El Presidente

Yeah, there's a little disc between the crank and the door card. Just push it towards the outside of the car, away from the crank, you'll see a little gold wire clip. I've found a pair of small needle noose pliers works great, if you open them up and push the clip from both sides, its a little easier. They usually fly off, so be ready. When re-installing, put the clip on the crank handle and then push it on the spline shaft on the door. You'll hear a little click, and then its on. Don't forget the little disc, it keeps the crank handle from wearing through the door card skin. Josh

Search, there's a bunch of threads about this. Josh

I say do it!! It sounds like your doing mud drags and a welded front will be great for that. It'll track straight when you get heavy on the pedal. It makes sense to me that a welded front diff in a FWD rig can work, you don't have the power-wheels trying to push the steering-wheels, instead they work together, and drag the rear. If your 2WD is still FWD, I don't think it'll have too much trouble turning in 2wd, even on pavement, but your tires will chirp good. It will still bind side to side...your axles are gonna hate you.. Josh

It may handle differently if you have different brands front to back, but nothing too unusual, just keep them the same left to right. Once you get your new struts, consider lifting it for bigger tires. More rubber between you and the road helps absorb rough terrain better, instead of sending it all to your struts and kidneys on smaller tires. A 2" lift can be made for $20 and then you can easily fit a 27" tire with a little trimming. Heavier springs might be a good idea too. I've heard dodge intrepid or crown victoria springs can work in the front, and honda accord fronts will work on your stock rear shocks...or you can swap those out for toyota 4runner front shocks. Check out the offroad section for upgrades Josh

After Gloyale spoke up in my thread here, I just don't see the reason to even look for a XT6 clutch....I mean, why run a hard to find, harder to get part, when 4wd clutches work great and they're everywhere. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=132719 I've never run an EA82 spec. flywheel behind an EJ, but that's what I'd expect it to do. When you regrind to XT6 spec., your taking over a 1/16" off the pressure plate mounting surface, so there's a bit of difference there. I didn't even use a new clutch when I did mine, however it did get changed out by one of the PO's. I'm guessing it had %50 left. Roasting 31's isn't a problem at all for me, but after destroying both front CV's doing it, I won't do it again...soon:grin:.. It might be worth your while to pull your motor and check things out. Heres the step heights EA82 - .890" ER27 - .815" Josh

XT6 pressure plates are no longer available, even from the dealer. They'll list a clutch, but its not an actual XT6 clutch. What you have will work fine, just make sure you grind the flywheel to XT6 spec., thats where you'll get you're extra clamp pressure. Next time you need a clutch, just ask for a EA82 4wd wagon clutch. Mine is holding up fine and I'm turning 31's Josh

He's blowing smoke or doesn't know what he's talking about...the camber isn't adjustable on these cars. Bad camber is from a bad lift, so its gonna need a new one, or just take it off and drive it stock. Its up to you what you want to do, if it is worth getting talk him down by explaining the lift isn't good and you'd have to start over. You can make a 2" lift for about $20 and that willn't kill your c/v's. Josh

Search. I've seen a couple good high altitude threads, but don't obsess over jets yet...even the sea-level recommended jets will work at your altitude, just not as well as slightly smaller ones(don't ask which ones, it depends). Once you learn how to tune the carb, you'll understand how to tune the jets. Webers are a little complicated for a beginner, but they are great carbs once you figure them out. If your stumped let me know Josh

Don't unbolt anything, get the front wheel off the ground and try moving stuff around. Look for split bushings, pieces missing or loose bolts. Diagnosing bearings can be hit and miss, because it depends on what failed if anything and how fubar it is. I's start buy taking the wheel and hub off the rotor and spindle(so the rotor is out of the equation. Its 4-14mm bolts in the center of the hub. Then have someone slowly turn the tire on the oppisite side and closely listen to the bearing in question. The only parts spinning are the CV axle/spindle and the bearings. Don't worry about torque steer in an ea82 unless your motor mounts are iffy....you have to have torque to have torque steer<EA82 bashing off> Josh

