Numbchux

I don't think the parts yield any change. Control arms, knuckles, wheels. Yes the rear inner trailing arm is different, but the outer is the same. Rotor offset is the same. The tire size changed, but that shouldn't make much difference. Depending on how it's measured...but it would change both numbers equally. I suspect it has to do with the suspension geometry at different ride heights. The front is a pretty typical arc, with the control arms at a decent downward angle at 4WD height, so as it lowers, the arc pushes the hub outwards. The rear trailing arm actually has the opposite geometry. Because it's an asymmetrical triangle, and the mounts are not in-line, the arc travels outwards towards the extremes, and inwards when the arm is level. And since those arms angle downwards at ride height, as the car is lowered, the hubs shift inwards.

Depending on how bad the damage is. It might react very well to some leather conditioner. The driver's seat in our 2004 VDC was in pretty nasty shape when I bought it. Dried and cracked very badly. A couple treatments with some Leather cleaner and then conditioner (I used Lexol brand), and you almost can't tell. Leather has to be cared for. It has to be conditioned, or it will dry out and become brittle. Take care of it, and it'll last.

By stub axles, I mean in the diff. AFAIK, those flanges are designed to slip over the stock stub axles, and then the porsche CVs bolt to that. Knock yourself out. But my Brat has quite a bit of rear suspension travel, with just a reclock and longer shocks. What it needs is gearing, lockers, gearing, more front travel, and gearing. If I were going to spend $1500 and a bunch of labor on EA81 IRS for offroad use. It'd be for a better diff with a locker, probably Ford 9". I'd try to leave the suspension and brakes alone.

Possible? Sure. Anything is possible. Practical? Cost effective? I doubt it. Huge amount of work and money. Still have the stock stub axles and an r160 diff. Those parts have no effect on the torsion bars. You can already run any shock you can dream of on an EA81. I have Rough Country's on my Brat (Rancho's would have cost more than the Brat....had to go cheap).

Yep, ATF stick is on a tube that stands out away from the transmission a bit. Front diff stick goes right into the side of the transmission.

I'm really confused.... Is the timing set correctly now? (I don't know the procedure for an EA81 off the top of my head...). Considering it's unknown history, I think I would throw some new spark plugs (NGK V-power) in it, and do a compression test while at it. That'll give you an idea of the condition of the bottom end. Maybe wires, cap, and rotor. Then start looking for vacuum leaks. These late carbureted cars were choked with vacuum operated solenoids and such, so there are a ton of vacuum lines that could be leaking. If the ignition is in good shape, and it's got good compression, there's a reasonable chance it's carb-related.

Transfer clutches share ATF with the transmission. ATF dip stick is on the driver's side Front diff gear oil dip stick is on the passenger's side.

03 was the last year for Legacy/Outback/Baja, 04 for Impreza Forester. No Subaru in 2005 or newer had a fuel filter. Yep, just the sock in the tank, and they say it doesn't need to be replaced. I don't know if they're just cutting costs on assembly. Or assuming that modern car owners neglect service, and therefore a fuel filter just becomes a clog point. Whatever the reason, that's pretty common these days with most manufacturers.

No external fuel filter. They stopped that after 2004 in the Imprezas. 2006 is the first year they called for HP Transmission fluid. So I would recommend OE fluid only. Filter is on the side of the transmission, accessible from under the car.

Yep, speed nuts and most auto parts will have an assortment.

No. that's wrong. Those are EJ control arms.

When was the last time the wheels were off before the first issue? When the issue came back after the wheels were rotated, was it the same wheel as before? As has been mentioned, lug nuts need to be retorqued 50-100 miles after the wheels have been removed, especially important with alloy wheels. Off the top of my head: Cheap lug nuts (I've seen 20 generic ones seize on to the point that we had to break off ARP studs to get the wheels off after 2 days of rallying, and less than 10 removal/install sequences, always using a torque wrench to 75 ft/lbs) Cheap lug studs OE studs damaged from loose lug nuts aftermarket wheels OE wheel damaged from loose lug nuts Corrosion on the backside of the wheel causing it to not seat correctly on the hub Snow/ice/sand/dirt/grease on the backside of the wheel " " " Corrosion/snow/etc. on the lug nut seating surfaces wheel/tire assembly out of balance/round wheel bearing/brake problem causing excessive heat/vibration None of these things are specific to Subarus.

