I was just perusing some pix of my '83 SR5 "from the day", and noticed that the hatch wiper's parked position was at the bottom of the window and not at 2:00 like the later editions. Was this only on the '83s? This would seem more aesthetically pleasing. Does anyone know or could hazard a guess as to Toyota's reason for the change?
The '86 FSM does not cover a reorientation of the arm (or even show a picture of the motor and linkage); has anyone tried this?
Also, has anyone installed/have in their cars the add-on shoulder belts for the rear seat? The factory made these available in the early '90s, and I think they may still be available. Kinda big bucks, but may be worth it.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit." T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." Mark Twain
With the wiper arm in the horizontal position it can accumulate quite a bit of weight during snow storms. This puts undue strain on the system. IMO
Rear shoulder seat belts for an 86 (and I think other models) are 73003-16040-XX and 73004-16040-XX XX=01 for black and 015 for beige. Those were the part numbers last time I looked. I don't know if they are still available and I seem to remember the cost somewhere around $200. I've been thinking about adding a set to the rear of my cars also. If I find any more info I will post it. I hope you will do the same too.
A tid-bit on seat belts...You can relocate the mounting point of the front seat belts' upper mount. It can be lowered by about 2 1/4"(for those who desire it for a comfort issue). There is a small dimple at that location...and a threaded monting point behind the trim piece. Drill a 1'' hole at the dimple to access it. The original hole can be filled with a matching piece available from Toyota.
Ah - Ha !
Once again, Chris to the rescue...
Since the accumulation of snow was not an issue during my three-year tenure back then, I had not considered that, but I suppose people in the snow belt made their views known. Makes sense.
Re the shoulder belts: I pulled the same numbers and price from (I think) the NHTSA site some time ago. I just checked the online stores of a local STL dealer and the Toyota consortium in the PacNWST and could find nothing listed, whether by the numbers or the description. It seems that the NHTSA site said something about contacting the Mothership for information, but I forget. Possibly calling the local dealer's Parts Dept and requesting a search would do it. I'll try my local dealer next week and advise.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit." T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." Mark Twain
The actual reason for the change in the wiper arm and position is the third brake light, which was added in 86. The horizontally parked arm obscured the brake light.
I bet thats it was a combination of the two. They could have considered a top-mounted third brake light, like in SUV's, but perhaps people WERE complaining about the snow issue, so they figured that if they were going to fix that they may as well use that slightly more convinient spot for the third.
Maybe?
What the hey are all those acronyms about??
RIP 10-07- 1984 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed
RIP 04-05- 1986 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed
Looks like both Cbolt and Chris are right, as Typrus concludes.
The acronyms are:
PacNWST = Pacific Northwest, which refers to the consortium of various dealers in that area which offer true discount prices on OEM parts (at least the Toyota dealer does). This is http://www.autopartspeople.com.
NHTSA = National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. - recalls, etc.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit." T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." Mark Twain
Both the horizontally and vertically parked arms will stick in place during a winter storm, I've had both and had to free both. If you get just a bit of ice before the storm starts, the rear window on my 86 will accumulate as much snow as any of my earlier ones did.
If you turn on a working Defog, the sticking ice melts, then the horiz one tries to move, it has the whole accumulation to work against. The vert one just pushes most to the side? I don't think the point was the amount of accumulation, rather the amount that the wiper motor has to work against. Both of mine accumulated the same as well.
RIP 10-07- 1984 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed
RIP 04-05- 1986 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd Wagen 6 speed
Perhaps Toyota's reason for the position change was the third brake light, as cbolt stated(it makes sense)...but I have seen an advantage with less snow accumulation. My son's Subaru's rear wiper had a horizontal park position and on many occasions the excess snow has push the wiper so low that it was almost off the glass. Again, as cbolt stated, the freezing issue is unchanged in certain situations, but at times the snow was able to slid off the window before it froze.
Thanks.
