Numbchux

Sort of. But they're typically the same age, and under the same conditions, they typically fail at about the same time. Always a good idea to replace calipers and cylinders in pairs. Also, there isn't really any one component that could fail and give low pressure to the rears. The way that Subarus are plumbed, they're on separate circuits all the way up to the master cylinder, at which point you'd have an issue with the fronts as well. They do both pass through the proportioning valve, but even though it's one assembly, it's basically 2 valves in there to keep the 2 circuits separate. Also, proportioning valves very rarely fail, and cylinders do.

Seems most likely to me that you have seized wheel cylinders. Hydraulically, the 2 rear brakes are on different circuits, so if the front works, it's almost impossible that it's an issue with a line or master cylinder. Maybe the proportioning valve...but not likely. There are a lot of moving parts in there, and if they don't operate smoothly they can all cause problems. But, usually, if they seize, they tend to allow the brakes to apply at least partially, and then not release.

They were on the old USRM page, which I thought was rehosted on McBrat's site, but now I see that most of it is gone... I might have a few saved on my desktop, but it may be months before I get that set up at the new house.

What size tires? I've run GD WRX (16x6.5 +55) wheels on both my XT6s. The only time I had issue with rubbing was with 225/55r16s on them. 205/50, 205/55, and 215/55, no problem.

Alright, well, there's no point upgrading springs if the struts/shocks are junk. But I suppose that will depend on the condition of what you have, which it sounds like you're not quite sure of. There aren't any new options for FWD XT6 struts. EJ struts can be done with some modification, spreading the flange on the strut, and drilling out mounts. This works OK, but you don't get accurate or reliable camber adjustment. If you swap to EJ knuckles and axles, you regain that camber adjustment, struts require zero modification, and opens the door for almost any brake setup your mind can imagine. This requires EA81 tie rod ends (look up for an '84 Brat). The shorter tie rod assembly makes for a tighter ackerman angle, which helps improve front end grip while turning. So if you want to replace your struts, you basically have to go with EJ stuff. -'07 Impreza and -'09 Legacy would be closest, although newer would probably work, too. In stock form, the Legacy options generally will be valved a bit stiffer than the Impreza equivalent, due to a slightly heavier car. But WRX applications will yield more performance application. Upper spring perches are all interchangeable, although there are a few different diameter springs...so it's best to match those. Strut mounts are very similar, EJ is just a slightly different bolt spacing. You can make it work with a file or dremel. Here's an EJ strut mount in my '89 XT6 As you might imagine, with such a wide range of struts that would work, there's a similar pallet of spring options. Stock takeoff stuff, aftermarket, etc. Not easy to predict how the ride height is going to work on an XT6, though. Rear shocks. Lots of aftermarket, OE equivalent options available. Best probably being the KYB Excel-G (formerly GR2). If you want upgraded stuff, '99-'05 Miata Rears are a direct replacement good for a lowered application, and offer a huge selection of performance options. They use larger diameter springs, which mean you pretty much have to use coilover sleeves. The larger spring perch on these might be an issue with wide tire clearance, but it's easy enough to cut or bend it out of the way. As I mentioned, there's a ton of options for EJ front strut/spring combinations. Most of the Legacy/Impreza options are going to be pretty close to stock XT6 height, maybe a bit taller if it's for a heavier model, so you could grab lowering springs for them and use that and do pretty well. Also, again, stock EA82 rear springs are 2.5" ID, so you can just buy coilover springs in whatever length and spring rate you want. If you want to dial in your ride height, you may want to get coilover sleeves. Ground-Control is a great option, I love the little machined upper spring perches that they include, and high-quality Eibach springs. Assuming they still make them like they used to, the lower spring perch adjustment uses a stainless set screw into an aluminum housing, use lots of anti-seize on that, as the dissimilar metals can chemically weld. I called Ground-Control (in 2008) and got a kit that was fronts for an Impreza and rears for a Miata. In hindsight, I would have used 7" front springs, too, as I ended up running them as low as they would go. Also, the mockup picture in that post is a Miata front shock. This would have been fine for a stock or a bit taller ride height, but for lowered, use the rears. Also, that was for an EA82 with the 5-lug swap. With the heavier 6-cyl in front, I'd use the same spring rates front and rear. 250-275 is a good ballpark. You can get super cheap coilover sleeve kits on ebay and similar, but they don't always use a 2.5" spring (larger than that won't really fit in the rear wheel well). Sometimes they don't come with any upper mount, or it's just a plastic insert (which works decently, just remember it's only to keep the spring centered, the stock spring perch must remain to hold the weight). And very rarely do they list spring rates (and usually they're very stiff to allow the typical buyer of those kits to lower their cars as much as possible). My current XT6 is running: Front: '92 Legacy knuckles/hubs/axles/spring perches and strut mounts. EA81 tie rod ends. '94 Turbo Legacy front brakes and KYB GR2s. '02 WRX 5MT Sedan front spring (smaller diameter than the upper perches...not a great fit, but it works). Rear: KYB 341065 shocks (EA82 4WD Rear), 12x2.5" 250 lb/in Eibach springs, Stock XT6 rotors/pads/brackets, '88 Nissan 200SX rear calipers. Also '92 Legacy ebrake handle and cables. No, don't put the air back in. The air bags function like a very progressive spring, yielding the worst combination of sluggish response and crummy ride. I had the rear sway bar off mine for an unrelated issue, and you couldn't tell with the air on, but it made a big difference when I swapped to coils (meaning the air suspension didn't allow enough travel to even load the sway bar).

