ezapar

Mudrat had one sitting in his yard that had 33s on it and a huge lift when we went down for Ken's axle swap. I thought it looked awesome. Wanted it! Some day, I'll roll one.

So what's wrong with a little pounding? They clear fine afterwards, and you can't even tell where or what got pounded. Shoot, you may even get away with no punding on an 03. . . The extra clearance is nice.

The name Faithwheelers is a little bit scary to me. Does this involve praying and preaching before wheeling? Serious. . .

I took a bunch of pics when we did Ken's lift on his Brat. But, with good ol' dial up, I'm not gonna attempt to upload them, they're big. I'm in North Seattle, I'd gladly burn you a cd so you can go over them as much as you like. Although there's no good pic of the t-case after it's mounted, there's plenty of other photos that will give you a good idea of what we did with the general lift. Solid rear axle conversion too. Other good stuff too, like the resized photo below of the steering shaft we had to make. Big pain in the rump roast, took 1/3 of the time we spent total to fab, but works like a charm. Eric Zap

3 locked diffs, two open. 3 including the front of Ken's 5speed dual range. Don't remember any of the diffs breaking. But, I believe we broke 5 stub axles. The LSD from Lumpycam's Unhatched was the hardest to remove the broken stub from. (see attached photo fo three people wreslting with it) He had originally built the LSD with air tools and put it together with the idea of making sure it wouldn't come apart easily. The stub broke and twisted, we couldn't remove it without completely disassembling the LSD unit itself. Which of course involves removing it from the carrier. fluid to deal with. The Rubicon made Ken a believer in the welded diffs, me too. The photo of the busted stub was taken after Ken broke the first one, first day, first obstacle.

I say all of the above. But, Sounds like a Brat I used to have. Ask everyone who got the "high marks" when I was on the trail with other Soobs. . . open diff too. lol But I think, after as much Soobie offroad experience as anyone on the planet, that big crazy road warrier bumpers just add weight. When I go out, I plan on not crashing into stuff. A skid plate is neccessary to keep the Y-pipes safe, no more. Less weight is a huge advantage offroad. As for big lifts, transfer cases, extra power from motor upgrade, 31+s blah blah blah. . . Last year at the mud pit at WCSS6, my 4/3 PK Davis lifted hatch with 27 inch swampers and a welded rear diff went through three times with no breakage, then I drove it 400 miles home packed full of gear. *edit* Oh yeah, then it drove 1200 miles to CO. from WA. a week later, then it showed up in photos workin it at Moab. *edit* 3 brats with the above lift-transfer case-big tire-set up all broke first time thru. 2 of them went home on trailers, one after fix. (yes Caboobaroo, I did get pulled backwards 3 times to get a better line so I could continue forwards) With all that said, Skills Behind the Wheel make the best Soobie offroader. You should see Austin behind the wheel. Yeah.

I do know that hatchback is synonomous with oversteer. Out of all the Soobs I've ever driven, the hatchbacks are the worst handling in the dirt at speed. Ea81s have a crappy suspension for the likes or Rally. Period. RX stands for Rally Experimental. Subaru must have been on to something. I've personally seen the car in the attachment below in action. With a decent driver, it could have been the shnit.

Cingular. NO roaming charges. . . Worked great when I did my WA to NY and back. The co-driver's Sprint did not very well.

Hey Ryan. Although I don't have a specific car in mind for your rally car, I'd be willing to vollunteer my mechanical (ie: suspension, body work, interior) skills and garage (for a couple weeks/weekends) to help get it together. I have a lot of tools, (ie:jacks. stands/ ramps/ any hand tools needed for an EA Soob, others) no air tools, but may have access to them just the same. Easy access to a hoist. I'm near North Gate, just off of I-5. chairotsu @ earthlink.net Eric Zap

Lumpycam already beat you to it buddy. . .

Looks much better now Van. Don't s'pose the Off Road Vids I sent to ya helped you on your way at all. . . ?

You're looking for the word "Primitive" maybe? I plan on one. They have a burly thick one I plan on using.

The other post. I added Outback struts to make room for taller tires. 205/70/15s. Looks like I can fit 205/75/15s. Just have to figure out a skid plate.

How about now? 9 inches even under the Y-pipe and rear diff. Whoohoo!

A floor and walls are useless without a roof.

Several times I've seen water come up to my windshield in an ea81.

Give ol' Paul a good firm handshake for me. Glad to know you're almost there. -5, good lord! Remind me to never move to a place where it gets -5. lol

It can and has been done. Austin's 80 wagon sports an adapter made by Mudrat.

Yeah, I've been priveledged enough to break bread with him, heck, I've even stayed at his house a couple of times. 4X'd with him too. :-p 6 times in all meeting with one another Mick? Here 3, there 3?

Tell Indiana that his buddy Eric says hi! May as well tell his Dad and Verna the same.

I would SO like to see that parked next to Scott's Brat.

Here's some photos of a Forester with a lift. Aussie, I think. Sorry about the heep photos mixide in. http://rallitek.net/forums/showthread.php?t=142

That Brat would be Ken's daily driver. Very reliable. I'm guessing you've never met Brian the Subaru Guru, he built it along side Ken. The RX that Sean (of RalliTek) built for Rally X was at least 160hp. It beat WRX's in the quarter mile, no shnit. 15lbs of boost. My impreza couldn't keep up with it, and I've beat up ea82ts plenty of times. I find it hard to believe you've only coaxed 120hp out of your motor.

Could ya settle for WCSS7? Coming this Summer.

You bet. Not trying to say the 3 door wouldn't make a good offroader. He asked which is better, or how it stacked up to a hatch, I gave my opinion. So far, the impreza outback wouldn't hold a candle to a hatch in the mud, no clearance. In the snow up to 2 feet or so. . ? The hatch could only wish it could keep up with the OBS and stay on the road at the same time. On gravel roads. . ? HA! When I'm done with the OBS, hopefully before WCSS7, it will give a standard lifted hatch a run for it's money offroad too. I'm sure of it. Ross's really was the sickness. Awesome car, I personally spotted him up the last few parts of upper 311 at Evans Creek.