TeamCF

Heck yeah! Funny though, I was out there one time and a guy with 36" tires and front and rear lockers got stuck in that section and had to try again. He just hit it wrong and that was it. Proly pissed him off to see me just drive right up it in his rearveiw. He never mentioned it the whole rest of the day.

hehe I'd be all over it. But..... $100 to my name right now. :-\ In the end the only wheeler I can afford is the one on jackstands in my drive right now. Stupid things in younger years.... My advice: stay away from credit cards, don't finance anything, always pay cash. A divorce didn't help either. But now I'm veering off topic.

Lookin' good so far. I have that same welder. Not the most powerful, but you can get some good penetration if you work it right and take your time.

Ahhh.. Yeah can hardly tell my GL ever had one other than a couple studs sticking out from the body. And those still don't really give it away.

I'm gonna give another EMPI a whirl as it's under warranty. But I'm gonna needs something else sooner or later, (proly sooner than later) So I assume these are genuine used axles? And the options grow. My biggest thing with getting JY axles myself is alot to do with my eye not being trained to tell if it's a real Soob axle or just a cheapo one. And last time I went to the local yard they purged all thier old Subies. That was months ago though. I just want to get a couple good ones under there the next time around. I've only had the car just over a year (well about a year). I can have the axles out in about 10-15 min. (or about 3 songs on KGON) I actually consider that to not be a good thing. Doing it too often.

I'll have to make that an option.

Yeah I'm gonna warranty my EMPI. Run it till it breaks. Meanwhile order a couple MWE's to be sitting ready. Clearity is here now that nothing I can do will get me on the trails yesterday.... Thanks.

I'll keep ya in mind. But I'm gonna be keeping it for now. I couldn't afford to replace it at this point. And I need to wheel something. One of the things keeping me sane these days. I think alot of it was me being way too stoked on a particular wheeling trip. And my Soob telling me "No!" Now that the tip is past, nothing I nor my Subaru can do about it, I seem to have the love again. Yesterday though... All I could think was "I should be out at TSF right now." Still need lower gears though. For some reason I see a long bumpy relationship with that car. And a divorced transfercase in it's future. For now just keeping it on the trails.

Yeah the EMPI's I have have a year warranty. I got one replaced. But now don't really feel like running over there again (they were closed the first try, should have called) to get the other one. Plus I already tore it apart to see if I could put the DOJ off one of my old axles on it.... can't. But I didn't do anything really but remove the boot, could put sonme new clamps on it and just replace it. Pretty much free now and I'll have about 6 months to get a couple really good ones. That sounds like the best plan yet.

Yeah that's the problem with out there. Most all the trails are really narrow. (but that's part of the fun if it's not crowded) And you get dirtbikes flying down the few trails they actualy let 4X4's use. And then they get pissed at ya like you should not be there. It's like "look at a map buddy, dirtbikes and ATV's get about 90% of the trails out here. I'm only allowed on a few. so shut it!" They really need to change the rules so the 4x4's have certain trails all to themselves. We travel alot slower. I've almost been nailed by a ballistic bike coming around a corner a few times. And we were going the same direction. But other than that it rocks out there. Anything with a blue square, is totaly stock Subaru'able. I did all of them with open diff the first couple times I went out there. Throw an LSD or weld it and you can start getting into some of the single black diamond trails. But then the body carnage starts. So black diamond is only if you don't care about sheetmetal. I think one of my faves is the third powerline trail? (the longest one I think) About the middle it has a steep spot, you go around a tight left, gets steep, goes into a tight right, and it's filled with rocks and a big stump and root to try to manuver, really short section only in the corner. It's just so that you can do it totally stock. But you could also get stuck good even locked. I like those kind of trails. Impossible and easy at the same time, just depends on how you go into it.

I think it's just a debris deflector. Mine are all bent up from the constant changing of axles.

Yeah I've done tons of searches as well. Always come up with too much varied info. But the MWE and factory ones do come out on top if they are even mentioned. I'll have to look into them. Proly actually end up just paying more for Subaru ones as I don't think I'll find MWE's around town. (seems more like a mail order thing, and I'm too impatient for that, I only order stuff as a last resort) Maybe a quick stroll in the JY to at least see if I score gold. I can just see that turning into a BFH slam fest (if there are even any EA81's back in), and still walk out with no axle though. We'll see.

Nice. Fun trail isn't it?

Yeah I figured they should still be good..... Boy was I wrong! So MWE or genuine. Looks like there will be some other calls made tomarrow other than U-pull it.

