Rollie715

After watching a few Soobs go through some amazing offroad situations at Walker Valley this past weekend, I've got a question for you Weber Carb experts. In contrast, I saw a huge difference between an EA81 Hatch with 29" tires with a Weber and an EA82 Wagon with 27" tires with an SPFI. The Weber Hatch did most of his driving with foot off the clutch and a little feathering of the throttle when ever the engine would lug down and almost die. You could almost hear each cylinder fire separately kinda like a small tractor sound. On the other hand the SPFI Wagon would lug down and almost die so the driver rode the clutch a lot and revved up the engine more. As an end result, the EA82 burnt his clutch so much there was a cloud of smoke around the car and a nice burnt clutch smell. My question for you all is: I'm building up a similar EA82 wagon with an existing SPFI and want to know if it would benefit by adding a Weber carb? I'm not too concerned about added power at higher rpm, but am looking for a way to get that low end high torque capability so as to effectively give me a better crawl advantage. I'm also running the 27" tires, and don't really want to add a transfer case. I don't want to lose the other advantages of having fuel injection by going to a carburetor unless I am convinced it could have a dramatic improvement on low end torque? Any experience out there on this issue using an EA82? Thanks Rollie _____________________________________________________________ 88 GL Wagon, SPFI, 6" SJR Lift, 27" SSRs on 6-lug Toyota Alloys

BFG All Terrains seem to be great on wet rods, snow, and much offroading but will plug up with mud and get pretty slippery when attempting to navigate deep or sticky mud. Rollie Edit added: I went back and read the original post. I see it says All Season. I have no experience with the BFG All Season. i

As for milling the back side of the hub at each stud, you will notice when looking at the back side, some of the new stud locations will overlap some of the casting ribs and would require a little grinding on the hub to create a nice flat surface for the stud head to seat against. Or on some studs, you may decide to grind a little off the side of a stud head instead so it fit's better. When drilling the new holes, besides making sure they are centered correctly, make sure the drill size is perfect. A little too big and you will find the newly inserted studs could spin on you and strip out the pressed in grooves. Also if the hubs are quite hard, you will find the new pressed in gripper splines (?) won't be quite as secure as the original stud locations. This will especially be true on the rear where the thickness of the hub is much thinner at the new stud locations compared to the originals. I currently have a 6 lug convesion on my hubs and am running 15x7 Toyota Alloys, but after seeing all the work involved and the tendancy to spin the new studs, I would really consider looking for a set of 15" Pugs next time around. Rollie

My new engine runs out of power at higher rpms. Starts easy, idles smooth, some power at low rpm, but not much in the higher rpm range. This is a low mileage(?) EA82 SPFI engine from Japan, which I just put on new timing belts, seals, filters, gaskets, plugs, wires, dist cap and rotor, etc. I was thinking it felt like retarded timing, but after plugging in the green test connector and putting on the timing light, it is set right at 20 degrees BTDC. I also pulled the dist. cap and confirmed correct rotor position when flywheel is at TDC. If anyone has the time tonight or tommorow to come by and help me with it, it might make the difference whether I can make it to this Walker Valley trip or not. I've got the car at Scott's shop east of Bellingham. If it doesn't improve, maybe I will just drive the car down there and leave it parked instead of going out on any serious trails. thanks Rollie

Dayn, It's been a couple years since I've talked with them but here's the website for the cable company which is based out of Bellingham Wa. http://www.masterpull.com Looks like their website has grown more impressive over the years. As a disclaimer, I have never dealt with them directly, only talked with some of the guys who were running the synth cable on their rigs and they really liked it. Maybe you could shop around and find better deals. I don't really know. Rollie

FlyBOy I just did some quick searches on synthetic winch cables and it looks like there is a lot of good information out there. I know we have a local 4x4 club here in Bellingham Wa consisting mostly of Toyota pickups and it seems like most of them are running the synthetic cables on their winches, in fact I believe one of their members is a distributor for some. I myself really like the synthetic cable. I understand it is just as strong for the same diameter, but has the advantage of being very flexible, doesn't rust or corrode and doesn't have those nasty broken sharp fibers that stick into your hands and cause terrible injuries. Rollie

Running your cable through snatch blocks does NOT put more stress on the cable. The cable will still only have as much stress as the winch is able to pull. Yes, rigging up snatch blocks correctly will allow you to pull harder on what ever object you are trying to move, but it is NOT done by putting more stress on any individual cable run, it is accomplished by having multiple cable runs pulling on the object to be moved. You can go ahead and rig up as many blocks on a single line of winch cable as you want and it will NOT add any more stress on the cable then if there was no blocks in the rigging at all. I hope I'm not adding confusion to this. Rollie

