newsoobdude

Took my BRAT on it's maiden voyage 6 years in the making. It was only to the end of the street and back but that is the furthest it's moved in over 10 years. Also took my Outback wheelin' today with a friend and his Heep, err Jeep, down a new trail today. Did much better than expected but had to be helped up one last foot and weighted down twice I think. Burnt the clutch and smoked the tires a bit as well in a few places but had fun. Made me REALLY wish I had a low range and lockers but one can only wish til funds are allotted. Also hit my oil pan so won't be doing any new wheelin' til I get a skid plate made up . Got some parts on video and will post when I get from my friend.

Took her for a quick, loud spin down the street and back for the first time EVER today after 6 years of ownership :banana:. Back end floats a bit and is real soft riding even with the end up so I think my struts are shot, but I'm replacing them anyways in a little while with new Rancho's when I lift her. Have a squeak coming from the right side front I think, not sure if I heard something or not above the open headers. Will find out tomorrow. Got to wait til Nov. to get my Y pipe from my house up north and pick up the rear discs. Might also pick up a spare diff for the rear so I can get one welded up for later. Once I do that it's SMOG and lift and good to go for the moment while I build up a torquer cammed EA81 with EA82 intake and Weber with a 5spd D/r swap too. All I need is the Weber and tires.........

Yeah, I checked my receipt and I got a core charge for the knuckle. WTF!?! Was told all the yards in the neighborhood sold out and combined into one. Was wondering what ever happened to Memory Lane........ Got a new ball joint installed and redid the wheel bearings today since I was unable to go to the other yard. Hopefully my packages from Rockauto show up tomorrow so I can do my brakes and go for a quick spin, otherwise I'll just button it back up and go anyways . Still has a hesitation when cold and given slight throttle but might be the fact it's sat for a few years. Will just keep running it with the fresh 91 and maybe throw in a can or 2 or some injector cleaner or something. Sure is loud with 24 inch long straight pipes/ headers .

Mostly stock 86 BRAT. Console and radio panel section both out. Need to find a cheaper replacement console than the 2 yards I dealt with ($45ish they wanted ). Drivers seat is torn and both are stained and carpet it pretty thrashed in spots (was mouse house for X amount of time and sat for at LEAST 9 years in the same spot). Dash is great but has a crack in the front edge in the center and the vents are dried out as well as the door handle surrounds but otherwise fine. Hope to have it drivable this weekend.

I definitely agree on this. Would make life a lot easier than searching through countless posts trying to get the info right. Also agree on having good quality aftermarket parts alternatives listed as well if applicable.

Sweet! Thanks for the info! Now to find them for a good price I hope and make some new, better axles. Does anyone know if Gck still exist as I read they were good new ones with the EA82 style DOJ?

Went to redo the the wheel bearings on the drivers side today and after driving out the old bearings in 3 pieces discovered the outer race was trashed . Called one junkyard that's really nice and they didn't have any. Called the one down the street and was quoted no more than $200 and no less than $100 and we need the old one to match to the new one and no you cannot see the cars the parts come off of. Yeah, right. Have a nice day. Go with friend to the local PnP to hopefully get lucky. Found an 81 wagon and an 83 wagon as well. Grab interior bits for my BRAT and the complete intake, carb and air cleaner assembly. Go to pull the steering knuckle out to have it fight the whole way and have the strut stuck in. Grab some other parts off the 81 (3rd eye assembly and gas door) and call it a day. Total was $300 :eek:?!?! Intake and carb assembly was $120 . No. Console and lower dash panel $40 each. No. 3rd Eye, $60. WTH!?!? No, forget it. Steering knuckle, $30. Deal. Door handle surrounds $7 each. Fine. Speaker grill, $7. Fine. 4wd Lever assembly for $15. Done. Now I need to redo the ball joint on the new knuckle and redo the bearings as I still have the unused new ones, reassemble and good to go. Hopefully have done with new brakes all around as well by Friday.

Bringing an old thread back from the dead I never realized I never thanked you Phizinza. Sorry about that and thank you. I was searching for this mod so I can finally get my BRAT back on the road and found this thread. Surprised it's not in the Repair Manual that I could find. It's a great mod I hear and granted an old one but for the Noobs or slow to work it's good to have a hard copy able to be found.