There are a lot of things that can cause loose lug nuts. There isn't NEARLY enough information here to make an accurate diagnosis. A few ideas have been posted here, but there are probably a thousand other possibilities. What's the maintenance history? Have the wheels been off the car recently for any maintenance? Are they original brakes? lug nuts? studs? wheels? How are the tires? Yes, wheels can be on the ground when tightening lug nuts. She may want to get a breaker bar or torque wrench. My wife is not physically able to put adequate torque on the lug nuts (therefore not able to take them off, either) with the included wrench. She is tough and knowledgeable enough that she could replace a flat tire herself, but we had to put a breaker bar and socket in her car to make it possible.

Yep, what those guys said. Adding a HUGE dose of complication and expense....for what? Maybe with the direct injection you could get better mileage, but that would be very dependent on the tune, which would have to be custom. And it's going to take a long time to regain the several thousand dollar cost of good management. Oh yea, it'll burn twice as much oil. Yea, you wouldn't have to replace a timing belt. Whew, saved a couple hundred bucks there! Maybe a bit more power, but there are cheaper ways to get that (EZ30 comes to mind).

According to the picture, both of those Contitech kits are for the old style tensioner. Here's the last few lines of the application list for the old style tensioner. They were seen until mid-1999 on the 2.5.

If you're lowing the crossmember and rack, you need a longer steering shaft. Period. Frequently, with a 2" overall lift, the crossmember isn't dropped...so that's probably where the misinformation comes from.

I've never heard it referred to as steel or aluminum... But '99 is a split year for which tensioner style it might have. And even looking it up by VIN isn't completely reliable, as it's relatively easy to convert from one style to the other. I think if you take the LH end timing cover off (which you should be able to do without taking anything else apart) you might be able to see the tensioner....

That's why the dealer just replaces the harness. If one wire is broken, the others usually aren't far behind. And the repair joints have to be far from the part that flexes otherwise it will fail. The dealer I work at has all 3 part numbers for '05-'09 OBKs in stock, one is about $250, the other 2 are about $90. IMO, $90 is worth it to be done with it for another 10-15 years (probably the rest of the life of the car). But for $250, I'd probably keep replacing it. So call up your local dealer with your VIN and see.

Seconded on a 205/55r16

Other than step 1, I do none of this. Never had a crack, never had a leak. New steel, old metric steel, new NiCo....The only flares I've had to re-do were because I forgot the flare nut. The inline flaring tool is a huge help. Flaring tube was one of the earliest automotive projects I did, granted the first time was making an oil feed line for a turbo, so had to hold up to much lower pressures than the brake system, but it wasn't long before I was making brake lines too. I don't understand why people are afraid of it. Yes, if there is a leak in the steel line somewhere, all the exposed line should be replaced. Flare new fittings in the lines under the back seat, and then use unions to attach the new line. That's pretty easy on a 4-door EJ car, as they're both on one side by the door. The EA82s have each line go through the floor on each side (even though they come together at the proportioning valve under the car), and doing it in my XT6 with aftermarket sport seats sucked more than a little, but totally doable. I took a picture of the last one I did, this is on a '97 Legacy Wagon. There's a junction block under the car that was a solid block of rust. I bypassed that entirely, and ran new line up under the back seat. New M10x1.0 Inverted flare nuts, a pair of matching unions, and about 10 feet of NiCo 3/16"s line (I do it often enough that I buy it by the 25' roll). 2017-08-09_08-16-18 by Numbchux, on Flickr

For rear disc brakes, anyway, yea. They definitely wouldn't thread right into a wheel cylinder, although maybe an adapter of some sort exists. These are Centric/StopTech 95047501 rear lines (looked up for a 2002 Impreza) on my XT6. The included banjo bolt threads right in where the hose was, and seals on the face of the housing just like the hose did. I opted to route it behind the shock, and clip it into the bracket on the trailing arm. 2017-07-25_02-22-30 by Numbchux, on Flickr

Wha? Flares are easy with a half decent tool. Get the cut straight a deburred, and you almost can't screw it up. I have one of these that I bought for about $20 at Autozone. I highly recommend it, I've never screwed up a flare with it: Most bulk steel line that you would buy from the parts store is very mild steel. I would recommend the Nickel-Copper stuff, it's easier to work with, and will resist rust for much longer. I've done it on several Subarus, including my XT6 last fall.

That block-off in the rear bumper is for the rear fog light in other markets. I have seen write-ups where people have gotten the part from japan or the UK, and retrofitted them, but it's not as simple as one might think (to be wired correctly, they should be wired to a separate switch, which is not present). I've also seen a company that makes hidden hitches that utilize that same opening. That's pretty cool!

Here's some dimensions of the bed that would help a person fabricate a roll bar: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/131700-how-wide-is-a-gen2-brat-bed/?p=1121895

Even with the starter, there's a pretty good chance the valves were closed. It sounds like in it's current state of disassembly, it's not much extra work to pull the heads and check for damage. And a very good chance it survived.