Qman

As long as it stays on the KIA noone will notice! For some reason I don't know if wagon wheels and XT's go together. Any color for that matter.

Dude, why do you feel the need to get all bitter? This isn't an attack on you or anyone else. My point is and will remain that everyone has a different idea what 4Xing is(I stated that) If I had gone and named every name of every person I thought had the same idea as us the post would still be going . I didn't think that was neccessary. Guess the fragile ego's make it so. Get over it. The point is, I will personally invite anyone who feels that they can wheel with us in their Subaru's to come on down. Now back to the real discussion. The Tracker, Trooper and such are decent rigs completely stock. A co-worker used to have one and he went with us once. Only minor body damage and went everywhere evryone else did.(2000) I/we have been wheeling with all sorts of different rigs and clubs. Most true, serious offroad clubs are more into that you are on the trail than what you drive on the trail. We have wheeled with several Sami clubs, the S.N.O.R.T.(look it up). First impressions are that we shouldn't be there. After we hang out with them for a while. Show we're serious and worthy of being on the trail they have all warmed to the idea of Subaru's on the trail. BTW, driving by someone stuck on the trail is asking for bad karma and one thing the HP has never done. Remember that the next time you get stuck. We have pulled fullsized rigs onto firm ground, righted flipped 'yota's(2 on one trip) many a Subaru, Nissan, even a Jeep which slid off the road in the snow. The moral to the story is this. Instead of looking at it as Subaru vs. the world. You'll have a much better time doing whatever it is that you do just because you like it. Be it on the street or on the trail. Do it for the love and enjoyment. Hey Morgan, why'd you lift your wagon. btw?

Part of the problem here is perception. What most of you perceive as 4 wheeling is only light duty stuff. How do I determine this? Well, for starters, everyone that comes with Zap and me for their first time out with the Hatch Patrol say the same thing. "Wow, I didn't know they could do that"! Or they come prepared for what they do and are severely under prepared for what we do. Ask Junkie about skid plates and lockers. The only hardcore non HP pic I have seen to date is from Chazamataz. We have gone beyond what Subaru suspension and running gear alone can keep up with. We don't have a problem with it and you shouldn't either. But, don't come here trying to slam on us either. We are not the end all to Subaru offroad. But... we have set the bar pretty high and look forward to all challengers. Maybe, some day, they will have part support to come up with gearing and heavyduty replacement parts to support our hobby. Until then...

Guess some people are just stubborn. Myself for instance. I have put some serious miles offroading Subaru's. I have made some very extreme modifications to said Subaru's to make them do the things I wanted them to do. I have helped make some pretty huge advancements in our end of the sport. That being said, and very well documented, I will add my .02 worth. The WOW! factor goes along ways. But, when the sun goes down at the end of the day it still won't keep up with most of the true stock 4X's in the world. Suspension travel, gearing, available aftermarket parts, the list goes on. The Hatch Patrol has become famous the world over. We have hopefully lead the way to making Subaru's accepted offroad. Here's my dilemna, I know I have one of the most capable Subaru's in offroad existance. But, what has it taken to get that title? Alot of money, time, creativity, more time and even more money. Now, the dicsussion will go, "Is that really a Subaru now?" It still has a Subaru Brat body. It still has a Subaru motor and tranny, the front brakes are still Subaru. The Australians call my rig a "bitsa". I don't have issue with that. It's true, it's a bit of this and a bit of that. The average person can not build a rig like mine. The average person can not wheel a rig like mine. The average person can take a stock 'yota or Jeep and have a good time offroad without getting into trouble. As far as some other peoples opinions go... you need to figure out who has applied knowledge, who can build the products they sell, who has actual trail knowledge, who is not a spoiled little rich kid, you get the idea I am sure. I don't think disclaimers need to be written as to whom's opinion is better than someone elses. Reputation will work the bugs out. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read through the B.S.(sorry Scott, not a reference to you) LOL I love wheelin' Subes. I have made some great friends because of wheelin' Subes. Don't stop wheelin' Subes. But, let's keep it real and know where the fun ends and the fantasies start.

Corky, I don't have the D-checks for the '87 but the '89+ states that a 45 is "kick-down control relay(Continuosly in On or OFF position)" EDIT: AKA, same as above!

We brought stub axles, axles, control arms, a spare welded diff, strut rods, welding rod, extra metal and a lot of creativity. John had tranny issues before we even got to the first obsticle. The pick up tube came loose losing all pressure to the final drive. That was fixed in the morning and we were off. I blew a stub axle on the first rock. I had never experienced such positive traction offroad. So, when the tire got a little wedged I just gave it more gas. Wrong thing to do there. Lumpy bent a strut about halfway through the first day. Also blew a stub axle that required disassembling the LSD unit to remove. We ended up welding some supports around the strut to get it off the trail. Then we went about repairs for the night. The next morning we were off again. Lumpy bent the other strut which required more welding. John ended up blowing a rearend and bending the rear diff support. More welding and the diff and hanger were good enough to get back on the trail. Rather interesting how the diff exploded though. The floating gears came completely apart. We ended up welding the side gears to the case to get it back together. Hat's off to John for thinking of getting the welders. And to Subaru for sponsoring them to us. I would not recommend taking a rig with less than 6" of lift and 30's. I did it with less but it was tough. I took one bypass trail and it was as hard as the trail I tried to avoid. Most importantly, do not go alone. Most of the people we met on the trail were cool and were willing to help. But the Rubicon is also famous for the other type of trail rider. They are trying hard to rid themselves of that reputation however.

