curtisbad

i have a 97 outback and i love it. plenty of power and decent fuel milage. even with a 4'' lift and 235/75 tires,i'm getting right at 20 mpg. it's still plenty "peppy" too. after i did the head gaskets i've had no major issues out of the car. in my opinion the ej25d is a pretty good motor. some will argue that the head gasket issues make it nothing more than a heap of crap but i disagree. mines been doing double duty as a daily driver and an off road beater for about 6 months now and the engine has been nothing but good. i've replaced spark plugs , removed and cleaned the IACV , and had to replace the fuel pump since i did the head gasket job last april. that's pretty low maintenance in a car with right at 180,000 miles on it. so , i say go for the outback!! just my 2 cents. curtis

just checked out the sjr lift. he only has kits for 82-99 models. curtis

how high are you looking to go? if only an inch, subtle solutions make a nice 1'' strut spacer , like lowill said. i don't know if scott at sjr does anything quite that new. it's really not that difficult fabricating your own if you have access to the materials and equipment necessary. i'd certainly look in to what sjr lift has. there's also high guys lift and a few , very few , other places you could check. i built and installed my own in a weekend. i went 4'' on a 97 obw. of course , i had access to material , a machine shop , a lift , a fab shop and help from this site. good luck. let us know how it goes. curtis

i'm pretty sure that nobody makes a 195/85/14 or a 185/80/14. there are plenty of low profile 26'' tires out there. i don't think that's what you want however. looks like your best bet is to go with the 205's. why not just do the lift first,then worry about fitting tires? curtis

i agree with nipper. i had a very similar problem and it was the u joint. curtis

got exactly the same results using ultra brite toothpaste. bought it at the dollar general for $1. i read about it on a post here....just can't remember where exactly. curtis

i've said it before and i'll say it again...... some people are always crying "oem oem it's got to be oem" , that's hog wash in my opinion. yes , sometimes i do buy oem sometimes i don't. some people would have you believe that these cars are the most finnicky things on four wheels. i assure , they aren't. my car's full of after market parts , and it runs fine. curtis

i can easily see where the one inch spacers wouldn't create an issue. there are plenty of Subaru's running a 2" lift or using forester or outback struts without any kind of body blocks. three inches just seems like a ton of angle on the cv axles. the stress on them must be intense. i'm not doubting what you're telling us. it just seems to me like the axles must be ready to snap at any moment. it's good to know that 3'' isn't too much. what size tires are you running crawlerdan? curtis

so , the outback struts give you like 2" and then the one inch spacers for a total of three inches? that seems unlikely that you wouldn't need the body blocks. yeah , i can see that working if you're just driving on the road , buts what's going to happen the first time you drop a tire in to a big hole? i'm glad it's working for you so far , but i think you're pushing your luck. i'd certainly recommend using the body blocks. i understand that you lose a little of your newly acquired ground clearance , but isn't the reason why we lift them is so that we can use larger tires? larger tires = ground clearance. curtis

yep , same thing with my car a 97 legacy outback. the coil from a 96 works just fine. my legacy was actually built in november of 96 , i've always wondered if that had something to do with it. some kind of oversite at the factory maybe. curtis p.s. i agree that oem would be better. that's actually what i bought at the junk yard. one out of a 96 of course. but with the one year warranty on that one....what the hell? go for it.

it looks just like the one i paid twice that much for. it says it comes with a one year warranty;so why not? curtis

a silly question , but have you checked the ATF? curtis

i'm just guessing here , but i'd think that the old jeeps made by amc might share alot of suspension components with the eagles. it seems feasible and possible. like i said i don't know but it's a good guess. curtis

but would you believe that i haven't even saw one since i lived in michigan over 10 years ago , and most people here in south carolina look at me like i'm frigging crazy if i ask them about AMC?! it's crazy. my uncle use to have one back in the 80's. i loved it. he also had an AMC spirit AMX, that thing was awesome!! i'm thinking that if i headed north and looked in the mountains in north carolina i could probably find one or two sitting in people's yards for sale. curtis

option "B". age 37 curtis

it isn't that difficult to convert from metric to "english" (standard). just take your metric dimension and divide by 25.4 or multiply by .03937. if you want to convert from standard to metric just reverse it , multiply by 25.4 or divide by .03937. it reall isn't that bad. yes , Mitutoya is a very good brand , as are Starrett. i'm a machinist and most of my precision tools are Mitutoya's. they're a little costlier than your generic brands but they're well worth the extra bucks. curtis

yeah they are good looking vehicles. the problem for me is they're even more scarce than SUBARU's in this neck of the woods. thanks for your input, i appreciate it. i'm really leaning more towards a forester but if i can't make that happen i want an eagle. thanks , curtis

has anyone ever owned an AMC Eagle? do they make decent vehicles? my son is soon to inherit my lifted 97 legacy and i'm kicking around the idea of maybe getting myself an old eagle. either that or a forester. i've already done the lifted soobie thing , i think i'd like to try something else this time around. any input on the old AMC's would be appreciated. curtis

running 235/70/15's on a lifted legacy outback. they just barely miss the spring perches. so, a 215 should be okay. curtis

where abouts are you? i have some 82 gl parts.... turn signals,starter,darn near the entire car actually. be more then happy to sell them to somebody who needs them. curtis

too bad that's a joke. that outback would be SWEET!!!! i hope SUBARU uses that little joke as inspiration. a full sized SUBARU suv would be kick rump roast! curtis

sounds like a good fix to me. hey, anything that works is a good fix in my book. sounds better than my fix with just the simple hose clamp. the clamp was only a temporary solution, sounds like yours is more long term. good thinking . i'll keep that in mind next time i get a ripped boot. curtis

for diy , you can clean the heads with diesel fuel and water. heck , you could just get a can of any parts cleaner. you can also buy a three part crack checking kit for like 20 or 30 bucks at a parts store. it's really easy to do. now the valves on the other hand aren't so diy friendly. i don't know what happens with other SUBARU's but my valves were fine. it's also a good idea to check the cam(s). a machine shop can grind them if need be and can take bend out of them if required. wish i were closer, i'd gladly help you out. i'd even do the machine work for free if you asked nicely. curtis

befriend a machinist. you'd be amazed how many "side jobs" i've done over the years for friends and family. redoing some heads doesn't take long. ten minutes maybe. that's about how long it took me to do them on a large milling machine. maybe a little longer if you figure in set up time. you don't necessarily need an automotive machine shop to do them. any machinist with some knowledge can do them for you. curtis