money

[Subaru_dude]

I'm not real picky about my wheeling capabilities. I don't make special trips just to get into tight spots on a trail. If it can get me to the top of the local mountain via a Jeep trail, it's good enough for me. I'd go with a 2014 Forester with X-mode, so yeah. I'd still stick with a Subie.

[monstaru]

I always want more,so, I will continue to build something that has a Subie engine, Toy axles, lockers, huge fawkin tires, and lots of toob!

I will always go farther than anyone if i can.

cheers

[monstaru]

With 20g's I could buy 3 Toyota wheelers ready to go, and still have enough left to take a wheeling trip down south...

[AKghandi]

I dont even really consider this wheeling, its offroading but not really wheeling... i could get a stock ea82 through here if it had good snow tires

 

 

[el_freddo]

I didn't realise there was a difference between Off roading and Wheeling - but I'm from Oz if that's an excuse.

 

IF this was to happen I'd stick with my subaru.  Probably build another L series and get it engineered so it's all legal over here.  The setup would be EJ22, L series daul range AWD gearbox with locking centre diff, 4.11 diff ratio, scorpion 14 inch rims with a 27 inch tyre, 3 inch lift kit, air-bagged all round, rear manual locker, snorkel.  Basically what I've got now (minus the air bags but I'm almost near the end of my build plan - after 7 years!) but with some refinement, a less abused body (this one's near 500k km!) and more care taken when offroading/rock crawling.  I'd also weld the door frames and the window frames too for extra rigidity in the body:





I would look into machining a better low range.

I'm also surprised that no one has spoken about importing a dual range EJ gearbox from here or NZ - the L series low range makes an EJ totally different offroad!  Superu will be able to tell you all more about that

We've got a H6 converted liberty over here running a dual range gearbox with the low L series low range, front and rear LSDs and DCCD - I've not seen it offroad yet but apparently it's pretty much the ultimate offroad weapon!

Cheers

Bennie

[ivans imports]

My favrot is still the justy 2dr fits into spots that no other 4x4s can go fold the miriors in and go past the posts trees rocks ect not mutch for clearance but easy to get unstuck and very capabble i drove mine on the loose sand around the cement blocks that blocked the beach. No other car or truck whould have been small and light enuff to go there backed right up to edge of water lose wet sand and drove away without spining tires. It just shows dont have to spend money to have a good 4x4 and dosent have to be extreme offroad to go were no one else can get to.

[monstaru]

My favrot is still the justy 2dr fits into spots that no other 4x4s can go fold the miriors in and go past the posts trees rocks ect not mutch for clearance but easy to get unstuck and very capabble i drove mine on the loose sand around the cement blocks that blocked the beach. No other car or truck whould have been small and light enuff to go there backed right up to edge of water lose wet sand and drove away without spining tires. It just shows dont have to spend money to have a good 4x4 and dosent have to be extreme offroad to go were no one else can get to.

Unless it is considered legal for you to do that , Please don't talk about it here.

Now , that being said. The Justy is pretty awesome. But unless you have several of them lying around. Finding parts is not an awesome endeavor.

 

 

I will always love wheeling Subarus. But until I can have a park for JUST SUB?ARUS, I will not have another for more than tooling around in.

There are few that can actually drive a Ru properly in the offroad scenario. There are a few that are learning as we speak.lol

 

If you want more Offroad/wheeling , YOU HAVE TO MOVE ON.

If not then, cool.jEnjoy it.BUT, know your limits.

cheers

cheers

[ivans imports]

100 % leagal just had to go around the breakwater is uhsaly a quwad trail but they whouldent follow the justy !

[mcbrat]

If I had a chance to do it again, I'd do something with more than 2 seats. Maybe Subaru.

[Adam N.D.J.]

One of the things that I missed not being on the board for so long was some of these gems of threads.  It did give me a little insight to some of the people that I do not know so well as of yet.  In just meandering the top posts I was kind of afraid that the "extremafile" group may have died out.  Nice to see that there are still some that are in to the higher end of the "wheeling" spectrum. 

That said, I thought it was a little funny in the original post the the budget was 10-30k because I have set myself a limit for my Brat of 20k. (one of the reason that it taking so long for me to finish).  Up to this point I have already crossed the "$100-5000" that was stated most spend on their Roo's.  So yes, if I had a large budget to spend on any wheeling project that I could desire it Would be a Subaru, in fact it would start as an 82 DL Brat, and slowly evolve over the course of 16+ years in to something to rival a "high dollar" 4x4.

Keep the good stuff coming, I may not come out and chat as much as I used to in the past (something to do with a job that consumes 45+ hours a day, and 3 project cars, a house, a kid and a generous size "honey-do" list) but I do really like to see that the Subaru community is alive as ever, and sometimes some of do still shoot for the moon.

