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Handling Issue

ISAslot

ISAslot

Platinum Member
My 87 Tercel seems to lean into turns more than it should. Is this a shock issue or springs? The car doesn't bounce around. I can find replacement shocks, but not the springs.
 
Stabilizer bar issue. You probably have a broken end link. Maybe two if there is a bar on both the front and the rear. If you have a broken one on one end replace them both. The old one will fail very quickly after replacing the other.
 
Shocks control the roll rate.
Springs control how far the car rolls.
But it's much more complicated than that because there also anti sway bar(s) involved.
The rear bar controls how much grip the front tires have..
The front bar controls how much grip the rear tires have.
A stiffer bar = more grip on the other end and less grip on the end with the bar..
And if you start changing any of this stuff the brake pressures have to be re-balanced also.

I you don't know what you're doing, messing around with these parts can easily make your car dangerous to drive, especially in emergency situations.

As an aside, in a race car for road racing it can take a year to get all this stuff worked out to be even close to optimum, even with electronic data collection to show you the effects of any and all changes. And them the settings are all different for different tracks and conditions.
 
In an old vehicle the above statements are correct. Personally, I would just rebuild the front end. If you want stiffer suspension than an 87 then upgrade to stiffer bushings. Before you mess with changing any geometry make sure you know what your doing. If you couldn't figure this one out on you own then you should let a pro do any mods.
 
xnsheryl said:
Does your car have sway bars? Check the bushings

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Click to expand...

Yup, first thought- swaybar bushing mount pulled free. Though endlinks are an option, particularly if your car came with plastic end links.

BTW you generally don't ever need to replace springs. They're usually a 'life of the car' sort of thing. Shocks, around 100k miles is fairly normal. Shocks would probably help, but not without checking the sway bars first.
 
You guys are getting off into tangents that are only going to confuse someone asking a simple question that needs a simple answer. Replacing damaged or missing components that existed on the car as it was built is not modifying anything.

Looking at rockauto, your car does have stabilizer bars both front and rear. They are sometimes called anti-roll bars. Same component, different name. They mount to the frame of the car using bushings. They are attached to suspension components with end links.

Damaged or missing bushings may cause a clunking noise. Missing or broken end links will result in the body rolling (leaning) when turning. In a 32 year old car I would be amazed if it didn't have broken end links. I also would not be surprised to find it has damaged or missing bushings.

Again, replacing these components is not altering the suspension.
 
I kept it simple, he just need to inspect and do some research, YouTube for info....
 
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ISAslot said:
My 87 Tercel seems to lean into turns more than it should. Is this a shock issue or springs? The car doesn't bounce around. I can find replacement shocks, but not the springs.
Click to expand...
Its a case of"

You can't ask questions about what you don't even know you don't know.
After a lot of failure you learn what it is that you don't know, and then you can ask about it.

So, the "simple" answer is:
Both the shocks and the springs control "roll".

But, unfortunately that's not the correct answer.
 
LOL Guys, I just checked. The swaybar is simply not there. I got the car in 2005. It must have been removed prior. I have the service manual and it shows it there.

I guess now I have to source one.

Thanks for the help!

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^ Front or rear sway bar? Not all cars in the '80s had them, sometimes a base model or even the median model wouldn't while the sportier model would.

Do you feel the excessive sway progressively got worse or is this a sudden change? I mean if you were okay with it in 2005, and now 13 years later... something still there is the problem then, not the lack of a sway bar.

While the sway bar is the biggest factor, the cumulative effect of other things like worn out strut mounts, ball joints, control arm bushings, even under-inflated tires, can add up.

I too would want to add the sway bar(s) but you could have a more serious problem that needs fixed to make it safe to drive, though this late in the game, how much to do to a 30 year old car that was worth little when brand new... would not be much unless you're really attached to it.

Regardless it should be safe if it's going to be on the road, and besides the struts/mounts, the other parts are fairly inexpensive to DIY replace, as would be a sway bar and mounts (get new end links and bushings) from a junkyard if you can find them.
 
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Front one. It has always cornered bad. Kinda getting tired of it handling way worse than my 68 full size Ford.

It is a base model so it's possible it never had one. It needs one though!
mindless1 said:
^ Front or rear sway bar? Not all cars in the '80s had them, sometimes a base model or even the median model wouldn't while the sportier model would.

Do you feel the excessive swap progressively got worse or is this a sudden change? I mean if you were okay with it in 2005, and now 13 years later... something still there is the problem then, not the lack of a swap bar.
Click to expand...

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87 Terce sway bar? Good luck with that. I think it's salvage yards for you.
Rock Auto does have the bushings though

45G0524_Primary__ra_t.jpg
 
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