torxxx

I'm gonna have to do some fit testing today once I get to the shop then. I have my Phase 1 diff welded up and I prefer 4wd over all wheel drive (vlsd just pisses me off, why should be have to "wait" for the rear to spin. I do have my adapter plate, D/R tranny and driveline sitting ready to go in the car. just need to find a XT6 PP and clutch and get someone to help me finish milling my flywheel holes

lol, no matter how I look at it, its more work in tighter spaces. Not to mention pulling the motor, you get to put in new coolant, check the engine over 100% for oil leaks, clean off the engine x-member and give it a nice bright coat of paint. And I still think pulling the engine is faster than pulling the tranny. The area you are working with is 3x as long if you do the tranny because you gotta undo the driveline and that poopy cover over the rear diff flange not trying to start a flame war, but I work on these cars 6 days a week, have for 12 years. I hate being at work and I've found the fastest methods for "me" to do the job. That and no one likes lying on the floor to work. kneeing over the engine feels better

building my replacement trans for the lifted OB tommorow. What are the differences between the VLSD Center diff in the Phase 1, versus the Phase 2? Trying to decide which one I should use

hands down pulling the engine wins. You dont have to mess with driveline, shift linkage, speedo cable or any of that crap. you pull the radiator, unbolt AC pump, unbolt power steering pump bracket, heater hoses throttle cable, pitch stopper, exhaust @ the head, 2 motor mount nuts and pitch stopper and I think thats it. you'll need a 10mm, 12mm, 14mm sockets and wrenches, and screw drivers. rad fans stay attached to radiator and ivans spot on about the bolts having their homes. they only fit in certain places, the bolts all look different

got the tranny tore down earlier, it ended up being bad front diff bearings that were making the noise. I have not ripped the tranny out of my outback yet, I think I'm going to just built this 05 tranny and use a Phase 1 Front diff and bearing caps. I can see what you are talking about ivan, it sounds like thats what mine did. I still have SOME reverse but it sounds god awful like the edges or half the teeth are gone. Thanks for the idea I'm def gonna look into it. As for the phase 1 and phase 2 center diffs, I'm assuming the phase 2 is better? or so I want to run my Phase 1 extension housing?

Thats basically what I want to do but taller, I like how your diff hanger sits a lot more tucked in than mine, I've already destroyed that part of the lift. still driving it that way, but its all getting cut off and put back in its original location and then I'll build my own diff hanger. I think that hanging down so low has been 90% of my issue in deep hard park snow. I have 2 of the 1.5" spacers here, but I was contemplating getting adapters to SVX hubs, I like the ball joint a lot more than the legacy one, seems a hell of a lot stronger, and then I get better braking too. Nice lookin ride you made, you still have it?

I Think thats the route im going to have to go. I need to find a place online that sells gears and other various rebuild parts.. for my own offroading rigs, I cant afford to buy Subaru original every time. If I remember right from when I pulled the tranny, it was the input bearing and the 4 bolt bearing that where making noise. I dont think there was anything with the gears.. I'll check the syncros but since its an offroad rig, as long as I can shift from 1/2/3/R with a little noise I'm happy lol

+1 for check SBF #5. no power to that = no ecm power

ground that wire that you cut to the duty C. I did that on my SVX and theres no delay engagement or banging at all and if you were really inclined make the resistor block to splice into the TCU so your computer still thinks everything is normal

Well I finally blew reverse tonite out wheeling after work. Starting to see the weakness of the EJ25D.. They dont make enough torq to turn 29" tires with the stock 4.11 gearing. I have having to sidestep the clutch @ 4500 RPMS to get moving tonite in 2-3 feet of hardpack snow. I noticed the other weekend reverse was getting noisy and tonite finally did it in. It got the point where I was stuck in reverse. I'm not sure if I bent a shift fork, or my shift linkage enough that reverse wasnt fully engaging but it sure sounded like teeth missing on a gear to me. I have a 05 Outback 5MT at the shop that has bad bearings in it and I have a set of new bearings sitting in my toolbox. I dont want to have to build the hybrid axles I did when I did the 05 to 01 5MT swap, so I figure I use my 4.11 front diff so I retain my external stub axles and then use the rest of the 05 tranny? I have the $ to order the 4.44 R&P for the front diff so I'm figuring I'd install that and a welded center diff while I have it apart. I'm not familiar enough with the Phase 2 5MT so I figured I'd better check here before I get into a rats nest. I know theres a few guys on here that have built these trannys using other year/make/model parts so what direction do I need to go?

