s'ko Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 was an utter disaster..... I went camping with Tony (aka Crabman) this last weekend. We started off bright and early on Friday to miss LA traffic. Things are going great. I have this front end vibration that i need to resolve, but things were going well. Well about 10 miles from the turn off.. I suddenly hear a crunch and some really nasty noises and I lost forward momentum. Engine is revving fine but there is no power going to the wheels. I pull over and I look at the engine and I notice that the engine is covered in grease and the driver inner boot was torn. I look at the axle angles and it was pretty flexed out. The might be the front end vibration. The weight in the back of the BRAT had lifted the front end and the axle angles were maxed out. I think ok.. No problem, put it into 4x4 and keep going. We get on the trail to the campsite and it turns to gravel. I am driving it pretty hard and it feels great. With the power going to the rear wheels it was drifting like mad. I am thinking this is great!!!! Then DISASTER.... hear another crunch and rattling metal sound and I again loose power. So I am thinking I am completely SOL. I manage to coast the BRAT the campsite and I take a look at the rear axle and pulled apart b/c the suspension travel was too much and it over-extended. Luckily I had my circlip pliers and was able to rebuild the axle. I spend the rest of the weekend relaxing and hiking. No 4 wheeling like we had planned. So we leave today and I am taking it really easy getting out of the campground. Then I drive it up the last hill and BOOM.... rear axle blows up again. This time spilling the balls everywhere. I manage to recover 3 out of 6. I get towed out of the trail by Tony and to a flat spot to figure something out. I am 170 miles from home and I have 1/2 my balls. I just got premium AAA for this trip and I try to get them to come out and give me a tow back home. They tell me.. since you just signed up, it takes 7 days before your premium membership goes into effect. I try to fight it but they will not budge. I try calling some people and they can't help me out to me. So I look at my axle and the three balls and I put them together in opposing sides. I manage to limp it down the freeway 36 miles to Barstow and go to a Autozone to get grease and other things. After putting a bunch of grease in the axle and secure it with a hose clamp. I limp the car home the rest of the way. So yeah for my Macguver powers, but boo for the BRAT. I will need to take a look at what went wrong and how to fix it. Will take carnage pics. BW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamCF Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Ouch. At least you were able to get it home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsoobdude Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Glad you made it home as well Bosco, good luck with everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabman Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 All I can say is, your Brat may have had only "half its balls", but you had super balls and you hung them way out there. Getting the brat home may have been the most amazing subaru related accomplishment in history. Worst thing is, I had to leave Bosco stranded in the middle of the Mojave because I had my wife and 1.5 year old daughter with me. We pulled over to eat, and when we get back on the road, I can't believe it, we pass him and he has the brat back on the road again, limping it home in the truck lane. We should have taken pictures for the thread. Sorry about all the stress buddy. Glad you got home safe and sound. Crabman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s'ko Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 Yeah. It was pretty hairy at time. Being paranoid that with every click and clunk the car made. I had some time to process everything while i took public transportation to work today. (it's been a bad subaru month for me. see http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87121) I think that for the front, I need to reduce the CV angles. I am currently running a 3 inch lift block w/Outback struts. I have a set of OBS struts and I will put those in. that should get my drive lines back to a more usable angle. For the rear, I am going to put in some bump stops to limit my upward travel and some limiting straps to reduce my downward travel. What is ideal for a soobie with stock EA81 rear axles? Is there another axle option I can use with longer travel? Hopefully the next outing will be closer to home and I will have these problems ironed out. I will also know to bring extra axles with me. BW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilDead Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Great Subaru story!! Glad ya made it home man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott in Bellingham Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Yeah I think that for the front' date=' I need to reduce the CV angles. I am currently running a 3 inch lift block w/Outback struts. I have a set of OBS struts and I will put those in. that should get my drive lines back to a more usable angle. For the rear, I am going to put in some bump stops to limit my upward travel and some limiting straps to reduce my downward travel. What is ideal for a soobie with stock EA81 rear axles? Is there another axle option I can use with longer travel? BW on a EA81 keep the stock angles on those axles, if you raise the front strut 3" over stock, then also drop the engine 3" , on the rear try to keep the axles straight dont go over stock geometry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 What is ideal for a soobie with stock EA81 rear axles? Is there another axle option I can use with longer travel? EA82 inner DOJ cups are about an inch deeper than the EA81s. so get your hands on 4 of those, and put them on your EA81 shafts. that'll allow you to get quite a bit of extra travel before the joint comes apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s'ko Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 EA82 inner DOJ cups are about an inch deeper than the EA81s. so get your hands on 4 of those, and put them on your EA81 shafts. that'll allow you to get quite a bit of extra travel before the joint comes apart. Local PAP had a 50% off sale. Picked up a set of axles. Now for some axle surgery. Also I swapped out the front Outback struts for my old OBS struts. Lowered the BRAT by about an inch up front and gave it a really nice rake. Best of all it made the drive line much happier. CV's now rest about 5 degrees down when sitting flat. Have to figure out how to get them to sit level, but that's probably going to take a taller lift block. BEST of all, I got rid of this nasty front end vibration I was getting and the off the line wheel hop. BRAT drives nice and accelerates great. Will upload some pics of the carnage. BW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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