edrach

Getting back to the cost aspect. $350 to $400 for a front LSD unit; what's the cost in time and/or money to have it installed in a 5MT gearbox?

I'll add my 2 cents of "personal" experience with three clutch type LSDs. I've never used a VLSD in any of my vehicles and don't plan to (probably time to sell the ones I have:)). Anyway, I added an LSD to two of my brats; one of which I used to rallycross. The difference (on the rallycross course) was striking. The brat went from an over steering car to one that understeered drastically. I ultimately had to change my driving technique quite a bit; i.e. no real throttle application unless I was in a straight line. Any turning at all with throttle caused the brat to plow; more throttle more plow. Due to my dis-like for understeer, I held off on adding an LSD rear to my Impreza until late last year. The Impreza is pretty tail happy (or my driving technique has matured to better control) so I installed an LSD diff to the Impreza. Best thing I've ever done. Car is much more stable in straight line with maximum throttle. As tail happy as the Imp is, I can avoid the understeer almost entirely. Granted this is not a comparison between VLSD and LSD; just a personal comment on how a rear LSD can improve rallycross performance. Last month I did get into the deep mud and thanks to the mud tires and LSD I was able to power out of it instead of getting stuck (that would have been embarassing:eek:).

For $50, buy it. Then get a copy of How to Keep Your Subaru Alive (I think NVZeno has one in the FS forum). This book will answer all your questions as well as keep you entertained. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=121533

I went looking for the on-line coupons. Couldn't find any for the small jack I bought for $70. But is doesn't look bad for a garage type heavy duty jack. http://www.harborfreight.com/merchandising-promotions/merchandising/march-weekly-sale/weekly-sale-2/weekly-sale-automotive/rapid-pump-3-ton-heavy-duty-floor-jack-68048.html

google Primitive Racing in Tigard, OR. Paul has been excellent in suggesting brake pads for my Impreza for added stopping power without gouging the rotors or fading too soon. Maybe he has a "middle of the road" improvement for your rotors.

I used the coupon from last Sunday's Seattle Times. But the Bellevue store had both listed with special sale prices on the floor.

HF has finally dropped the price to where I ventured out and got one. #68053 1.5Ton $69.95 3-3/8" to 14-3/4". #68054 1.5Ton $99.95 3-1/2" to 17-3/4". You might need a coupon for these but they give those out for free too. Anyone local want to buy my used non quick pump version for cheap? See my post in the FS forum.

I believe I suggested in an earlier post you try a different dealer when he suggested an additive for the problem. His statement of the transfer clutch just confirms my original suggestion. Having gone through the same thing with our Forester, I wish you the best of luck in getting it fixed. Just be careful, it should not cost more than $1000; that original estimate for $1800 is totally out of line.

Cool. By the way the Old Mill rally park is in Snoqualmie, WA at the Dirtfish Rally School location.

Fork spring is external; not internal. Shouldn't be much of an issue if that's the case.

I went three months with a bad viscous coupler on my wife's '99 Forester. I couldn't find a working used coupler or gearbox in that time so I finally bit the bullet and bought a new one from Subaru; with the internet discount it was $535 plus local tax. I brought it to my friendly neighborhood mechanic and he charged me another $150 to install it (I think it took him 3 hours). I think that $1800 estimate you got is quite high. If this is the same dealer who gave you an additive to add, I think I'd find another dealer or shop. Do a little searching here; there was someone else with similar issues recently who wound up replacing the VC himself. It might be helpful. If you've never had uneven tire wear, this is quite an unusual problem for this mileage. Any chance that you had the car towed on a hook dragging the rear wheels behind; that will certainly cause the VC to fail prematurely.

Provisional results are posted for Day1. I couldn't separate the pdf file so here's the link: http://forums.utahscca.com/showthread.php?t=8124&page=7

Double post; you might delete this since I've already replied to the first one. Less confusion that way.

I'm not sure of this since this is a much newer car than our '97 Imp and '99 Forester, but if I remember correctly there is a return spring on the clutch fork that might have been "forgotten" during one of the engine replacements. Second thought is that the slave cylinder is in need of replacement. At the very least top up the hydraulic fluid and bleed the system to remove any air bubbles. If that doesn't do it, the next thing would be the clutch master cylinder. I'd do the slave first since that easier and cheaper than doing the master.

If no one else has any pics, here's one of renob123 (posted best time only run in the afternoon section).

Boy that's a stiff price to pay for a wrecking yard transmission. Local (Seattle area) pull a part yards charge $100 for a gearbox and give a 30 day no questions asked return policy. Best of luck with your repair.

That's correct. I had a '95 JDM WRX transmission swapped from hydraulic to cable to fit my '97 Impreza. I've put over 30K on that transmission now and it's still running fine.

It's probably okay. Just make sure that both are cable clutch transmissions (not hydraulic). Check the transmission numbers; if they are both TY752 (not 754) you should be okay. Sounds like you already have the ratio correct. Only other difference I can think of is that your car has a mechanical odometer (i.e. cable driven); the 98 might be electronic but I think that can be removed and the cable installed.

For the proper ratio, check the the transmission number in your car now (two places: number is on the bell housing and vin plate in the engine compartment). Use the number to check the ratio on the transmission list in the USMB repair forum. Compare that to any "donor" transmissions to be sure get it right. If you're not sure, pull the tranny AND rear end as a matched pair. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=97885

I'll be there again with qman I believe.

Great event with the muddiest conditions I've ever seen at Hillsboro. The field was soggy from almost 20 days of continuous rain. Once the rally school got on the course on Saturday, it churned up the mud big time. If you got into the deep stuff you needed rally tires and lots of power to plow your way out. It was nice to see some of the DI guys there. Sorry I couldn't catch up with everyone. I couldn't believe the amount of mud around my calipers and struts when I changed over to the stock tires. I should have taken a picture of that, but didn't think of it until too late. Fortunately I found a car wash that wasn't afraid to wash down the car this morning. I also brought my rally tires to them to clean since I'm not heading home anytime soon. You can't let that mud dry out; it hardens like concrete and then you never get it off. Congrats to Zap for his fine finish in Modified AWD class. I was fortunate enough to win in Prepared AWD; owe it all to my mud tires (and a chance to practice at the Primitive Rally School the day before). Also Charles got a 2nd in Preapared AWD.

So what is it that they are trying to teach? Anything useful to an old fart like me?

Yes, I was hoping to make this also, but some work related stuff came up and it looks like I'm not going to make it.

Very cool Jamie. Must be nice to push around someone else's car. Why did your instructor have that "deer in the headlights" look? You had everything under control!

Lou was a driving force in the MG Car Club (Long Island, NY chapter) and rallymaster for numerous MG1000 International rallyes. Amazingly he's still alive and enjoying his other passion....skiing. http://www.crystalmountain.com/Default.aspx?PageID=6011257&A=SearchResult&SearchID=2007019&ObjectID=6011257&ObjectType=1