Welcome, and congrats on the Brat. But you've got some searching to do. People have been offroading '70s and '80s Subarus as long as they've existed, and talking about it, at least to some extent, as long as the internet has existed, and a diff lock is one of the hottest subjects of that conversation. Toyotas and Subarus (of that vintage) have basically nothing in common, other than their country of origin. Subarus and Nissans share a lot of parts.

First thing that comes to mind is a fuel pressure regulator. It has a small diaphragm that can puncture and leak fuel into the vacuum line connected to it, which can cause it to run very rich. Disconnect that vacuum line and look for fuel in it. I don't see how a fuel pump could do it. It seems to me like a knock, MAF or O2 sensor would fail more slowly.

Cool, before I get completely distracted....I'll post this info. Rear EA82 springs are 2.5" ID. That's the same diameter as almost all coilover springs, so you can go onto ebay, summit racing, etc. and buy springs in custom length and spring rates all day long. Stock EA82 wagon rear springs are ~190 ft/lb. I'm running 12" long, 250 lb/in Eibach springs from Ground-Control 4WD EA82 Wagon GR2s in the back of my XT6. Now, I would say that's a little taller than stock, but I've had so many suspension and tire combinations on there, and it was on the bump stops when I pulled the air stuff off...

That's true with full coilovers. Not sleeves. Also the '00-'09 Legacy/Outback rear suspension is considerably different from the Tribecas, '08+ Impreza and '10+ Legacy/Outback. There's no good answer for this. There are hundreds of little combinations that can work, and they all will have a slightly different effect on your car. So let's start with the basics. I assume your XT6 is AWD since you mention that it had air suspension. I don't *think* they made a FWD '6 with air, but let's make sure we're on the same page. Do you want to re-use the struts you have, and just get springs? If so, we have to figure out what you have on there. As mentioned FWD XT6 front struts are shorter than 4WD, whereas FWD rears are longer than 4WD (FWD cars ride lower, but without the axle present, the rear shock mounts much lower on the suspension arm). If you're looking for a strut and spring combo, do you want to go full coilover? Any preference on brand? Budget? There are so many variables here. I've probably done as much suspension-swapping and experimenting as almost anyone here without going to a complete coilover setup. So I can probably point you in the right direction, but let's get some more simple questions answered before we get too derailed.

30531AA031

Yes

Pull your forester radio out and see if it has any unused plugs on it. You'd be surprised, many of these have another input. I've got one of these going into my wife's '04 Outback McIntosh in-dash changer: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/USB-Car-Stereo-adapter-radio-interface-for-Clarion-CE-NET-Suzuki-Subaru-SD-AUX-MP3-bluetooth/607693_725852386.html

EJ front diff is in the exact same place, and is the exact same width as an EA82. Yes, a '93 FWD EJ18 should have 23 spline stubs. FWD impreza axles would be correct if, and only if, you're going 5-lug. I see no reason it couldn't be run off a '96-'99 EJ18 or EJ22 ECU.

Early (maybe phase I, might have been a later change) duty-c solenoids do default to released, but even without actual hydraulic pressure on the clutch packs, I personally would feel better with everything spinning the same speed. IMO, your saving yourself some work, and you might be glad you didn't roast anything in there later. And yes, if you idle the engine in neutral, it should keep stuff lubricated. I don't think pump failure is very common, but DaveT is right, if it has failed, that won't help.

Just personal preference. I have a cord hanging out of some trim panel or the glove box on a few of my cars too, which works just fine. But this is just a little cleaner. Having 2 ground wires is completely redundant in a cord that goes through a 3-contact plug like that, as the 2 ground wires get tied together at the plug. It might simplify wiring in RCA connectors, or attaching it to spring-loaded speaker terminals on a home stereo or something like that, I suppose. But if you wanted to use it in this application, just tie them together (or cut one off...they are redundant).

