NEED HELP with 86 BRAT suspension upgrade

[Jeff D.]

I have an 86 BRAT with 14'' Pugs and 195/75/14 Goodrich A/T tires... after a little fender mod it rolls great, but there still lies one issue... the suspension is too firm.

 

Upon realizing that the new wheel fit required some modification, I took advantage of the 1 1/2" lift adjustment that the car's design offers (out of necessity).

 

That being said, it seems that this has stiffened my suspension (which was already riding firm).

 

I would like to upgrade the front and rear suspension without lifting things beyond 2" if possible.

 

Honestly, I'm super-new to all of this and find that sifting through 10 years of threads is, well... killing my mind (x_x)

 

I'm open to any suggestions and greatly appreciate any feedback.

 

Thanks,

Jeff D.

[GeneralDisorder]

You will have to start by lowering it back down with the adjusters. Those DO make it stiffer and ruin the camber in the front besides.

 

Then to fit the tires you will need a lift kit.

 

Remove the sway bars to loosen up the suspension quite a bit.

 

If you do all that and take it off-road.... you will find out real quick that you need additional dampening on the front - which requires custom fabrication to mount additional shocks.

 

GD

[Jeff D.]

Thanks for the reply! I have a few follow-up questions:

 

1) Given that ride-height adjusters add approx. 1.5", are there lift kits available between 1.5" - 3"? If so, where do I find them?

 

2) Will the rear end need mod/fab to install new shocks? If so, what will it entail and what shocks do you recommend?

 

3) What type of modification will need to take place to install new shocks up front?

 

4) What front shocks do you recommend for the front end?

 

Thanks-a-ton for the feedback!

 

Cheers,

Jeff D.

[tallwelder81]

DUDE. IM DOING THE SAME THING, WITH THE SAME CAR, RIGHT NOW.

lol......

 

i have an 83 brat, pretty much stock-ish. 2 inch lifts are apparently hard to find.

 

the standard is 4 inch.

 

i am in the process of getting mine MILDLY lifted. throw some 205/70-15s on her, and i got an ej18 in her now.

 

the ej18 has great gas mileage, very efficient. and it is about ehhh....

30% more power, all around. many people here will say just get an ej22.

 

i went with the ej18 because i wanted the MOST possible gas mileage i could get, and i figured 110hp was plenty on a car that never had more than 85hp from the factory. most had 72hp.

 

either way you go, ej series engines are MUCH easier to get parts for.

they are as common as beach sand.

 

lots of guys on here sell 4" lifts.

there is a TON of info on usmb about lifting, so next time SEARCH. or people on here will get kinda pissy with ya. lol.....

but yea, SJRlifts.com is a good one. but he is way up in bellingham, there are a couple near you, a guy in coburg makes stuff, HTI. and theres a place called mudrat fabrication, i think they are up near ummmmm south portland or something.

really, we are lucky to be 80s subaru lovers, because western washington and western oregon are the world heart of subaru offroading.

 

sjr used to list a 2" lift. now just 4 and 6 inch. but ive been talking to him recently about a 2, and he says he can still make them. they just arent listed. his are somewhat expensive, but very good quality. he makes them good. do us all a favor and harrass/prod him a bit about 2" lifts. i dont think he knows theres much demand for anything under 4 inch.

 

he doesnt supply the steering extension. im not sure if anyone else does either. too much potential to be sued for a part like steering. i dont blame em. we ARE the "nothing is MY fault, sue em into the toilet" generation.

 

listen to GD, he is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful people on here.

strut lifting is FAMOUS for chewing up CV joints and axles. i wanted to do mine that way also. mostly because it lifts the WHOLE car, where a body lift leaves all your gear STILL dragging the rocks, just like stock.

i have been researching and playing with these concepts very recently, and of everyone on here, i am probably the most recently familiar with your situation. a lot of guys on here go SKY HIGH with their brats. and i feel the same as you. 2 inches sounds perfect. balanced, steady, solid, still handles in the 40mph corners. to each their own. many guys dont CARE how it handles in a high speed corner, cuz thats just not their scene. they just want it to handle the deepest, hairiest terrain possible.

i want to handle some rough stuff, AND the freeway. because after all, how many miles do we spend on a road, VS. how many miles crawling up the side of the himalayas? lol......

but whatever....

do me a favor and poke the bear a little with SJR, about making more 2 inch gear for brats. he is a cool guy, he just doesnt realize that more of us WANT a mild lift.

[Jeff D.]

Thanks for the feedback! I tried to find the guy is Gresham and came up empty handed...any other search terms for finding him?

 

JD

[bheinen74]

I had 4" lift on my 85 BRAT, drove on it almost daily drive like interstates etc, for over 11k miles for 2 years. Handled, cornered well, etc. I did let it do some serious serious off the road stuff about 20 times, about 200 miles on dirt roads. But it did well either. I took it on 900 mile roundtrips out of state, once or twice. I took it on 600 mile roundtrips to KC and back 3 times.