February 21, 201016 yr I am prepping my 1990 loyale s/w 4x4 S/R sfi 1.8l to be an offroad only mud bogger. I have 27.2" tall x 7.5" wide tractor tires mounted on 14x6 nissan 6 lug wheels and I will be buying a lift. Does a lift add any ground clearance or is it just to allow for the fitment of larger tires? I am gonna weld the rear end up. I am planing on bringing the exhaust up through the hood on the passenger side so I dont have to worry about it dragging through the mud. I am also thinking about making a full length skid plate that curves up in the front. I think this would make the underneath smooth and it would glide across the mud easier. Any flaws to this idea? Any other ideas to make it more mud worthy?
February 21, 201016 yr I would get a 2" suspension lift, from One Eye if he's close, or I will have some beefy ones available soon. That will give you clearance for bigger tires, and 2" of lift without moving any of the crossmembers. You will need a Dual Range, or you will get stuck A LOT, so keep searching till you find one. Your skid plate idea sounds perfect, so I'd go with it! Since you are running the exhaust up through the engine bay, you might try to find a way to run it around the front of the engine, that way there is that much more clearance under the front crossmember. Take some pics as this progresses! -Bill
February 21, 201016 yr Dual Range Transmission for sure "Does a lift add any ground clearance or is it just to allow for the fitment of larger tires?" yes under the body, and my kits give a extra 1" under the suspension plus your tire difference
February 21, 201016 yr Author So no need for a big lift? I pm'd you about the six inch lift. Is that too much? I'll need ground clearance over anything else but saving money and only getting a 2" lift would be awesome too. There is an aluminum plant near by and I can get all the sheet aluminum I need for the skid plate. The only problem is it is only 1/8th inch thick. But I can double it up or roll beads in it. The mud pit is my families old cow pond that never held water well. So my brother started holding mud bogs 4th of July weekend. He got killed in a motorcycle accident a year ago 9/25. So I keep it going in his memory. He never got to see my loyale but he would be proud. I am hoping to show up some of the domestic trucks there. There are a few trucks with 44s that I know I won't stand a chance after they go through. Unless the skid plate idea works and momentum carries me through the deep stuff while I ride on the skidplate.
February 21, 201016 yr Any lift is good, but you dont necessarily need a big lift to clear big tires, it just makes things a whole lot easier The big lifts gain you a lot of body clearnce, but drivetrain clearance is only gained by larger tires or a little extra lift on the struts. Personally for mud I would go with a big lift, keep the body out of the mud and that creates less drag, I just threw out the 2" as a suggestion, I dont know what kind of budget you are on... -Bill
February 21, 201016 yr Author I hope to run your 6" lift as soon as you can make me one. Hint hint. I can paypal you now but I read you weren't taking orders. Ship me a d/r 5 speed while you're at it.
February 21, 201016 yr Author I'm not on a really tight budget but I don't wanna blow money on something that won't help.
February 21, 201016 yr Im getting a few things buttoned up around here and I'll be back to making lifts soon... -Bill
February 22, 201016 yr Author you wouldn't have a 5mt D/R that you would be willing to ship, would you? scott or bill
February 22, 201016 yr you wouldn't have a 5mt D/R that you would be willing to ship, would you? scott or bill I don't actually, I don't even have a spare for when mine goes right now... Keep an eye out though, you might have to pick up a whole car, but if the price is right that's sometimes the best way to go. -Bill
February 23, 201016 yr depends on what kinda lift u get i guess ihave a 1992 loyale 1.8 l w 28 in tires an a 4 in lift gives me alot of clearence espeacilly the pumkin
February 23, 201016 yr A lift, unless it is suspension, will give you NO ground clearance improvements. All you are doing when body lifting a Subaru is making room for larger tires. The lift itself will do nothing to improve ground clearance aside from getting your bumpers higher. All the important stuff like crossmembers, the motor, the driveline, and the diff will still be the same height from the ground as it was stock UNTIL you put some larger diameter tires on. It doesn't matter if you do a 2" block in between the body and crossmember, or a 20" block in between the body and crossmember; until you put on some big tires, you are still going to have stock ground clearance. The 2" suspension lifts (just blocks above the struts) are another story. They will improve your ground clearance by roughly, you guessed it, 2 inches!!! Then you will gain more with more tire. Roughly 1" ground clearance for every 2" diameter the tire is over stock Edited February 23, 201016 yr by 3eyedwagon
February 23, 201016 yr Technically lifting the Subaru will give you more clearance under the body. These lifts are not conventional "Body lifts" nor are they true "suspension lifts". Because its a Uni-body design, you gain no additional clearance under your diff's. However, your body will gain 2", 4" or however much lift you go with. I suggest if you are going to re-route your exhaust, you find a Turbo Subaru and use the exhaust headers from it. The pipe crosses in front of the oil pan instead of under the oil pan, and you will be able to tuck your skid plate up closer to the body. Also, if you really want to make this a true mud-bogger, you might want to look into replacing that piece of crap engine with a real one. Start searching for EJ22 swaps.
February 23, 201016 yr Author ej22 is on the list right after the D/R 5mt. gonna be next year for that one though
February 23, 201016 yr Just do the 2.2 and forget about low range. Get a running start and don't let up on the skinny pedal
February 23, 201016 yr you wouldn't have a 5mt D/R that you would be willing to ship, would you? scott or bill I have 2 one from a RX and one from a GL
February 23, 201016 yr Author I'll take one! Which one would go with my 3.90 rear end? Which would better serve my off roading/ mud bogging purpose?
February 23, 201016 yr Author The difference is that the rx is full time awd and the gl is 4wd correct? I have no reason to use the car in fwd so it doesn't really matter which
February 23, 201016 yr Go with the one out the GL.it has a lower low range.Although with a EJ22.I doubt that you would even need low range to spin the 27" tractor tires.I had an EA81 with tractor tires about that size.It went everywhere except snow...but the EA81 didn't have the power to spin the tires in the mud.press the gas more and the car just goes faster through the mud. with that being said,it might be best to cut/bash your fenders to fit the tires,then see how she does :burnout: :burnout:
February 25, 201016 yr Author Right now my car has no front fenders. I took them off to cut the rust out of the wheel arches. Ended up just following the wheel arch body line with an air saw
March 1, 201016 yr Author I have a D/R tranny on the way, and a set of 6 lug hubs. Now I need the lift and need to weld the rear end.
March 2, 201016 yr Author where should I put the O2 sensor when I reroute the exhaust? After the 2 pipes Y together, right? How far from the exhaust port?
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