1996 Subaru Legacy L Wagon AWD 4" Lift

This car just keeps getting better. Loving what you did wth it

I didn't care much for the automatic transmission when I first got the car. And I had considered swapping it for a 5-speed manual. Since I’ve discovered that the automatic is great for rock-crawling. I believe the ‘torque multiplier’ is helpful for the low range. Another mod I have done was to add a switch inside that allows me to alter the drive-train power distribution. A single toggle switch (DPDT) (On/Off/On) that controls the Duty solenoid 'C' on the 4EAT sending 12 volts for FWD (100/0), stock voltage for AWD (80/20) or 0 volts (50/50) power split front/rear.

 

im really curious how you wired this up!

 

wagon looks great, makes me wish mine was AWD. mine is the same car and color, just FWD only. im curious about the wiring for my 96GT

Hey –Thank you, Kiyo1990 and monkeyposeur. lots of work, but the car iis pretty cool. Few for projects to go: Thinking about putting on ‘08 Forster struts next. And I’ve been looking for a hood with a scoop.

 

Hi twisty –don’t know if I can remember the exact wiring, but in a nutshell: the DPDT switch has 3 positions

Position (1) On –bridge the fuse under the hood marked FWD. making the car FWD (light on the dash comes On)

Position (2) Off --cuts power to Duty solenoid 'C'. Making the transmission send 50% power to front and 50% to the rear

Position (3) On –bridges the normal AWD circuit

 

This was one of the first mods I did on the car and before I started journaling the work.

Edited July 20, 2013 by swcolegacyl

im still confused, a DPDT (double pole double throw) relay has two separate connections. you can energize/de-energize two items, flip-flop or any combination of those. but the poles always hit at the same time, only open or closed combinations. im not understanding where the 3rd position comes from. i was also more interested intheduty C wiring, iwasnt aware there was anyway to control that.

 

now that im thinking of this more, i can see you mean youre basically putting it into FWD mode with one pole, enabling the dutyC with another and having the OFF kill both. using a switch, youd have too have a 3-position switch unless you wanted to flip-flop between them. are you using a 2-position switch with a DPDT relay or a 3-position switch?

This car just keeps getting better. Loving what you did wth it

 

if you're worrying about them (which there are really only a few) when you visit t-ride then you're doing it wrong. go summit sneffels or something.

You got it twisty. the wiring as i remember was pretty simple. No relay used. by cutting power to Duty solenoid 'C' you are basically creating a fault in the system. And you can definitely feel the changes the way the car drives, especially in reverse.

hmmm. now im gonna start looking for some crazy switch at work for this.

I got the switch from Radio Shack Model: 275-710, 3 position (On/Off/On) DPDT

if you're worrying about them (which there are really only a few) when you visit t-ride then you're doing it wrong. go summit sneffels or something.

 

Haha what you mean? Plus if I go up that way ill have to raise my car up (yay coil overs haha)

Haha what you mean? Plus if I go up that way ill have to raise my car up (yay coil overs haha)

 

sorry I quoted the wrong post, meant to say that to monkeyposuer.

Just rolled over the 200,000 mark and still going strong!

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/200004.jpg

Pics of the exterior?

Hi octain11, Thanks for the post. But please look at the other pages for exterior pics. Page 3 has the most pics. Edited July 31, 2013 by swcolegacyl

All the peaks around Telluride have a fresh coat of paint.

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/FirstSnow.jpg

Hi all, Another beautiful day in Colorado. Got the Subaru a bit dirty today on my way to get the oil changed. I took Last Dollar road, a fun not too difficult 4x4 mountain pass. My dog Sam checking things out.

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/muddy1.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/muddy2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/muddy3.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/muddy4.jpg

Edited August 18, 2013 by swcolegacyl

A first ever attempt at Bondo-ing for me. You may have noticed the dent in the passenger side rocker panel. (see pics above) A scar from one of my off-road adventures. The dent was not a structural problem, but it's been bothering me. I had to fix it. You can’t quite tell by the pics, but the dent is about ¾ inch deep. I started by scribing the contour of the rocker onto cardboard. Then I made a template out of the cardboard. It took about 7 layers of Bondo at the deepest part for everything to match. The Bondo was surprisingly easy to work with and over all the rocker came out pretty nice. And of course I painted the rocker with Black Krylon.

 

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RockerFix1.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RockerFix2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RockerFix3.jpg

Edited August 30, 2013 by swcolegacyl

Came out looking pretty good.

Hey scoobydoo73 --Thank you. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Winter is back in Telluride, and full month earlier then last year. Think it's time to throw on the winter tires: General Altimax Arctic Studded!

 

Last nights snow, about 4".

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/winter2013.jpg

 

Thought i'd post a couple pics from a few weekends ago in Paradox, Co

 

First time i've ever seen a tarantula in the wild.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/paradoxwe1.jpg

 

Found that tarantula right next to where the car is parked.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/paradoxwe2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/paradoxwe3.jpg

Edited November 5, 2013 by swcolegacyl

Looks pretty fun man! I feel like I should go this direction, but I won't

i just bought my 1st subaru after seeing this post....1997 legacy gt wagon, 139k, needs headgasket.....here we go!

Nice, Thank you natetru. So far the Legacy has been a great car. Durable, dependable and fun to work on.

 

You probably have the 2.5L in that car? once you replace the gaskets, it should be a nice strong engine. I've considered putting a 2.5L in my car, but the 2.2L seems to do just fine.

 

Good luck with it!

Edited December 4, 2013 by swcolegacyl

Yes, 2.5 In it...I found an outback at local pick a part....struts are 25 a piece....trying to decide to buy them or buy new ones for an outback. i have the motor out, bout to dive into the gasket job plus all the extra things whileI'm there

1. I apologize for my bad English.

Hello swcolegacyl, I think it would be better to put the pad and over the longitudinal rear carrier which is fixed with 3 screws to stand rear wheels exactly centered (because the pictures seem slightly shifted to the thresholds).

At the earliest opportunity to photograph my car how I did it.

Greetings your car has become cool

Hi stenben and thanks for commenting. But i'm not quite sure what you are talking about. The roof rack basket? It is shifted slightly because i needed room for the bike tray on the passenger side. if that's not it please explain or post a pic.

 

EDIT:>> Or, are you talking about the rear wheels centered in the wheel wells? if it works out because the struts are angled back. so when the strut compresses the rear wheels move back. Nothing rubs and the suspension works perfectly.

 

thanks

Edited December 9, 2013 by swcolegacyl