^ +1 that thing looks fresh out of the box. It would fit, however I have different plans. I am getting out of the EA stuff, it just doesnt put out enough power for what I am looking for. EJ here I come (eventually lol). I think that the EJ might be alittle more reliable too.
Big update time. I got around to starting the lift kit over my spring break. I am using 2" blocks on the rear diff carrier and mustache bar to lower them so that they are at a kinder axle angle. I will be reclocking the torsion bar to get the actual lift. This is where I am stuck right now the 2 bolts i need to remove are not cooperating. anyway I made up all of the 3" blocks that i will be using to drop the tranny and engine crossmembers. So the only remaining parts that I will need are some break line extensions for the rear, the front strut extensions and the steering extension. The rear diff had become one with the DOJ cups on the axles so I had to replace the stub. With Chux's help I was able to get a EA82 DOJ cup to replace the broken one. the EA82 cup will allow for great travel and flexibility before it well explodes... Pictures! Milling out the front lift blocks: Completed lift blocks: The broken stub on the rear diff: The rest of the stub: The old EA81 cup I broke: Replacement parts from Chux. note the deep offset inverse torx socket...: I needed to replace the factory captive nuts with new hardware: 2" longer: Diff carrier drop w/ bolts and blocks on it: New rear shocks. Rough Country shocks for a 2.5" lifted TJ jeep next to the stock brat shocks. both are fully extended.: Diff reinstalled: Mustache bar and shocks installed:
About that...... Apparently the local hardware store doesnt stock bolts that large in Grade 5 or 8. I will have to look into getting some grade 8 ones. I mean the worth thing that could happen is I will drop the entire rear end onto the ground....:ugh:
Thanks a ton to Mlgez, Gridlocked, and Fishbiker15 for the help yesterday. I will put up some more pictures later.
Update: Worked on the brat all of saturday. The rear end is now lifted. This means that the lift is now 50% done, not almost 50% like it used to be ;-) This is a picture of the old top strut bracket in the new strut. if you look closely one side is has been ground down to allow for easier insertion. Here we have mlgez and fishbiker15 working on getting the torsion bar out so that it can be re-clocked. The drivers side has now been finished and we are working on the passenger side. mlgez is using the mill to make a bolt the right size. This is the torsion bar on the passenger side. Both of the splined ends were kinda of rusty but the middle was in prime shape as you can see. Full downflex on the drivers side. Had to drill out the outer bushing retainer bolt (do I need this if my bushing has become one with the housing?) so this is a temporary measure so that I could move it. dundundun..... Check out the awesome positive camber on the rear wheels. My fix for the exhaust leak at the heads... Jacked up the front so that it sits level. front wheels are about 3" off the ground. lined up in ascending order according to production date. maybe....?
A thought I had to fix some of the alignment issues was to drop the front mount point for the rear suspension. Any 4x4 guys out there know if this would be a good solution? Looking at the issue it seems that lowering this point and maybe rotating it slightly would fix the toe and camber issues that are now present. Just a thought I had after seeing the alignment and watching way too much Trucks and Extreme4x4. Grind off the old mount and weld in a new slightly lower mounting point. EDIT: Oh yea and very cool project Martin. Thanks for letting work on the Brat for a while Saturday. Not too often the family is somewhere else and I can escape to do some project work.
^if you only move the one pivot point......it would fix the static alignment, but would mean it would drastically change over the course of the suspension travel. you'd have to move both pivot points (at the torsion bar as well). some lift designs drop the whole crossmember/torsion tube, but then it hangs down below the frame rails, making it extremely vulnerable to damage. like I told Martin, those 3 big bolts where the torsion arm bolts to the trailing arm effect the alignment.....so therein lies the solution.
I know he does not want to move everything down due to clearance. As for those bolts, they are not cam bolts or anything. Not sure how they could effect alignment enough to come anywhere near fixing these issues. If that one point was moved down the suspension travel, it seams, would move more vertical instead of pivoting around the fulcrum of the torsion bar. Well like I said just ideas. You obviously know a lot more about it than I do having done this kind of thing before. Hope to see the next lifted Chux'mobile soon.
Chux was telling me that the alignment is not based upon cam bolts or oblong holes. the way it supposedly works is that the holes in the trailing arm are larger than the bolt. this means that in theory I can fix my alignment by loosening the bolts and forcing the wheel to the position I want it to be in and re tightening the bolts. I really hope it is that easy.
go to some Aussie sites.. they are everywhere over there and I am sure they have the solution you are looking for
I like the progress Martin...entirely different from the vehicle I sat in outside your house those many months ago. Are you going to be working on it this upcoming Sunday? If so, I'd like to swing by and lend you a hand. After all, it needs to be ready by May 17th for the Gilbert open house.
I am not sure if I will be working on it this weekend. I need to figure out my alignment issues. Other than that the next step is to lift the front, which I am not quite ready to do yet.
you should definitely push hard to bring it up to the open house! sounds like we're going to have a sweet crowd.....I think I'll start a thread about it.
I have freakin jury duty starting on like the 14th of may. we will see. going to need quite a bit of help to get the whole thing lifted and ready to drive 400+ miles.
EA82 camber adjustment. This is from an EA82, so the outer arm looks a bit different, being that there's no torsion bar, but the adjustment should the same.
brake lines are fine on length. Chux that pretty much says loosen bolts.... pull as hard as you can.... tighten bolts... repeat.
I am thrilled to see how far you have come on this Brat! This was the specific car/truck that got me hooked on Subarus! It was owned by a guy in Waseca, and I missed my chance to buy it when he sold it. I tracked it down and bought it, but I didnt have the time, money or storage to fix it up. I decided to sell it hopping that someone else would be able to give it the attention it deserves. It looks like it is getting that attention! On a side note, I sold my other Brat, which had made a guest apperance at Firestone, and I regret it! Hopefully someday I'll find another! Thanks again for giving this car new life! Kurt
Kurt's alive!! cool! yep, slowly but surely you're baby is growing up :biggrin: also......why are you a new user? pretty sure you used to be on here....
What am I up to? Got some free time, now that schools done. So I have started to work on a project that I havent touched since spring. More pictures to come.
yeah we had one, apparently, it would take up too much room in the garage, so it went bubye. i have no idea where it is, but i sure wish we had it.
Spot on! I will have more pics up hopefully soon. I ran into an issue of no one locally carrying the right size drill bit. I will work on remedying that tomorrow.
very sweet Jig!! now you just need to get your hands on a pair of rear calipers and put the rear discs on!
Do you guys have "Diamond Drilling" in the cities? That's where I went to get my really obscure sized drill I needed for my heads. They are pricey, but well worth it.
