battery cable doesn't reach after changing starter

Sounds like the cable is mis-routed around something. Also, be sure you're hooking it to the correct battery terminal and that you don't have the battery turned around. The positive battery post and cable clamp are larger diameter than the negative one.

We put the battery back in the correct way. Do you think it could have been mis-routed around the starter in any way? we disconnected everything expect for the starter, trying to pull the cable so that it would reach far enough.

Can't say without seeing it, but some terminals on the end of the cable are bent at an angle. If you bolt it onto the starter turned around, that can shorten the cable by a few inches.

Did you compare the new and old starters? If they're different, you might be able to swap parts to fix the old one. The most common problem with the little silver Nippendenso starters are the solenoid contacts. When they wear, you'll intermittently get a single rather loud clunk each time you turn the ignition switch to "crank", but it won't spin the engine. It will work if you cycle the ignition switch enough times.

If that sounds like what yours was doing, you might be able to buy just the contacts. We have a rebuilder in our town who I get mine from, and a local farm supply store has them in kits now too. The kits come with four contacts. The "battery" contact is the same in all of the starters on Toyotas and Chryslers. You never know which one of the other three you'll need until you take it apart and look. Replacing both contacts takes less than a half hour.

If the new starter is the same as the old one, I sure would suspect the battery is turned around. You are putting the cable on the positive battery post, right?