Ahh yea I never thought about that.. I'll have to figure out how to get on there with my account. thanks shawn

Subafreak - I've been following this build since you started it, and I like the idea of doing the strut extentions on the bottom of the tube. I dont need to go as extreme of length as you do, but ideally I'd like to get rid of the spacers on top of my struts and get the length at the bottom like you did. Would it be possible to take flat stock that fits in between the strut to spindle mounting point and just extend it there? Basically it'd be a 7 inch piece of flat stock with 4 holes drilled in it. so it'd bolt to the bottom of the OEM strut and then the extention would be between the spindle and the strut? I see that you offset yours but I'm assuming thats to keep the camber in check with the 35"s you are running? Send me a PM if you get a chance I'd like to pick your brain a little bit

How much of a difference are the 03+ struts? I have the same ones on the rear of my OB with a 6 inch lift and I'm maxed out at 29" tires (tires hit the bottom spring mount) I need hearing everyone saying they have the spring perches higher, but putting them next to 98-02 struts they look almost identical. Anyone have a picture with measurements? I've got 31" wrangler MT's that I wanna get on for the Spring Mud runs up here in Alaska, but unless I space out my wheels 2+ inches they will never fit.

While you are up there, get Scott to make me 2 7" rear strut extensions Tired of the rear of my wagon sagging

Tryin to find a labor guide for Subaru's without having to go drop a hundy or two on a big shop manual for labor times. Has anyone found a place that has a PDF file for just Subaru's with the labor times? I hate trying to remember all the times for the different repair jobs and what not, and it'd be nice to be able to show my customers this is what it takes to do the job. Thanks

I didnt extend any of my shift linkage, I just simply lowered it. I used angle iron, 3 inches long and drilled 4 holes in it. basically it drops the mount that holds the rubber bushing that supports the rear of the shift linkage. Took about 20 minutes from start to finish. All gears worked fine, but I did have to remove about 3/4 of an inch of body metal to get into 2/4/R. The nice thing is the shifter is a hell of a lot lower than a stock 5mt shifter I've got the same lift you have, but mines on a 98 Leggy OB And theres no reason to drop anything to do the steering shaft. If its built/extended right you can get it in and out just by removing the 2 pinch bolts.

what year make model? I would bypass using a key and physically turn the ignition switch with a screw driver. I had one the other day at work that for some odd reason, it would NOT start using the key but when I'd unscrew the ignition switch from the column, it would start. Depending on the year, cam sensors control spark. I had 00 OB kick my rump roast for a few days at work, come to find out the customer had switched out the cam pulley with a 02+ pulley (different pickup marks for the cam sensor, which controlled the spark) I eventually got it to fire with the wrong cam pulley/sensor but it was firing on compression upstroke so it would act like waaaay advanced timing and kickback on the starter. For now to keep your battery from dropping voltage, remove the fan fuses/relays

you dont really need the charcoal canister, emissions control system parts are over rated

hate to say it, but you'll prolly be doing custom work. as for the dipstick, drain the oil, dump in 4.5 quarts and that will be your "F" mark on the stick. The filler neck, its gonna come down to OD/ID sizes. Subaru was fairly good on generalizing their parts, a filler neck off a EJ25D might work for ya if the diameters of the holes are the same.

I had looked at a impreza PS pump a few months back when I had an issue on my SVX. Funny cuz I asked on the SVX forums about interchangeability and they said no other pump would fit.. I ended up getting a reman pump off rock auto for 70 bucks or something, but I will be grabbing a impreza pump from work tommorow to have as a spare

lol.. the crosstrek sucks! Glad to see you back Tex

no need to remove the cam to change the seal. take off the timing covers and cam pulleys pop the seal out with a flathead screwdriver. make sure you are prying out from the camshaft you dont wanna put a burr on the camshaft. spray out the housing with brake clean and clean up the oil off the seal housing Make sure you set the crank timing mark to 12 oclock (that will set the cams at 12 oclock as well)

money becomes an issue. 600 bucks for a lsd or a free welded diff. I several 5mt for parts

nice lookin lift! did you end up doing 6 inch strut spacers and 4 inch cross member or 6/5?

I could use a EG33 if you end up parting it out...