Remember, keep the rubber side down!!  Adam

Oh, oh kay.  More can be found at http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/141024-phoenix-my-82-brat/

Edited April 24, 2014 by Adam N.D.J.

[monstaru]

To answer this question. I am doing it right now.

Probably at the point and time of my earlier posts too.

 

Subaru engines are awesome.Great power to weight ratio.

 

I have no liiving idea as to what I have spppent on the Subota...... lol

(completely kidding of course, Im pretty deep.And thats not counting the man hours.

 

I would say that I am gonna be well under 20 g's,but its defenitely gonna be 5 digits. What'll it be worth after I am "done"?

Only what someone will pay for it!

 

 

And Adam,Pics or that post was useless (pirateflipoff)

[Adam N.D.J.]

This is prolly a better picture for this forum. 

[travelvw]

I've built and had/have quite a few different rigs over the years, trying to find the "ultimate" for me. Mostly I use my rigs to explore public land to find killer, unknown camp spots all over the west and around here, the Ozarks. I was caught up in vintage, and beat expensive early split buses with nothing but rear engine, rear wheel drive, open diff, and a steering brake. By the time I gave those up in favor of exploring 4WD options a few years back, having $15-$20k in one was average (10 years ago I could build one for $5-$10k). I also built a full-bodied baja bug on 30's w/proper gearing and a big engine. It was pretty capable, but couldn't haul much gear.

 

One of my all time favorites is my 84 Toyota extra cab, which I have owned for many years, now. It seems those are mentioned on here quite a bit. It gets me everywhere I need to go, is relatively cheap, and reliable... much like Sube.

 

I've always wanted a capable 4WD wagon for solo trips, but didn't realize they really even existed until about a year ago. I bought Kyle's rig b/c it was mostly set up how I wanted, and for less than I could build one for, let alone the time involved. The only complaint I have about EA82's is the lack of gearing options, which it seems folks are getting around with transfer cases and such... but how much Sube is left? Why not a short bed Toyota truck w/camper shell and rack?

 

I agree, you can't beat the ride of a strut suspension vs. straight axle, which makes the Sube more comfortable to drive than the Yota. Stock gearing and 30's w/2.2? I don't know how ya'll do it. I dropped to 215's w/a 2.5, which puts some fun back in to driving a small trail rig, despite still being massively over-geared. Its unfortunate they came with donut spares from the factory and no aftermarket support... also part of the challenge and satisfaction in building such rigs as I see on here.

 

The only option I know of with lockers and gearing that nobody has mentioned in that price range, is a VW Syncro Vanagon. I have a 5.83 geared, front/rear locking project, 30" tires (could run up to 32's, but I like having some power), which other than the cost, will be one helluva rig. Unfortunately, it takes every bit of $20k to build one, even if you are smart in acquiring parts. I am currently debating selling it or the Sube, both of which have their good/bad... so far just have the Syncro for sale.

K

 

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

This is prolly a better picture for this forum. 

 

Of Course... Awesome Picture with all four wheels Spinning!

 

 

 

...The only complaint I have about EA82's is the lack of gearing options, which it seems folks are getting around with transfer cases and such...

 

So, the EA82 Wagon that you have, doesn't came with the Subaru EA Dual Range Transmission?

 

Kind Regards.

[Adam N.D.J.]

Yeah, it was a little bit of a pain to drive on the asphalt with manual steering and a welded front diff, but it sure did make for some good mudding.

 

A majority of the EA82 wagons that I have seen myself outside of the Pacific Northwest came with push button single range 4wd transmissions.  It seems like a PNW types bought out most of the dual ranges when they were new, and let the /quote flat lands /unquote have the lowly single ranges.

[sumoco]

i have a friend down the streat from me that has a datsun pickup thats hes built really nice and very well everything has been made custom buy him for it since he has his own differential shop. it has a ford 351 motor in it which has been converted to propane which makes the motor run great since the octane is about 120 compared to the 87 or so of gas plus propane is cheap comepared to the price of gas i think he said he spent 5k or more on the motor. it has custom differentials on it the front one cost about 10k to make and the rear is about 3k take into consideration these have custom gearing, axels, caseing, ect. and that these have all the bells and whistles as people like to say. then he has the custom suspension setup which is off a 1ton truck plus his lift kit and bigger tires. he also made a custom tube bed along with a exo-skeliton, front and rear winch bumpers, and a bunch of other suff. i bet if you go to build it its 30k or over. he says if he kills it in the mud pit dont even bother pressing if i remember right the clutch since the differentials have such low gearinging just turn the ignition over and it keeps going.

 

Will you please post a picture of that??

[turbosubarubrat]

Will you please post a picture of that??

