EA82 Rear Struts in EA81 BRAT

[Mr. Brat]

I have searched and found one post on this, which the question was never answered. I have the same problem evtte had. The rancho shocks are to soft. Now before I get the "put the air shocks on" story. I have a 4 inch lift on my brat, I also have a canopy with a roof basket and full size spare. So I already have alot of weigh in the rear. When I take off from a stoplight, in the mirrors all I see is pavement. I seen the GD has put the EA82 rear coils on his EA81, I would like to know if there is an easy way this could be done. zzz

[Pooparu]

Here you are.

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49961

[Yo'J]

I have them on my ea81 wagon with a 2" lift, and they are stiff. They bounce down the highway and make people car sick. They are a replacement for a broken torsion tube. You might want to disable the tube or you wont get any flex. With a 800lb cast iron stove in the back it would drive normal.

[Mr. Brat]

Thanks, I figure about 300-400 lbs for the canopy, basket and spare swamper. If it was to bouncy I was going to use the torsion tube as my adjustment. I will post what I come up with.

 

Now looking at the other post that were on here. I may have a broken torsion tube. The drivers side of the brat sits down 3/4-1 inch lower than the passenger side. There is not a load on either side... already checked.

Edited July 19, 2010 by Mr. Brat

[Mr. Brat]

 

Built the brackets tonight. I made mine a little differant than was shown. I am not using any washers. I drilled the holes for the coil overs bigger than the bolts I used and then welded the nuts to the front of the plate. Thus using less "washers". This was still not enough spacing, so I drilled the center of the same size nuts out and used those as spacers. This worked perfectly, have about a 1/4 inch between the coil and the inner fender. More to post later.

[Mr. Brat]

So I installed the coil overs on with the torsion bar turned up. Way to stiff (like what was said and I thought it would be). Tried to turn down the adjustment of the torsion bar and broke the bolt. So I removed the torsion bar from the tube. Reasembled everything, turned the coil overs to the stiffest setting and went for a drive. Bottoms out and doesnt flex to save its life. So this part was a fail! Gonna try something differant.

[Yo'J]

Yup, If I didn't overload mine all the time, I would think its ridiculous. I do so I want to keep them in, but, I desperately want sedan springs to try. They might be perfect. They are like 124 lbs to 174lbs or some thing like that. In a wagon its way different than a brat as well. The tailgate alone weighs a ton on a wagon! I set my struts way up too, bout' an 1 1/2" above the bolts on a plate. Its a lumber wagon. I like my tools dry. I had 600lbs in the rear yesterday and 500lbs on the roof thursday, it drove like a lincoln, little sluggish on an ea81, but, its always slow. I've put 10 sheets 5/8" d-wall w/ a dozen 2x4s and had to hit some of the worst hills in seattle on this thing with out problems so far. Thats over 800lbs. Keeps up with traffic though. Damn thing rattles empty but makes a great work truck!

[Mr. Brat]

I think I am going to get another torsion tube and try it at the lowest setting with the coild overs on the lowest setting (wagon coil overs). If that doesn't work I will have to try something else. Maybe reclocking the torsion bars, or just maybe putting a longer bolt in the adjustment bar. I dont really want to go with the airbag setup. Still thinking........

[Yo'J]

What are you trying to do?

[Mr. Brat]

I am trying to keep the rear end in the air. With the brat empty (canopy, rack and tire), when I take off from a stop it feels like the bumper is dragging the ground.

[Yo'J]

Ahh, here is where on road vs.off road don't meet very well. Your lifted so, you got kybs, monroe or custom pricey coilovers for the road. You sure your rear shocks aren't just toast? Amazon is selling a 4 corner gr2 package for $143 no shipping.......

[Mr. Brat]

The shocks are good (about 7 months old or so). Full rebound and extend smooth.

[Al Zhiemer]

Ok, so I know I'm dragging up an old post here but did this idea end up working and how well?

 

Looking at trying to give the rear end a little more support. Constantly loaded I carry...

Solar Panel mounted on a basic steel frame with an awning

2 X 130 AH AGM Batteries (plus charger, inverter and a host of electrical accessories)

Camera case housing drone, camera, gopro and a host of accessories

45 Litre Fride

On occassion a 40 Litre Freezer

20 Litres of water

Then that doesn't include all the accessories fitted to the vehicle so all up, poor little Ruby is probably running close to her limits. Now to top things off, I'd like to put my camper trailer behind her every now and again. I have an EA82 rear sitting outside and have been looking at installing the rear shocks off of this and putting them into Ruby.

 

I reckon I'm probably close to carrying between 250 - 300 kgs constantly.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Cheers,

 

Al

Edited June 29, 2020 by Al Zhiemer

[carfreak85]

Someone convinced a company to manufacture stiffer rear torsion bars for the EA81.  I forget the company, but they're available today.

[Ritchie]

On 6/30/2020 at 7:20 PM, carfreak85 said:

Someone convinced a company to manufacture stiffer rear torsion bars for the EA81.  I forget the company, but they're available today.

Swayaway - 

https://swayaway.com/product/subaru-brat-torsion-bar-set-22-mm/

However, I contacted them a couple of times to ask about shipping to the UK and they haven't got back to me so I don't know if they are trading at the moment.