5spd vs 5spd dual range

Hi all I'm a noobie here with a quick question. I've recently bought a 93 Subaru Loyale with the 5 speed 4wd tranny. Tentative plan is to lift and use for road trips and mild off road. So I've been considering swapping in a 5spd dual range tranny to help with the mountain trails (current clutch lets me nose know how much it doesn't like having to ease the car over rocks and such).

However, having owned a Land Rover Discovery I know how much AWD lets you down when only one wheel loses traction. However the disco's transfer case could be locked when needed.

My question is: are the old subaru dual range 5 speeds like the regular 5 speeds in that it's only 2wd until you hit the button and then it locks the "transfer case" portion of the tranny to give you undivided power to front and rear, or is it purely AWD so if you lift one wheel you're dead in the water? If it is purely AWD is there some way to rig up a center diff lock i.e. transfer case lock for the more sticky situations?

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

Ed

Subaru selectable 4wd (5sp d/r or anything with a button)iis basically putting out 50/50 power at all times to the front and rear axles (same as your cruiser). Otherwise they are 2wd.

Some soobies do have rear viscous coupling LSD axles, most dont. The way around the two open difs is to make sure you have a functioning parking brake. You lightly engage the parking brake, transfering power from the slipping wheel to the non slipping wheel. You can do the same thing in automatic AWD by driving with two feet when really stuck.

As a side note, when i had a D/R i found it was most useful....... in stop and go traffic. 4wd low was really really handy for crawling in bumper to bumper traffic, saved lots of wear on the clutch leg .

i miss my 88 GL .

nipper

Sweet thanks that's good news...now to just start watchin the junk yards!

Ed

Howdy and welcome mr_ed!!!

I must ask where abouts in NC are you? I would certainly look into the D/R swap, I used the lo range a bunch in my old '83 wagon. Check out Hal's Parts and Service. Subaru's only, in Sparta NC. There is also a great Subaru repair shop in Swannanoa (near Asheville) NC, Subaru's R Us.

Thanks! I'm in Elizabeth City NC, but I do get over towards Asheville when I visit family in Greenville SC...

I'm really pursuing this D/R swap. Next summer a buddy and I are going on a road trip back to Idaho for a month, and we're plannin on bypassing I-70 through the CO rockies and instead taking Mosquito Pass and Schofield Pass, and then kickin around Moab for a couple of days, and while I don't plan on runnin the Metal Masher or anything like that, I'm sure both the subie and her clutch will like me alot more if I give em a lo range!

Ed