Uberoo Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I have an EA82 FWD wagon that I could buy for really cheap to use as a parts vehicle.So I was thinking of stuffing the EA82 front suspension under my EA81 offroad toy. I was thinking of something like this: lengthened EA81 control arms EA82 axles EA82 struts with EA81 top hats EA81 hubs lengthened ea81 tie rods any idea how the camber will be with that setup? Now I just have to wait for the field the EA82 is in to thaw out enough to drive a vehicle out there... *note* it would be nice to push the tire forward,but I already run a 2" lift on top of the strut.So I image that the axle would be pretty strained by then.2" offset down and 1 1/2 offset forward... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I know that jbbvw has posted about the stuff he used on here somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 just use the ea82 hubs with the struts, they all fit together the same, you can use the whole ea82 strut/axle assembly. i think there might be some mix and match with the tie rods, if i can remember. if you are using the ea81 hub, you will have to adapt the ea82 strut, and use the ea81 cv end on the ea82 axle, since the seal is too small to fit an ea82 axle in an ea81 knuckle instead of lengthening the ea81 control arm, maybe you can hybris the 2, using the ea82 outer section on the ea81 inner section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 With just a bit of modification to the crossmember, you can mount the whole EA82 crossmember, control arms, knuckles, brakes, steering rack, and radius rods. With this setup, you won't have any more issues with camber. You will have an easier time finding brake parts, and spare parts in general if you bend a radius rod. adding Power Steering becomes easy. Check out this photo, you can sort of see what I did to the crossmember. cut tabs to fold up to have an new area to drill holes. then weld up the tabs to reinforce. Radius rods mount into the original EA81 mounts. You could lengthen the raduis rods about 3/4 inch as well. the longer EA82 axles will handle it better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberoo Posted March 19, 2010 Author Share Posted March 19, 2010 Ok I have the EA82 strut and EA82 control arm in place.What do I for the radius rod?Right now I can't seem to get it to go into the EA81 mount.It seems to need at least 2" or better of length added to it which doesn't seem right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 if you notice the ea81 control arm is straight, and the ea82 curves forward. you will have to relocate the ea82 control arm if you are using that. you will have to make a tab behind the control arm mount, and move it back, where the back portion of its mount is now the front. you can salvage the rear mount portion from an ea83 crossmember and weld it to the ea81 crossmember to accomplish this. its hard to explain without pics, but i am probably the only one who did it this way. if you could search way back into history, i got the idea from 'rguyver' posts on the old usmb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast I Drive Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 You will have to lengthen the radius rods at least 1" to gain anything from this mod other than wider wheel track. EA81 and EA82 radius rods are the same length, and are attached to the control arm in the same location in relation to the pivot point. As Miles stated, the EA82 arms are angled forward, if you want to gain more room for larger tires you want to mount the EA82 arms in the stock EA81 mounts, then cut a notch in them from front to back, then bend them back toward the door until they line up with the front bolt hole on the 1" lengthened radius rod. Put in the front bolt, then either drill out the second one so you can get a bolt in, or just weld it all together. The main thing here is the longer radius rods to push the wheels forward 1", it will give you more clearance for your tires. Then just use EA81 knuckles, but use the inner seal for the EA82 axles (though in my setup, the EA81 seal worked just fine) and use the EA81 struts. You might have to make new, straight-cut lift blocks or you will have massive negative camber. Also do not forget to lengthen the tie-rods, the EA82 control arms are 1.5" longer than EA81 arms, but the tie rods will only need to be lengthened 1" to work correctly. -Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberoo Posted March 19, 2010 Author Share Posted March 19, 2010 (edited) Im using the EA82 control arms and struts/knuckles.With the stock EA82 rods I can not get them to even go into the hole on the EA81 mount. looks like I need to find a long 6 sided 17 mm socket to get those bolts on the radius rods off. as far as the tie rods go,can I lengthen the stock EA81 rods 1",then use a die grinder to make it so that the tie rods go down through the knuckle for less severe angles rather than up through the knuckle as in stock?Or do I need to use EA82 stuff? Also if the EA82 tie rods are 1.5" longer how does lengthening the stock rods 1" work?Wouldn't there be massive toe in? Edited March 19, 2010 by Uberoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberoo Posted March 20, 2010 Author Share Posted March 20, 2010 Is it normal to need to use a come a long to pull the suspension back far enough to get the rubber bushing and the bolt started? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obk25xt Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Is it normal to need to use a come a long to pull the suspension back far enough to get the rubber bushing and the bolt started? Thats what I had to do.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumoco Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Any updates/pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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