3eyedwagon

3 inch is going to put a bit more stress on your front axles. Most people with this 2 inch lift have stuck with only going 2 inches for a reason. Even with just the 2 inches; the axles are already stressed a bit, and at full suspension droop, they will rub a bit. I'd be a bit surprised if you can fit the 3 inch blocks in there, as we've had a bit of trouble on a few cars just getting the 2 inch blocks in. For the style of lift in this thread you only need to drop the front struts, and rear struts. That is all that is required. If you want to go any bigger; you will need to do a complete lift. It requires alot more blocks, and quite a bit more work. But, with this lift; you'll need 6 blocks to lift the front struts (there's a diagram floating around here somewhere), and flatbar bent to drop the rear struts at the top, from their original mounting position (or another way of dropping the struts).

Most of them being related to people not reading their owners manual, and mixing it with non-extended life. We had a little science expiriment, and mixed the two. That's definitely the source of most of the clogs. People "top up" with a little of whatever they have, and it makes a nice pudding.

Check out Summit. They have a 100 amper on sale right now for about 67 dollars + shipping. It's a part number 7157 large body, available in any color you want, as long as it's black!!!! I only point it out because it's a pretty smoking deal, and it ends in late April.

The trans cooler lines should run into the side of the radiator. They do leak, but that would be fairly obvious. You can tighten both the hard cooling lines into the radiator bungs, and the bung into the radiator. The bung does leak from time to time, and can be tightened with a large crescent wrench. Do so slowly, and carefully. Overtightening can crack the radiator tank. That would make for a much larger, more noticeable leak. :-\

Most of the intake gasket problems were pretty well wrapped up by 1998, but I wouldn't rule that out. Is it all lost in the radiator, or is the overflow tank draining as well? If the radiator is just a bit low; that is completely normal. Most all of these I've ever had would "shed" coolant if you filled the radiator to completely brimming full. I'd recomend filling the overflow tank to "full cold" while the motor is cold, and then fill the radiator to near the top, but not full. If you can stick your little finger in, and touch the coolant; that is full enough. Another place to check for small leaks is under the passenger side carpet. If the heater core is starting to go (common on these) it can leak very slightly, be absorbed by the carpet, and then evaporate without you ever noticing. Also be sure to check the wheep hole on the water pump. It is common for those to leak so slightly it isn't noticeable, and the coolant evaporates from the heat of the motor. You have to get underneath, and specifically check for marks right around the wheep hole. GOOD LUCK!

That's the life of a wheeled Subaru. You know you are getting the body "broke in" when the rear hatch light comes on intermently in the off camber sections of your driveway. Or just at a stop light.

Subaru already made an axle disconnect. They called it "roll pins".

John, Those are two pieces of steel flatbar. Anything 1" to nearly 2" wide will work, and somewhere around a 1/4" thick would be ideal. If you have a drill, a hacksaw, and a vise; you can knock them out in twenty minutes. You just need to drill holes about 2 1/2" to 3" apart while the flatbar is still straight, and then bend it in the middle to about 15 degrees. None of this stuff is incredibly exact, so just try to get everything even. Drill the holes to the same size as the ones in the struts. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 9/16". Then install the strut turned 180 degrees around. It's simple man.

Yeah. I'm not totally bad mouthing them. They are relevant, if not only because the aftermarket made them so. But, they do have a solid motor to build from. I was just surprised by how much people had talked them up once I got mine. In stock form it was pitifully slow, and mine was supposedly one of the better years. After a lowering kit, and a bit of suspension work my S10 solidly handed my 5.0 it's ***. This despite it being about 800-1000 pounds heavier, short two cylinders-7/10 of a liter, and having leaf spring truck suspension. That 5.0 never left me walking though, and like I said; NASCAR syled smokey donuts. :grin:

He's right. LX is a interior/trim package. I had a LX 5.slow. It was a pretty sweet little car. It wasn't as fast as I'd hoped (especially off the line), but, it sure did amazing donuts on dry pavement.

I'd like to think that us up here in Washington might know just a wee bit more than you Iowans do about mold. Simple Green will be your best friend. Unless you guys have some sort of exotic "corn mold" that I'm yet to encounter; you should be able to clean it up pretty well with a bunch of Simple Green, and alot of elbow grease. I've dealt with alot of mold from cars just sitting around in the shade over the course of one of our 9 month winters, and for the most part; almost all mold is cleanable/salvage. Unless it is to the point that the mold has actually started to rot, or degrade the cloth on the seats you should be ok. The plastic parts will all clean up pretty well, just be sure to not leave too high of a concentration of Simple Green on those parts for very long. I have seen higher concentrations of the stuff distort, and even melt some plastic interior parts. It's gonna take some time, some hard work, and in the end it probably won't be like new. However, most of the cars around here have mold damage to some extent, and we still drive them!!

