Rollie715

Many readily available 6-lug wheels already have a large negative offset which would place them plenty far out if you wanted that. Doing a 6-lug conversion to your 4-lug hubs is fairly simple. Even if you had a shop do the conversion work, I would guess it may still be cheaper then the cost to build some adapters. On the other hand there may be some people out there who have the money and would rather go with a bolt on setup. IMHO Rollie

The advice I now have for others who may be contemplating a 6-lug conversion is to go ahead and knock out all the original 12mm x 1.25 studs and put in 12mm x 1.5 studs which should be compatible with whatever Toyota wheels and lugnuts you decide to go with. Rollie

I'm hoping to have my Soob ready by then. '88 GL Wagon New engine should be here this week. New 27" SSR's hopefully here next week. 6" SJR lift already installed. Need to fabricate some bumpers or at least some tow hooks. No plan for a locker yet. Body is in good shape, so I'm not looking forward to any carnage. I'm not too sure how difficult of trails I want to subject my car to as I'm still wanting to depend on it for a daily driver. Maybe if I can get some shop time between work and the holidays, it will be up to the trip by then. Rollie

Well, I've been checking out Toyota Alloy lugnuts and it seems as if they are different then then the common aftermarket mag types. Toyota Alloys appear to have bigger diameter stud holes at about .73" dia and the standard .685" dia mag nuts would be too loose. So I'm back to plan A which will be to change out the studs and put in the 12mm x 1.5 studs which will allow me to use the stock Toyota mag lugnuts. And then if I really want them to look pretty, I can buy new toyota nuts to replace the old corroded ones I now have. Rollie

The car I recently purchased has had a 6-lug conversion done to the hubs so It can use toyota wheels. It currently has a set of Toyota steels on it using the standard taperd lugnuts which work just fine. However I just picked up a set of Stock Toyota 15x7 Alloys which I plan to mount my new tires on. The problem is the Alloys use a mag type lugnut with a washer and the tapered nuts won't fit. Mag lugnuts came with the Alloys, but they look like the Toyota thread which I'm guessing is something like 12mm x 1.50 and won't fit on the Subaru which has 12mm x 1.25 studs. Looks like two options to make the wheels work is to either find some mag lugnuts in 12mm x 1.25 or to press out the studs and replace them all with the 12mm x 1.50. Any experience with this or any leads where I can find some mag lugnuts in the 12mm x 1.25 size? Rollie

Good question. All I based my original diagnosis on was the report I got from the previous owner and the outward symtoms I noticed. It is a high mileage engine, leaks a lot of oil and has been progressively losing power over the last few months. Knowing just that and me being lazy and not wanting to spend much elbow grease rebuilding major components, I chose to take the chance and buy the new engine. However this afternoon, I pulled it into the shop and did a compression check. Sure enough there was a problem. Compression ranged between 58 and 110 psi with the two lowest cylinders being something like 58 and 70. Good news for me, because I was kinda counting on being able to fix up the new motor, bolt it in and have a good running car again. I will keep you informed how the new engine works out. Rollie

Anyone know anything about CNS Motors out of Santa Ana Ca? www.cnsmotors.com I just ordered an EA82 Japanese pullout from them. $595 plus $155 shipping to Bellingham Wa I will let you know how it works out after I receive it and get it running. Rollie

Thanks for the replies. I just bought the car I was lookin at last night and after a bit of engine checking I may need to pursue finding another one. Rollie

What all years did the EA82 come in?Rollie

Well, I may have found an 88 GL Wagon to build my offroad rig out of, but it might need another engine. One idea I had was to pick up another Sube to use as a parts car with a good engine and swap it into it. My question for you all is what all engines will fit? The 88 currently has an SPFI EA82 with 5-speed. Will other engines from 2WD, Autos, or other years bolt right into the 88? If so, then I'm looking for leads close to Bellingham WA where I can get an engine. Thanks Rollie

Where's a good source for purchasing either a rebuilt or low mileage EA82 SPFI? I'm thinking one of those low mileage Japanese pullouts would be just about perfect if they still exist. I may have a worn out engine and am considering a rebuild, but don't want to do that much work myself? Somewhere close to the Northwest where I could pick it up unless shipping from somewhere else was reasonable. Or if you know someone in the Northwest Wa area that does rebuilds, I could pull my engine and have them build it for me. Rollie

I'm fairly new with this subject, but have recently looked at the lug nut holes in the 15" alloy Pug wheels and have observed the following: It appears as if they are designed so that the correct lugnut seats against a tapered or rounded section where the wheel thickness is greater. This may have the effect of centering the wheel correctly, but would also provide for very strong wheel suppport. My concern when using other types of lugnuts would be to try to find one that would be fat enough so that it would contact the wheel up where it is tapered and thick. If the tapered part of the lug nut is too narrow, it may only seat against the flat area around the hole, which would not provide a centering effect as mentioned above, but more important may be the fact that that area of the wheel is very thin and could be subject to easier cracking or even having the wheel break and completely fall off when subjected to heavy stress. If it were me, I would be very careful when choosing non Peugeot lugnuts. Rollie

