88HatchMonster

I built the rear of my 4" lift for my 4wd EA-81 Hatch using a 2wd Hatch torsion bar for a jig, so I too have to say it would probably work just fine.

Since your not afraid of fab work, I'de recommend drilling your hubs. It'll be a sturdier setup and give you tons of wheel options later (in case you wanna try a different offset or you bend a wheel or whatever.) In any case. the size bit I used for drilling the hubs (Not the wheels!) was a 17/32" which is kinda hard to come by, but is the perfect size for original or most replacement studs. Careful work on a drill press and some light grinding on the back side will get the job done.

That was clever using the opposite side control arm and reusing the reaction rod. I'm in the process of reinforcing my hatchback's control arms, too. I cut the bottom plate off the underside of the control arm and fit a length of 1" box tubing from the bushing to the ball joint hole. Next I'm gonna weld a 1/4 plate on the underside for some serious overkill reinforcement. I'm also going to fit some 1&1/4" box tubing over the length of the reaction rod, since that's pretty bendy, too. I was going to fab up an a-arm set up on mine too, but I think this will be plenty strong enough. I actually kind of wonder if I'm not better off w/ a weak control arm since those are easier to bend or replace than frames or crossmembers...but oh well, I guess I just figure something with 29" swampers should get a little tougher running gear than the average car... It's neat to see someone else working on similar issues though!

Go with the hubs. It may take a little longer to do and do right but you only have to do it once and then you have unlimited wheel options for the rest of the life of your sube. I personally think it's a stronger setup that way too...you don't see many trucks with big off road tires held on with 4 lug rims...

Hi Subasport, I lifted my 88 2-door Hatch 4 inches and extended my Steering linkage, shifter linkage and 4wd linkage. For steering, simply cut and extend the peice with the splines on one end and the rubber on the other 4". Use a peice of 3/4" tubing about 4 1/2" to 5" long. Keep it straight and weld all the way around on both ends. With a 4" lift that is all you need to do. The shifter linkage need not be extended, just carefully heat and bend the tubing below the chrome rod on the shift lever until you can shift into all 4 gears and reverse. I did, however extend my linkage for a stock look and feel inside. That process is a little more complicated to explain but I can get some pictures of mine if you are seriously interested in doing it. I found that a modified 4WD linkage WAS absolutely necessary for easy shifts into reverse while 4WD or 4-Lo was engaged. The easiest thing to do is to fabricate a flat plate 4" or 5" long that bolts to your lever linkage at the top and to your linkage bar at the bottom. The plate should sit straight up and down. On mine, I welded a bolt into the top of the plate and drilled a hole in the bottom of it. You may have to grind part of the linkage here and there to make it fit and work just right. I can put up a pic of the plate I made if you can wait till this weekend. Unfortunately, with the flat plate setup you'll probably have to chop up your rubber shifter boot and maybe open up the hole in the floor a bit. No big deal but enventually I wanted to seal it up right with the OEM boot so I ended up cutting, bending and extending my linkage bar instead. That was a pretty involved process too, but it is a more elegant solution cause you can use the stock boot and everything stays sealed up nicely. This may seem like a given, but make sure to remove all of your interior console plastic junk and shifter boot and stuff before you work. Let me know if you need any more advice. Ryan