Don't have a pic of it right now but when hes working on something with the shop door open i will get a pic of it some time.

[sumoco]

Don't have a pic of it right now but when hes working on something with the shop door open i will get a pic of it some time.

 

Sweet, I have to see anything that sounds that awesome

[Jibs]

Ask on a Subaru board and you'll have your Soob answers. Ask on a Jeep board and you'll have your Jeep answers. Everyone is a little biased in their opinions as to what makes a better wheeler. The only true answer is WHAT MAKES YOU COMFORTABLE. There are many variations of builds, and is determined by what kind of driver you are, what kind of trails are near to your home, how much money you have, etc. If I had 20 grand, maybe I'd be in a Subaru, and maybe I wouldn't. It depends on how the money was handed to me, As of now this thread is just a WISH thread, as none of us has 20 grand to make a true call to this thread, many of us have an amount we have spent on our rigs.

 

I have been contemplating in the last few weeks in which direction I want my build to go, as I know that with the kind of wheeling I do, the area in which I live, and the people I hang out with, that there is NO SUBARU that will come close to what I want. Period. Therefore, I have two options: 1) Buy or Build something else that will, or 2) Build a Subaru that WILL do what I want. Either way, I wouldn't be using a lot of Subaru parts for the build. I am 6500$ into a build with the Scout, and that is not near half of what it needs in order to finish it the way I want, and that doesn't include the purchase price of the vehicle itself.

 

That being said, I used to wheel a Subaru and loved it for what is was. It was a unique and mildly useful offroad machine, and would be great for about 60% of thr trails around where I live, and for what I do regarding work and such.

 

And yes, some of us wheel, and have been wheeling since before it was cool:

 

circa 2005:

 

[wagonryan]

I haven't done much wheeling in my soob yet, but after the walker run I have to say  I think if money was no object I would stick with a soob. they are so nimble as opposed to watching a yota do a 20 point turn to turn around. I am aware they aren't as capable at rock crawling and stuff but i'm not really interested in that anyway. I want a trail car that can do good in tight trails and can also do more overland stuff - like extended gravel road driving. I would probably put a solid rear axle on it and get a bunch of recovery gear and tube bumpers front and rear, onboard air, and camping gear like a roof top tent and all that.. I would want to make stronger control arms and beef up the lift kit and Ive heard about these axles that are pretty pricy and can run at pretty extreme angles. That's my goal now, it might change more as I wheel and see more issues with my platform

[monstaru]

It's not always about having to use it.

It's almost always about having it available to use.

Just sayin.

Now that i think about it.

I looked into Jatco's Nissan Pathfinder transmissions. They are an auto. They are BASIcally the same transmission with a different bellhousing.

I found that the rear most section of the Subaru version would unbolt and allow for fitment of an intermediate shaft, but just needed to have a mounting surface.

This was years ago. If I had hte backing I would figure out how to mount an Atlas t-case to a subaru. Maintain IFS/IRS. But dana 60 style.Spydertrax makes a diff housing/stub combo that would fuckkin rock to do this with.

 

I do still have SOME pure thought,albeit convoluded.Pure enough

cheers

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

... I looked into Jatco's Nissan Pathfinder transmissions. They are an auto. They are BASIcally the same transmission with a different bellhousing...

 

Yes, the Subaru 4EAT is the Same as the Pathfinder auto trans, Both were made by Jatco... also Ford and Kia has their "Versions" see:

 

~► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Subaru_transmissions#4EAT

 

Kind Regards.

[monstaru]

Yes, the Subaru 4EAT is the Same as the Pathfinder auto trans, Both were made by Jatco... also Ford and Kia has their "Versions" see:

 

~► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Subaru_transmissions#4EAT

 

Kind Regards.

I know :)The specific difference between all of the others and the Nissan version is that the nissan version can be adapted to an Atlas T-case. I think maybe you missed the point Jeszek :)lol

 

When I was looking into this they had an adapter the older automatic. I just looked and could not find anything below like 2000.

Maybe i'm just loaded, and could not see it. lol

Cheers

[ezapar]

I love my automatic.  

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

... the nissan version can be adapted to an Atlas T-case....

 

I got the Point.  

 

In the Past, Subaru sold a Rebadged Isuzu Trooper II as Subaru Bighorn, and that was Automatic Dual Range, which I think should be Awesome for a 4X4 Crawler, let me Share a couple of Pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

More info at the Legendary "Strange & Weird Subaru Stuff" Thread.

 

Also the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado / Colorado, comes like that for the LADM (Latin American Domestic Market)

 

Have you consider the idea of using such Nissan / Jatco Transmission on a 4X4 Crawler?

 

Kind Regards.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Loyale 2.7 Turbo