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firstwagon

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Posts posted by firstwagon

  1. thats only if you go straight forever. Once you turn the front wheels you have four tires running at four differnt speeds, feeding two driveshafts. But hey, its not my 1000.00 dollar repair if you decide to do this to the car , and not my car you going to bang up so have fun :) If your talking about this for s**t and giggles thats fine, but for driving in the real world, i strongly advise against it.

     

    nipper

     

    I have 4 new tires on my car, I always replace all 4 at the same time even in a 2wd. Nothing brings an old car back to life like a set of brand new tires. :)

     

     

    I still don't think turning has any bearing on my point. The system is engineered to allow turning and thus slippage in the centre diff. Even if you have 4 brand new tires.

     

    It's going in a straight line where wear from unequal sized tires will occurs and my point is as long as one is correct then the action of an open diff will allow the other to spin at a different speed without affecting the speed of the driveshaft (and thus the centre diff).

  2. Your simple logic is right, but you forget the front wheels turn. therefore the front axle covers ground at a different speed then the rear axle.

     

     

    I didn't forget. The front axle travels at a diferent speed then the rear in turns even if all four tires are the exact same size. It's not relevent to my point that you could have one rear tire smaller then the other and the rear diff would make up the difference instead of loading up the centre differential. It's the same as when you have a mini spare on a 2 wheel drive car. The diff makes up the difference in tire rotation speed.

     

    It is possible though that it would average out the speed between the 2 tires in terms of rear driveshaft speed creating a difference front to rear.

     

     

    Hmmm, I'll have to think about this some more.

  3. By my understanding of open differentials, (front and rear, not centre or LSD) the wheels on the same axle can spin at different speeds all day long without a problem.

     

    Therefore wouldn't it make sense that as long as one of the rear (for example) wheels was the same size as the front then there would be no problem. The rear open diff would simply allow the other to spin faster (or slower) then the other three.

     

    Just a thought.

  4. Yup, add me to the list of driver's without headlights on. Happened to me a few times. As well as I've been behind a few 05/06s that have been dark as well.

     

    Everywhere I primarily drive is very well lit. I have driven for miles without noticing the headlights aren't on.

     

    Interesting, designers come up with new concepts for features and safety that seem like a well thought out step forward, only to realize that they can combine to create new problems to over come.

     

     

    Interesting, it must just take a while for people to remember to turn their lights on at dark?!?!. We've had DRL's in Canada for a long time ( my 91 Legacy has them) and I can't remember the last time I saw someone driving with just their headlights on, no tail lights.

     

    It's just not the issue people make it out to be.

  5. I've also got to take exception to the anti-Jeep sentiments. I've got a 94 Grand Cherokee w/ 5spd manual (only one I've ever seen). It's been extremely reliable (150k and still going strong) and gets nearly the same mileage as my 97 Impreza w/ 4EAT. 19c/20h for the Jeep vs. 23c/26h for the Subaru (both with roof racks and Thule boxes on top).

     

    The Jeep has a real low range(2.7:1), lots of low end torque(200-something at 1000 rpm), and can tow a trailer with two Subarus on it. Naturally the Impreza drives a lot better, but comparing the two is like comparing apples to pineapples---all you can say is that they're both delicious, but in different ways. :cool:

     

     

    I agree that Jeeps are NOT garbage. In addition to my Legacy in my driveway we also have my 95 Grand Cherokee and my brothers 90 YJ. The YJ has had the crap beat out of it over the last decade off road and is still his daily driver. The Grand has more squeaks, rattles and oil leaks then my Subaru but is trouble free and tows my travel trailer with ease. The 4.0 has easily twice the low end power of my 2.2. Mileage isn't that bad either. The Grand average 18 to 22 vs 22 to 29 for the Subaru.

  6. My 91 shifts smoothly if I drive with an extremely light foot or if I floor it and let it snap off shifts right at 6500 redline. Where it feel clumsy is on part thottle driving. It shifts with a "bump" I would say. My 88 Buick Skyhawk beater always shifted much better (Didn't do much else well but the trans lasted the life of the car with repair or much service).

     

    Everyone tells me that's just the way Japanese cars shift. I have a friend wil a 92 Accord that shifts the same.

  7. Hi everyone,

     

    my '98 subie outback has been 1 quart low on oil but with no apparent leak - no oil spots in the parking space or oil drops hangning from key areas...

     

    after the last two oil changes the mechanic is reporting that it has been a quart low each time.

     

    i have the oil changed around 3000-3500k. this last period i had also done a road trip of about 2000 miles, plus around town after i got back to rack up over 3000k miles between changes.

     

    there's no indication of a major leak or belching blue smoke on start up.

     

    what other ways could my car be using/burning oil and is this a big deal for a subie with 128k miles on it?

     

    thanks!

     

    gringorio

    :burnout:

     

    I'm not sure I understand the question. You have 128K miles and use a quart evey 3000 miles or so. Have you ever had a car that did better? All car burn oil, most more then that. There's lots of ways for oil to seep past rings and valves in tiny amounts on even the best engine.

     

    A good rule of thumb is ...if you can go from one oil change to the next without adding a quart, then your motor is in great shape.