Just to confrim rumors I just heard on another thread, Is Walker Valley open now and this time of year? thanks Rollie

I believe most of the SJR Lift components are made out of aluminum. Rollie

I believe the SJR 6" Lift moves the rear diff and swingarm pivots straight down the full 6" and retains the original factory axle angles so in affect that should leave the hubs and wheels in their original factory position, so if they started out in the center, they would still be in the center. I'm guessing the new SJR 3.5" lift may increase the axle angles a bit and thus possibly bring the rear wheels forward a little, unless they decide to move the diff rearward, but I don't think that is the case. I could be wrong, but that is what it looked like to me. Rollie

If I may show my ignorance, what is a 4.44? Is that a diff gear ratio? Rollie

I looked at the rear hubs tonight and tend to agree with Adam. I still like the idea, but think I will not pursue it much right now as it may involve too much work. One idea tho if someone was to pursue it, maybe they could cut the rear axle shaft and put on some kind if locking/freewheel mechanism that would be easier to shift then removing and reinstalling the whole axle as I have heard some people are doing. Rollie

I just got this crazy idea, but I'm not sure if it has any merit, as I haven't even looked at the rear hubs to see how they are built. I'm thinking if the rear hubs are supported by their own bearings and don't rely on the axle for strength, then possibly the splines could be reamed out and a lockout hub fabricated to the outside so the rear axles could be switched into freewheel mode similar to how many four wheel drive rigs have on their front axles. Then I could weld up the rear dif for a locked rear axle, but would still have the freedom of a very street drivable vehicle on the road. I know this sounds crazy, but I think I will look into it when I get home tonight to see if the rear hubs can even possibly except this kind of modification. Rollie

Ohh.. So what I'm hearing is that not only has the North Fork been recently closed down, but Walker Valley is closed during the winter. Looks like we need to find some other place to go that are close to Whatcom County. My front yard is getting a little too muddy for much more offroad driving and I would sure like to send those pesky Soobs to some place a little nicer :burnout: Rollie. (I'm still lookin to buy a nice EA82. I'm hoping to have the cash in the next week or so.)

Right you are Zyewdall! Tire diameter is a huge factor It is true that a typical Subaru has a crawl ratio of about 22 or 3.545 (1st gear) x 1.59 (lo range) x 3.9 (differentials) = 21.98 That equates to 3.11 mph at 1000 rpm with a 23" diameter tire To fairly compare that to a Jeep or Pickup with say 38" tires, you would have to factor in the difference in tire sizes. 38 (Jeep tire) / 23 (Soob tire) x 21.98 (Soob crawl ratio) = 36.32 (equivalent crawl ratio) What I'm saying is that a Soob with 23" tires and a crawl ratio of 22 is equivalent to a vehicle with 38" tires and a crawl ratio of 36.32. I hope I didn't lose too many people in the math That is why if you put too large of tires on your Soob even tho your calculated crawl ratio hasn't changed, your 'effective' crawl ratio has got worse and you have trouble when it comes to pulling those hard hills or getting out of those gumbo mud holes. Just my 2 cents worth Rollie

Tell me more about Walker Valley. Is it really open to vehicles? What's it like? What kind of offroad conditions does it have. I hope to be buying a Soob in the next couple weeks and could possibly have it lifted and new tires on it by first week in Jan. Rollie

Their specs looks like 23.9" tall. How does that compare to a stock tire? Would it be tall enough to seriously consider for typical offroading? Rollie

Thanks for the information Rollie

I was looking for some 14" wheels for my 88 wagon and saw an ad for some from a Legacy. This might be a dumb question, but will they fit on my 88 wagon? Rollie

Hope it's not too late to jump into this thread. I've pulled lots of tire studs in my life. Typically after buying a set of studded snow tires and then not having enough money in the spring to buy something else, so it means pulling the studs and keep driving on the snow tires. I've tried needlenose pliers, visegrips, awls, and screwdrivers. What seem to work best for me is a strong small tipped flat screwdriver with a bunch of electrical tape wrapped around the handle to give it cushion and not create a big blister on your hand from all that hard pushing and prying. If the screwdriver is too small it bends easy, so sometimes I take a bigger screwdriver and grind down the tip a little smaller. The procedure involves poking the screwdriver down alongside the stud until it is beyond the base and then prying it sideways so the screwdriver tip pushes up and out the stud. I must have popped out thousands of studs this way and got blisters on my hands in the process. That is why the big padded handle is needed. Oh yeah, and sometimes it help to wear a glove. Rollie