Found steel bits in Rear Diff

Changed all my oils yesterday (engine, diffs, tranny) and very pleased to report there are no signs of water and no bits of metal !
 
I remember reading an article some time ago by Julian Edgar from Autospeed (www.autospeed.com.au) regarding using WRX STi viscous couplings on a Forester to improve off-road ability. This sounds like a great way to reduce slippage. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'd imagine you could also install an STi LSD on the rear (and even the front if this is possible) to really turn your Foz into an unstoppable beast.

This seems like a low cost method as these items seem to pop up on eBay a fair bit.

They'd be plenty strong, and if I'm recalling correctly will give you much less slip than the standard one making them quite useful for the Foz community.
 
benwarn said:
true true, but its a good excuse to get a nice rear diff. I guess if you always travel with someone else, then it's prolly not too bad, you can just limp home in fwd if its auto and fwd with half power in manual
Click to expand...

Ummm... hate to break your bubble but if you loose the drive mechanism at the rear of the drive train in a manual, eg your diff, the AWD gearbox will direct all power to that diff as there is the least resistance at that point. Bascially what I'm saying is that manual AWD subaru's do not have the ability to "limp home" in front wheel drive like their earlier counterparts that are designed to run in front wheel drive. The centre LSD is not strong enough to do this work, but if it could be locked you'd be in business for this little trick (if you ever needed this trick - not likely)

Also, I'm not meaning to criticise, but you guys sound like you have very little understanding of LSDs/Lockers and the WRX LSDs. The rear diff has changed very little over time. While ratios have changed, the casings have not. I would confidently be able to bolt an early MY rear diff into a late model foz - I'm not sure about the lastest models but anyway. The difference is in the driveshafts as already stated earlier in this thread (male stub axles on diff/female fitting into diff). WRX LSDs would work well offroad if they're the right type for your application - the WRX uses the LSDs advantage for extra traction on the black top, we want it for the use of 4wd'n :iconwink: They will do the job either way with a little work.

LSDs can be made to be tighter to the point that they only let go when things get extreme - like tight turning in a car park. The diffs will click when they do - I've seen this on several impreza rally cars. However I do not know what type of LSDs these were. From what I've been told - as I'm no diff mechanic specialist - any clutch pack LSD can have extra clutch plates added or tighened up to 'lock' the diff after loss of traction. This may not get you out of a free-wheeling situation but it will provide more traction in general over an open diff. They will wear out over time but can be overhauled and freshened up.

Good luck on having a locker made up as I read in another thread and was mentioned in here. ARB or a subsiduary may have said they're onto it but I highly doubt it - if they were serious there'd be one on the market already! On the Ausubaru forum about 12 to 18 months ago they got hold of an L series auto locker to reverse engineer. Everyone wanted one IF they could work out how it would handle on-road when behind an AWD gearbox - auto or manual, especially in the wet. There were some long discussions that often conflicted eachother and in the end no one could decide on what it would drive like in general. In the end the price was too high for those who were unsure of what it would be like in everyday driving.

I know a member who has one in a PT4wd subi, it clicks and clunks as he drives around normally, nothing real loud, just enough to let you know its still there. When out 4wd'n the first time with him and not knowing what he had hiding out back, I thought there was something very wrong with his motor - it clicked and clunked as he climbed the hill.

I don't know how much of your own mechanical work you guys do (I know new foresters/outbacks are expensive bits of equipment) but it seems that for the majority its not a lot... This is not a bad thing, just an observation.

The best setup for a subi would be an air or vacuum locker that can be locked when we're 4wd'n, then open when we're driving on the black top. But unfortunatly these are not available to us.

Go the Cusco, you won't look back! Just make sure you take the diff with you when you sell the subi if it ever comes to that.

Cheers

Bennie
 
Go the Cusco, you won't look back! Just make sure you take the diff with you when you sell the subi if it ever comes to that.

Cheers

Bennie[/quote]


I've had a cusco rs LSD in the rear of my 2004 x man subaru for 55k now and I highly recommend it. It's still works like new. I think it is a better option than a auto locker when you consider road use as well.

Cheers
Ray
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top