TheLoyale

Oh I might be thinking of the EA81. Ok sorry for the confusion. Anyhoo, sorry to hear thar bad luck on the EGR (It figures when ur right at the testing station) -Tom

Yes very true, I mean the oil is going to get water in it and such (Plus whatever is in the water, Sand!) Anyhoo, I guess I was just thinking of the look aspect of it lol. I like how Safari vehicles look and I like Australia! Anyhoo enough rambling. Bob, wow looks good! Can I ask how much you paid for the top peice? -Tom

Ooo nice, I dunno if I would add the tips, but either way it'll look good! Well I don't see ANY old gen Soobs around here at all. I'm all alone Lol. -Tom

Yes, I forgot what the clicking is.

Hmm, yea I prolly would use a plastic type pipe. Oh yea you can just buy the top piece. One that go's thru the hood! I was thinking bout the kind that mount to the fender. Anyhoo, just seeing whats what Hey if we keep adding all the $.02 we can get a buck Lol.. -Tom

I think us all love all Subarus. I do -Tom

Anyone know which or if any Snorkels will work on an the older soobs? I know they make some for OBs, Foresters and Bajas down in AU, just was wondering what people have done (Besides make their own out of PVC pipe) Lol.. I think i'll look awesome aswell as functional incase the road floods in low spots. But I've never seen a subaru stall in the water. -Tom

Lol well maybe the bushings in ur sway bar were shot (Smerk) anyhoo, I am gonna connect it tomorrow, it was getting buggie out "Miscitos" (Spelling) good news! The front is now on the ground and all looks good! Alot high (It'll prolly settel some though) I notice that you can move the wheels "Toe in/out" alot easier without the sway bar attached (So I will attach it) oh and yes, the driver side went faster then the passenger (Hehe) I am gonna see if I have enough time to get the rear all done tomorrow. I'm tired of driving the '99 Blazer (My parents) used to be their DD, now we have a brand new '08 FJ. Had it since last fall. we had the Blazer since '02 I'm happy that it all worked out in the end! -Tom

Lol, but do you do speeds excess of 75mph? I mean the car does wonder very little (Prolly normal, since nothing was very precice when they made these vehicles, just like the EA81s) Anyhoo if its on the car, its going back on. I might be abl to work with it cause on the same bracket the bolts to the control arm (Where the rubbers are for the sway bar) I can loosen the 2nd screw and then I can move the mounting bracket on the sway bar around a bit. But its not a big concern atm.once I get the other side done I'll dink around with it. :-p -Tom

Brian. thank you for the kind words! Yes I finaly got the control arm back into the crossember! I am sooo happy and can't wait to start on the driver side front tomorrow. Bill thank you soooooo much for giving me the idea of lowering the crossemeber, it worked perfect! the only thing I don't have connected to the control arm is the sway bar, cause I can't seem to get that close enough, but thats no bigger, I should be able to line it up once I get the other side done and drop the car on the ground. and if that doesn't work, well I'll figure out something. I was just worried when I couldn't get the control arm back in and my toe was off. I am stoked that lowering the crossmember gave me that extra little bit I needed, so now my toe is fine once again. Thank you all very much, I'll get some pictures of the side that I completed. and of course when its all done. -Tom

TSJ, yea I was kinda figuring the strut would pull away once I get the weight on it. ok forget I said that. No, the kit didn't come with any. I just asked Scott a few questions. As for whats holding the Hub/Knuckle assembly, the only thing Not holding it is the rear part of the control arm. I didn't remove the control arms balljoint from the Hub, I just removed the 1 bolt holding the control arm to the crossmember. So all I need to do is get the control arm back in its place on the crossmember and I'll be good. I want to get this side done, so I can move on to the drivers side. the rear is going to be easy.

