RavenTBK Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 I was bored and started looking through the last few pages of the Offroad forum, reading stuff from mid '03. I ran across this thread again, and I feel the information contained therein should be revisted. Especially the information contained in this post. It seemed like there was an interest in fulfilling the market demand a couple years ago.. I wonder if it still exists today...and if it doesnt, maybe we could convince them now that theres more of us around. I figured I'd create new, then reference the old rather than bringing the old back up from the dead. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samo Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 I would be interested, but I would only be interested in about 6 months. My car's a daily-driver, and it always will be, so a rear locker would be sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSSLGECKO Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 Did anything ever come of this? It sounds pretty cool. I kindof like the whole locking mechanism for the CV idea for welded diff.s That's some good thinking. Someone feel like building some locking/unlocking CV's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qman Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 The current options are open, LSD, or welded. These options are sort of a stepping stone. When you wheel enough to require a LSD then you should also be lifted. When a LSD no longer gets you where you want to go then you weld up the rear. When you find that a welded rear diff isn't enough then it's time to get creative. For those who do not know the price of a locker of any type is more than most of you paid for you car to begin with. It seems that as hard a time people have at buying a lift how do you figure to find the $$ for a locker? Sure it may be a pain to install/uninstall axles. Most people that have had to do this have gotten pretty quick at it. Usually about 10 minutes or so. I guess what I am getting at is there is always a price to pay to do something. If 20 minutes of labor is your price then I'd say it is pretty cheap. Basically I think things need to be kept in perspective. These are not rock crawlers in stock form with 2-4" lifts and 26"+ tires. Anything less than a rock crawler really doesn't need a locker type rear end. Now when you start adding bigger lifts and transfer cases and bigger tires with different gearing and such then a locker may be the answer. Fire suit is on so take your shots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samo Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 ^ I guess that's a good point. If a locker is going to be all kinds of money, which I suppose it probably would be, it's gonna be a hard sell on these boards. I'd want to see the design and the price before making any kind of decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkankinPickle Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 maybe if you just convinced everyone that it would be cool to have one... ...AND there's your demand. still, having a button to press inside the car to have an instant welded rear (essentially) and then a minute later disengage for normal driving... you make the call. Qman, you're just being practical. no one can really rationally say anything to the contrary. i concur (seriously). yet...:-\ has anyone seen my flame thrower, oh wait, there it is sometimes you got to push the limits of acceptability to have something more bad rump roast than previously thought possible. i would say a big thing about off roading subarus is showing off your guns. i mean if you really wanted a highly capable trail rig it would be a whole lot easier to simply start somewhere else. off roading a commuter car? crazy? think about this, the same company that is breaking ground with the sti has gained quite the reputation in recent years, which has changed the way people think when you say the name SUBARU. and this same company way back in the seventies says, hey why don’t we make a 4WD station wagon, and while we're at it let's make the brat and a hatchback. they could have stopped with the coupe for rallying, but they didn't. instead they start aggressively marketing a crazy small niche. just like Fuji Heavy Industry we're crazy too. but why not grab the first corola or 73 nova and weld some wacky suspension underneath? cause that would be just plain weird. we choose subaru because it's such a undeniably practical start. and then you get the privilege in saying i have a lifted subaru with swampers on it. yes, wanting a locker on your stock wagon with pugs and fat snow tires would have to be questioned, yet i think there's enough people out there with lifted subies to qualify demand. Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkankinPickle Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 plus if you had one wouldn't it be more insentive to make further modifications... it's a win win situation for everyone. *in the back ground someone says, hey look that guy with 88 posts is talkin hella smack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvdrt Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I would much rather have a locker than a welded diff. I have had them all, and a welded diff sucks. It isn't very reliable either. I say get a locker. If your serious about your trail rig, than the cost off set of the product versus your vehicle isn't important. I dropped 22k into a toyota truck that was only worth 4k. If you don't spend money, your vehicle will never improve. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I would much rather have a locker than a welded diff. I have had them all, and a welded diff sucks. It isn't very reliable either. I say get a locker. If your serious about your trail rig, than the cost off set of the product versus your vehicle isn't important. I dropped 22k into a toyota truck that was only worth 4k. If you don't spend money, your vehicle will never improve. Period. A lot of us offroad Subarus becuase we dont have 22k to put into a trail rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qman Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 maybe if you just convinced everyone that it would be cool to have one......AND there's your demand. still, having a button to press inside the car to have an instant welded rear (essentially) and then a minute later disengage for normal driving... you make the call. Qman, you're just being practical. no one can really rationally say anything to the contrary. i concur (seriously). yet...:-\ has anyone seen my flame thrower, oh wait, there it is sometimes you got to push the limits of acceptability to have something more bad rump roast than previously thought possible. i would say a big thing about off roading subarus is showing off your guns. i mean if you really wanted a highly capable trail rig it would be a whole lot easier to simply start somewhere else. off roading a commuter car? crazy? think about this, the same company that is breaking ground with the sti has gained quite the reputation in recent years, which has changed the way people think when you say the name SUBARU. and this same company way back in the seventies says, hey why don’t we make a 4WD station wagon, and while we're at it let's make the brat and a hatchback. they could have stopped with the coupe for rallying, but they didn't. instead they start aggressively marketing a crazy small niche. just like Fuji Heavy Industry we're crazy too. but why not grab the first corola or 73 nova