The "Sticky" at the top of the Offroad section will help to answer a bunch of your questions as far as tire size and all that. Depending on what you want for a lift; I would highly suggest building your own kit. You are going to have to bolt in on either way, so you may as well learn the extra bit, and do it yourself. They aren't very complicated, and theres a few people on here who would be glad to walk you through the process. All of these kits consist of simple cut up steel blocks, and a few slightly more complicated parts. If you hunt around; you can probably find someone to build you the more complicated parts for fairly cheap, and the rest is well within most peoples abilities.

EA81!!!!!!!! :lol::lol::lol::lol:

It's not the diff gear set that's different. It's the gear ratio's of 3rd, and 4th gear that are diffferent. 1982, and earlier dual ranges have lower 3rd, and 4th gears. They changed to a taller gear package in 1983. http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=723&highlight=ea81+dual+range+ratios

A little bit of cross bracing wouldn't be a bad idea. If they were welded together with a cross bar to make the shape of a capital H; you wouldn't have what I see as a potential problem with the pieces rotating forward or back of center. I know I've seen this problem twice already on that style of bracket. A light piece of cross bracing would eliminate this possibility, and you could even do it once you install the pieces on the car.

The frames should all be just fine. But I'd give another vote for the s10 for the frame. It's alot stronger than the competitors. Just bend over and take a look under one to see what I mean. The ranger also has a solid frame, but s10 frames will be around long after you, and I are gone. They are hell for stout.

Count me as another vote for the 4.3 powered S-10s. The 2.8 V6s are reliable, but they make about half the power of a 4.3. The Ranger is a good pickup too. I've owned both a 3.0 liter model, and a 4.0 liter. They are virtually the same. The v6 Toyota are a JOKE. That 3.0 liter made reasonable power, but go ahead and go buy ANY parts for them. There's a reason they are sitting in piles around the country, and can be found for free on Craigslist. The only thing a V6 Toyota pickup was good for is it's third memeber. If you want to pull something with a 4 cylinder Toy; you better have a bit of time on your hands. The 4.3 S-10s and all of their drivetrain components are just far superior to anything else you could buy in that price range. The 4.3 is probably easily the best v6 ever made. It has been used in everything from police cars, to mail delivery trucks, to boats, to civilian conversion vans that weigh far too much, to everyday pickups. There are even racing series designed solely around that engine. It is an amazing motor. Parts are cheap, it's easy to tune, comes in a wide variety of fuel delivery configuartions (all of which are great), and it has an excellent aftermarket following. I'm not detracting anything from the Ford or Dodge small trucks, but GM definitely handed out a whooping when they released that motor in the S10.

The one I have is an all steel hoop that bolts to the unibody, and then the rear diff. The hoop pipe stays close to the gas tank, so it would take minor modification for 8" of lift. If it could be of any help; I could get a picture for you. Otherwise I'll keep an eye out for a stocker for You.

Stay away........ that's our little stash up here!

How tall of one do you need? I have a custom one for a 6" lift. Otherwise; I'll keep an eye out.

I'm sure this will create some debate, but I'd just like to point out that the limited slip diff is really nothing to right home about. It's only so "coveted" around here because it is slightly better than the rest of what Subaru had to offer. Because of this; too many people have held it in incredibly high regard. Mix that with their scarcity, and that's how they've become "coveted" Brag about a limited slip differential in alot of other motor vehicle enthusiast circles, and prepare to be laughed at. They are best suited for RallyX, and that's about it. Some wheelers may object, but only the ones who have them in their cars. Or those who are wanting to sell you one.

Is it hard wire, or inner shield wire??? I'm just trying to figure out what exact setup that is. Looks like dual shield to me.

It could also be the fact that the TV show is highly sponsored by the companies producing the products they are endorsing?!?!?! I bet once the real owner gets their project truck; all that crap is stripped out, and done correctly. That is, if it isn't Line-X that they've just told you is Duplicolor. I've used both the Herculiner, and the Duplicolor. I got KILLER deals on both products when I worked at an autoparts store. I thought I'd be saving the money of getting Line-X job done. In the end; I wasted a whole F'n bunch of my time. I'm a pretty meticulous person, and I know all about prep work. I used both of these products on truck beds, as well the trunk of a car. Both of them sucked, and looked like crap within a year. The Duplicolor ended up flaking off the inside of the trunk, leaving me with a big mess to clean up before spending the money to get it done right. These kits are cheap for a reason. They are an inexpensive fix to a problem that requires good quality materials. If this is a vehicle you are serious about having for the long term; buck up, and do it right.

You need to make a total of 4 of the blocks on the upper part of this diagram. You will need 2 of these blocks for the driver's side, and you will need 2 of these blocks for the passenger side. You then need to make 2 of the blocks from the lower part of this diagram. You need 1 of those blocks for the driver's side, and you need 1 for the passenger side. These blocks are for the front (as in front of the car, closer to the radiator than the other two mounting points) mounting point for each strut because the other design of block will not fit in between the strut, and the body.

If you read those instructions carefully you will see that it is to make 6 blocks. 3 for each side.