Numbchux

All 'normal' 4WD trannies have a FWD and a 4WD setting...i.e. PT4WD, or 'part-time...' before 88-89 (unsure which) they also had Dual Range...like yours after that, they were push-button single range....FWD, push the button, 4WD, no low range...FOR THE LOYALES.... Legacies are AWD, which started in 90, no lo range, no FWD, BUT....TONS more power. I bet 2nd gear will be plenty low enough, or 1st gear in an auto would be similar to your 2lo now. I think the '85 and later (EA82) wagons have more power too, but with a 5-speed, which means slightly lower 1-4 PLUS 5th. WJM is talking about the Full-Time 4WD trannies, which came mostly on turbo models, and all RX's, and I think all XT6's. none of these have a FWD setting, some have a center diff lock (good for off-road/imperfect conditions), and some, I think almost exclusively RX's, have a reduction gear (lo range) All this being said, I think you'd be good with anything that has a dual range 4WD tranny, or a legacy (since the newer, 'EJ series' motors have so much more low end torque). I like the EA82's, but I'm bias, I have 3. I'd recommend an '88 GL wagon, but again, I'm bias good luck!

yep, my '85 had that 'switch' but I gave it up for matching toggle switches on the dummy plate under my stereo (I have 3 sets of lights wired, and none of them stock). besides, I wanted something that wasn't wired into the high beams or ignition, if the switch is on, the lights are on!

yep, found and installed that other bushing, checked everything over, tightened a couple things, tapped/replaced that crossthreaded bolt, and drove it 3 hours from my parents house (where the project took place) up to mine. and only found that with 27" tires, and a bit of a headwind, 80mph is kind of tough, and certainly hard on the mileage. only problem I've encountered (besides the torn front CV boots that came on the car, both have failed) is the front seal on the rear diff leaks, or I think so, the diff is always wet, and is now starting to make a grinding noise, like it has no fluid, so that needs to be addressed, soon. And yes, I'll watch for bent stuff.

My AA lift looked like it had some strange camber stuff going on, but now that I've put about 600 miles on it, including a couple muddin trips, they look pretty straight. As said before, older soobs have no camber adjustment, and are supposed to have some positive camber from the factory. so don't sweat it too much, a lift and oversized tires make it look worse than it is, especially right after you set it on the ground.

Yea, check the sticky (and if you haven't figured it out by now, they say "sticky:........" as the title of the thread/discussion) BUT, that'll probably have more information about tires that one would use after a lift.....so, I'd say, call/shop around, see what local places have, and for how much, tires for 13" wheels are a bit hard to come by, so unless you plan on ordering them, you may want to see what's available locally. I went to my local discount tire (MNAudi club discount......don't call me a traitor, so I used to drive an audi), and they had a nice set of All-Seasons that fit my wheels, they even happened to be stock size too, and they did some pretty impressive stuff this spring, and now, after my lift, I've got some more good, name-brand all-seasons. Makes for good driveability, and good traction!

yea, the wheel diameter doesn't matter all that much, it's the tire diameter that does, the tires that came on my 15" pugs were shorter than the tires on my stock 13" steelies, and I ran both before lift. the thing you have to watch for, is the pugs are wider (I don't remember if it's offset, or backspacing) and hang out of the fenders a bit, so if the tires are too big, or the load is too much, the tires will hit the fenders, instead of tucking up inside them. you may want to put accord springs on the back to give yourself an inch or so.

Well, here's the deal....I ignored the fact that I asked here for help (usually a bad idea, but in this case.....it worked), and took them to a friend who happens to have a pretty impressive tool set. I didn't take any pictures, and I'm not taking the seats out if I don't have to, BUT, let me say this, it isn't exactly a "bolt on" conversion, it involves welding, cutting, drilling, etc. here's the scoop, and I'm not sure about EA81's but, the rails are the same distance apart on xt6's and GL's (or at least the ones I have, I'm not sure what year the XT6 seats came out of, but it was '85 GL brackets on an '88). and the mounting points are the same arangement, just in different places. The rails are about 17" apart crosswise, and the mounting points are about 2-3" farther apart along the rail (lengthwise). The passenger side was the easy one, we simply unbolted the brackets from the passenger seat on the GL, and bolted them on in place of the ons on the XT6. the boltholes were slightly different, so we mounted the back ones, then drilled and used bolts/washers to mount the front, then the handle had to be lengthened to keep it from hitting the seat, we extended it a bit far, so it looks a little crazy, but it works. now the driver side is the hard one, because of the height adjustment the GL brackets can't just be bolted on, the XT brackets must be modified to fit the GL mounts. SO....we lined up the front tabs on both brackets, and marked the XT ones were the GL tabs would go, than we cut/ground/melted/pryed etc. the tabs off of the GL brackets. and welded them on the XT ones in front of the existing mounts. It worked great, this isn't for the inexperienced or the unskilled, as far as materials go, it's easy, but if you don't know your way around a welder (and that plasma cutter came in real handy too), then this isn't for you.