Yes some research will help, before you start confusing yourself with jets, air correctors and emulsion tubes, learn how to tune your carb. If you need to bump the idle to keep it running why cold you need to adjust your choke, which is common when winter rolls around. There are hundreds if not thousands of threads about this..Learning how to work on carbs can be intimidating, but when you wrap your head around how they work, you'll realize that what makes them work is really simple and when you get the theory down, you can quickly adapt your skills to other carbs. When you run a weber, you can advance your timing well beyond factory specs and get great low end torque out of it. I think I had mine a 16 degree advanced..maybe 18 degrees, been a while... Josh

I didn't know you could get a BFG KM2 M/T in a 27"!! Which one you go with depends on what your doing with them. They're both good tires.. The Hankook MT's are gonna be better for an all-purpose tire, they have a firmer tread block that wears slower, but don't grip as well on rocks. BFG's KM2's have softer tread and are a great off road, but wear faster than something like a Hankook MT or a Maxxis Bighorn. BFG MT's do great in rocks and hard surfaces. I love my Maxxis Bighorns and will definitely be buying another set when that time comes. They wear MUCH slower than a BFG MT (KM or KM2), have bigger clean-outs and IMO dig MUCH more aggressively. My $.02 Josh

If its a bearing take care of it soon. I'd also check your radius rod bushings. Josh

That idle speed is too high and probably why you are getting intermittent skips and bogs. When the butterfly's are opened to far at idle, it will start pulling fuel out of the transition circuit, causing inconstant high idle, and horrible mileage. Your idle should be around 6-700 rpm when WARM and about 900-1,100 rpm when cold. A tune-up helps, but you need to tune your carb for any mileage or performace increases. Theres lots of writeups and tips on how to do this, I'd search around if you have questions. Josh

^Beat me to it!^ Sounds like a bad connection, or a drained/bad battery. Have you checked the battery-to-stater terminals? Whats your voltage at? Josh

I'd be totally good to to go, but I don't want to commit to anything on the 1st. I don't know what condition I'll be in, in the morning, and who I might wake up next to.. I'd be up for a snow run at a later date! Josh

Wheel size has nothing to do with overall tire size. A 195/75r14 is 25.5" tall and a 215/75r15 is almost 28" tall, so theres a bit of difference between the two. Several guys in the off road forum have run 27's on an ea82 and I think 20-25 is about as good as your gonna get. It will do 70mph, but it will be a lot happier cruizing at 60-65.. Thought about waiting till after the road trip? Good news is that you'll be ready to hit the trails sitting on 28's! Josh

Do you know what refrigerant your EJ compressor originally came with? My thought is that if Australia is one of many countries where R12 is still used and available, both your EA and EJ A/C stuff might be compatible already. If you can, stick with R12, it works the best. Several Jeep guys run propane or butane and from what I've heard on the forums over there, is that it does work fairly well. The amount required is so minimal that its safety is kinda a mute point and I'd be far more concerned with my fuel lines breaking. Alot of the R134a refills you'd find at the parts store are actually blends of different refrigerants and propane and butane are two of the common ones used and it seems safe there. Filling your system with propane/butane is guess work for a shade tree mechanic, but its been done before on several makes/models of cars so I bet a little time on Google could dig up some good info. Don't bother with R134a, its not as efficient as R12, is hard on R12 systems and last I heard is being phased out in 2016 here in the US, so no refills will be available for us. Josh

Anybody try them yet? I need new front springs and want a stiffer ride than stock with a higher load rating. I know the tempo spring works, but I'm wanting to see how the intrepid springs work first. Josh

A couple guys that wheel with NWWO have manual steering and they do fine all day, even in harsh offroad conditions. Driving on a manual rack is more work, but not hard,..at cruizing speed(freeway), you'll forget it isn't power assist. Josh

Search for "tick of death"...no it doesn't mean your motor is dying! It just sounds like it might.. In an 87 gl you most likely have an ea82, which doesn't have adjustable rockers. Its an oil pressure issue. Josh.

X2.. Just bring along a couple cans of atf to top if off if it needs it and wait till your out here...parts are everywhere and cheap. Even if the rack goes dry, it will still work like a manual, but a little tougher. Josh

It will be good to meet you when you make it out here and your welcome to wheel with us!! Deal with getting a D/R when you get out here, we gott'em laying around. Right now theres 4 at pick'n'pull. Josh

Come on down, your welcome to join us!! We announce trips here in the offroad forum and usually try to do monthly trips. I think we could probably help you with your car, I'd PM Jeff and see what he says. A 2" lift with 28's looks really good! Josh

What other forum are you on/run?