legacygt4

A 1990 legacy wagon should be 4.11 but it could any one of those three ratios, first gen Legacys usually have a sticker on the rear diff with the gear ratio on it. Most 1997 and up legacy outbacks with an automatic are 4.44 second gen legacy gt's are 4.11 my 1996 legacy ls automatic was a 3.9

The 4eat uses a clutch pack in the center diff that is actuated by a electronic solenoid, 1990 through 1998 legacy 4eat's are all pretty much the same accept for gear ratios and electrical connectors, the 1999 and up are a little different, I will get to that in a minute. In D the 4eat will act like it is front wheel drive until it senses slip, than it will transfer power to the rear with the ability to fully lock, in my car the response time is pretty quick but if my turbo is spooled up pretty good the car will start to do a burn out until the rear wheels get power. You can counter act this by putting the gear selector in 1 or 2 this will keep the center diff pretty much locked in AWD, thats what I do when off-roading. There numerous write ups on how to make a switch to control the center diff lockup on the pre 1999 4eat. Most of the pre 1999 4eat have two shift maps in the computer norm and power the US cars never came with a button to activate the power mode but you can activate it by jumping a couple of pins on the transmission ecu connector, this will give you much firmer shifts and the car will always start in first Gear from a stop instead of trying to start out in second. I have a switch in mine and only run the car in power mode I have not noticed any difference in fuel economy or any other adverse affects. Now for the 1999 and newer, they differ from the older transmissions in a few ways, the computer they use is more sophisticated so it's harder to trick it in to doing what you want. It has more going on inside of it, as far as the way the shifting works to make the shifts smoother. It will electronically vary the fluid pressure to accomplish this. These functions require extra input from a 1999 and up engine ecu an earlier one dose not have the correct output. I am running a 1998 transmission with a later model engine ecu and it works but every once in awhile I will get a check engine light because my auto WRX engine ecu is missing the feedback from the more modern transmission. The 1999 and up transmissions sometimes are equipped with external spin on fluid filters. As far as which one is more robust the late model turbo 4eat's are supposed to be the strongest but it's not by much. My original transmission in my 1998 outback has been doing fine the WRX motor and off-roading for the last two years it has almost 200 k on it. Before my swap I did a lot of research as far as to what transmission i wanted to use and found the stock Legacy Outback 4eat has the lowest gears available 4.44, a center diff capable of full lock up, and a trac record of being able to handle 250 plus HP

This transmission should do the trick http://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-Ver4-GC8-WRX-STi-EJ20-Turbo-TY752-4-4-LSD-Transmission-w-Differential-Axles-/281631147707?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item41928646bb&vxp=mtr

Maybe early JDM STI, you can find them in a 4.44 and they are much stronger than the legacy 5spd. Down side is they are expensive. As far as the suspension let me know when you are ready for production

The automatic trans has 4.44 as appose to 4.11 and the center diff actually locks. In my experience it is a little bit stronger than the 5spd manual but slower on the street. P.S your suspension is amazing! I want it.

I have pretty much the same amount of lift as you with tires that are a little smaller. 1.5in in my experience is as tall as you can go with out dropping the sub-frame and rear diff on an Outback, if you want to keep good alignment angles for the highway, and you will find when the suspension is hanging all the way down your cv axles are close to binding. Looks like you are on the right track though, I like you fuel tank guard and I see you discovered why the front bumper must go. As for the other stuff it depends on the level of comfort you want out of the car, mine is still my daily driver until I get another one so a welded diff wont work for me. I would like to have 4 to 6 in of lift eventually because I do some wheeling with my buddy's that have Toyota trucks and Jeeps and I can usually keep up pretty good but I have to use momentum a lot more than they do, so the Outback can take some hard hits. If I had more lift and lo range gearing it wouldn't be as much of an issue.

The 4eat seams to be doing just fine, I have a big B&M trans cooler on it so I'm sure that helps. I have purposely not been nice to it, I would rather have it break on the street than on the trail. That being said I beat the hell out of the car at Tahuya and had vary little carnage the power train held up great.

My buddy dan in the green Outback took a bunch, Im waiting for him to send them to me.

damn I feel like I'm on NASIOC

I am defiantly going, I'm going to meet up with some people at outback auto in auburn at 8am and leave from there.

looks like a 90% chance that I will be able to go, I just need to replace my steering rack this week and I will be ready to go.

My best friend of 16 years owns Outback Automotive, a Subaru specialty shop that's right across from the air port almost. So I'm in the area a lot.

If only this was on Sunday I would be there for sure

here is a link to the page with the the exact snorkel that I bought http://www.ebay.com/itm/370973428193?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649