custom low range in EA gearbox?

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:03 pm

Alright guys, I know it's been talked about before and gets dismissed as too expensive ... but I want to have a good serious look at it and try and work out exactly how much it would cost. I can't find any threads on it though so I guess it hasn't been talked about since the data loss.

So here's a gearbox:

and some info gleaned from USMB:

the way it works is its 2 sets of gears, thats why low makes so much whining. First you have a set of 1 to 1 gears to a secondary shaft, and then it gears back across to the low floating gear, and thats where the reduction is. when in high it just bypasses straight thru from the input shaft to the rest of the floating gears. Kinda like how "hi" gear is on a normal transmission. SO in theory, you could double up these reduction gears, and get somethin crazy like 2.8 to 1. The only problem is that this would require a 100% custom input shaft, and a 100% secondary Low shaft. but the floating gear and the rest of the tranny would be ok.

Funny enough subaru transmissions are nothing like a normal tranny, because Hi gear does not go straight thru, but rather is also a floating bevel gear, just like the rest, because its the counter shaft that drives the ring gear on the differential

So it seems to be possible, just needs some money thrown at it. When it comes to this stuff I'm a dunce but I'm sure there's enough smarts on here that we could work out

a) It's possible
b) Exactly what needs to be done
c) Who can do it and
d) How much it would cost

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:41 pm

I think one of the problems with extra low low we came across on the old board as lack of room for the larger gears required.

Fang · Post by **Fang** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:21 am

I'd be keen to know a solution to this as well stinky - since I need to replace the low gear in the box I have now anyways.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 8:38 am

Could somebody who knows what they're talking about edit the picture to show exactly which gears need replacement?

PeeJay · Post by **PeeJay** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:14 am

Top bit is input shaft, bottom bit is low range reduction. With 1:1.5 low, 3.7 diff and 14" tyres I'm quite happy with my low. Would be good to have a vlsd in the front.

Xtreme_RX · Post by **Xtreme_RX** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:19 am

stinky to put it simply, Yes it can be done in the EJ boxes.
1.8:1 is about as low as you can get to fit in the EJ boxes.
And the price $3800 including fitting

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:27 am

Thanks, but i want it in my EA box

Although I have been meaning to ask you if you're able to fit an L series fulltime 4wd box into a brumby ( already has dual range L series ) and how much you'd charge for it? I understand the CVs need to be modified for the bigger cup, but no idea what else might be needed. How much would you charge for such a job ?

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:39 pm

I just had a thought ... what about getting a new 1st gear made that's heaps lower ? Looks like it would be a lot easier than doing the low range gears ...

Fang · Post by **Fang** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:04 pm

stinky wrote:I just had a thought ... what about getting a new 1st gear made that's heaps lower ? Looks like it would be a lot easier than doing the low range gears ...

That would make it a bit of a pig on the road wouldnt it? Though a good idea for an "offroad" only vehicle.

Is it DEFINATLELY impossible to make the final ratio of Full Time boxes different from 3.7? A 1.8 low would be fantastic but the cost is a little too scarey for me.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 8:24 am

yeah it would make it a bit of a pig onroad, but that wouldn't bother me much on the car I want it on

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:47 pm

stinky wrote:I just had a thought ... what about getting a new 1st gear made that's heaps lower ? Looks like it would be a lot easier than doing the low range gears ...

anything more happen with this?
perhaps changing the ratios of all the gears ? at least 1st and 2nd?
I wouldn't have a clue as to whats possible or not tho

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:55 am

Nah I haven't had the chance to chase it up at all. It's on my list of things to do

wagonist · Post by **wagonist** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:32 pm

The problem I remember from guys who tried this in Qld about 10 years ago was that while it was ok for a bigger gear to fit, the corresponding smaller gear would smash due to not enough metal.

I'm not sure if Lib diffs fit into L series boxes, but a 4.111 or 4.444 diff with the L series ratios might work better. Then you could also get in a front LSD too

Also, just replacing first would be ok for rock climbing, but what about those situations when you need to go from 1st to 2nd in a hurry to keep the momentum up?

PeeJay · Post by **PeeJay** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:38 pm

wagonist wrote:Also, just replacing first would be ok for rock climbing, but what about those situations when you need to go from 1st to 2nd in a hurry to keep the momentum up?

Just go from low to hi

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Sat May 27, 2006 6:44 pm

theres these for forestor gears
http://www.scorpionsubaru.com/low.htm

so obvious question here is can the ea motor be adapted (via a adaptor i assume) to hook up to a forestor gearbox, and could it plus the forestor diff fit into a L series?

ej adapted to the ea drive line has been done by many...this is the inverse.

Oh and wagonist! rock climin is what its all about :P

PeeJay · Post by **PeeJay** » Sun May 28, 2006 11:42 am

To go the reverse I believe you have to shave off 12mm from your gearbox to make it fit. Much better just to fit an EJ

damo666 · Post by **damo666** » Mon May 29, 2006 8:22 pm

so obvious question here is can the ea motor be adapted (via a adaptor i assume) to hook up to a forestor gearbox, and could it plus the forestor diff fit into a L series?

Yep, there is an RX rallycar here in Canberra that runs the Forester box. Its been a while since I had the conversation, but from what I remember they just made some mods to the upper gearbox mounting holes (on the engine), and had a custom flywheel made to mount the WRX clutch. There was also another one here a few years back that used a big alloy adaptor.

Subaman · Post by **Subaman** » Mon May 29, 2006 9:03 pm

You could also fit the EJ gearbox internals into the L Series housing.