Mike W

Don't know the weekend schedule yet, but I'm toying with the idea of maybe doing the Kanaskat trails again this Sunday morning. I was down there by myself a couple weeks ago and had fun (nearly stuck it plenty too.) Seems that the entrances have been closed for a while but a new one has recently been made. Mostly motorcycles and quads have been on the trails...they're tight like made for Subarus. I did a bunch of trails I hadn't been on before and even drove up the mountain for the cool view. This isn't a huge area but it's good for a few hours of fun or more if you get jammed between trees. And hey, it's only 45 minutes from Seattle (via hwy 169) so it makes a nifty destination without a huge drive or mega traffic hell. The place is mostly loamy dirt (sorry not much rocks to crawl.) Plenty of hill climbs, tight turns, articulation, and trees that seem to have magnets in them. Of course there's water and mud to slosh around in too. Kind of creepy woods there I might add. Maybe a fun place for a Halloween run? Where the heck is Kanaskat? Well it's east of Ravensdale which is east of Kent which is kinda near Black Diamond and Maple Valley. Here's a map, you can zoom out to get the big picture. *EDIT* Ok apparently Mapquest doesn't allow linking directly to a map anymore. Just enter "Kanaskat Junction" for city and "WA" for state and that should get you a map. http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?mapdata=xU4YXdELrnDGSUOOe1656pgu%252bvVzn9G4aFSzLemtxurhX2ntVFm3e1QmpdfuPMnTWjIdYt%252bNyeMIW3K393B72SwiRlcUdwzsikNr4W5awjTB21axHPMfFqzM1pVS9IJC0eRb%252fxsdGu6Naft%252ftXsc0NZ760DEpWSgrdqvNcj3WZgBBvU4zUlCKkdFee%252bEeIWcwKvY%252fkTd31YBPtfXv8UinfCl0PA4Cc%252fSMaqVloiEk9YXC564LjeeBRLtWWnoJnwMoOzxnxAChyApZI9Hlh0QIOYYmYdfkS2iZQLdUtV9KcYH1isGL6IcSw%253d%253d&click=center&mqmap.x=183&mqmap.y=269 On the map find "Kanasket Junction". That's the epicenter of the trail network. The entrance is easy to drive right past. Look on the east side of the main road kinda between SE 302nd and SE Courtney Road.

Ok sorry but I can't go. I gots to take the GF to look at pumkins, leaves, and stuff Sunday. I did make it out to the Miller River Trail. You'd normally get there by taking the Money Creek Campground turnoff from Hwy 2 (east if Index and west of Skykomish.) But the bridge is out (until end of Oct) so I had to detour through Skykomish which added probably 8-10 miles more driving to get there. It was interesting and the Miller Trail says "Hatch Patrol, I DARE YOU!" I'll eleborate more on my explorations when I get more time. Here's some links including the map link from Jared's website. http://nad27.com/special/4x4/miller/ http://www.2bbnorthwest.org/past/Oct24_99/ http://www.highridersnw.com/highridersnw.com_millerriv.html http://www.untrakdrover.com/trips/millerriver6-15-02.htm (broadband only...big picture files)

The rust on these things can make removal total hell. Try heat, then penetrant, more heat, more penetrant, then hammer on a block of wood, then swear and throw tools, repeat the process. The welded diff guys just park with one rear wheel off the ground(drive front wheel up a stump or whatever) then pop the axle on or off. The pins aren't bad once you get in the habit. I suppose shoulder bolts could work if they fit tight and were hardened, but probably just as much work. I use a custom hammer with 6" handle and a custom made punch (actually an old reamer) with a stop on it so that I don't drive the pin all the way out (pin stays in one side of the axle.) Masking tape rolled around a punch works good too. Spatter removal from the diff is a hassle even with mig. Stuffing a damp rag down there helps.

The top of the cab snorkle isn't really needed unless you're doing the serious scuba stuff. I've got my cone style air filter up in the spare tire area with a plastic cover over it. Stays dry just fine. You can also condomize that disty with a rubber glove. The wires go out the finger tips, then use wire ties and silicone to seal it tight. If it still gets wet the glove makes it a mega hassle to get the cap off to spray with WD40.

Try this: http://usmb.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&find=lastposter&threadid=3053

Remote chance I might join you out there Tex. More likely I'll go explore the Miller River Trail and Money Creek area Saturday morning. Probably not doing anything too hardcore...just want to get out and play a little.

For the Weber, a lot of the guys have installed antifreeze jugs over the air filter to repel the spashed water. Or you can make your own snorkle adapter. I've seen some on Chev Cavaliers that look adaptable or for not much $ you can get one from JAM Engineering that bolts right on. (first item this page) http://www.jameng.com/products/index.phtml?section=13

John, sorry but I dug and dug and still can't find my pictures from WCSS3. Pretty sure I had some of him using his wagon to pull the flipped over Yota truck back up onto it's wheels.

Yeah mine does have the ride height button on the dash and it raises the whole car about 1.75" when activated. But it doesn't seem to automatically level out the car if I add cargo. That's why I'm wondering if there's a mercury tilt switch that might not be working? Or is the system just not that sophisticated? Sure wish I had a factory service manual. Guess I'll have to ask the Master Tech dudes at Smart Service, they should know.

