bushbasher

isn't one of the purposes of the adjustable suspension to handle heavier loads?

breaking systems Looks cool, is it any lighter than the hatch? Better get some bigger wheels!

Lets tell them that if they build one with good arc, low overhangs and a dual range, we might buy it! A 300hp awd minivan sounds pretty gross though.

a hole in your gas tank? jk I think if you were getting mileage that low during normal driving you'd be pouring out black smoke, and not running very nicely.

ya really it's not tough you don't have to deal with much geometry or anything. Mine's gonna be made out of the frame of an APEX stair climbing exercise machine! I know it sounds bad but its 3"x1.5" 3/16 wall rectangle, I'm pretty sure. It'll be doubled up for 6", with lots of bracing. Should look kinda like hassey's 6" brat lift. If you're confused about building a lift just look at each mounting point for the subframes, and design a block that will drop each down how ever many inches you want.

its harder to fix roofline damage and broken windshields!

aargh delete it quick! Hehe, I got flamed harshly a year ago when I posted this question!!! In case you didn't know, the kits are made in small quantities, by a local of the board, not some larger manufacturer one wouldn't feel bad about ripping off. (Which is what I had thought, being a newb at the time)

hmm sounds like time for a snorkel eh?

a car runs when you take the battery leads off, the alternator powers everything anyways. The battery is only used to start the car and to power anythin when the engine is off. If the alternator is working properly the car draws no current from the battery when running, so I don't see how pulling the leads off will hurt a good alt.

I did the front fender of the old wagon mcbrats way... wasn't nearly as gentle at the hammering part, and I used a sawsall and a freehand line as a guide. I stole that pic off of another site, I've never had a tool that shiny or discs with holes, only cracks

on shot #29, it looks like a solid axle vehicle would've been dragging it's diffs over that bedrock pretty bad So tex's? brown wagon drowned, but Rooinators? ride went through? Thats what it looks like anyways. So, what stalled the wagon, water in the disty or water in the intake?

does the 1st gear in the 4spd make up for the 5 spd's better low range ratio?

most animals don't seem to get the concept of being hit by objects. If everybody drove pickups with giant bumpers in the front I wonder how fast deerkind would evolve a fear of moving vehicles?

I've heard of the baseball bat trick, but I don't think it would work on a sube. But isn't the point of cutting the fenders so that you don't rub? Just keep cutting until you can't get them to hit, then take a file to the cut edges and make them nice and rounded. If you really need to keep a fender lip (i guess it would be stronger vs dents too) you could weld one in. Heres a pic of a fender roller:

Are you using a turbo donor car? That would make it much easier to figure things out. If you are pulling from a wrecker, do it yourself and take your time to follow these steps: As you disconnect the turbo harness , label on the wires on tape where each connector or plug goes to, and what each pin/wire does (figure it out with wiring diagrams and DVOM, and tracing to the source), because you will probably have to do some splicing to integrate. Taking pictures with a digital camera would also help you decide on the routes to run the wires. Some people on the board should have FSM's they could photocopy pages out of, I am not sure of the haynes diagrams, they will probably be too generic in order to cross different models/years, you could get one anyways. Actually get one for the turbo and the brat! ps always solder and shrink wrap splices!

As long as you don't mind the noise, go for it. In drive/reverse you're car is really gonna want to start moving by itself though. If you go too high you'll have to ride the brakes constantly in the parking lot to keep from speeding

It would probably be less work and appear less "booty-fabbed" to just weld in patches of sheetmetal. For more strength you could go to a lower gauge (thicker sheetmetal), you could also weld square tubing in to reinforce, but you shouldn't have to make a full frame. If you do full welds the sheetmetal will be strong enough.

the bumper is off now. The post wasn't for adivice, I already know what I did wrong!!!! :D

I did know they were captive nuts before I posted. I managed to get one off, and when I looked at the nut I realized. Thing is I'm not really much of a newbie, I've worked on many vehicles. It just didn't look welded, and I just figured it would be a bitch like all the bolts on my t-wagon were (no I'm not talking about captiive nuts there )

If your able to change the geometry there shouldn't be problems, that I can think of, and it should actually level out the axles in the front. In the back you might want to fiddle with the diff to get it up another 2/3 inches, so the axles don't point up, and the diff doesn't drag.

hehe thats right

So I was taking my front fender off, And realized I had to take off the bumper to get at the other two bolts in the front. So, I begin working on trying to crack the two nuts for the bumper bracket bolts. After 30 min of trying with every tool in my arsenal, I conclude that I am in fact a complete moron :bday: What did I do wrong? (anybody whos taken off the front bumper should be laughing at my stupidity right now)

I think your mechanic refers to the 85-87's as being gutless, because most of them are carbbed. I'm not sure when the transfer over to fuel injection was. From 1989?-1990 they switched over to pushbutton single range 4wd. If you do alot of 4x4ing you want to get a dual range 5spd car. Your ideal car would be spfi (single point fuel injection) with dual range, somewhere in the 87-89 range. If your car is a daily driver with very occasional use of 4wd, go for an '89+car with single range, but spfi. That' what I would do. Turbowagons are neat too though, if you see one I would look into it. Way faster and usually have full time 4wd, so you can use 4wd on the street.

It's not too much to look at right now, it's that deep red colour, with grey int, and it has 270, 000 KM, but has been old-lady driven, then highway driven it's whole life. Ive already put some off-roading scratches in it! Mechanically perfect, doesn't leak a drop of oil! A little valve tick, but you can' hear it unless youve got the hood up. The whole underneath is dry! It has rust though, I am putting new front fenders on, and the back needs work, but some will be cut out for big tires/wheels, and I also have a wrap around steel bumper idea that could eliminate most of the trouble spots. Rockers are fine though. Also in the future it may have to get a new hatch. Just took some arc tests with the fenders off to get a good look, and I have some ideas to get probably another 4" of uptravel and maybe 1" down in the front with a 6" lift and stock axles. In the back I think I can get a few more inches either way, though I may make slip-yoke rear axles, which would give me more. I've got an arc welder, and the shafts are fairly skinny, so it wouldn't be too hard to keep balanced. I can always take them out for daily driver use anyways. Hey miles, I think you and I have a lot in common as far as automotive fun goes, I don't get in as many run-ins with the cops though, I'm not that daring You probably saw my beater story on the Celica, very trashwagon-ish!

Sooke is just 30 min nw of Victoria, which is on the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island, which is right across the Juan de Fuca straight from Seattle/Washington. And the cleavage obstacle pic I posted was not the hardest thing I made it over, others were hard in different ways, but that was the best pic I could find of the trail, they are not my pics. BTW my car was free, had no bumpers, 28" tires and 6" of ghetto-lift, so I didn't care much about trashing it either. Probably lucky I didn't snap my wheels off with that side load. My new ride wil be getting some suspension mods, and 6" lift, and is dual range too! I'll have to get some pics while I'm up there next. But believe me I made it through the crack first try, I went up there in my friends heavily modified jeep a couple of weeks ago (35" krawlers, posi rear, buggy leafs etc), and his back axle fell in and he flopped on his side into the crack (he's not the greatest driver though, I kept telling him left! left! left!, then plop.) Not saying that my soob can outdo his jeep or anything, he could drive one wheel right over my hood and keep the other three on the ground! Also, the trail is closed now but I have a secret entrance. I just go on weekdays to avoid hikers who might report me, though I have met a cop driving his cop car up there! And he didn't give a damn what I was doing, I have also met a lot of friendly hikers up there. Probably because my exhaust was still on