Numbchux

The tie rod and control arms move on an arc. If they are in 2 different places on that arc, the toe will change over the course of the suspension travel. In that picture, your control arm is still angled down, so as the suspension compresses, the ball joint will move outward. And the tie rod is level, so as the suspension compresses, the tie rod end will move inward. See how this could be bad? The angle of the control arm is what keeps the roll center of the suspension high, which is crucial to the handling of a car. And having those 2 arms parallel is crucial to maintaining the alignment. there are numerous companies that make spacers to lower those pivot points so that when the car is lowered, that geometry is maintained.

how could this "help" with bump-steer? your tie rod and control arm are obviously on 2 different planes now.

recovery? Strap or 2, GOOD Come-a-long, Hi-lift, Shovel or 2. These things live in my car all winter. those revo1s on my celica. last year was the 5th season I've owned them (they're on subaru steelies), first was not on a daily driver, but easily 40-50k miles on them and they look brand-new. The key is not to use them unless the ground is frozen, once the pavement is over ~40* they wear out quick. I run 3 different sets of wheels/tires throughout the year. Kumho Ecsta AST Performance summer tires, BFG Traction T/As for the Months where it might snow, but probably not too bad, and Blizzaks as long as the ground is frozen. It's true though, Hakkas are the only DOT snow tire with the same soft tread compound through the whole tread depth. Blizzaks are usually about half/half. But my next set will be Blizzaks, and I'll take the 25% savings to the bank. "Jack of all trades, master of none". The BFGs are better than most, but no A/T will ever hold a candle to a true snow tire. Tread compound is completely different, and the soft compound is what make snow tires work. From Tirerack BFG A/T http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO Blizzak WS70 (Nokian isn't sold anywhere....so no tirerack reviews. And the revo1s were discontinued in favor of the WS70) http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+WS70 We took WS70s and Yokohama AO34s to SnoDrift rally last year, and probably will again this year

Nice! I see full-floaters. Is that the FROR setup?

What kind of snow are you usually driving through? Heavy and wet? deep? What exactly are you trying to accomplish with your modifications? Some 205/65r15 Blizzak Revo1s slapped on my otherwise-stock Celica made it pretty unstoppable last year. I kept to the roads, but I went looking for un-plowed ones, and TRIED to get it stuck....with no luck. This was after a storm just before christmas last year. I was wondering around town, having a blast, and I dropped into the domino's pizza where I used to work (I now work at a different store in the same franchise) and their drivers were all whining about the road conditions. So I was the sole delivery driver there for the rest of the night. The hardest part of getting up and down the hill here, was finding a road that didn't have some stupid SUV stuck sideways in it. My point is, of your list of proposed modifications, only the tires will actually help you towards a "reliable, capable winter rig".

How did you like that rear suspension setup with the single leaf spring? It obviously articulates pretty well....but it looks kind of....unstable

IMO, that's the way to do it. Loved that setup on my blue '88. Only difference between it and the BYB kit of the day, was the rear crossmember was left up against the body. The rear suspension arms are run at an angle. AA lowered the diff by putting 1" blocks under the mustache bar. I had issues with rear axles then until I added a 2" diff drop block from SJR to drop the front of the diff as well. This is how my Brat is lifted as well, crossmember in stock position, torsion bars reclocked.

I used those NAPA reducers on my first swap. Every one since then, I just cut about 2 inches off the end of the 1.25 hose, and slip the 1.5 over the top of it. Done. I've just used whatever generic radiator fan is on the shelf at whatever parts store I'm at. These fans tend to come with zip-tie kinda things that pull through the core of the radiator. These transfer the vibration from the fan directly to the core of the radiator. That was the last coffin nail in my Loyale rad. Go to your favorite hardware/home improvement store, and buy about 4 feet worth of 1x1/4" aluminum. Cut it into 2 lengths to span across the radiator. Drill holes in the end to bolt it to the edges of the rad, and then holes in the middle to mount the fan to it (zip-ties work great here). This will save your radiator, and space the fan out, which makes it a bit more efficient.

I don't know anything about the head design on the older ones. but it sounds like it's still coming in through the intake. Any way that manifold gasket could leak and not get any into #3?

This alone would cost more than the parts for an EJ22 swap. And this goofy hybrid EA turbo thing would be much more complicated, less reliable, and probably less powerful than the EJ22.

Very nice. Awesome start! Any reason you went with ball joints instead of heims? I think that will be your limiting factor travel-wise, and since you've already got heims all over the place, you'll still have all the noise. The stock toyota BJs get thrown out the window with the JD Fab long travel kit in favor of heims.

That would work. But the way to do this would be run the EJ TCU. It's much better, and simpler wiring.

