The Scoob

[JNHEscher]

I pulled the flanged bearing off the transfer shaft yesterday. Have a bearing on the way that is 2mm thicker to try out. If I omit the washer between the transfer gear and differential, it's pretty much good to go.

Still deciding between using the 6MT or 5MT tail housing. I found that the transfer shaft bearing pocket in the 5MT tail housing is 2.7mm deeper.

5MT housing means easier bearing setup, solder shift rail hole closed, and bolt shifter directly to it.

6MT housing means omitting a thrust washer and adapting the 5MT shifter mount.


Edit: Just checked the output bearing pockets and the 5MT pocket is 1.57mm deeper. Looks like I'll go with the 5MT tail housing.

 

[JNHEscher]

So cute!

Edit: I'll add some specs on this bugger and maybe sketch the overall shape in Fusion. Thinking I can work on fitting one in the center diff.

The springs measure 0.3044" OD x 0.2128" ID x 0.7445 L. Wire dia. 0.045". I'll add the rate later once I measure it.

 

[Will Scarlet]

 

[JNHEscher]

Locker install in the 4.44 open diff. Gap measured 0.150", which is perfect.

Open diff carrier is 4.015" OD (102mm). The center diff housing is slightly larger. Contemplating modding a other open diff carrier to put a Torq locker in the center.

 

[JNHEscher]

Extended-length rear axles for a 1998 Forester. Beefier all around. Outboard splines don't match, so I'll be doctoring that up.

 

[JNHEscher]

Haven't gotten the new axle bars to pop out, so I moved on to the trans.

Got the new bearings shimmed up to fit the 5MT tail. Now to solder up the shift rail hole. I don't think I brought the filler rod down. That may be a a Thursday project.

Put in an order for rear diff shims and o-rings. I should see those next week. Also called up MCP to ask about the cables. Sounds like they ship tomorrow.

 

[JNHEscher]

Cleaned up the diff and bearing cup faces where the shims land. Rust expands and probably pushes the shims outward.

Shims were rather rusty as well. I'll be smearing a light bit of grease on all surfaces when the new shims are getting installed.

I've been trying to solder up the hole in the 5MT housing. No luck at all because the propane isn't heating the aluminum up enough to flow the solder. May say fuck it and JB weld it.

 

[JNHEscher]

Stopped in the hardware store next to us on the way home. Grabbed some 6mm o-rings. Just need to get a 2mm cotter pin or something comparable. Got full flex out of the rod end now and the ball stays snug.

 

[JNHEscher]

These will probably outlive the car.

Dug around for diff specs. Going to set backlash once I get the new shims. The .pdf lists five different thicknesses. Parts are only showing four. The 0.3mm may be discontinued.

 

[JNHEscher]

After some more research, I found an OE 6-speed shifter with cables for cheap. Going to look it over when I receive it and see about adapting the new cables to it. I don't want a bunch of soft rubber and wiggly plastics in my shfter. I had also ordered the upper OE shift cable bracket that bolts the trans just before finding the complete shifter

New rear diff shims and o-rings arrive on Tues. Hoping I can get the backlash in spec without any 0.3mm shims. If not, I found the part number and located them online.


Got some OE style rear Trakmotive CV axles on the way. I'm going to see if I can swap outboard joints so that I can have extended-length axles in the rear.

Feels so close to, yet so far from done. I'll be able to get a few more things buttoned up over the next couple days.

 

[JNHEscher]

Flipped the lower cable bracket around so the cable bulkhead thread fits. Works well. The brackets are 1/8" thick. I'll get some grommets for the cables.

OE shifter is on the way. An iWire VSSPro for the speedometer is on the way as well. Just might be bolting the trans in by next week.

 

[JNHEscher]

New front output seals are in, though the right seal is about half as thick as it should be. Works for now. Ready for axles when the trans goes in.

Also filed the starter flange a bit so it fits just right.

 

[JNHEscher]

Oh yeah - new release bearing. Timken uses a plastic liner on theirs. Greased the liner and the fork pivot.

3/8"s forstner bit into the neck of the filter and I had a nice spot to snap the IAT sensor into. Worked surprisingly well. I'll have to figure out the PCV hoses.

New plugs and wires are finally on. #3 looked to be providing a detour.

 

[arse_sidewards]

Where's the MAF sensor?

 

[JNHEscher]

Where's the MAF sensor?

Mine is pre-MAF

 

[arse_sidewards]

Mine is pre-MAF

My 1st gen's have MAF.

When did they go back to MAP?

 

[JNHEscher]

My 1st gen's have MAF.

When did they go back to MAP?

Don't honestly know. There's just no MAF on mine. I took all the filter box junk off a few years ago with the intent to get rid of the bulky filter stuff like I do on most of my vehicles. Been riding around with just the filter box on and all that had was the IAT sensor and PCV hoses.

 

[JNHEscher]

Got the diff parts. O-ring slips show a couple dims. I'm betting I can find them on McMaster for a quarter of the dealer cost.

Edit: Der it is.

0.007" backlash. I'll call that good. Time to seal it up.

 

[JNHEscher]

The moment I've been waiting for lol. I can fit a socket over that cover bolt without having to remove the stock breather.

Would install this in the subframe, but it's 36 degrees, has been raining all day, and I'd have to lay in a puddle. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[JNHEscher]

Trakmotive Outback standard-length rear axle. Outboard bar end specs.