Count the number of cables pulling on the car. Winch line out to one block and back to car is two cables or twice the pulling power of winch with single line. Winch line out to 1st block, back to 2nd block on the car and then back to hook on same tailhold as first block equals 3 cable runs or three times the pulling power of winch with single line. A big problem you will find quickly when running multiple blocks is you will run out of cable length very quickly and will find it difficult to reach all the way to a good tail hold. In that case another length of heavy cable would come in handy. Overall I would say winches are very handy for self extraction, but when running with a group of other wheelers, you may find a 30 or 40 foot stretchy snatchum strap better suited for assisted extraction with the help of a second rig. I for one, am also trying to figure out a good way to set up a wich on my Suby. I just like winches for some reason. Rollie

I would say if you are going to have a winch, then definitely get a snatch block. Snatch blocks have multiple uses. If you are really buried in the mud or down in a hole, you may find very quickly that a single line may not quite be enough to pull you out. If you use the winch to pull out another heavier vehicle, hang the block on the stuck vehicle, run your winch line through the block and back to a tree or another vehicle and thus distribute the load so it doesn't just drag your own vehicle. While trying to unstick another vehicle and you can't get aligned with it. hang the block on a tree or something in the direction you want to pull which will effectively use it as a change of direction block. In fact I like snatch blocks so much, I think you should have at least two. Rollie

Yes, that "cam pulley marks up" almost got me too when I tried following the manual to changed my belts. I was using a Haynes manual and it almost said the same thing, except it also briefly said to turn the crankshaft 360 degrees between belts. I missed that detail during the first initial read. So the procedure as suggested by the manual is to align the flywheel to the triple marks, install first timing belt, turn crankshaft around one complete revolution back to the same 3 marks and install the other timing belt. At the start of this procedure, it would be ok to have both cam pulleys pointing straight up, but after the first belt is installed and the crankshaft turned one revolution, then the first cam would then be pointing down while you are installing the belt on the second one. I hope I didn't just add more confusion to a really simple process. Rollie

I've been interested in VW Bugs, Dune Buggys and now Subarus and I've been thinking of building a rear engine drive from an EA82 into a VW Bug. My big question for you all, is what methods do people use to get the rear axle to rotate the right direction. I looked through some of the other threads and see All Talk has commented on this subject a bit and may have some good ideas. I liked his suggestion of considering using the stock Subaru transaxle and then connecting it to the rear wheels using VW bus gear reduction hubs which would have the dual benefits of reversing the directions as well as lower the speed allowing larger tires to be used. Anyone have experience or thoughts on this kind of project? Rollie

I thought that was what is was supposed to do. The confusing part for me, is that when the green connectors are stuck together, I still see the timing advance as the rpms are increased. Even a change of 100 rpm shows a difference. This makes me think the disable auto advance function of the green connectors are not working like they are supposed to. Rollie

Well, I got the new motor in this past weekend and proceeded to set the ignition timing. The hood sticker for the 88 GL wagon SPFI 5-speed said to use 18 degrees before TDC at about 700-800 rpm with the green plug connected. It appeared to work ok except I didn't notice any difference in the timing light reading whether the green connector was connected or not. In both cases the timing would advance as the rpms were increased. I thought the green connector was suppose to disable the auto advance so that the correct timing could more easily be set. Anyone have more info to shed on the function of the "green connector"? Scott in Bellingham was helping me and he said when he did the same thing on his car, plugging in the green connector made an obvious difference. Do you suppose my green connectors may have a loose connection somewhere? Rollie

Jeff, Is that the track right close to the freeway that you can see easily as you drive by on I-5? Rollie

I'd like to make a request or at least a suggestion. If there are trails available at Walker Valley that are not so extreme, could we choose them over the more difficult runs? I'm feeling somewhat intimidated by the thoughts of negotiating huge rocks and getting my body banged up. I'm also thinking my preferences for offroad driving are probably not so extreme as to require locking up the rearend as I've been contemplating lately. I'm thinking now of pursuing an LSD later, but not to go as far as welding up the rear and doing the removable axle thing. I've grown up around lots of offroad vehicles, but this would be my first time being on a run with that seems like it may include a few hardcore wheelers. I do look forward to seeing what experienced wheelers using well setup rigs can do, I'm just hoping there is room for less extreme wheelers like myself to come along without being a hindrance to those who want to go for it. Just some thoughts I've been having. Rollie