It was the middle of winter, little dribble of gear oil just looks like road grime. No noise, no strange symptoms. Were any of those failures caused by insufficient gear oil? That's the issue we're talking about here. A friend of mine had a Subaru 5MT slowly leak dry. No alarming quantity of leakage. Again, zero noises or other strange symptoms. One day he got to work, and the car never rolled again until we pulled the center diff out of it (disconnecting the axles from the output shaft in the trans). A subaru rear diff (and by the looks of it, that VW/Audi one as well) has the pinion mounted at the bottom so the bearings stay submerged in gear oil. flipping it will have the exact same effect as slowly leaking dry. I'd bet money that without doing something to keep it wet, it'd seize up. "but I suppose they are only under load when in 4x4 so they should last fine." This comment is what worries me, and prompted me to post. The issue with an under-oiled pinion has nothing to do with load, and everything to do with the speed. If you had hub disconnects, you'd probably get away with it for quite some time (diff not spinning on the road). That said, overfilling it MIGHT work. The electric pump idea to circulate some fluid up to the bearings probably has a better chance of preventing failure on the highway, but sounds like a recipe for failure on the trail.

Seriously? You ask a question like that, and leave out the fact that you have a welded diff, and then get all pissed off at the responses? Screw off. You gave zero background information, and wanted a quick answer. You got the quick answer based on the crappy question, you have no-one to blame but yourself.

It's definitely possible. IIRC GLoyale did it, I think he used the bellhousing/front diff housing from an EJ transmission and was able to do it without an adapter plate. The wiring is not a small project, but the EA82 4EAT can be run on an EJ TCU, so it's just a matter of picking out the signal wires between the TCU and the transmission. That said, removing the TCU wiring from the harness is a big part of the project, by leaving it in, you'll simplify that part. It's definitely do-able, but no small project. The hardest part will be putting the EJ bellhousing on the EA transmission, as it's not a beginner project. Search for posts by user GLoyale, I'm pretty sure he did what you're talking about. Also, posts by Eulogious and presslabs. They both put an EJ TCU in their EA82t car. They were both modified for manual shifting, but that will give you an idea on what's involved in the wiring side.

just splitting hairs......but it's the up-pipe that has clearance issues but +1 to everything else. physically installing the turbo kit to your EA81 wouldn't be terribly difficult. But getting it running and tuned well would be very difficult. A lot of work for 4psi.....

when the gear oil leaked out of the rear diff in my XT6 a couple years ago. it locked up without any warning. I came to a screeching halt, sideways in the road (thank goodness there wasn't any traffic), I was able to rock the car a bit, and by abusing the crap out of the clutch, get the car out of the lane. That pinion is still one with the case. 12 ton shop press couldn't separate them.

quick answer: call a flatbed

all the work of an EJ swap (actually, depending on your fab confidence, might be more. making room for an up-pipe is not really a small project), same power, less torque, a fraction of the reliability.

which means the pinion bearings will no longer be submerged in gear oil......not good. You could probably make some sort of slinger to attach to the ring gear and sling oil up onto the pinion, but it might not work. It might work, but hang on.....having a rear diff seize on the highway is not a fun experience

it was pre-lift too. Factory alignment specs are positive camber in the front. also, camber is not adjustable. EA-series understeer is mostly caused by geometry of the rear end. It actually flexes very well, and in a corner, the front travels less than the rear, and therefore the front gets less grip. really, the only way to combat it, is adding a rear sway bar, which reduces the rear travel, and neutralizes the grip front to rear.

that bar is only there to support the spare tire. Ditch it an EA82 engine bay is plenty wide enough for any EJ engine, including phase II SOHC, and DOHC.

Cool. Every time I look at a subaru engine bay, and start thinking about RWD, the first thing I'd do is move the engine/trans back quite a bit. But yours is definitely moved back quite a bit compared to the front wheels than in a subaru. I think that's right where I'd put it. That's a very interesting take on the rules. So would you be able to gather regional points too? Although I bet even then there's a bunch of competition in G2. My buddy is currently tied for 3rd in the Open Light central championships, even though he only finished one event before putting the turbo back on Anyway, best of luck. Any chance you'll be racing next year? There's a good chance I'll be at Olympus and Oregon Trail next year....it'd be sweet to see it in the woods!

How's your firewall clearance? hard to tell in the picture, but it looks like the whole assembly could be moved back, which would be better for weight distribution... I've also been thinking. I know you said you were planning on using this for rally. Just rallyX? I'm pretty sure Rally-America doesn't allow running an engine from a different manufacturer than the car (transmission is fine, though).

yep, I used a piece like this when I put a standard EA82 radiator in my XT6 last year. worked perfectly. Radiator hose doesn't have to hold up to much pressure, so it doesn't really need to be barbed.