Trakmotive Forester rear extended-length axle. Outboard bar end specs.

Outback bar is 0.965" OD and Forester bar is 0.961" OD

Forester on the left, Outtback on the right.

 

[arse_sidewards]

Is that forester shaft stock?

 

[JNHEscher]

Is that forester shaft stock?

No. As said above - Trakmotive extended-length. Aftermarket chicom junk.

I was hoping to hybridize these so that I may have slip yoke axles in the rear. As usual, Subaru's spline and diameters are all over the place.

 

[JNHEscher]

In and filled. Suppose I'll plug the bird bone axles back in and run with them for now. The other Trakmotive Outback axle just got delivered. I'm not dumping the coin on Subiworks axles any time soon.

 

[JNHEscher]

2019 Crosstrek 6MT shifter came in. Guess I'm going to have to wait my turn

 

[JNHEscher]

So, where was I?

Ah, yes. Jumped over on the Subaru Outback forum after finding a few intriguing posts over there. Decided to throw my build in a thread there as well. Did some more reading and holy fucking shit batman are all these newer models loaded with some hot garbage of overpriced electronic safety gadgetry.



Anyway - The Crosstrek 6MT is in. Beatrush transmount. Didn't like the OE trans crossmember at all, so I started making my own.

Ended up using the OE shifter assembly and cables in the interest in getting stuff slapped back together. The aftermarket cables ends were going to take some work to fit up and work with the Crosstrek shifter base. Apparently, lots of people hate on the newer manuals because they can't shift smoothly and it turns out to be their drive-by-wire throttle. No surprise.

I cut out a hunk of Lexan to the shape of the shifter base cover and stuck some cheapo motorcycle lights inside the base. Rock lights-ish.

Major hurdle I'm going through right now is dealing with axle companies. Been eyeing DSS axles. I found them on Summit Racing, so decided to order a front axle. When that arrived, it was instead an Interparts KH unit - yet another chicom axle that sells for as little as $30. Word from DSS is that they sell to Turn 14 and Summit gets them from Turn 14. Somebody in that line screwed up.

I ordered a pair of rear Impreza/Forester DSS axles through Summit. No word on the order and my order has completely disappeared on Summit. Just recently placed an order for a front pair through Insane Shafts. Nobody there would answer the phone and I'm coming up with all kinds of breakage reports on them. Granted, I'm not clutch dumping on slicks. However, I love rock crawling and the axle shock loads can be pretty harsh there as well.

Insane shafts should be arriving next week. Dunno on the DSS shafts. I'm going to run the Trakmotives for as long as they can survive. Wohn Industries has a nice idea, but they are pumping out some bottom of the barrel quality.

I have a Ford tone ring on the way that I'm going to machine and press fit onto the rear pinion flange. I'll weld up a pinion guard with a holder for an OE wheel speed sensor.

 

[JNHEscher]

Waiting for this to cool down so that I can slam some bushings in. For having to hand grind everything to shape, it turned out alright.

Got notifications that the Insane Shafts and AntiGravity battery showed up today. I'll open up the axles tonight or tomorrow and decided if they're worth what they cost.

 

[JNHEscher]

Fucking fuck! Insane Shafts with Wohn Industries bands on them. Seriously hope this isn't another fake company. I mean, at least the boot rubber is way nicer than the plastic that Trakmotive uses. Dust shield on this one is pretty mangled. I may have to open one up tomorrow to investigate. I'm getting sick of all the Chinese junk in this country anymore.

Don't think I posted the Trakmotive pics in here. I contributed a few to a thread on the Subaru Outback forum. I'd like that axle to be my driveline fuses, but damn, overseas parts aren't even handling daily driving in a stock Subaru.

 

[arse_sidewards]

I've been running the Autozone branded "HD" trackmotives in my FWD wagon for years. No problems despite many a one wheel peel followed by instant traction.

Unless you're going to be doing launches with stupid amounts of boost or being the kind of anal you shouldn't be as the owner of a 20yo car I don't think you'll have a problem unless you buy the $50 CVs.

It takes a ton of CV play to actually manifest in a noticeable amount of vibration.

 

[JNHEscher]

I've been running the Autozone branded "HD" trackmotives in my FWD wagon for years. No problems despite many a one wheel peel followed by instant traction.

Unless you're going to be doing launches with stupid amounts of boost or being the kind of anal you shouldn't be as the owner of a 20yo car I don't think you'll have a problem unless you buy the $50 CVs.

It takes a ton of CV play to actually manifest in a noticeable amount of vibration.

I'll be running the Trakmotives for now. Definitely curious to see if they hold up. In what I'm seeing all over in the Subaru world, they're grenading CV joints in a hurry. The front extended-length axles work a lot better for my angles and because of how I've changed the front, I can swap out axles without unbolting any of the suspension

I may proceed with splicing rear axles, but I'm thinking it's not worth it. Once my DSS rears arrive, I'll probably stick with those for the life of the car. If the rear diff goes, at least it's easy to swap out.

I'm mainly being pissy over all the chicom crap we get anymore . I've been on this rant for a while.

 

[JNHEscher]

Ayyy. Came with a frashright, too lol.

Space and weight saver so I can leave room for the 31" tire clearance.