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thinking about lifting my 89 gl


83projectbrat
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hello everyone i have a 1989 subaru gl 4x4 wagon (auto) and i want to use a oz lift 3'' but i was kinda thinking if i do this would you suggest doing a manual tranny (d/r) swap? i can get another whole car to do it or would you save your time and keep the auto and just lift it like that and get some 27'' or so tires on some pugs, i want to make this car a little more off road friendly

 

matt

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having no firsthand knowledge of the autos, but having read many posts about them, I have heard they suck. Putting an already sucky transmission with bigger tires that will take more to turn will make the whole car suck even worse. Posts on swapping to a D/R make it sound not all that bad, just the new pedal box sounds like a pain. The low range will do wonders. if you want a bit more clearance, you could go with bigger tires on the same rims, like 185's. I recall a post about this, so just do a search. The bigger rims and tires need a lift (i think), so going big means a lot of work. If i am wrong i would appreciate being corrected.

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you can put larger rims/tires on your wagon unlifted, I think once you go past 25" you need a bit of fender trimming etc. If your willing to cut it up more you can fit 27s on. But with the auto, you are dealing with serious gutlessness on big tires, and also no low range which is pretty much essential to doing any "real" 4x4ing unless you want to go flying at every obstacle and smash over it instead of going slow and having the power to make it over without bogging down.

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If you're interested, I just put 15 " Puges on my lifted 86 wagon...It's a D/R 5-speed. The tires are the shortest 75 series (narrow) I could get in 15's...205/75X15. I haven't driven it, yet so can't give a comparison in power between the 185/13's and the 205/15's but I can say the tires are about 27.3" diameter and they rub fairly well when I turn the wheels very much so I will have to so some "cosmetically correct" fender trimming at the rear of the front fenders before I can go far.

 

My pics are on my Webshots page under the file: "Ozified...86 subaru". The pics with the new 15's are at the end of the list of pics...I just added them today.:banana:

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/hillbillyles

 

That might give ya' an idea of what the tires and wheels will look like with an Ozified EA-82 lift.

 

Les

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Sorry for the delay...been busy gettin' the Soob back on the road.

 

Had to trim about 1" from the back of the front fender at the base. No rubs, now and drives actually better (has a more stable feel and turns seem more precise) and hardly any difference in power between 185\80-13 and 205\75-15 tire change....Only now, due to the low torque of the 1.8, highway speeds are maintained (70-80 mph) in headwinds and hills by remaining in 4th gear. In 5th, at 2800-3000 RPM the engine has a hard time fighting headwinds and steeper hills at 70MPH.

 

Regarding the lift....I have the standard 3" "Ozified" kit available from PK Davis here on the Board or at his site... www.Ozified.com. My 86 has the 85 adjustable front and rear spring height adjustments. In the pic, I have both the front and rear adjusted all the way up...Wish I had another 1" in the front on the lift cause it rides pretty stiff in the front with the spring adjusted all the way up (gives an additional 1" or so) but there are no 4" for the front, as far as I know. I could do some other options, thanks to some ideas from McBrat, but don't have the motivation to re-engineer right now...maybe later when I have more time.

 

Hope this helps...any more questions, ask on the board, there are lots of experienced and knowledgable "Subarites" here. Anything specific you want to know about mine or from me, feel free to PM me here on the Board or e-mail me @ lheitman@callawayambulance.org.

 

HbL

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I concur with the warnings on big tires and the auto tranny. On 29"s with a lift I am the slowest thing on the road. Pretty much have to drive around at WOT. Getting going with a clutch is bad enough; couldnt imagine with an auto trans and only 3 gears. It would be too much stress for that little 3AT.

 

Putting your time and money towards a 5speed conversion, bigger tires and rims would be your best bet IMHO. The 5spd dual range would be a way better upgrade then just a lift kit. Even up on 15" rims and 25" tires you would be sitting pretty damn nice. With that setup you could get PLENTY dirty and have a blast.

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