pbz

So I noticed that ARB makes an air locker for the R180A for the old Nissan Hard Body pickups, their part number RD182 (see http://arb.com.au/media/products/air-lockers/application_chart.pdf, they also make one for the 10 bolt R180. I confirmed with ARB that these units are available, 10 in stock. The old 84-88 Nissan 200SX non-turbos were available with an R180 with a 4.11 ratio (according to http://www.geocities.com/inlinestroker/ratio.html), same as my 98 MT Forester. R180s are a fairly easy swap into a Subaru. So... ARB air locker in a Subaru? So ARB, who were pretty helpful btw, said they did not know whether it would fit this particular diff, so they said if I measured one up and filled out this form they would tell me whether they had one to fit. So does anyone have said diff they want to measure, or know enough about the R180s to say that this or one of the other R180 lockers will fit the 200SX R180 or one of the others that fits our cars? I know a few have talked about this before, but with doubts about the availability of the ARB unit. Well, their available now! Not sure I personally will want to spend a grand on a locker for my car which cost the same amount, but I'm sure someone will!

Well I ended up buying a 1998 Forester S. Got a heck of a deal on it since it was running like crap on account of a couple bad sensors, primarily the VSS, which I figured out from reading the ad and information on this board Plus confirmed the head gaskets and timing belt done a couple years ago. Plan is to do a strut bottom lift and 30in all terrains with snow chains in reserve. Hope to have it ready for a trip up north at the end of the month. Going to the junkyard soon for an LSD and a couple spare half-shafts. Dreaming about a dual rang swap down the road. Excited about the Subaru, but I'll probably have to have a go at building that ultimate Samurai one of these days (diesel). Anyone know which Subarus have half-shafts and LSDs that fit this vehicle (MT btw)?

Nice Forester scoobyclimbs. I have read about doing a dual range swap, and if I get a Forester that would definitely be on my eventual to-do list, although with the better power the Subaru makes, I think I'd be pretty ok without it in the mean time. Also I think there's room for improvement on the Subaru's flex. We pretty easily get 8" travel out of the front wheels on the Sidekicks, even though they look to have much shorter CV shafts than the Subarus. I think the body will be the limiting factor here, but with a little bashing and cutting, and some longer shocks/struts should be able to make it happen. I think I'm gonna go make some calls on some Subarus right now.

Here in Michigan, most of the trails I've been are logging roads, forest roads, or sandy orv type trails. In my tracker I typically run them at speed, there are some pretty major woops on these trails, and the suspension is often bottomed out. The other thing I seem to end up doing is a bunch of rutted out hill climbs. Between these two types of things I worry about tweaking the unibody.

So I asked this question earlier on a Suzuki message board, but thought it only fair to give you guys a shot at it too. 'm currently looking for a new rig and I'm considering a Subaru Forester (never owned a Subaru). I'm currently wheeling a 2" lifted, 91 tracker on 30" BFG A/Ts. Trying to figure out whether a Subaru will suite me better. My perceived pros and cons are. Subaru Advantages (I think) are: Cheap junkyard LSDs More power Better on the street, ice, and light snow Better fuel economy (primary motivation) Disadvantages: More work to fit a given oversize tire No dual range without a trans swap Vulnerability of unibody design to damage that is not easily repaired (my biggest concern) Let me know what your experiences are, especially concerning the last one.