4x4 running gear options...L series

Mitchhsj · Post by **Mitchhsj** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:12 pm

i have an l series with rich lift and 27s. its great off road until you drop a wheel in a hole or a wheel gets stuck and your a 2wd car. i saw something about a detroit locker for them but sounds a little far feached. is there any thing you can buy or do to improve its drivability? it would be great if it was as easy as installing an air locker... thanks..

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:23 pm

Clutch LSD's (from Leone RX turbo) are hard to come by, viscous LSD's are effective to an extent but will still leave you stranded, a welded diff is a pain on the road so in my opinion, get a clutch LSD from an Impreza STI and change the ratio to suit your ratio. They can also be shimmed to provide varying levels of LSDness

Mitchhsj · Post by **Mitchhsj** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:40 pm

what gear ratio do WRXs have? different to a l series i guess.. but yes that sounds good, the one thing i do like is my nice sharp turning circle and a locker would make it a little hard..

INEEDABEER · Post by **INEEDABEER** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:57 am

The thing about driving subes is you learn to drive them differently than the larger 4WD's. Different lines,speed and approaches are needed and learning them will make you a better driver off road should you ever change to a bigger 4WD.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 8:00 am

Look at th changes over the years - in the 80's you could opton an RX to get a slippery diff, then ten years later has to be an STi to get one !

Post by **TOONGA** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 8:27 am

steptoe wrote:Look at th changes over the years - in the 80's you could opton an RX to get a slippery diff, then ten years later has to be an STi to get one !

Given enough money I'm pretty sure Subaru would make you what ever you wanted:) but that would probably be a lot of money.

TOONGA

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 8:33 am

this 2WD car is not the same as the blue station wagon you are showing us with no centre bearing mount and a one piece tailshaft is it ??? You are like the rest of us and have more than one old sube ....?

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:47 pm

INEEDABEER wrote:The thing about driving subes is you learn to drive them differently than the larger 4WD's. Different lines,speed and approaches are needed and learning them will make you a better driver off road should you ever change to a bigger 4WD.

Totally agree 100% with this statement!

Offroading a subaru will be shunned by those in the "real" 4wds. Realistically it comes down to what you do with what you've got. Subarus are very capable offroad for what they are. They can be subjected to the usual mods as a larger 4wd yet they're still perceived as being "highly modified" beside a highly modified "real" 4wd - yet the driving style required of a Subaru is completely different than that of the big 4wd's. I believe this to be for the better.

Other than that, as Gannon has mentioned about the LSD in the rear the only other thing to do is "chuck in" a front LSD - An OBX mechical front diff will fit in the L series gearbox even though it's not listed. Front and rear LSDs will make a huge difference to the performance offroad. A change in the style of your driving could make a difference too. Any 4wd will get hung up on something some day.

Cheers

Bennie

Mitchhsj · Post by **Mitchhsj** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 11:29 am

oh i didn't know you can do something with the front diff/gearbox might have to. yea i love driving the car to its limits and seeing what it is capable of. but a few LSDs would be handy at the best of times

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:25 pm

What are the range of options for LSD's in the front diff of the L series part time and AWD boxes?

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 11:43 pm

lovey80 wrote:What are the range of options for LSD's in the front diff of the L series part time and AWD boxes?

Pretty much the same as any other subi box... I've got an OBX mechanical in the gearbox being built - L AWD box, unfortunately I'm looking for another centre diff for this build, mine's shot

If going for the OBX LSD grab the kit that uses new washers etc as apparently the factory ones aren't much chop. I didn't know this until after my LSD was put in. Tambox knows all the details

Cheers

Bennie

lovey80 · Post by **lovey80** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 12:24 pm

What about viscous options? So will a LSD from a WRX fit into a L series box?