tercel coilovers on l body

[speedyshelby16]

The rear before had the stock springs with spacers to give it more hieght. going down the road and hit a good bumb it would rub. Now down the same road and no rub even though the gap was shorten by 2" inchs. I got them rub once in the rear that when I going into my friend's drive way at angle and all the weight went the one side.

[Phreakish]

woo hoo, got mine, and put the fronts on tonight. Other than a slight pull to the right now, its not bad at all! NO bounce anymore like the cut springs had, much tighter on the turns, and at the very tallest setting it sits almost perfectly level with the rear! yay!

Now I just gotta put the rears on at some point, those should be easier.

Only issue I've noticed so far, other than pulling right, is that there is a slight 'thunk' when I hit bumps, not sure what it is yet, as I couldn't get the little o-rings completely between the coil-over body and the strut body. I also didn't put the set-screws in, as I dont like the idea of scratching, or deforming the strut body. I DID put the big o-ring at the base of the coil-over body, only one as I dont see how multiple ones could support the weight and not collapse over one another, or just chew up over time.

VERY easy to install, only had to hammer the little washer thing off the top of the strut body where the plunger rod meets the body - big hammer, issue resolved.

Oh, the kit - I got it on ebay from procarparts.com - its for a tercel (95-98?) and was $44 shipped or so? No instructions, but its self-explanatory if you can disassemble and reassemble a strut assembly. I'm more than happy to help anyone else tho, if needed. It really was simple. The kit is pretty nice, comes with bare (shiney) aluminum bodies and red springs that have stickers on them from some no-name brand Otto R racing or something like that if that means anything to anyone?

Can't wait to take 89A from prescott to Jerome now Should make for quite an interesting drive after getting a bit of an alignment done, hehe.

[speedyshelby16]

I had to adjust my alignment big time after the drop. My pulled to the left after I got it done. But it was way toe out. If like the way it drives now do a alignment it changes into a different car that drives nice. I suggest looking at your front wheels to see how bad it is. Look at one side see which way it goes and then look at the other side. My passenger side was not as bad as driver side. Just a suggestion.

[saxhouse]

pics please!!!!

[Phreakish]

speedy: good to know! I'll def have it aligned.

saxhouse: I'll get pics asap (camera isn't with me) and I'll get pics of the install soon too, probably going to take them back out and see what the 'clunk' noise is when I hit bumps, its not BAD, but it does annoy me since I know it can't be GOOD, even IF it isn't bad.

[altered7151]

What length are the springs? Just wondering because replacement springs can be had pretty cheap, so if the set up is too bouncy you could always swap in some lighter springs. Very interested to see some pics from you guys!

[Phreakish]

I gotta get my camera out, and I'm probably gonna take my fronts out and get rid of the 'thumping' from the coil-over body hitting the shock body when I hit small bumps.

altered: that was my plan, to buy a cheap set of coil-overs and hope that they came with el-cheapo soft springs that wouldnt' be too bouncy, and if all else failed just buy some custom coil-over springs of my own choosing.

I'd guess (gotta measure tho) that my springs are only about 8-10" tall uncompressed, not much at all, I have them maxed out in height front/rear and its still pretty low, I'd like to come up an inch to inch and a half all around to get the front control arms level, but this low it should do well on the freeway tomarrow

[altered7151]

Yeah let me know the size, I know summit sells coil over springs so I can get pretty much any rate I want. And actually its an over-stiff spring that makes the car bounce, because the shock cant dampen the spring rate.

[Phreakish]

yeah, I know a stiffer spring will make it bounce more, lol, thats what I meant in my post

But I think I'm gonna get new springs anyway, just so I KNOW whats in there, they dont give you the spring rates with these cheapo-ones... even if they're stock rates, I'd be happy, hell, if they're progressive I'd be even happier! lol. Now I just gotta see if I can add extra dampers, lmfao.

[altered7151]

Awesome let us know how it goes. And when you get the springs there's a simple test you can do to check the spring coefficient, I can send you the equations if you'd like.

[Phreakish]

ah, never thought of that, check it myself, lmao. Sure send 'em on down, I'm an engineering student and have the equations, but if its specific to automotive guesstimation then it might be easier

[altered7151]

Ah hell you better know the equation then. I'm not even gonna tell you, you better know that from dynamics you slacker! All you gotta do is set a known weight on top, say 50lbs, and F=(1/2)kx^2, so if you know the force is 50lbs, and you can measure the delta x in the spring, the just back out the number for k which will be your spring rate. The only problem is that if its a pretty stiff spring you have to add alot of weight to get a reasonable delta x. But what am I telling you that for, you should already know that. Of course unless you're an EE, those guys dont know shit

[V3rm3lX]

The 225lb x 10" springs I have on my car seem to work quite well. They don't handle as good as the 450/350lb springs that came with the tercel kit but it is still considerably better than stock. It also has a reasonable ride now too.

I also have an extra pair of new 220lb x 10" Carrera chrome springs if anybody wants em. PM me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by altered7151 Of course unless you're an EE, those guys dont know shit

I'll poop in your shoe....

[altered7151]

Quote:

Originally Posted by V3rm3lX The 225lb x 10" springs I have on my car seem to work quite well. They don't handle as good as the 450/350lb springs that came with the tercel kit but it is still considerably better than stock. It also has a reasonable ride now too. I also have an extra pair of new 220lb x 10" Carrera chrome springs if anybody wants em. PM me. I'll poop in your shoe....

Typical EE, you guys poop on everything. So where the heavier springs too bouncy with the stock struts? I'm not going to be driving the car daily so I'll give up some ride comfort for performance, but obviously dont want it to be all bouncy. I'd be interested in the springs, I'll pm you.

[DodgeZ]

I think Johnny use to use U-bolts to keep the spring in place.