The Beast I Drive

Yeah there was a really tight switchback and pretty much everyone ate dirt on that one... -Bill

Reall nice indeed... Could use a 4" lift and some studded Maxxis Bighorns though (BTW Bighorns ARE studdable) -Bill

Man Jeff, there sure are a lot of pics of you stuck lol Really that was the ONLY place he had any trouble. Lets see if I have any pics I havent posted already... -Bill

I believe we had 13 rigs on the trail n the beginning, but we had 10 with us for the rest of the day. It was awesome, anyone who couldnt make it to this missed out (Brian, Doug ) -Bill

I had a Blast today! It started out a little weak for me (blew a diff stub within 10 minutes :-\) but after I got that fixed it went great for most of the rest of the day, had to change another stub later on but no biggy. -Bill

An awesome time was had by all Man that was fun, Im gonna have to do this more often! -Bill

I sent an inquiry for a price for a pair of front axles for an 87 GL 4wd with their "spherical sealing technology". Guess we'll see... -Bill

Im all set, Got the Beast loaded up, just gotta get some ice in the cooler and wait for my paycheck to be ready and Ill head up to MV Last night and the night before, I was workin on these Shouldnt have any problems bending those... Also moved the wheels forward about an inch, so no more rubbing But It might bust one or more of my CV joints... Guess we will see. -Bill

Being as how the main problem with the EA81 digidashes is the VR that cannot be found, is there some way you can wire in some kind of external VR and some kind of fusible link? That way, in the event that something ever could go wrong, the dash would still be safe. Also I would leave the dash out until after bodywork, something could get unhooked - reconnected incorrectly and bam, no more digi... -Bill

Easiest way is just cut out the speaker grill in the door panel and drill into the plastic to hold the speaker. thats what I did in the Beast, worked fine, I had 6 1/2" Pioneer 3 ways. -Bill

Lol I like that one. Yes, bumping it up to an EA81 or older meet is prolly the best thing, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a Brat...Plus there are some pretty cool rigs out there that aren't Brats... -Bill

Cheater -Bill

OR, you could save the money you would spend on that and just re-seal the motor you already have -Bill

Im almost ready, got the trailer all fixed and new tires, got the truck all cleaned out, and I have the Beast in the shop. Tomorrow Ima finish the Beast and collect all my spare parts/tools and ill be good to go -Bill

Try 5 hours. Jeff lives near the Canadian Border... It took me 5 hours one way to get to WCSS10 in Astoria... -Bill

What year is it? The 85-86 wagons have adjustable front and rear spring perches, allowing you to gain about an inch over stock, or in your case, get it back to normal... -Bill

Talk to One Eye, he will set you straight on welding your diff... Its not as bad as everyone has made it sound. -Bill

No. The 3.9 5 speed D/R trannies have 1.59 low range. The 4-speeds have only 1.4 low range. The 4 speeds, as you have found, do not handle too much abuse like a 5 speed can. 5 speeds dont have the shifter problems, have lower gears, better ratios, and stronger internals. They are damn easy to come by around here, and will probably outlast the rest of your car. To make it simple, 5 speeds are for Off-road, 4 speeds are for the street. -Bill

I am running tubes in them, they are designed to run at about 7 psi, and coming off the bead was a concern of mine. I know these work great in mud, they were on a mud dragster but I will find out if they are any good in the snow when it comes... -Bill

I love how they give a freaking rally car more ground clearance than any lifted Soob on this forum... -Bill

Anytime you get Jeff near an area with no pavement, there's gonna be some 'wheelin no matter what Im thinking kind of a little-bit-of-everything type of deal, cuz I realize not everyone has a trashed beater Brat like mine... -Bill

If it has 3" blocks at the x member and 4" blocks on the struts I think that might be the problem. The control arms on the Gen 1's are so short that you really can't do that kind of lift on them... The tie rods will be at too extreme an angle, and that could be where the binding is coming from... I tried a 2/3 lift on a gen 1 brat of mine and it made my camber go waaaaaaay off the scale positive and made it hard to steer, so I think that might be the problem... Check it out -Bill

It was a clunking, kinda grinding sound from the strut tower, all it was was the spring perch rubbing against the bolts for the washer fluid tank... How tall is your Gen 1 Brat? -Bill

You could, but you would need Nitrogen charged struts. Shocks are for dampening, not load bearing. The springs bear all the wieght, and the shocks just keep the springs under control -Bill

Woot! These finally came earlier this evening! Rancho RS5000 shocks, part number RS5241, for a 2-2.5" lifted Jeep Wrangler or some BS like that... Anyway, they also fit 4" lifted Subes (come with the correct upper mount bracket, bolt-in, no mods) But I could not get the damn boots on with the bracket in, so I pressed it out and pressed in the old Subie brackets when I got the boots on. I f'd up the upper bushings doing this, but I care not, I finally have suspension dampening in the rear! I have a 3" lift, not a 4" lift, but these should work fine and give me more down travel than stock. Took it for a test drive after I got 'em installed and it was sooooo much better than riding around with no shocks like I have been for a week. The only downside to this night was that getting these shocks to actually mount to the car was a Biotch, because I had a broken off bolt in one shock mount that would NOT cooperate with me AT ALL. I finally drilled and tapped it out to 1/2-13 threads, then proceeded to crossthread that when I installed the shock :-\ so I hope I dont have to take them off any time soon. Im just happy I finally got my shocks! -Bill