Bill, just to clear it up for ya. I have everything put back on and together (I disided not to take apart the hub Lol) So the only thing I need to put on is the control arm(s) and the sway bar to the control arm. I think I will try this, It sounds like a good idea, and sounds easy enough. thanks for giving me an idea on how long it should take for that. Thanks again Bill. -Tom

A thought: Ok since the control arm is being a pain, What if I put the front wheels back on and slowly lowerd the car onto the ground So some of the weight of the car would compress the strut and maybe then the lower control arm would line up to were its supposed to bolt in on the frame. Or would this not be the best idea? Maybe it would just pull out the strut/knuckle assembly and and be worse? -Tom

Yea I was thinking touching the tierod ends would be a mistake. It just looked like they needed to be extended because I had to turn that hub/knuckle some to the left to hook up the tierod end bolt to the knuckle. OK so thats ut of the question. It has nothing to do with my age, its just that I havn't don't this before and my dad has never looked at lifts for a Subaru nor has ever had one lol. Well I though the only main reason for the crossmember blocks were incase the axles do rub, plus it would take some of the stress off the axles. I didn't think this would make a diffrence in the camber/caster. ok so heres a question, theres alot of people that put the 2" kit on with out using the crossmember blocks. What did they do? So how would I know if the axle/CVs did seperate? I would think the axle would be hard to turn or one half of the axle would not turn? I did have the axle extremly extended to get the amount of space I needed with this car for some reason. Thank you TSJ. -Tom

Hmm, yea it turns pretty easy (Like it used to) alright, yea I'll try a pry bar and sledge. Thanks man.

Ok, if the axle did pull apart. wouldn't one end not turn when one end is turning? Well I'll look at it, yea I have a 5lbs sledge I've been using from such. -Tom PS: yes I am more relaxed and have a clearer mind then before lol.

Yep I know if I were to pop the strut out of the kuckle I would leave the top bolts in, but with this particular car, this would not work. I have no clue why? Ok, so I just tried turning the wheel full to the left. and it did move the lower control arm closer to the bushings and mounting spot, but still not enough... I just can't understand what changed besides having the strut/kuckle mounted 2" lower. It would be nice if i could use a small jack and put that on the hub where the lug bolts are and compress the strut so the axle at a more levle angle. but if I do that, then the strut starts to pull away from the car due to not having the control arm connected to the frame. Now when I did have the wheel turned left and I pushed rearwards on the rotor, it moved in just a fraction, its almost like the axle isn't letting me push the control arm into its place all the way. I was so close to having this side done, but now its all because of this control arm, after I get the control arm in place then I hope I'll be able to get the sway bar mounted back onto the control arm.

Geez, I am sorry. I was hot and having a bad day to begin with. I wasn't really blaming anyone, just stating that all the info I have been getting was not working on this car (Dunno why) As for pulling the strut from the knuckle, that would not have worked without taking off what I have. Because of the extrem lack of room/space for some reason I have. Now if I would have left the radius arm, tie-rod and axle connected to the Control arm and knuckle I would not be able to pull the strut all the way out of the knuckle, and even if I could manage that, It would be pretty unthinkable to put the strut back in the knuckle after the extra 2". For what its worth, I am sorry for the sundden outburst. most of you know me well enough, I am pretty easy going and have good commen sence. Only thing, I'm not sure of is, Bratman. you said the toe is from the control arm not being connected. So if I am able to pop it back in the way you said. how is that gonna change the toe? I am not talking about camber. from what I can tell the camber looks good, but the wheel is now turned towards the left and the other side is still straight. I will try this in a few minutes. It woul be really awesome is this does work! On the good side of things, the axle(s) arn't gonna rub on anything. so thats one less thing on my mind! Thanks, -Tom

