lifting my 1983 Subaru GL wagon

[BusterH]

I'm a new member to the site so I'm not exactly sure how to use it so I hope I'm doing this right but I want to lift my 83 wagon and I know how to lift the front and i know about the 19mm bolt under the back seat for the torsion bars but i want to lift up the rig more than 2 inches so if you know what i can do to lift the rear of the car besides tightening the bolt under the back seat, please let me know, thanks

[BEECHBM69]

I'm a new member to the site so I'm not exactly sure how to use it so I hope I'm doing this right but I want to lift my 83 wagon and I know how to lift the front and i know about the 19mm bolt under the back seat for the torsion bars but i want to lift up the rig more than 2 inches so if you know what i can do to lift the rear of the car besides tightening the bolt under the back seat, please let me know, thanks

 

When you are looking at the forum, there will be a "search this forum" button. Click on it and type in "EA81 Lift" in quotation marks, it will bring up six or seven threads to get you started.

 

Here's a link, but it may expire after a certain time. LINK

 

Dan

[BusterH]

Great! thanks alot

[Indrid cold]

Hey busterH, is that Pasco, WA ? good to see another local although they seem to come and go...

 

Is that the 83 recently on Craigslist? I think I looked at that one a year ago before prev. owner bought if that is it... nice older rig.

 

Possibly more snow coming ... play time!

[BusterH]

hey Indrid cold, yeah im here in tri-citys. I can see why they come and go on here, on 1 of my other postings I kind of felt like I was getting ganged up on haha oh well. It could very well be the same subaru you saw but im not sure, I recently picked this 1 up. Are there any good "play spots" to take subarus around here?

[flight_of_pain]

hey Indrid cold, yeah im here in tri-citys. I can see why they come and go on here, on 1 of my other postings I kind of felt like I was getting ganged up on haha oh well. It could very well be the same subaru you saw but im not sure, I recently picked this 1 up. Are there any good "play spots" to take subarus around here?

 

Asking questions (without searching) that have been asked a million times tends to get you the short end of the stick around here With that said, Wa. has a large amount of subaru enthusiasts, and most are more than happy to share their knowledge with you and in most cases lend a hand.

 

Some EA81 wagons had spring helpers in the front spring perch that would get you a little more lift but they are typically rusted solid when I see them these days. You could go with 2in strut top blocks in the front without subframe blocks and get away with it (albeit with horrid camber), but more than 2in is going to require you to run subframe blocks as well.

 

4-6in lifts seem to be a real sweet spot for the ea81 chassis. If you have the mechanical knowledge you can build one yourself, but you will need to have the car in a half assembled state for a while while you build it. If you're not mechanically inclined, there are several companies that make various height lift kits for reasonable prices.

 

Isaac

Edited December 18, 2010 by flight_of_pain

[BusterH]

thanks for the info Isaac, my subaru does have the spring helpers and of course i set them to go as high as they can ha. I've seen alot of pictures and read alot about doing these lifts and I'm sure I'll be able to get this done no problem. The reason I put up my postings is because I just wanted to see if I could get just a little more info that might come in handy. at first I plan on just doing the 2 inch lift and then down the road when I have more time and money I will probably throw a 6 inch lift on it.

[GeneralDisorder]

Adjusting the spring perches up creates a marginal increase in ground clearance - it is useless on the street (duh) and throws the car's camber out of whack - causing you to burn through front tires when the outer edge wears much faster than the rest of the tread. The owners manual cautions against this except for OFF ROAD use. Further - it makes the front stiffer and that's bad for articulation. It's just a better idea all around to leave them adjusted down in the front. And it's a MUST that they stay down when you measure up for the lift - or otherwise you wreck the camber measurements as I pointed out above.

 

You can lift the rear all you want with the torsion bar adjuster - that does not affect anything other than ground clearance but it makes the rump roast end stick up in the air like a cat in heat - rediculous IMO.

 

GD

[flight_of_pain]

I would go so far as to say the "rump roast in the air," or "stinkbug" stance is the defining factor in the ea81 lineup

 

 

Isaac

[Indrid cold]

Are there any good "play spots" to take subarus around here?

 

I am sure the younger crowd knows where to go for some off roading locations, I do alot of back road exploring where I wouldn't take the family car etc... that is a problem around here is everything is farmed up so limited spots but I am sure they are out there.

 

I have ran around out at Hover past Finley and some of the farm roads to the towers and smaller towers South of Jump Off Joe... but that is just exploring the roads more than digging in mud etc.. Hover has some small area's. but what I enjoy is I can run all night on half a tank where my truck used to suck that down in hours... and I have more fun!

 

 

sorry I don't have any hot spots but you will find them I am sure. Hopefully I will be doing the lift thing this summer... I keep saying that hoping I get to.

[BusterH]

GD, thanks for info, that's definitely good to know but I think i'll pass on the "rump roast in the air" I'll just keep it all lower til I can lift it.

 

 

Indrid cold, I'm sure I'll find some places to go muddin around here. If you want some help with that lift just let me know, obviously I haven't done a subaru lift yet but I'm pretty knowledgeable when it comes the working on vehicles.