chazmataz

i haven't broke that bolt off (but i have stripped the threads out of the knuckle, i just put a longer bolt in with a nut on the other side )and that includes subarus in JY when i was getting steering knuckles for my 84 wagon when i first got it and thats using a cordless impact gun. true the balljoints get alittle stuck but a couple of good blows with a BFH and they usually pop out and as far as putting them in line them up if they don't pop in a couple of blows up with your BFH and it will go in without any problems. i, too have changed numorous axles on subarus doing this method without any problems and without touching the swaybar like i said there is enough give there to pry the control arm and balljoint loose from the steering knuckle and be able to swing the strut, hub, caliper and steering knuckle out of the way to remove the axle. i have done this with the tires still on too but prefer taking them off though. i'm by all means not saying your method is wrong but it does put strain on the control arm bushing (torque elastic bushing) unless your not tightening that bolt up until the vehicles weight is resting on its tires on the ground. to me the way i do it is easy and i'm not taking alot of extra things loose or off and running the risk of damaging anything else.

I'm in, unless something i can't get out comes up but so far so good. got a few minor mods to do to the 84 but shouldn't be a problem the 86 still is layed up for now. i will let you know later where i will me up with you. chaz

i can see if i could come up with more spec for other years but the book that i have shows specs for an 87 brat and it says that they have 2-7/16 degrees positive camber +/- 3/4 a degree, w/ turbo is 2-3/16 degrees. this is for a stock rig but hope it helps

ok, i said in my first post that i take the ball joint out of the steering knuckle. there is a 14mm head bolt at the bottom of the steering knuckle( if you look under the front of your car at the bottom of your steering knuckle you will see the bolt) that pinchs the ball joint in, it doen't reguire a pickle fork thats at the other end of the ball joint where it goes through the control arm. yes if you use a pickle fork there you run the risk of tearing your boot if do it the other way that i explained you won't be near the boot to tear it. you just need to take a long pry bar or pipe and pry down on the control arm. wedge the pipe/pry bar over the strut rod and under the control arm where it bolts to the subframe and pry down the top of the balljoint will pop out of the steering knuckle. once you get the balljoint out of the steering knuckle you don't have to mess with the control arm it won't be in the way. as far as the swaybar, it does allow enough movement to pry down and take the balljoint out of the bottom of the steering knuckle without disconnecting the swaybar. a swaybar is only a spring that is not made into a coil it will twist and bend. as i said, this is the way i and my co-workers and even other mechanics do it and its fast and won't mess anything else up or tear boots.

i'm not knocking your method i'm just putting in my 2 cents worth and this is the way i do it at work on cars almost everyday and on my own rigs without the luxury of lift/hoist and not always on pavement. i haven't torn a boot or messed up any other part doing it this way and you can move everything out of the way enough to do the work. just replaced an axle yesterday on my dads 89 dl wagon in his gravel driveway this same way, without any problems.

wrong toe and wrong camber(postive) will wear outside edges of tires too. if your engine cradle has shifted from hitting a curb for example that will throw off your camber, caster and toe, this is related to a stock setup and can be corrected by a good alignment tech that knows what they are doing but it does have to be hooked up to a machine and doesn't require extra parts. i see this every day at work. but the point is that you can't get your alignment dead on and usually not real close with just screwing a new part back on to the same exact place your old one came off. thats the point i'm trying to get to sometimes whether you like it or not you should have your alignment checked by someone that knows what they are doing. tire wear is due to alot of different factors.

when do you notice it vibrating, under what kind of conditions????

