BeefaRu

Yes. That's why I've offered to do the manual. So far only two donators though, and one of those donations is dependent on others being interested in donating. I haven't set a price because I don't know what people can afford. Since this thread is long, how about I create another thread dedicated to seeing who's interested in donating?

I have a 4:11 LSD. Some forum members said it didn't look like it worked, but when I tried to pull a huge pickup out of the ditch in my front yard I left three big divots in the snow - two rear and one front.

I can explain that in the manual. Long story short, when you drop to 4:11 you lose all compatibility with the mechanics of a locking center differential. For me, the huge gearing drop was well worth it. The drop to 4:11 combined with better hi/lo combined with legacy 2.2 is really, really nice for doing jeep trails.

So far we've got one big donor (dependent on others to jump on board) and ShawnW Bump for anyone interested in plans on how to duplicate my transmission: 3:9 full time 4WD 5 speed transmission stock 1.1:1 hi/low replaced with better ratio hi/lo 3:9 RX ratio dropped to legacy 4:11 Legacy viscous coupling center diff 5th gear replaced with taller 5th gear Dropping 3:9 to 4:11 and changing out the hi/lo brings jeep-trail capability to the low range, and the tall 5th gear means cruising at 70+ MPH at 3k rpm for extended inter-state road trips. This transmission combined with legacy 2.2 power is the most versatile and economical drivetrain I've ever owned (or may ever own). Colorado 4WD trails, 230,000 miles, 23 states of highway driving, and the gears/syncros still look great...amazing.

wow!

IT'S ALIIIVE!! I'm glad to see this thread has come back from the dead. I'm also back from the dead for a couple reasons: Reason one: as promised I would tackle this after I wrote my book. Long story short, I did that and hope to have a publisher-ready version next year. Reason two: after personally driving my custom transmission 230,000 miles, it finally had a hiccup. But instead of just fixing the bad part and throwing the tranny back in, I'm paying to have it completely torn apart and gone through before it goes back in. Yesterday I photographed it disassembled. Today I took the photos to the original mad scientist who built it, and he spent a lot of time explaining the whole thing. That was fun. Now I have a list of all the parts, how they were put together, and what was modified. I can now create a guide on how to duplicate my transmission. It's also possible to go 4.44 using the same guide. My problem is I'll be broke after this. That, and I have little time to write a guide. Truthfully, it would be nice to receive some sort of donation for the guide, to help me get my head above water and to justify dropping things that make me money in order to create the guide. Before anyone considers donating money to a guide, let me save you a few bucks. Dropping a dual range tranny to 4:11 or 4:44 makes it impossible to have a locking center diff. You have to commit to the legacy full-time 4WD center diff. The good news is finally, instead of choosing one or the other -- big-tire ground clearance or dual-range gearing -- you can have both. Anyway, if there's interest in donating towards a guide, I'll take the time to put it together. It'll list all parts, explain why those parts work best, how they go together, which one needs to be modified, and why the center diff doesn't work. Actually it's simpler than I thought. If you don't go with the tall 5th gear, no gears have to be pressed on/off splines. It only works with certain parts, but they're all stock subaru, don't cost a fortune, and only one has to be modified.

This is probably old news, but I thought I'd post it. The legacy climate control light bulbs work great for replacing the bulbs in the digital clock on the loyale body style. Mine went out recently and I couldn't find the right bulb. Radio shacks' version of it instantly burned out when I tried them, and of course all junk yard bulbs were burned out. I recommend this Subaru part # 72351AC051 The bulb has longer leads which fit the larger plastic bulb holder of the loyale. This bulb is one of three that go in the climate control of a legacy. The other two have shorter leads and are more expensive, but this bulb is right around $3.00 and works great. You just bend the leads straigt, pull out the bulb out of the legacy plastic bulb holder and install in the loyale plastic bulb holder. It's nice to be able to see my clock/trip computer at night again.

Installed the NAPA lifetime 110amp. So far so good. All voltages look good. Thanks for help guys!!

I posted 'cause I didn't know how good the aftermarket stuff is. Thanks for the help guys! So far so good. Bought a little cig. lighter voltage reader. It reads 12.5 engine off, and 13.2 to 13.6 running idle to 35mph on side streets. Will check batt again in the morning, and monitor on the road trip. I was updated on deployment. I don't need to be in hurricane land until thursday now.....whew!

I installed the 110amp lifetime from Napa. Will measure output/connections and look at fuses.

Good point. Which fuses? Large fuses (loyale) under the hood, or interior fuses. I think I'll replace it anyway, the alternator has 210,000 miles on it. I've pulled the old one and am heading out to buy the new one right now. --E

Napa has a '96 110 amp, lifetime warranty for $175. I have a 95-96 2.2, so I think that's the right one. Thoughts??