The connector in question will be there and functions the same as the one I have. It will also be occupied by the CD player that you have. Yes, it would be possible to have the switch activate the input and switch to your AUX source, I'd have to study it more than I have time or patience for right now Subaru did not offer a changer for these models, but that connector was used on a LOT of OE radios that vintage for many manufacturers, so I'm sure some used it for a changer. Yep, in that simple diagram in my first post, pins 6 and 9 go to the 2 posts on the switch. That's it, no external ground or power source required. Here's the jack that I used, I believe the labeling on this one was "ring, sleeve and tip": https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LXOIVKI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 And the switch: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057M4J4E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The transmission will not lubricate itself without the engine running, so go very slow. The faster you go, the more friction/heat/damage... Leave the shaft connected, that will keep the output shafts spinning at the same speed, anyway. Pulling the shaft and towing on a dolly would be far better.

It's this style radio: But AFAIK, almost all the radios of that vintage had the same input port for an accessory CD player that would fit in a second DIN slot below it. The 13-pin port I'm tapping into is for that CD player (it sounds like you may have that CD player, which will complicate things, either delete your CD player, or a creative person could wire it so that the switch to activate the input would also switch sources). That CD player connects those 2 wires when you put a CD in it, and disconnects when you take the CD out, which is how the radio knows to change input sources. The switch mimics that. I believe those adapter cables are designed for radios that have a "changer" button on the front, but you can certainly try it. The audio jack I bought came with a little "instruction" sheet that said which tab went to what. L, R and ground all go straight to the audio jack. There's a good chance that the adapter cable you bought will not have pins or wires for the activation switch, so if it doesn't work out of the box, it probably won't be much help. A quick google search for "audio jack pin" turned up this: It may also be referred to as ring, sleeve, and tip (Ground, Right, and Left, respectively).

Negative. I'll use an example of a 2WD car, as that only has one differential. If you're stuck in the mud and only have one wheel spinning, that's an open diff. An LSD would probably give you 2 spinning (unless one wheel has quite a bit of traction and the other doesn't). A locker would definitely give you 2 spinning.

VDC cars do NOT have an LSD. Other than that, '00-'01 Outbacks with cold weather package has the LSD, Cold weather package became standard '02-'04.

The transmission will only fit in the tunnel with considerable modification, or a lift. Front diff is not any wider, so that part will not effect axle length. If you are running complete EA82 front suspension (control arms, crossmember, knuckles, struts, etc.) for complete EA82 track width, you can run EA82t front axles. They will have the 25-spline inners and the matched width and outer spline for the EA82 stuff. If you have EA81 track width, you will need custom/hybrid parts to make it work (see the above-linked thread for info on those options). I think silverhelme is correct about driveshaft length. An EA82 4EAT one might work for you, just have to fab a mount for the carrier bearing. Otherwise the slip-yoke splines on your EA81 shaft are the same, you can just have the one-piece one modified for length. Trans crossmember/mount is different. Depending on the donor vehicle, you may need to swap the rear diff, which might create challenges with rear axles. Several ways around it, though. My biggest concern is wiring. Depending exactly how the harness was modified/installed, you may want to pull the harness back out and verify that stuff is all connected correctly. There are a lot of small changes between TCU and 4EAT, so you'll have some homework to make sure they will talk to each other.

I'm not challenging you, just curious. I work in parts, so I have some information, but certainly not everything. I was mostly thrown off because this thread was originally started about the 2016 Legacy/Outback steering column recall, which SOA made a huge deal about having us track these cars down, telling the customer to stop driving IMMEDIATELY and get them inspected. Rental cars were issued immediately, a few techs spent a whole day driving out to a customer's home to inspect their car, and many cars were towed in. All totally understandable in that they were concerned about the steering column failing....while a passenger airbag is certainly a concern, with 4 seats (counting the rear center) in the car safe to use, it's not nearly as urgent as a steering column issue. And no, Subaru has no driver's side airbag recalls right now. Other manufacturers, mostly Honda IIRC, do.

Which recall is this? I don't think we currently have any open recalls like that. The only one that we can't get parts for is the Takata airbag fiasco, which is passenger side only. It's still safe to drive the car, just don't let anyone sit in the passenger seat. Yes, they made a big deal of the steering column issue, but relatively low volume, and with cars that are less than a year old, it was easy to get in touch with the owners. I think we had them all done in a few weeks once we got parts. Also, AFAIK they never actually had one fail. This was entirely preventative.

I'm paying about $6.50 a month, plus a small registration fee. The $166.80 gets me 2 years. My biggest concern about migrating it to anything else, is the amount of direct links (primarily here) to files on the site which would then be dead. I think all of that stuff is readily available elsewhere (certainly EA2EJ and all the FSMs) and I could care less about the graphical "homepage" and such, as that stuff has been irrelevant for probably 5 years or more.

That might be normal. These cars have a bit of positive camber in stock form, and larger tires can make *look* a lot worse. But I'll let Scott chime in as to whether those blocks are on the correct side. And yes, that's 6". The drivetrain is not dropped as far as the suspension. So the 4" diff bracket is perfect for 6" strut spacers.