I've had this BRAT for 6 years and only driven it 75 feet total in that time. The previous owner got it from a used car lot and it had a seized motor but less than 150k on the clock. That was the early 90s. He towed it to his place and proceeded to let it rest and keep company with a bunch of other Soobs. I got it in 2005 in trade for some parts. Bought a few parts wagons to add more parts to the collection and get a good motor and trans as the tow company for the dealership lunched the trans. Transplanted the motor and trans in 2007 then had life take over. Flash forward September 10 2011, I travel up to friends house where she has been sitting since before I bought her and tow her down to LA. I had lost the keys and the steering column was locked and someone was nice enough to cut off my CA Y-pipe, take my OEM tool bag and tools, jack and cut the new radiator hose I had put on . Got the keys hose replaced, only to find the key doesn't turn far enough but did unlock it so that was good. Finally got her to fire up for the first time in like 5 years or so. She doesn't like to idle at first but after a while is good to go and the drivers side wheel bearing is toast too. Other wise she is good to drive. Pics 2007- 2011 Not bad for sitting forever. Plans include 4 inch lift, 27 inch tires, D/r 5spd, rear discs, Lincoln locked, and a built EA81 before going EJ

Sux to hear about that Kost. I make trips from Socal to your neck of the woods if you happen to find one down here I'll bring up on a trip for ya. Good luck with everything and don't give up.

Vacuumed out the BRAT from all the rodent accumulation the other day as well as shampooed the interior, now looks rather decent. Need to find something to was my UNCRACKED dash pad :eek: and then slap a new cover on it. Fired it up today after getting a new set of keys for it (they won't go into the start position though so had to undo the switch in the back and bypass the key itself) and getting the steering column unlocked to find that in addition to cutting my brand new radiator hose, stealing the negative cable for the battery, the OEM jack and tools and tire wrench, some thieves also cut the exhaust off right after the bends at the head :mad:. At least it runs though so I'm happy with that and all I have to do now is find the vacuum leak so I can give it some gas, and yes, all the hoses are hooked up. Washed my Outback as well and realized how scratched to snot the passenger side is from me always shoving it into the bushes on the trails. Oh well.

Thanks for the responses. I really am looking at just leveling my Gen 2 BRAT w/o cranking the torsion bars down too much or putting 1 inch blocks under the front subframe assembly including struts. I guess now it's time to figure out a suspension only lift. Only looking for an inch max. What mods are necessary for the EA82 front struts w/ EA81 caps as I wonder if one can do King Springs instead of the RX and not over stress the CVs.

Bringing up an old post I know, but it says that the shocks from autozone are not adjustable for the front even though it shows the adjustment parts. Anyone get a set lately and can confirm this?

Bump for some help. No ones got a high topper and a tape measure? Anyone have any leads on where I get these measurements? I have no access to a high topper and the ones I see for sale are 800+ miles away. Anyone have a high topper bar and a tape measure? I just need to know how tall it is and cannot find one of these either within reasonable distance to purchase or price without being killed on shipping.

Ok...... so what makes it "high clearance"? The fact that the rear diff was kept higher than the rest of the lift (3 inch front body, 1 inch rear diff assembly)? I was thinking it was maybe like 3 inch body and 4 inch strut like some kits? 'Chux, on your BRAT you have X inches body and torsions adjusted as your lift? So we don't have to go to another post, do you mind posting side and front and rear shots of it for us? I'm looking for as much clearance as I can when I lift my EA81s and think I'm going to go 4 inch blocks and RX strut assemblies in the front, not sure on the rear, probably just use the torsion adjust only and have a level BRAT.

Nice lookin' BRAT you scored there. Everyone's gotta quit taking them away from here even though they are soo clean .

Need the height of a high bar for a Gen 2 BRAT. Also need the inside height of Gen 2 high toppers at the rear hatch. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, after 2 days 850 miles, 2 hours sleep and a lot of waiting around, O finally got one of my BRATs down to LA to work on. Cannot wait til I get new keys and registration for it so I can fix it back up. Also, put another dent in my Outback out wheeling the other day, just glad I was lifted as it was my rocker that got it and had I not been lifted would have gottten stuck. time for bed

nice colors! Like the fact the wagon rims are the same color on your Blue Gen2. Wish mine all looked as good as those. The Gen1 pic with the lifted truck in the background is a good one too.

Has anyone tried this cause it's not a bad idea for a suspension only lift? Might be more expensive but might be easier for some to find. What other choices are there to lift the suspension alone besides strut tops and RX springs?

Care to share this info with everyone please?