Would 15' be long enough. I see a bunch of 50,000# straps 15' long on Ebay that are pretty cheap. Heres one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Tow-Strap-3-x15-RecoverySling-4x4-OFFROAD-CargoStrap-B_W0QQitemZ4600064227QQcategoryZ43998QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm thinking of welding up the rear diff, but still expect to use the Soob as a daily driver. I've heard of people setting up the rear axle so they can quickly remove and reinstall a single axle through the use of quick disconnect pins in place of the stock axle pins. So in day to day use, it runs around with only one axle installed in the rear. Then occasionally when a little "3 wheelin" is needed it can be engaged to help in those mild offroad conditions. If heavy "4 wheelin" is needed, I assume you crawl under the car and install the missing axle and off you go with a locked rear end. A question I have for you that are doing this or have seen it done is How does this system work? Is it practical? Is it fairly easy to remove and reinstall the axle? My second question on this is how much road driving can you do with both axles in place? I've seen a lot of Toyotas running around on the street with the rear welded and they definitely screech the tires on the dry pavement when they turn. How would a Subaru hold up under these conditions? Rollie

I'm not sure if this is the best place for a clutch thread, but I will start it here as it pertains to offroad driving. While my engine is out, I'm thinking of putting in a new pressure plate and clutch disk and possibly resurfacing the flywheel. I'm running stock gearing and 27" tires with a D/R and have noticed the clutch gets a lot of use during offroad driving. It seems like it would have a tendency to get hot quickly and and slip as it gets ridden more often then a rig with much lower gears. Any reccomendations on what if any clutch components would be best, or are the stock Subaru parts good enough? Rollie

As I prepare my car and my gear for wheelin, I've been pondering tow straps and tow hooks. Over the years I've broke quite a few 2" straps, a couple 3" and one 4". When I was driving my 8000# fullsize rig, it seemed like a 6" wide strap about 30 feet long worked for most extraction conditons. Although that sounds a little heavy for a light Subaru. I've also seen discussions on the grave risks involved in using straps with metal hooks on them and the potential danger in having a hook slip off one of the rigs and go flying, causing potentially fatal consequences. So I understand the requirement to only bring straps with closed eyes and no metal hooks. Part of my question here is on tow hooks which are mounted on the vehicle. If they are closed such as a d-ring or a big hole in a bumper support, then a shackle would be needed to connect the strap to the vehicle. I'm guessing that the use of a shackle is an acceptable lesser risk then using an open hook, as it would tend to stay attached to the vehicle even if the strap broke. I'm somewhat new to heavy wheelin, but I would think an open tow hook on the vehicle with a safty catch would be desirable as it would allow a strap to be connected quickly without the use of a shackle. Although over time the safety catch always gets beat up, bent and rendered useless. My first question for you all, is what types of tow hooks seem to work the best? And my second question is what length and thickness of straps would you reccomend? I look forward to your comments Rollie

Are the factory "tow hook" connections adequate, or do I need to add something more for this run? My long term plan is to build some bumpers with good tow hooks, but that is not going to happen that quick. Rollie

If I can get it together by then 88 GL Wagon (Scott's old Soob) 6" SJR Lift 27" SSR's Rear Lincoln Locker (if I have enough time) Very little offroad driving experience. Rollie

Thanks for all the replies, I haven't priced it yet, but I think I will go ahead with the siping when the tires get here. Should be here in the next day or so. Who knows, maybe if I can get the new motor in by January 14th, I can try them out at Walker Valley with some of you guys. Rollie

My new 27" SSR's should be here this week. Looking at the factory tread pattern, it appears they already have some small siping lines running different directions in some of the center lugs. The outside lugs appear to be just big single chunks of rubber with no siping or internal patterns. It seems like those big solid lugs would be fairly slippery on hard surfaces such as wet rocks, ice or wet pavement. I'm thinking of adding some more siping like that being offered by Les Scwab tires. Some quick internet searching has resulted in varying opinions, but mostly suggestions that siping would be an improvement for most driving I do. The only negative comments I've seen suggest heavy rock crawling may tend to break off more tire chunks if they are siped. I don't do much rock crawling, but will see a lot of mud and wet roads. Any experience or suggestions on this? thanks Rollie

The first large picture is in front of Good Guys which is a little north of Bellis Fair on the east side of Meridian street behind Value Village and next to Toys-R-Us Rollie

I don't have a picture to show you, but I was looking at two pugs side by side today, and it looks like both styles of 15" alloys are exactly the same width and offset. So if anyone else can show you what the more common rally spokes look like on their car, then it should be the same information. And by the way, for those in NW Wa, Beacon Battery in Custer has 3 of the 15" flat spokes for $20 each. They had 1 rally spoke, but I bought it. Rollie