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So ii wanna build a l series that can keep up with a cruiser, whats it going to take?

my car so far is a 89 touring wagon with a ea82, 3" lift, auto, and 13's with road tyres but 14" sunnies are on there way

What tyres should i get for the 14's and what else should i get

holden26 wrote:So ii wanna build a l series that can keep up with a cruiser, whats it going to take?

my car so far is a 89 touring wagon with a ea82, 3" lift, auto, and 13's with road tyres but 14" sunnies are on there way

What tyres should i get for the 14's and what else should i get

Don't go for huge tyres with an EA82 otherwise you will have absolutely no power.

EA82's struggle with 14"s even with small road tyres let alone huge A/T ones.

If you want to go huge then you might need an EJ22 or at least a webber carb for the 82

someguy wrote:Don't go for huge tyres with an EA82 otherwise you will have absolutely no power.

EA82's struggle with 14"s even with small road tyres let alone huge A/T ones.

If you want to go huge then you might need an EJ22 or at least a webber carb for the 82

Carbie???? i thought it was fuel injected

Also what do you consider to big for my car?

Experience. A lot of 4wd'n comes down to experience. You can have the best 4wd in the world but that may not allow you to follow a cruiser if you don't use it correctly. If you're just starting out best bet would be to start small and go from there (tracks) with your experience.

As for building a capable offroad L, you're on the right track with the lift. I've got an EJ22 in my L and would recommend that conversion - if you've got no mechacial or wiring/EFI experience you'll need someone who does or to pay someone to do it for you, but that will be quite $$$$! After the EJ you'll need to decide what box to use, some prefer the auto others prefer the manual. They have their pro's and con's. 27 inch tyres are usually the go for a lifted L. A 14 inch rim won't do you any good until you wrap it with the black stuff. A 14 inch rim can still run a tyre at the stock diametre and can also run a 27 inch diametre tyre...

Other than that you could add a snorkel, bullbar, rear tyre/jerry can carrier, towbar, driving lights, roof basket, roo jack, axe, shovel, recovery gear - It just depends on how deep your pockets are and how much weight you want to be carrying around with you.

Its also a good idea to know how to use that equipment!

Cheers

Bennie

holden26 wrote:Carbie???? i thought it was fuel injected

It could be fuel injected. If you have a black box in front of the driver's strut tower that feeds air into the top of the motor its an MPFI (fuel injected - Multi Port/Point Fuel Injected), there may even be a sticker on top of the air ducting stating its an MPFI.

Touring wagons came out with both MPFI and carbied EA82's.

Cheers

Bennie

El_Freddo wrote:It could be fuel injected. If you have a black box in front of the driver's strut tower that feeds air into the top of the motor its an MPFI (fuel injected - Multi Port/Point Fuel Injected), there may even be a sticker on top of the air ducting stating its an MPFI.

Touring wagons came out with both MPFI and carbied EA82's.

Cheers

Bennie

Ah oh that it explains it. Yea i deffinently have a fuel injected ea82 then

El_Freddo wrote: 27 inch tyres are usually the go for a lifted L. A 14 inch rim won't do you any good until you wrap it with the black stuff. A 14 inch rim can still run a tyre at the stock diametre and can also run a 27 inch diametre tyre...


Cheers

Bennie

I was thinking 27's will these be alright? Minimal scrubbing? Much power loss?

Dunno about scrubbing or power loss. My aim with my subi is a 3 inch lift with the 27's. I've only got as far as the EJ22. Time and money are my stumbling point on sorting these out

Cheers

Bennie

ok i want to avoid changing the motor or diff ratios if possible

27x8.5R14 is a good size for your 3" lift. It will provide good floatation and traction with no rubbing provide you clearance the wheel-arches if necessary. There are a number of good off-road tyres in that size.
Don't be too concerned about the power loss verses gearing issue. You'll still be able to keep up with similar vintage Landcruisers.

Re your first post: For improved offroading try and acquire a rear mechanical LSD. It'll make a world of difference. Try removing your anti-sway bars for improved flexibility too. You might also like a decent front bash guard to protect the exhaust and of course a bullbar to mount it to.
Your spare tyre will no longer fit in the spare wheel well under the bonnet so a replacement rear bumper with tyre carrier will take care of it plus give give you a decent rear jacking platform.

