El Presidente

If anyone wants to see some GoPro footage of the trip, its right here: Nothing spectacular but it gives you an idea of the conditions up there. Josh

Yeah it was a good trip! I feel bad for Skylar though because he broke a rear axle bell while going up the first trail. Scotts buggy did really well all day but had some problems charging his battery later in the day. There has definitely been logging in the area and the upper half of lower mainline was closed, while the lower half has been clear cut now. I think the logging kept a lot of people away because the weather was perfect and I only saw two other groups on the trails. The last part of the day we went up Rons Run to take a look at the Egg Rock which has been surrounded by good size rocks. They also closed the mud trail around the egg rock, but it looks like they are OK with the turn-arounds that have developed on each side. Here's looking up And down:

Thanks guys! I got a hold of my buddy and he hooked me up with some axles. Sorry Scott, I have a cb but it's not hooked up, Cell only for now. Skylar and myself will see you up at the parking lot, probably around 10:30.

Sounds good guys. I talked to Jeff and he probably won't make it. My buddy who was gonna drive the wheeler I just bought backed out too, so it looks like its just the three of us. I don't think I'll have an extra rear axle with me, if either one of you guys have one please bring it just in case. See you tomorow Josh

Lets meet at the Hobby Lobby parking lot, behind the Dennys. Does 10am work for everybody?

I'm planning on going and having a buddy bring another wheeler I bought this last weekend. The diff isn't welded, but I should have time to get it done before the trip. I haven't been up there in a while but it should be nice. Theres been some rain happening so the dust will be down, but not enough for gobbs of mud, at least that's what I'm expecting. Does anyone have info on the logging going on up there? Are they done yet? Scott - I hope you bring that buggy, it looks really solid and I'd really like to see that thing hit the trails! I'm assuming you got it running by now, but why wouldn't it start at the show? Josh

Thanks, I'll pass the compliment on to my cousin Stan McNaughton who took the pictures!

I've also had really good success with washing carpets in the driveway. I use a full scoop of laundry detergent and another scoop of oxy cleaner in a bucket with about 2-3 gal. of hot water. I liberally apply the soapy water to a brush and lightly scrub the carpet till the water is gone. I'll usually let it sit for 30mins or so and then hose off the carpet from one end to the other. Let it air dry in the sun and your ready for re installation. I've saved 2 carpets this way and a buddy of mine has saved several more using this method also. If it doesn't have holes, try washing it. Josh

Have the flywheel machined to xt6 specs, thats where you get more clamp force.. The xt6 pressure plate and clutch disc is the same as the loyale now, so you can use your old ones if you want. You don't need a different throw out bearing either, just grind the flywheel..everything else can be ea82/loyale. Josh

Getting bad axles out of the box isn't unheard of. I had very similar symptoms a few years ago and it was a bad DOJ 20 miles into a new axle.

This is my favorite time of year to run trails, and I really want to get back up there around the end of the month! There's plenty of mud up there Scott! Josh

I never even got a chance to get out to Reiter because I was still building my Jeep when it closed! I lived in Everett at the time so I was eyeing it and everything I heard was awesome. I'm not gonna be able to make it out to Reiter tomorow, I've got a noise coming from the front of my engine and I need to check it out before going back out. I'm hoping its a power steering noise, but I'm afraid its a idler bearing. I'll head out there at some point soon and I'll post up again if anyone wants to join. Josh

I'm gonna be checking out Reiter pit this weekend if anybody wants to join. I know there's only one or two short trails for 4x4's, so I'm not calling it a wheeling trip..more or less just checking it out. I'm hoping to be up there around noon this next Saturday. Josh

Thanks for posting those videos Ted! As far as your flywheel goes, they are pretty forgiving..I'd just regrind it and run it. I've never seen it done on an EA82, only EJ's, but you can have it ground to XT6 specs which will give you more clamping force. A quick solution for your trans is to just get another one and fix the one you have, that would at least keep you on the trail. Are you still up for checking Reiter out this weekend? Josh

I love you too Brian Maybe if you where there it could have been an epic FAIL...wait..do you still have a wheeler or are still running dry mud pits at WCSS?? Days are short in the winter and nobody wants to get started at sunrise, so it was a short day. There was also time spent working on Teds linkage after Lower. Just getting to Express takes some time and they recently changed the gates at the bottom of Upper Mainline and we didn't want to get stuck having to go back up in the dark if we got locked in. There was a discussion about running Upper and checking out Express...if you were there you could've been a part of the conversation We don't usually have a photographer with us, so pictures and videos are always limited because we can't drive and take pictures at the same time. We hit Lower Mainline(I'm going UP it in the GoPro video), EZ Valley, Humps and Bumps, and Rons Run. The ONLY one we didn't go up and ONLY came down was Rons Run because we didn't didn't have time, no one had a winch to get past the Egg Rock and we only had one extra rear axle left between all of us. If you wanna show up to one of the runs, your welcome to show us how to break a bunch of stuff and spend all day on one trail...Rons Run is the worst I've ever seen it...We past a group of XJ's going up that decided it was better to winch through 3' of mud on an illegal side cut through the trees rather than winch across the Egg Rock. Josh

I think everyone had a good time up at Walker this last weekend. It was just Pat, Reid, Ted and myself on this trip, which made for a smaller group, which is kinda nice. The trail conditions were perfect....wet, sloppy, and full of mud. Some of us were up there the weekend before and I think we all agreed the trails are also getting worn down in spots which made things challenging at times, but still a ton of fun. There wasn't too much carnage. Ted roasted his clutch on the first part of Lower Mainline and bent his shift linkage on the second part, but after some trail repairs he was back at it. I've never seen a clutch smoke like his did, but after it cooled he didn't seem to have any issues after that. I also broke a rear axle on the same part of the trail, but I didn't realize it until I was making my way up EZ Valley connector. I was driving a little hard when it happened. All in all, a great trip!! Reid, Pat or Ted: Does anybody have pics or video of me going through the water hole at the top of EZ Valley? Josh

I think all of us have had Christmas and family stuff going on this weekend. I'll be posting up a report later, but it was an awesome trip!! Josh

Walker Valley isn't a place for street cars at all. You you came, we'd have to drag you through all the tough spots and it would be a good idea to bring it on a trailer, because it wouldn't be drivable afterwards. Minimum you NEED is a 2" lift, 27" mud or all terrains, welded rear and a part-time dual range trans to survive up there and still come out with dents and scrapes. Get lifted and some bigger tires and your more than welcome to join us! Josh

Turbo or not, you don't want water getting sucked in the intake. What made you choose the EA82 platform over the EJ? IIRC the 1.8l NA EJ18 makes more power than the 1.8l turbo EA82T and the EJ18 is incredibly more reliable. When doing an EJ18 swap the entire engine harness comes out as one piece and all you have to do is splice into two connectors. The weight and size difference isn't much, they're just engineered better. I don't think a lot of people will argue that the ea82t is the worst engine Subaru ever made and you may want to consider this especially if your dumping money and time into it with megasquirt/spark management systems. You could run a turbo on that engine without a brain, but might need to put a carburetor on it. Its a bunch of work thats not worth it IMHO. Josh

XT seats bolt in too right?