Geoff, I have a DL style lock/ignition cylinder with a key. If I can find it in the next couple of days you can have it. You'll owe me a favor some day but you can have it. Ken

How does the key work in the passenger side door? If it works OK then it may be a tumbler problem. If it doesn't work OK then it coud be a worn or wrong key. The code should be stamped on the passenger door lock cylinder. The dealer has no records for vehicles that old to cut keys from.

The difference in opinions is simple. The US standard trans for the EA81 is a 4 sp D/R with a 3.90 ratio. This varies from the rest of the world.Some parts of the world got 3.70 standard others got the 3.90 standard. Some had both available. So the most accurate info would be found from a local dealer or club.

The offset on the alloys should be enough as to not rub. The 195's should maintain the stock diameter/circumference. I run 195/60's on my Brat. Had to trim a little bit on the fender and pound a little on the back side. But, my offset is closer to stock than the pugs.

Yeah, it definitely bugged me at first. Then it was just funny. Especially when we did cadillac and the guy says, "wow, they all took different lines and they were all different then the normal line up the hill". Plus the fact that I ran street air pressure the whole time.

The first thing to find out is what size your stock tires are. They can be anything from 155-13 to 185/70R13. Subaru speedo's are never accurate. I have put larger tires on and had the speedo checked only to find that it was right on. This is probably the easiest tire calculator on the web to use. You enter your size and then you enter the size you want to run and it will tell you the difference. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalcold.html Good luck!

Hey, the code should be stamped on the passenger side lock cylinder. If not, that is the best cylinder to use as it gets used less than the drivers side. Good luck!

For the record. The car hasn't been picked up.

Eric did a great job on that one. My Brat was as close to stock as you will probably ever see on the Rubicon trail. 4" lift and 27" SSR Swamper with a welded rear diff. Funny thing was rather than standing out it was practically ignored the whole trip. I trailered it down. The motor only had 50 miles on it when I loaded it on the trailer for the trip. It drove home though. The brown "Unhatched" belongs to Lumpycam. He had the first t-case. Only had a 6" lift and was running 30" tires with R160 diffs front and rear. He was running 4.44 gears and an LSD in the rear. He reworked the floor pan to get the case up and out of harms way. He drove it down to the trail. But damage to the front suspension required it to be trailered back. Johns was huge like no other. 12" lift and 35" pizza cutters(didn't look like it on a Sube though). T-case and auto trans with a 2.2l. Definitely had a bunch of firsts on that trip. It was trailered down and back Preparation was a big reason we accomplished what we did. We had on board welders, on board air, spares in every rig. And many years of off roading experience. (Probably over 100yrs combined experience). It was definitely a trip I will never forget. But, I don't know if driving 1500 miles to run a 4X trail is worth it or not. But will be a life memory for sure.

I've seen it do better. I haven't SEEN your car do anything either.(But we have all seen pics) The pics are fine. They are extremely huge and should be scaled down for the internet. Add a link to their location for those who wish to see the larger images. That's called courtesy, an act of kindness.

Nice, well at least you have your employee discount.

Your feathers seem a bit ruffled here. You have obviously been around for a while if you remember the General. So, by now you should also have known better than to post such a ridiculously open ended question. We told you. What more do you want? Paying attention on the trail is as important as paying attention on the road. If you want people to understand the questions maybe proof read your posts so they make sense. Better yet, just relax and don't make it personal. Unless you want it that way.

Do not let him tear into the trans. R & R the new axle. Remanned axles are subject to failure right out of the box. The reason being is the rebuilders use parts that are out of tolerance. They also do not put them back together correctly. Usually leave the retainer clip out of the DOJ.

https://www.1stsubaruparts.com/

I would have to argue that one. The right set up and a competent driver will produce a competitive car. I know because a few years ago, when I was introduced to rallyX we were allowed to drive our lifted rigs(Zaps Brat and my old Hatch) in an event. Not only did we surprise most of the field we finished in the upper half of the competition. Zap finished in the top 1/4 of the field in "BOB". The only reason we were allowed to run in the first place was because we both had roll bars. After that event they pretty much allowed us to drive whatever we wanted.

Best answer...You win!!!!

Way too much work with minimal, if any benefits. You have to match the ratio of the front diff. Most 'yota's are 4.11-1. Mitsu, I don't know. What are you working towards here? If we know what your goal is maybe the rest wil make sense.