Hello, 
My name is Nick and I am the proud owner of a 1994 Subaru Loyale wagon. 
I'm relatively new to the older Subaru scene. I've owned this car for about 3 months now and I'm loving it. It is a 1.8L with a single range 4WD transmission. ~175k miles and running strong. Not much done to it other than: Roof rack (roof basket coming soon), plasti-dip racing stripe, painted steelies, and a kick rump roast sub in the back. Plans for Tint and a 2 inch lift in the future. Just saying hello (:

Hey man, welcome to the board! I was the dude assisting with the 2" lift info on that other site that we are never supposed to speak of outside said site... Looking forward to watching the progress on your wagon. Be sure to either create a build thread, or ask for this one to be moved to the Member's Rides section once you start the modifications.

Hey man, welcome to the board! I was the dude assisting with the 2" lift info on that other site that we are never supposed to speak of outside said site... Looking forward to watching the progress on your wagon. Be sure to either create a build thread, or ask for this one to be moved to the Member's Rides section once you start the modifications.

Ahh yup! I recognize the username. Thanks for the welcome!

nice to see even more PNW members comin through! nice loyale, and welcome!

AUTOBOTS assemble

Welcome! Looks like your Loyale is in pretty good shape! You should swap in a D/R, especially if you're gonna lift it. 

Welcome! Looks like your Loyale is in pretty good shape! You should swap in a D/R, especially if you're gonna lift it. 

Alright, I'm quite the novice here so i really have no clue what a D/R is. 

howdy! pretty sure ive seen that car around, ive got the lifted blue wagon in tacoma. if you need help or a place to wrench hit me up, im right near 112th and waller rd.

Alright, I'm quite the novice here so i really have no clue what a D/R is. 

 

D/R for dual range transmission. Swap one in so you have FWD, 4WD Hi, and 4WD Lo. It'll definitely help if you plan to offroad at all. I just finished my D/R swap yesterday. A D/R swap should be something to look into in the future, depending on how much you are gonna offroad it.

Ive done considerably well with my 2" and single range. I ve said, "if I dont make it up ill catch ya later" and made it so many times its funny. with that, I have yet to do any truly hardcore NWWO (youtube dude look it up, its awesome) type stuff. If youre going out to play in the mud, and are reasonably capable of tricky clutch play and learning the "ramming speed" characteristic required, you can wheel with a pushbutton 4wd.

 

 

 

 

BUT.............this is coming from a guy who is, in very short order, swapping to a D/R5spd (its in my garage). the D/Rs came in GLs (same body, pre loyale)

Yeah, I've done pretty well with my push button, non-lifted Loyale. I do think the dual range is only absolutely necessary if you're doing more hardcore wheeling, but it's always nice to have. If you're willing to put the time, money, and effort into the swap, it's a matter of, "why not?" For me, I needed/wanted to replace my clutch, so I figured I'd swap the tranny while I was there. Truth is, I probably won't use 4WD Lo a whole lot. I don't have a lift, so I can't do much more than light trails due to ground clearance. But I now have a psychological advantage. If my FWD doesn't cut it, I have 4WD Hi. If 4WD Hi doesn't cut it, I have 4WD Lo. One extra backup system in case things go wrong.

 

I guess I shouldn't be promoting the D/R so much, since I've only driven with it for ~60 miles.  But my old EA81 had a D/R, and although I never used it, I loved it. The winter of 2011-2012, when it snowed kinda bad (at least here in the eastside), I had confidence that I wouldn't get stuck due to the D/R. Through all the driving in the snow I did that winter, I only needed 4WD Hi for about 15 seconds though, haha.

 

Anyways, if you're due for a clutch replacement, or your pulling the motor for some reason, I'd at least consider doing a D/R swap. 

D/R for dual range transmission. Swap one in so you have FWD, 4WD Hi, and 4WD Lo. It'll definitely help if you plan to offroad at all. I just finished my D/R swap yesterday. A D/R swap should be something to look into in the future, depending on how much you are gonna offroad it.

 

Ok, how pricey was that? As a 17 year old kid with a minimum wage job, money is my biggest issue.

Haha, I'm a 17 year old kid with a minimum wage job too!   I picked up the transmission for $125, which from what I can gather is a little pricey. A good price for a D/R should be about $80-$90. Four quarts of gear oil ran me $40, then I spent about $40 in tools for the job. So I'd say if you're just doing the swap, it shouldn't be too much more than $200 if you already have a semi decent wrench/ratchet set.

 

If you wanna swap out your clutch too, it'll be a lot more. The clutch kit was $180, and a brand new flywheel was $80 (you can go cheaper and get your old one resurfaced, for about $40). So that was an extra $260, but with the effort you'll put in getting the transmission out of there, it's a good idea to put a new clutch in while you're there. Can't hurt with new parts! Oh, and then $10 for genuine Subaru clips that hold the throw out bearing onto the clutch fork. Good idea to replace those too.

I think getting my car lifted is higher on my priority list than a D/R swap. Although it does sound like it provides a nice advantage on the offroad side, I think I'll have to hold that off until after i get my car some clearance 

I'd say just keep it in mind for something to do in the future. Unless you're rock crawling, doing steep hill climbs, or anything else where you need power but not speed, you probably won't need the low range. Definitely gonna have to post pictures when you get it lifted!

Thanks for the information on the D/R! I will definitely post pictures once It's lifted    

Hey, new here too. I got into the subie world with a '92 loyale sedan and fell in love. Unfortunately I didnt really have the money at the time to do much with it and had to sell it. I miss that thing like crazy, sold it to a woman who lives in Puyallup and I have a feeling it will be in a junkyard in the next year Now I have a '95 legacy sedan with a '97 2.5L GT engine. Hope to see good things to come with yours!

Hey, new here too. I got into the subie world with a '92 loyale sedan and fell in love. Unfortunately I didnt really have the money at the time to do much with it and had to sell it. I miss that thing like crazy, sold it to a woman who lives in Puyallup and I have a feeling it will be in a junkyard in the next year Now I have a '95 legacy sedan with a '97 2.5L GT engine. Hope to see good things to come with yours!

95 leggy with a 2.5? Sounds pretty snazzy! I passed an old Loyale sedan today on the road so i hope that's yours and still running!