I know it's been done, but how? I just got a pair of XT6 seats at the local junkyard, and want to mount them in my '88 GL....but I have a couple questions, I took out the seats on my '85 GL parts car, and see that they are different, but will the '85 and '88 have the same brackets, so if I mess with the rail swap using the '85 brackets, they'll fit in my '88 when I'm done? and what exactly needs to be swapped, I see a number of things are different about these mounts, what do I need? I'm going to go look at/try to make them fit, but help would be nice. I'll be using this info, and pics I take of the process to do a writeup about it.

it's not actually an apartment, it's a privately owned house (My grandma rents houses for a living), that is not ready to be rented yet. It's not that bad, but it's old, and not very well taken care of, but I'd live there (I did most of the roof, and floors myself!) If I "encourage" her, it could be ready by the end of the summer. and I think my uncle has a few places in the mound area, I'll consult some more

well, depend's how "failed" the pump is.....if it's leaking water out of the weep holes, then you'd better change it soon, mostly cuz then it leaks the coolant right onto the timing belt, and those belts don't like coolant (learned from experience). Well, haveing driving it for 45 minutes or so, at freeway speeds, then turning on the A/C for the last 5 miles or so, I popped the hood, and the electric fan was still not spinning, but the A/C was on fine...any ideas why this might be? I bet that's why my AC isn't cold unless you're moving.....

Hey! Good to see you've joined the boards! I'll be in touch next week so we can get together, you should see my new wagon now (watch my post in the offroad forum, I've got some more pics going up tonight)! Looks like I'll be driving up on Sunday morning, and we'll be going mudding Saturday night, so mine'll be nice and dirty when I do! Can't wait to see it, and I'm sure you'll love the site, you should post up that link to the pic! btw, do you recognize my avatar, you might not, since you've only been in my house once, but...

Check! I've been in touch with him, and he's making my rear bumper with a legal tow point on it! and I'll have archemitis do my front one like yours. then I should be set!

ok, I don't have any help, but rather a closely related question my electric fan doesn't appear to be coming on at all, not with it idling, though I haven't run it too long, it might be coming on while I"m driving it. Anyway, I know my T-stat is opening properly, but is the other fan supposed to come on at the same time?

good to hear! didn't find anything very good as far as rental properties, got lots of vacancies, but not in very good neighberhoods, one in excelsior, but the house is a bit of a craphole (my uncle was allowed to...."help"), but it's possible we could have it ready to rent sometime this summer (probably not when you need it), what's your budget look like? you can pm me for more details if you'd like.

There's a good idea, I'll try that

I'm having some serious trouble getting the springpins out of the rear axles on my wagon, it's very possible that they are origional, and very rusted on. Any ideas? I'm thinking I may have to drill them out, but I have no experience with something this precise, I need the axle and diff stubs to be usable. Thanks

how about tow points? can I get the bumper now...and the swing later?

mine's daily driven....2 whole gas tanks so far! just a few squeeks and clunks...

Will do! I'll be bringing my camera!

Yea!! I've got 3 over 150k, and one that's 220k

I'm looking very seriously into it...we'll see how it goes

I think the "problem" (this is just me thinking again, correct me if I'm wrong). The BYB lift was designed for an EA81, then retrofitted/modified to fit the EA82. the problem being that EA82's have a different design, meaning that when the crossmember's are lowered, things become unprotected. This lift was designed on/for an EA82, and takes that into account. turnes out my uncle has some 27-28" All-Seasons that he had on his astro van before he sold it. 5 of them too! so he's going to sell those to me, along with a CB (I might go new, but we'll see), and old GPS (speedometer!).

I beleive it's just a different trim level. usually associated with things like turbos, digidashes, sunroofs, FT4WD.......but not necessarily

Well, there will be 2 of us, we're planning around it, and we will be only one car, even if she get's a subie by then, we're not driving 2 cars down there. so one car, one tent, very limited requirements, even willing to split a site with someone else if that's possible. what can I say, I'm a college kid! oh yea, and THANKS MICK!!!!!!!

unfortunately, the 5 speeds are spoken for, it's the 3AT that'll need a home....sorry