and weld some wacky suspension underneath? cause that would be just plain weird. we choose subaru because it's such a undeniably practical start. and then you get the privilege in saying i have a lifted subaru with swampers on it. yes, wanting a locker on your stock wagon with pugs and fat snow tires would have to be questioned, yet i think there's enough people out there with lifted subies to qualify demand. Anyone? Have you seen my Brat? Pics or mod list or anything? Practical... I have been called alot of things, some are definitely not mentionable here. I have more time and money invested into my rig than I care to add up. However, I think realistic may be a better description. I do indeed voice my opinions but I will not force someone to follow my lead. If a locker was available for my nissan rearend I would already have one. But alas, there isn't one for the older nissan rearends. Most, but not all of the enthusiasts here are budgeted low for their hobby. These are not high dollar rigs for a number of reasons. Number one being they are more or less disposable. You won't get a bunch of people to buy into an unknown price or even a guesstimate. Besides, the opne thing most people keep forgetting is that the diff isn't the weak link here. The axles are and by adding the extra stress you will hammer them even more. I am not saying don't do it. If you can manage it and get something that proves reliable and affordable for the common Sube owner then you will probably have a market. BTW, here's a practical list of mods and accessories on my rig. 10"+ lift 31/10.50R15 SSR's Transfer case mod Solid rear end with leaf springs(4.37 final ratio)(with estimated 20" combined travel) 6 lug conversion in the front On-board welder Front and rear mounts for winch Dual batteries Custom roll bar and bumpers(made by me) Front end relocated forward 2 1/2" 120hp EA81 motor with 5 sp D/R(torque cams and Weber) Currently researching new front suspension to get more travel. Have it about 90% worked out. As you can see, pushing the envelope is not something new to me. Don't give up on it but don't be surprised if not many jump at the chance until it is proven and a solid price is established. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qman Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 If your serious about your trail rig, than the cost off set of the product versus your vehicle isn't important. I dropped 22k into a toyota truck that was only worth 4k. If you don't spend money, your vehicle will never improve. Period. Sorry, but, I call BS on that one. We do not have the benefit of buying big ticket items off the shelf for these vehicles. Fabrication, creativity and research are the best options. You won't find that kind ofinvestment in a Suabru offroader. And, if you do that person should probably be commited. You also will be hard pressed to find anyone who will give aftermarket support for a vehicle that is not mainstream. Given timethat may change. But it took 30+yrs for the support network for Jeeps to take form. I think we've come along way in under 5yrs. No offense meant or taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkankinPickle Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 BTW, here's a practical list of mods and accessories on my rig.10"+ lift 31/10.50R15 SSR's Transfer case mod Solid rear end with leaf springs(4.37 final ratio)(with estimated 20" combined travel) 6 lug conversion in the front On-board welder Front and rear mounts for winch Dual batteries Custom roll bar and bumpers(made by me) Front end relocated forward 2 1/2" 120hp EA81 motor with 5 sp D/R(torque cams and Weber) Currently researching new front suspension to get more travel. Have it about 90% worked out. that's all you've done to it? :-p come on that's the extra condensed short form, right? "...bar and bumpers(made my me)" i like that part. dude, i know about the silver four wheeled device. all you have to do is look to the right of the pic in your sig to understand you know what's up. just saw the pics of the welder yesterday too, that's tight. point was that anyone other than us sube guys don’t know the exact limits of our cars. if we could find a way to make the cost manageable it would be easy to get away with. then we would have even more people focusing on a narrowing margin of problem areas. what part of the axle is the weak spot? CVj? didn't someone a while back mention modifying porsche axles? maybe we could try having parts of the axle hardened with less destructible coatings? there's got to be a way, somehow or is the direction of IRS futile. (depending on your goal though) Qman? anyone else? thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qman Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 The IRS isn't futile. But...you will never get the travel out of it that you will get from solid and leafs or link type suspension. As far as beefing things up I have some theories. The nice thing about the Subes is you know what the weak points are. Strut rods and lower control arms. Front and rear axles are also a weaker link. But, the thing to consider is that these sort of act like fuses if you will. You know in advance these could break. You can bring a spare with you and be back on the road in 30 minutes or less. Now if you start cryogenic treatments on CV/DOJ cups where is that fuse going to move to? Improvements are good but it is of great benefit to know what will break instead of not knowing and having to leave your rig on the trail. There are many things that can be improved and should be at some point. It will require some heavy research to make sure you do not cause other damage that can't be fixed so easily. Just food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkankinPickle Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 got it! ok, now i have a purpose (with more questions to come later of course) thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazmataz Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 i know this thread is a little old but i'm hoping someone might see this and reply to my question. can driving around everday with a welded diff damage/break something in the transmission/transaxle? my reason for saking is that 2 days after having my diff welded i went out in the mud wheeling and afterwards i got a really bad vibration that got worse and is under accelaration and is now doing a crunching sound when turning and driving straight which comes and goes and is inside the transmission housing. when you are on flatland and at a steady speed it feels normal. now i have checked the cv joints and the wheel bearings and they are good, the only problem i see is the splined stub shafts at the inner cv joint has some play but they have had some for a while but this is much worse and happened in about a 30 minute time frame. it feels like a wheel is coming off or you are driving with a flat tire. so are you saying that cvj or the axle shaft itself will break? please help me understand what this and what might have caused it, if someone can, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrw166 Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Let's keep this alive! Fugi Heavy industries might have made some military vehicles for export using Subaru parts. How's your Japanese? Along the lines of disengaging one rear axle: Chevvy S-10 used a vacuum- shifted spline sleeve. What a concept--turning spider gears for a zillion miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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