I'm multi-posting to various threads because I'm in a bind. Beefaru needs to go hurricane gustav for catastrophe work ASAP & my alternator just revealed it is no good. Two companies have already begged me to get to Texas right now for catastrophe staging and deployment. I'm looking for a strong EJ 2.2 alternator so I can install it tomorrow. There was a big recall on legacy alternators & I need a good one so I'm not too excited about pulling one at the J.Y. tomorrow & taking a big gamble on it. I can't wait until Tuesday to get this thing in. If you have one, please contact me ASAP. Eric: 303-462-1762 or 303-916-9116 Ironically it just came out of the shop for maintenance/road prep & no one checked the alternator output....

I'm multi-posting to various threads because I'm in a bind. Beefaru needs to go hurricane gustav for catastrophe work ASAP & my alternator just revealed it is no good. Two companies have already begged me to get to Texas right now for catastrophe staging and deployment. I'm looking for a strong EJ 2.2 alternator so I can install it tomorrow. There was a big recall on legacy alternators & I need a good one so I'm not too excited about pulling one at the J.Y. tomorrow & taking a big gamble on it. I can't wait until Tuesday to get this thing in. Ironically it just came out of the shop for maintenance/road prep & no one checked the alternator output....

I'm in. Keep me posted.

Hey Gang, I've been here just outside of minneapolis the last few weeks working the hail catastrophe. Thought I'd say hi in case anyone wanted to hook up. Didn't have a chance to post sooner. Was working like a dog. I'll be leaving by the 24th or before. Feel free to PM if you want to hook up before the beefaru & I roll back to Colorado. Eric

Hey Gang, I've been here just outside of minneapolis working the hail catastrophe. Thought I'd say hi in case anyone wanted to hook up. Eric

Thanks Dr K and everybody! Had to run out of town right after this and I got VERY sick when I returned -- that nasty flu thing. Cost me $300 in gig $$ this weekend. Dragged my butt out of bed today and I've got a couple more for y'all. The portrait shot And a shiny shot for fun - I think that's Dr Krazy in the fender panel.

I'm sick as a DOG -- anyone show up? I had to give away $300 in gigs....damn. Feel like hell today too.

Excellent! Is that 238k all you?? That would be so cool!!! I don't get to hear too many original-owner/miles-since-new stories. If not, how many have you put on it yourself?

Thanks guys!! We rolled the odometer over yesterday. Having driven all of those 200k myself, it was a really cool feeling. Hard to put into words. Here's a post I did with story, video, map and a couple photos. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=85318

In excellent company, in a perfect place, I drove the Beefaru into history. The odometer was reset to zero 12 years ago when the wagon was built. So that's 200,000 actual miles on the 2.2 and the dual range RX 4:11 transmission. I don't know anyone that's rolled that many actual miles on a conversion. Long story short, it was a very cool experience to travel my 200,000th mile on a car where I started at zero. Took 12 years & 20 states to get there. Along for the ride was the most excellent videographer Dr Krazy! and my better half. We met at the Elway Subaru on W colfax near golden. Some employees gawked and asked questions & I was able to provide some history and tell 'em what was about to transpire -- a very cool thing to have happen on the brink of 200,000 miles. The pitter patter in the video is my girlfriend doing a one-handed drum roll on the dash. As you can see from the photo, it was a perfect day. Thanks again Keith! Meant a lot to have you there archiving the event Hit this link to see the 2D map, then hit the "view in google earth" link on the page that pops up. It'll download that location to your computer. Then you can open that in Google earth & view in pseudo 3D which is pretty cool. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=103063478661954768817.0004464dcaf48a83355f9&ll=39.663332,-105.201253&spn=0.004278,0.003648&t=h&z=18

199,985 I've been staying at home writing a book. I had to get valentine's supplies today though. A true test of Subaru loyalty: Go farther for nice flowers and add more miles, or stop two doors down at Walgreens and get the cheap ones? I've got enough miles left to make it to Red Rocks or the big hogback ridge just to the east. Should make for a nice picture, and appropriate since I'm a musician and the Beefaru's been hauling my gear for over 10 years. Haven't heard back from the builder, and tomorrow night I have to gig. So maybe the little lady and I can roll to 200k tomorrow before we go skiing. If I use my gfriends outback for the gig tomorrow, I can put it off till Saturday. Anyone up for Saturday?? Keith wanted to take a picture of the spedometer at 100mph with the odo. at 200,000. Nice idea, but too much traffic within 15 miles of here. I'll call you Keith.

I'm at 199,978