For the L series gearbox - the Part Time 4wd 5spd, you'd need to split the box and have a cut and shut 4.11 pinion shaft made up as it's longer than the EJ pinion shaft. Then you'd need to shave the crown wheel (mentioned by other members) so that it doesn't interfere with the L series 1.59:1 low range gearing. Phiz did his differently - he shaved the selector ring of the L low range so it fitted in the EJ selector fork - This also happens to clear the crown wheel.2nd Hand Yank wrote:Thinking about how my L Series works with the stock gearing and current tyre size, both how hard the EA82 has to work up hills or in soft sand, as well as what my "crawl speed" is in 1st and FWD/4Hi and 4Lo, even now, I think I could benefit from deeper gearing like 4.11-to-1
If you're going to swap in bigger tyres down the track you'd be better off leaving the diff mods until that time - otherwise you'll be cruising around at high revs and even higher revs at cruising speed due to the diff changes.2nd Hand Yank wrote:I might like to swap in some bigger tyres somewhere down the track. That will place more load on the engine (an EJ22 would help) but also increase my crawl speed which could be undesireable under certain conditions.
Ok, first off. PEAK torque is exactly that - the point where the engine will no longer produce any more torque, which is marked by the number of revs it's doing at the time. Even though 4000rpm is it's PEAK torque, the torque level from down low could well be double that of the EA82. I'm sorry if I'm going off the deep end here but the peak level thing really grinds with me when comparing engines...2nd Hand Yank wrote:I had a look at the EJ22 specs (on wikipedia) and it seems even earlier models had torque peaks above 4000rpm. So this engine likes to rev? If so, wouldn't it be better to be driving in the EJ's powerband?
It is if you don't know what you're doing. To do it you need to split the gearbox and swap the ring (diff) and pinion (gearbox drive to diff) shaft. In the EA boxes it's not worth the effort unless you're really into it and know what you're doing! The easiest option for you would be to go with the EJ22 conversion and Forester 4.11 AWD gearbox at the same time. If you're really keen you could drop the L series low range into the foz box while it's on the bench - that'd be an even better "crawl" ratio.2nd Hand Yank wrote:I've never heard of anyone swapping out the final drive gearing on a Subaru. Is it very difficult?
Unfortunately subaru's don't really have a true crawl ratio. What they don't have in the crawl ratio department they do make up for in the weight department. We're probably about two thirds lighter than the average big 4wd cruising around out there when fully kitted out...2nd Hand Yank wrote:I suspect I would find the crawl speed on 27" tyres behind a powerful motor might be annoying. Hmm...
That's near impossible to do with a Subaru gearbox if you stick with the factory drivetrain layout - or without completely re-designing the subaru gearbox (which I've thought about, not hard, just need the cash for the engineering which = much much more than I'm ever going to see in my lifetime!).B00sting wrote:It is my understanding that it is possible to have another gearset (joey box) for your low range with whatever gears you choose. I don't see why you couldn't have low gearing like a landcruiser does in low range, it might cost you an arm and a leg though.
But it's possible to do if you go with the divorced transfer case method, Andrew T has done it with his monster wagon but has never really finished it off. Plus he needed/wanted a 6 inch lift kit in it - looking at it I'd personally be worried about COG issues!
Welcome to a minority offroading group that the companies such as ARB don't want to deal with because they don't see the profits in it...B00sting wrote:That's one thing that annoys me about subarus, the lack of lower gearing and aftermarket parts for 4Wding.
True, but that debate was about an auto locker behind an AWD gearbox - which I think the conclusion was that it would do funny things in corners that wasn't worth the change in driving style for the offroad advantage when you'd use it. The auto locker was sold and it didn't go any further than this once that conclusion was met.B00sting wrote:It's just like the locker debate, i've read the threads that go on for 20 pages but end up nowhere... It is my understanding that ARB have released an R180 locker, no reason why that couldn't be adapted to fit our subarus if we fit r180 diffs.
Personally I'd hold off until you did the EJ conversion, do both the gearbox and the EJ conversion at once - A LOT LESS stuffing around to make it all work out properly with the EA engine to the EJ gearbox, the other way around is easier! Doing both at once is less down time on your vehicle and ultimately less labour in the long run.RSR 555 wrote:You could use the 4.11 from an EJ D/R AWD box but you'll need to use this in a EJ D/R AWD casing. Not a lot of changes to make them fit, especially if you're going to fit the EJ22
I would use the D/R gearset from the old L box though.
Close ScubyRoo - EA gearboxes don't have a centre diff - they're part time gearboxes so the centre is just a dog clutch. Similar in a very rough way to Venom's centre diff lock but it's missing the centre diff part (not that you can add the centre diff to the dog clutch in the EA gearbox - you MUST have the L AWD gearbox in the first place! Bummer, I know right?)ScubyRoo wrote:Just buy an sf5 forester box - 4.11 with 1.4 (maybe?) low range requires no internal mods... You'll just need an adapter place to fit to your EA and as RSR said, different crossmembers. Then when if you go EJ the gearbox side of things is already done. You do loose your locked centre diff though... unless you get someone to build you a box like Venom's
I'd say it like this. The 4.44 diff puts less strain on the gearbox and engine because the gearbox internals are doing more rotations per wheel rotation (eg 27 inch diametre) than that of a 4.11, 3.9 or 3.7 diff. The 3.7 with 27's will put the most strain on the gearbox out of all the diff ratios mentioned, this is because the gearbox internals are doing less rotations per wheel rotation...d_generate wrote:Advantage of 4.44 apart from lowering your gearing is that it puts less strain on the box because it's turning over while the engine is revving higher so not as much torque needed to do the same thing at lower rev's, someone else can probably explain it better than me.
Hope this helps you out!
Cheers
Bennie