Last time I bought a set of boots that actualy fit right, it almost cost me as much as a new axle. (about $50 for the inner and outer boots all together, I believe it was at Shucks) I've been through the rebuilding of axles, don't like it. I'm short on cash, but I'll pay a little extra for new ones. Just fed up with putting junk on the car only to have it blow up in 5,000 miles. (the longest lasting EMPI I've had) I need to know where people are getting parts for so cheap. (case in point: GD has said he was getting EMPI axles for under $50... I paid $79 each for mine at Discount Import)

Well that really does not solve my problem. I want to go wheel it. Or at least go wheel something. And I know I'll break it if I try to turn it on the cement in 4WD, welded diff and I STILL can't get the axle out in the back. Past couple months this thing has really turned into a headache I don't need right now. Just wanted the needed relaxation of some rolling around in the woods and I get this hassel. I know unless I pay out the *** for an axle I'm just going to end up doing this over and over to often. Think I'll just call U-pull it tomarrow and have them come get it. :-\ At least I'll save $40 a month on insurance costs. Thanks for the help guys. I do appreciate it, just bad time for this thing to crap out on me, and I've lost interest in it. On to a beefier wheeler project I guess.

Well the EMPI grenaded inside, broken needle bearings everywhere. (it's the three roller bearing style DOJ) Can't put one of my old DOJ's on because the EMPI axle is built so much bigger. Amazon is out of GCK axles. And the GCK website is gone. So I'm not holding my breath for that. So I have no axle to put in it and I need it off the jackstands. Soon or I'll just be calling the wrecking yard to come drag it up on a flatbed. (kind of fed up with it at this point, but a quick and easy axle will give it a second chance) So other than rebuilding JY axles, which I hate doing cause I have no good way to clean out old grease other than a roll of paper towel. (just went through one today) Where around Portland can a decent new axle be had? (other than another EMPI at Discount) Napa? (I hear bad things but who knows) Thrifty? Dealer? (Proly can't afford it though) ......?

Yeah I just don't feel like dealing with removing possibly well frozen in axles at the JY. I'd thought of that though. Well that was a wasted 2 hours in the car going to Discount and back. I kinda just figured an auto parts store was open on sunday, at least for a few hours. Proly just going to order one from Amazon. I wonder if i can take one of my old axles and put the EMPI outer end on it. (as in will the splines on the EMPI CV innards fit the shaft on the old ones. The DOJ's on my old ones are perfect (well as perfect as it can be). hhmmmm........

Yup mine was that way, gas always read empty too. Cleaned it up and my volt meter shot way up, and my tank magicly filled itself. Lot cheaper than a new alt.

As far as a winch goes the normal rule of thumb I've always heard is it's rating should be twice the weight of your vehicle. My EA81 wagon with all my gear and me in it with half a tank is about 2,700 pounds. (weigh station right by the house) I know Mike is using a 3,000 pounder he got from Harbor Freight for like $70 or something with a block and has pulled a bunch of times no problem on his EA82. Bumper looks something like what I've thought of making. Been eyeing the steel at the local Fastenal for weeks now.

Ahh... then I just have crummy axles. (brand new EMPI's) The driver side front axle DOJ feels like it's falling apart. Shake it like a rattle. Going to warranty it out in a few. Free is a good price right now, even if I am going to be doing this again in a few months.

hehe. Good thought on the gear oil. Seem to still have a wobbly diff stub. Gonna throw another new axle at it for now though and see if it cures it. If the tranny is sloppy it may be eating the axles. But I know the pass side one went so quick due to other reasons. So I'll have six months or so to figure out a long term cure for it all. Then get on the hunt for a 5 speed, or something.

Man that's gotta suck having inspections. And I thought it was bad moving out here from Michigan where they don't even have DEQ. My '96 VW Golf had all the emissions stuff stripped off of it. Bummed me out to trade it in cause I had to buy all new emissions stuff to plate it here. :-\ So do they actually get out a little book for your car that says what it is supposed to have on it? I mean not all cars even have swaybars... (well most all do now)

I had new axles in it. I replaced the one known to be ruined yesterday. (I broke the strut top on the pass side wheeling one morning but continued to wheel it anyway til about 6 pm that day. And destoryed the DOJ cup on that axle cause it was the only thing limiting droop. I was trying to keep up with more crawler like rigs.) Eveything was fine it just all of a sudden started on the way home friday night from a quick night wheeling trip. There was nothing gradual about it. EMPI axles. New, not rebuilt. The old bearings were fine, just did them cause I had the axles out anyway. Have not drained fluid yet. Gotta pull the exhaust for it on my car due to the pipe being right over the plug. Always have problems with getting the Y-pipe to seal at the heads. (Mine is wierd, the gaskets from the dealer do not fit) So it becomes a whole nother headache. ============= Well I just got the other axle out cause it seemed not quite right. The DOJ is sloppy like a 4-40 bolt in a 3/8 nut. So 2 months out of the passenger side, and 6 months out of the drivers side..... Seems EMPI axles are not that great. But I have a warranty so another one is going in cause free and now is a good price. (I suck at ordering things like MWE's, I'm too impatient, in stock in town now is how I shop) So I should see another 6 months out of them. As the pass side got overly abused. Off to Discount Import.

Cool. Have fun! I'm getting ready to go crawl under mine again.