as far as changing your inner tie rod GD is right. but, tire wear is also caused by wrong toe, too much camber angles and wore out tie rods inner and/or outer not just bad ball joints and bad inflation. yes ,you can get your alignment close but not perfect and yes pre-lagecey subarus only have adjustment for toe in the front but caster and camber can be adjusted too in some respects but it does need an alignment machine or the right equipment to do this and you can get adjustable parts too. i have posted this information before and you can set your toe with a tape measure and a helper, this is done on early 4x4s that only have a toe adjustment too and by alot of non professional race car drives at club levels. i myself have done this when i was racing my datsun 510. the key to good toe is having a little toe-in and that both your dimensions from outer tie-rod stud center to the rack shaft that the inner screws into are equal from side to side with the wheels straight ahead. marking your old and matching to new is not always perfect as different manufactures have different specs and procedures. thats my 2 cents

the way i do it only takes about 30-45 minutes. undo axle nut, take 14mm headed bolt out that holds balljoint in steering knuckle, pry ball joint out of steering knuckle by prying down on control arm, pull hub off of axle shaft, and disconnect from tranny and its out reverse for installation. this can also be done with the wheel and tire still on and in the field. this technique can also be done on the majority of front wheel drive cars out there.

i agree that looks awesome with the 2 tone paint job. nice work.

cool dude. those are a nice looking pair of brumbys you got there. from the picture it looks like a good find. give us close up when you can.

thats one sweet looking bumper man, nice job.

hey jibs you could put hood pins on your subaru, they usually go just above your headlights on your coresupport but you would have to do some drilling.

yes, i do agree with you, i have also replaced mine with regular tires and wheels to match on my all stock vehicles. those space savers are no good for anything.

i've heard of people that was having bad milage replacing their oxygen sensor and their milage improved. but i have never experienced it for myself yet. maybe some of the other board members have and can let us know if this is true ot not.

nice pictures, makes me wish i had my own private playground. must have action shots though or video.

these wheel are for temporary use only they are made of a thin gauge steel, not like normal wheels and will bend up like a prezel on the mildest of roads ( i.e. gravel or dirt) they won't take pot holes well either.

i would highly recommend not using the spare tire wheels (I.E. space saver spare) they wheels and tires are a temporary use item only to get you to the nearest facility to get your normal tire fixed that is why they are mark with a " T". they wheels are very light weight (flimsey) as in not for everyday driving and are not for highway usage, they will not hold up. this question has been brought up before on an earlier post, you can do a search if you want

yes, i have done this conversion. you will need the headlight bucket assy., the side marker lights (they are different-thinner), there is a plastic piece that goes under the headlights to fill in the open space out to the bumper from thelights themselves and also there is a piece of filler plastic that goes between the lights and the grille. also make sure you get the headlight pigtails and with some of the wire off your donor car (they have different plugs on the GL light bulb), this will make it easier to wire them in. so, basically get all the front headlight assy., marker lights and grille pieces from your donor car if you want it to look completely stock ( like the DL ). if you have all the pieces it is a direct bolt/screw in. if you have anymore questions you can either post here or pm me. chaz PS. IMHO, they are much brighter then the stock GL lights but make sure you put halogen lights in to get the full effect.

thats one awesome looking brat, um...brumby, dude. clean looking engine conversion.

cool pics ryan, looks like you guys had some fun. where did you go??

sounds like it might be a cv joint going out. mine vibrates as you described when i have an axle going out especially the doj ones.

thats exactly what i was thinking about doing to an EA82 wagon that this guy i know is going to give me. execpt i was going to go with tube doors like what jibs has on his brat, other then i was going to bob the back alittle and build a rack all the way to the back. i haven't thought about doing that with a picture to see what it would look like but thats a cool picture too. i like it!

the loose one is failing, most cars have a certain amount of loosenest they can have before they are bad, most of those are american made cars. the rest should have no movement at all. i don't the specs here but i think they shouldn't have any movement at all. jack the car up and grab the tire at the top and bottom and up out from the bottom while looking at your ball joint if you can see any movement then your bj is bad. another way to check is get a big bar and put under tire and pry up on it a little same thing any movement and its bad.

hey ryan, thats looking real good. yes, tell us what you got left to do.