  8. Have a 91 Legacy 2.2. Have changed the air and fuel filter, new plugs and wires, Seafoamed the top end of the engine and crankcase, 44k in the injectors, tires properly inflated, just had the engine "scoped", tech found no problems. I'm lucky to get 220 on a full tank with highway driving. Trip meter usually says 185 when tank is empty. Tech pressure tested fuel system and no problems with leaks anywhere. Brakes are not dragging, they were recently inspected.

     

    How fast do you drive on the hwy? Going over 75 mph really kills my mileage.

     

    Also when you fill up you car, how much gas does it take? I've heard a lot of people complain about the guages on the 1st gen Legacys. My 91 will read empty after 250 miles but there's really a third of a tank left. ( it will only take 40 litres and it's a 60 litre tank). The averages out to about 25 mpg which is about as good as you'll get.

  9. Firstwagon, how close are you to Seattle? also Autoxone.com may be able to ship it to you (I don't know for sure on that)

     

     

    Actually I can see the US from the back porch of my house (White Rock, BC). About a 3 minute drive to the border. Crossing it is the bigger problem. Line ups are a pain these days. I used to shop in Bellingham quite often, now it's not really worth the trouble.

     

    Still, I'm due for a shopping trip. Need some KYB struts for my car and I can't find them up here either.

  10. If you want, I'll look up wagon WRX springs tomorrow.

     

    I really don't think it will matter. I don't know of any actual differences between wagon and sedan springs in the Legacy or WRX.

     

    I was actually going to measure the exact ride height of the car before and after, but I got impatient :-\. I'm inclined to say an inch. Enough to make a difference, but not anything drastic. Which was exactly what I was looking for.

     

    There is a difference, here's a great list someone put together....

     

    http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=2153

  11. http://www.americanairsuspension.com/SUBARU%20CONV.htm

     

    this is where i got my conversion parts, and yes...it sure drove nice with all new parts

     

    I wonder what parts they use in their conversion. I couldn't find much detail on the web site.

     

    Right now I'm leaning towards some KYB G2 struts from here... http://www.tirerack.com/

     

    and some WhiteLine springs from here.....

     

    http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/subaru_corner.html

     

     

    Tire Rack also has strut mounts listed for the front (I don't see the rears on their site, might have to go OEM).

     

    If I have any money left over, I'll pick up an 18mm rear sway bar from PDM as well. All together it should raise my handling from perfectly pleasant:) to seriously fun :D :D :D .

     

    The final step will be taking the air suspension parts over to the local Subaru wrecking yard and seeing how much credit they will give me for them towards a set of Legacy GT or WRX 16 inch rims.

     

    I've been thinking about doing this for a year but my budget is too tight these days to replace anything that is working fine. I guess that annoying little air leak is a good thing.:)

  12. The 2.2l Subarus are old, slow, have limited features and few creature comforts. There's a reason why Subaru went to the 2.5 in the Outback especially with automatic.

     

    Other than the head gasket issue the 97-99 OB wagons are readily available in that price range, but will have a lot of miles on them. There weren't many wagons on the market in the late 90's and the Outback was the most popular.

     

    Ford Taurus wagons are cheap, have terrific parts availability, are easy to work on and as dependable as other $5,000 cars as long as they don't have the 3.8.

     

    Limited features? My 91 Legacy LS wagon has power windows, power mirrors, power locks, power sunroof; cruise, intermittent wipers front and rear, tilt steering, A/C, 4 channel ABS, All wheel drive, height adjustable drivers seat, adjustable lumbar support, air suspension with auto leveling and height adjustment, alloy wheels, 4 wheel disc brakes; 60/40 folding rear seats, retractable cargo cover and I'm sure a few more things that I can't think of right now.

     

    The reason you can get parts for the Taurus easily is the junk yards are full of them, all with bad engines and bad transmissions.

  13. when i converted my 92 legacy from air to standard struts i ordered the struts complete...they came assembled with springs on them, mounts and bushings....of course for all 4 it was pricey i think around $750.

    when i bought my car two of my struts had been replace with new(one front one rear) mine held air but i had a control problem, i still have them if you want to stay with air

     

     

    Thanks for the offer but I'm looking forward to the feel of all new parts :burnout: and not having to worry about other parts of the air system going. :(

     

    Where did you get you complete assemblies from? By the time I add up springs, struts and mounts x 4, it will be close to that price anyhow.

  14. When I bought my 91 Legacy wagon LS AWD last year, it had a leaky front air strut. I went with the cheapest (and quickest) route and replaced it with a used one from the junkyard. Now I have a slow leak in one of the rears and figure it's a good time to swap out the whole air suspension.

     

    I've been looking at KYB G2's at the Tire Rack site and notice the 91 fronts are $69 each and the rears are $128 each. If I check the 92's the fronts are $74 and the rears are $69.:confused: :confused: :confused:

     

    Doing some searching on the site showed the 90-91 have tapered rear springs and thus use different struts and strut mounts.

     

    My question is....

     

    Since I am replacing the strut, the spring and the mount anyway, can I just order 1992-94 parts? It should be fine for the front but I can't find anything about potentional problems for the rear.:confused:

     

    Also, any suggestion on springs? I don't mind lowering it an inch but no lower.

     

    Thanks

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