Has anyone else ever had problems getting their new bolts to thread in on their EA81 lifts? We were lifting my brat and had moderate difficulty getting the 4 single blocks that hold the trailing arms started and and am having extreme difficulty getting the bolts that hold the big blocks for the mustache bar. I cant even get em to thread in with the block out! I am going to go to the hardware store and get a nut that fits the old bolt that came out and then run it over the new bolt to make sure the threads do indeed match.

 

I am in no way implying this kit has problems, I am just wondering if others had difficulty with things such as this.

 

The brat I am lifting DOES have some rust... so maybe all the fitment issues are rust related, who knows...

I had trouble on the rear where the corrosion was bad. I ended up buying a tap to chase all the threads with. You'll find that most of the thread patterns are identical... so the tap I got worked with 99% of all the threaded inserts.

 

-Brian

Installation was flawless for me. But that's not to say it was easy. Due to the angle, lying on my back, trying to hold one thing up with one hand and ease the bolt in... it was frustrating and I had to laugh at the situation a couple of times, but everything fit perfectly. Had I attempted to do the job 15 years ago, I'd have lost patience and just gone into ramming speed and crossthreaded a bunch of bolts. Take your time and learn to laugh at difficulties ( and always think... if it were easy, women would want to do it).

Most hardware stores will not have the bolts/nuts. The metric pitch is 1.25, for all bolts on the Subaru, be it 12mm or 10mm, etc. Best to use some WD-40 or equivilent, and slowly work the bolts in and out a few times. r/PK

The strangest thing... The bolts are indeed 1.25... but the 4 nuts that hold on the bracket for the mustache bar are not... I got a 1.25 but (that fits the long bolts!) and it didnt fit the short ones I pulled out... I already have 3 out of 4 of the access holes in the bed for replacing the captive nuts so I am just gonna go that route... an 18 cent nut is cheaper than a super high grade bolt.

 

Not sure why my brat had odd pitch nuts in the rear frame rails :-\

I had a captive nut give way on my 86 Brat when I lifted it, so I had to drill a hole and put in a new nut from above. the old remanants of the captive weld were enough to hold the nut while I tightened from below