drive corolla and is pretty durable.

Go read the FAQ page that has links to threads about others that have lifted their Tercels, going too high in the front will damage the cv joints and the strut seals without doing some major surgery on the mounts and suspension.

[Tercel__jon]

I know exactly what you're wanting to do. I can tell you that you'll have to re-engineer the entire front suspension. Its not impossible, its just not cost effective. You'd have to swap out the trans for another trans and transfer case. I dont know if you could find a combo to fit the stock motor, a box from a corolla and a divorced transfercase might work, but youd have a very short rear driveshaft which would limit quite a bit. Then you'd need new driveshafts, new mounts, and then design a 4 link to make it all work. If you're up to the challenge of completely redesigning the car, go for it.

But honestly, it would be cheaper to swap the body onto an older toyota truck frame.

That, or pathfinder springs out back and a few spacers up front on the struts and front crossmember.

[KZ750]

Tercel_jon is right.
You could always check out what the subaru GL guys are doing. A couple of them run divorced transfer cases.
One thing to consider,
There's not really very many smaller vehicle straight axles to choose from.
Jeep Dana 30 Driver side drop.
Early Toyota truck passenger side drop.
Maybe a transfer case from a side kick or samurai,
But those are passenger side drop cases. So you would have to choose the toyota axle.
You would probably want to have the axle narrowed.
Smallest rims size would be 15" and finding an adapter to bring a six lug down to a 4 lug would be pretty hard. this would also widen the track width even more.
I don't think the 3a would do well with this set up.
But! I think it would be awesome!

I once designed a bracket (in my head) that allowed for an np231 transfer case to bolt up to a volvo aw71 transmission. I played at the junk yard for a long time and found out that the transmission's out put was exactly the same as the input on the jeep transfer case.
I really wanted to straight axle a volvo 240 wagon and create the most awesome camping wagon. lol.
The idea has actually been accomplished too! check it out

This set up is not with any thing Volvo though:/ but for the inspiration.
http://www.turbobricks.com/mods.php?content=art0023

[Petros]

if that is what you are planning...RESIST the erg!!!! Buy someone else's 4x4 conversion project and finish it up, it will cost less and you will done cut up a good Terce4wd. you would completely waste a good little economical 4x4 wagon to make a ponderous beast that will never perform very well. You can tweak the Tercel motor for a little more hp, you can improve the brakes and handling and raise the suspension a little bit, but that is about it without major expence, effort and cutting it up. And runiing any value the Tercel has (the prices have been going up on stock Tercels as they become more rare, not so much if they have been cut up).

Beside, the Samari guys are putting Toyota corolla axles in their Zukies to beef them up, why would you want to change to something else?

[prelyt]

if that is what you are planning...RESIST the erg!!!! Buy someone else's 4x4 conversion project and finish it up, it will cost less and you will done cut up a good Terce4wd. you would completely waste a good little economical 4x4 wagon to make a ponderous beast that will never perform very well. You can tweak the Tercel motor for a little more hp, you can improve the brakes and handling and raise the suspension a little bit, but that is about it without major expence, effort and cutting it up. And runiing any value the Tercel has (the prices have been going up on stock Tercels as they become more rare, not so much if they have been cut up).

Beside, the Samari guys are putting Toyota corolla axles in their Zukies to beef them up, why would you want to change to something else?

Hm, I think you are right. In my head, I imagine a crawler like tercel that is just plain awesomeness. I think I am going to abandon the idea of a SAS (at least, for now!) but I would still like to add a lift. maybe an inch or two. How can I tweak the motor for a little more hp?

[dlb]

prelyt, check the FAQ. a lot of your questions regarding lifts and getting more power from the 3a are covered there. here it is.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7442

here's a good example of some fairly serious rock crawling done by a member here. i believe all barto had was a lift and bigger wheels/tires, no power mods.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... 27&p=48520

[CathodeRayTube]

you could also just remove the entire Tercel driveline, and put the entire car onto a Bronco/jeep/similar frame with its own engine/drive line... would look like the stomper toys i keep seeing around... short of that...its probably best to leave it alone for the reasons everybody else mentioned..

[Jamminfargo]

Theres a guy with a chopped top custom body lowered Toyota truck for sale uphere (well, Hill City MN wherever that is) that might be an easier solid frt axle swap. Looks weird but he claims its totally solid with a good 22RE. He's only asking 1500 so it might be a perfect donor platform. See it at craigslist Fargo/Moorhead search for 89 Toyota toy wrecker. Didnt think 4runners had the 4 bangers in 89 so maybe its a small pickup platform?