I'd do all of those modifications and if you're still on 3.7:1 diffs, swap to 3.9 or better. Do that before you even think of an engine swap.

i have 27" bfg all terrains on my l series and i only have a 2" lift. you have to cut the front gaurds back before you go anywhere with them cause they scrub at the bottom corner near the sill then you need to bash the fire wall. the back should be ok. i only cut 20mm off my back wheel arch and it just scrubs occasionally when i hit a big dip and the bumper stops compress a bit. as for power it is slugish and you will find that if you get to a steep hill climb that is long you will have to go flat chat in 1st low. up the beach any cut or soft sand you will never get stuck if your in 1st low and have a bit of movement but once you stop in really soft sand you will have alot of trouble of taking off cause you dont have the power. dont make the mistake of taking cutting in anything other than 1st low its not worth it that is the only time i get stuck up the beach. in the bush i can get up short hills that my mates 70series shorty wont make it up. and i have gotten up a couple of places a rocky couldn't. never broken any thing mechanical though. if there was a good 13" offroad tyre i would go that but there isn't any more. look at a set of winter treads in a 14" they are smaller i think gt radial is the chunkiest pattern i had a set of nankangs 185 70 14" not bad. but if you run 27"s you get the better diff clearance
heres my rig

All excellent advice...and for the fearless
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banger wrote:i have 27" bfg all terrains on my l series and i only have a 2" lift. you have to cut the front gaurds back before you go anywhere with them cause they scrub at the bottom corner near the sill then you need to bash the fire wall. the back should be ok. i only cut 20mm off my back wheel arch and it just scrubs occasionally when i hit a big dip and the bumper stops compress a bit. as for power it is slugish and you will find that if you get to a steep hill climb that is long you will have to go flat chat in 1st low. up the beach any cut or soft sand you will never get stuck if your in 1st low and have a bit of movement but once you stop in really soft sand you will have alot of trouble of taking off cause you dont have the power. dont make the mistake of taking cutting in anything other than 1st low its not worth it that is the only time i get stuck up the beach. in the bush i can get up short hills that my mates 70series shorty wont make it up. and i have gotten up a couple of places a rocky couldn't. never broken any thing mechanical though. if there was a good 13" offroad tyre i would go that but there isn't any more. look at a set of winter treads in a 14" they are smaller i think gt radial is the chunkiest pattern i had a set of nankangs 185 70 14" not bad. but if you run 27"s you get the better diff clearance
heres my rig

Im glad to hear you can get the 27's on with only a 2 inch lift.
This keeps things legal I take it ?
I wanna go the ej22 and 2 inch lift on mine as soon as I find a reasonably priced motor.

not gonna happen. Subaru low range isnt low enough for any sort of rock crawling, and the lack of suspension travel will stop you in your tracks...quite literally.

Subis are awesome where no or little suspesnion travel is needed, ie..sand.

Just my 2c, ive moved on from subaru 4x4ing, i had a very highly modified l-series and it no where even comes close to my new patrol in offroad capabilities.

now im gonna go run away and hide!

alex

but im not tring to scare you off! subaru 4x4s are really really cool

sometimes i regret getting rid of mine.

alex

Keffa wrote:sometimes i regret getting rid of mine.

Are you sure its ONLY sometimes???



Alex did have an awesome L series that was highly modified - EJ20 turbo, 3 inch lift, 29 inch tyres... Looked mean and I'm guessing it went VERY well offroad... I'm sure he'll be able to tell you more

Cheers

Bennie

how will i go with the auto and no low range????? should i change it to a manual with high and low range or will i be alright

You should be fine, just add an external oil cooler. Some one with an auto will let you know more. Don't stress

Cheers

Bennie

i aggree with keffa...moved onto the big broozer

youll scare the shit out of ppl when u follow them up the place though

3" lift and 27's are the norm. and ej22 is a relatively cheap conversion these days too. and youll have one capable scubaru

autos are good... BUT i found in my outback that on real boggy sand, or on stupidly steep inclines the torque convertor just spins and didn turn the wheels. but i was runnign 29's. autos are nice and smooth and can make life easy sometimes. makesure u stick a big cooler on it... youll need it in many situations.

and keffa, car was aweosme,, but u and i both know how old it was getting fixing the car every single time it went offroad


dave