Ok vinyl, rubber, whatever. The sliding around problem I can cure easy enough with some rubber backed carpet. I guess if nobody has an answer I'll just have to go to Aaron's Auto Wrecking and see for myself if the early Outback trays fit the '90-'94s.

Nope, I'm refering to the molder hard rubber type of cargo tray common to newer the newer cars. They're good for containing messes like spilled milk, spilled dog, and that sort of thing.

The previous owners of my '94 LSi wagon spent big bucks replacing the air suspension just prior to selling me the car. And for now anyway (knock on wood) it seems to work properly. Now to my question. I'm wondering if the system is supposed to have an auto-levelling feature to keep the car sitting level when you add cargo weight to the back? Or are the front and rear air bags all on one circuit? Thanks!

Hi folks. Hey I heard somewhere that those rubber cargo trays found in Outbacks will also fit into the older '90-'94 Legacy wagons. Is that correct and if so, which years of Outbacks had trays that would fit my 94? Thanks!

Heard the news last night from Qman and I'm greatly bummed. That just sucks. Very sad. Very rough for all involved. I'll look for pictures tonight.

Whoohoo Del's back onboard! Glad to hear you still have the Brat and even talking about moding it. If the double A-arms pivoted more inboard than the stock ones (like say from the middle of the car,) it seems to me that the overall width could stay about the same yet really travel. I've had some wierd ideas about axles looking more like 2 piece drivelines working in conjunction with multilink front suspension. But kinda seems heavy and the steering gets complex. All my ideas, the weight seems to just keep adding up. Speaking of uptravel, most of the rock buggies I see have almost no uptravel, they sit like an inch from the bump stops. It's down travel they got tons of. Hey Del, got any good recipes for low budget long travel coilovers? Or maybe plain 'ol coil springs wouldn't be so bad, they're simple, cheap and abundant. That Mister Rguyver up there in Canada, his extra-stretchy rear axles are the ticket for more down travel. The inboard joint on the rear axles of later model EA82 cars, they have more stretch because those axles only stretch on that one end. Install those inboard joints on both ends of an EA81 axle and you get an extra inch or so of axle stretch. Maybe that doesn't sound like much but it allows for 2-3" more down travel without tweeking the axle. I still need to field test mine, but I'm very hopefull that they'll take care of the hyperextension issue I've had due to the long shocks.

I've wondered how come nobody here in Seattle has done that. I mean EA81s used to be abundant and cheap, so why not feed 'em nitrous and when it nukes, say oh well and swap in another motor. Course now that EA81s are getting more scarce I'd say that's sick and destructive...but sure would be fun while it lasts.

If yer cooking up custom axles and run taller tires, I'd also go to a bigger diff and/or stronger stubs. You could switch the R160 stubs to the Datsun style but not sure if they're really stronger or would twist off like the Subaru style. If the whole idea is to stay with independent suspension then maybe give up on Fuji stuff and go with a Dana or whatever IFS diff and locker.

I've found that shops selling parts for Volkswagens are a good source for filters. Here in Seattle, Bow Wow sells EMPI brand filters for under $15 and they are identicle to K&N. For those wishing to adsnorkle-ize the Weber, there is now an affordble adapter available from JAM Engineering (first item this page) http://www.jameng.com/products/index.phtml?section=13 They also have adapters to fit OEM aircleaners.

This should help: http://members.rennlist.org/951_racerx/PS84Gleason.html (good cutaway diagrams) http://www.houseofthud.com/differentials.htm http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential6.htm http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential.htm http://kmhafer.datsun510.com/Subaru.htm http://kmhafer.datsun510.com/Subaru.htm (how to rebuild our LSDs) Most of us are using clutchpack type LSD found most often in RX and turbo cars from the mid 80's. In the 90's viscous LSDs started showing up on Legacy turbos etc.

Hey Tex, Sorry to get off topic, but I'm wondering if you decided anything regarding the hood vents? Thanks.

There does seem to be some difference in adapter plates. I've had three styles, all for the EA81. Out of those it was the one distributed by EMPI (through Bow Wow) that fit the Hitachi intake best. One adapter I got from a guy for $5 because two of the bolt holes hadn't been spotfaced for the cap screws. It's sick how much they charge for these adapters...just cheap castings with a few holes and flats.

If you buy your Weber from a shop that gets them from Redline, then the carb should be jetted about right for the engine you tell them it's going on. And it should be a genuine new Weber not a ripoff copy or reman used (as apparently some shops are selling.) Note that the guys at Redline say that some fine tuning of the jets might be needed due to minor differences from one engine to the next (of otherwise identical engines.) But so far, I think everyone here has been happy with the jets Redline installed.

Well I can tell you that my open diff came from a '87 Hatchback and the LSD came from a '85 or '86 RX 4 door. That combination resulted in me having to float a reamer through to open the holes up. No big deal, it's soft steel and easy to keep the holes on location.

Yeah drill the holes out...as in open up the ring gears holes to like 7/16 or something like that. I had to do the same on mine way back when. Sure surprised Qman too. Apparently some years or runs of diffs had smaller sized bolts for the ring gear.

It's interesting that the more hardcore the rockcrawler the lower they tend to sit and the softer the suspention tends to be. Me thinks there's a reason for that. Tall sucks in my opinion.