Alright, I now have the plate and strut bolted and mounted back up along with the radius arm, and tie rod. Now the issue is the wheel/hub is turned "toe in" why? Cause the strut is now down 2" more then the stock location. So I had to turn the wheel a little to get the tie rod back in the kuckle assembly so I could put the castle nut back on the tie rod bolt/balljoint. Why is the tie rod not long enough? Now am I going to have to adjust the tie rod out so it'll be longer so this wheel won't be toe in? the tie rod would need to be adjusted to make it longer so the wheel will not be toe in. Now if I were to install the lift plte to the other front wheel, it'll be toe in aswell. Why was I not told the tie rod would need to be adjusted? I also need to bolt the rear of the control arm back in but am not able to cause its about 1/2" to far away from the mounting hole. And No, there is no more give to push the control arm into were it bolts. Why? I don't understand why I am having such issues. Seems like no one else has had these issues. first is was lack of drop down room. and most of the info I have been giving by the people on here has been wrong. You can NOT just unbolt the top strut screws and remove the sway bar bolt and stand on the hub to bring it down enough to install the lift plate. the Tie rod, Axle, Radius bar all do not have enough give to let that happen. So that is why I removed everything from the kuckle/hub assembly so the strut would drop down (And yes, it did drop down very nicly after I removed the Axle from the trans, radius arm, control arm from the frame, and tie rod from the kuckle/hub assembly) Here are some pictures on how "Toe in" the wheel now is. even if it would strighten out once you put the car on the ground, how safe is it to drive it like this? you hit a bump and the wheels would want to go toe in all the time. Not safe plus bad for the ball joints. I don't understand how no one else could have had these issues with their EA82s. I can't seem to get a strait answer from anyone on exactly what you'll run into. Everyone is like "Oh its easy, just unbolt the top strut bolts and maybe the sway bar and have and it'll drop down, then have someone stand on the kuckle/hub to get more space." This does not work on my vehicle. I am getting extremly fed up. Pretty soon this plate is coming off the car and the stuff is going in a box and back to WA to Scott. If I can't do something about this. Oh yea sure, I can probably adjust the tie rod out some to get the wheel straight, but how many threads am I going to have left on that shaft? I can't just have like 2 or 3 threads holding the end of the tie rod/balljoint. That isn't gonna take bumps and what not. I really don't need my wheel being pushed back and up when I doing 65mph. . . Yes I installed the passenger side lift plate the right way. I am very disapointed. -Tom

Thats what I wanted to do Bratman, but apparently thas not the case with this vehicle. If you only tae out the top strut bolts and lower the entire assembly the top of the strut only drops down like an 1" from the top of the strut tower (Bolting location). and even if you stand on it My dad is 213lbs, the axle, radius, and tie rod are only going to go so far. all these were maxed to extream. I couldn't even move the tie rod (it was that tight) the axle was hitting were the rear bolt for the contol arm gos. and the radius arm was pushed down as fsr as it gos. SO why is my car soooo diffrent then anyone elses? its really not that much work taking these things off, Its better then my other ideas lol. So today, the onlything holding the strut/kuckle/lower control arm is the drive shaft. all I need to do, is pop out the pin (Again) and pull the cup from the gearbox and the whole assembly will drop out. -Tom

Connie, Wow coming along very well! looks like LB is having a blast (Lol) -Tom

Txakura and Connie, thank you for your comments and ideas! I figured out what I'll have to do to do what I need. Well my dad thought of it Still doesn't hurt to ask you guys while I'm doing the work (Hehe) i'll get some pictures and such soon, I'm just happy all the bolts are coming off easy. the two radius arm bolts I had to heat up and use alot of seafoam but they moved. Everything I said in my last message is off except for the Drive shaft from the tranny. I will do that tomorow. thank you again and I'm very much obligde! -Tom

Ok update: I did NOT take apart the hub, instead I installed everything that wasn't nessacery to have loose. What I am doing now is, I took of the lower controll arm (Off the frame) since I couldn't pop the BJ from the kuckle. I also took off the radius arm from the control arm, and I poped the tie-rod kuckle off the hub housing. So theres nothing holding the strut/kuckle except for the Drive shaft. SO what I am gonna do is pop out the pin that holds the DS to the tranny, then the entine drive shaft and strut/kuckle assembly will pull out and I will be able to install the 2" plate on top f the strut then mount that to the strut tower, then worrie about the rest. My and my dad have tried ever other way. I rented a spring compresser and that didn't do much, even after everything was removed off the kuckle/hub. I did manage to get the 2" plate up in th strut tower, but then how would I tighten the bolts that are on the strut top? There would be no way to do such. I think I'm ok now -Tom

Scott, Yes it is a stock EA82. I didn't think about droping the ball joint. Maybe today I'l have a ew point of view on the subject. So if I do remove the balljoint, Will the control arm/kuckle drop down enough to get that spacer plate on top of the strut? Connie, I wasn't sure if I should just forse the control arm down or not (Didn't want to damage my CV) I didn't remove the Tie rod at all. but now that I think of is (Since both of you told me) I could pop off the balljoint with out messing up my alinment. Thank you guys!! Maybe I'll get the front doen today! -Tom

Plus, once I do get that 2" spacer block in, how am I supposed to evenr think of putting the bottom of the strut back into the kuckle? I can't even get it all the wayout now, and then I'm gonna try to put it back when it mounts 2" lower? Lol impossable.