Forester_Ranger

29" tires won't fit under the stock spring perches of Forester struts. I have a Forester with 215/85r15 TSL's. My spring perches however have been moved up 1 1/2" to give 2" of lift and allow for fitment of 29" tires. I also used a BFH to give clearence in the fender well. I think the Impreza fender wells are smaller than the Forester which will be another issue for you.

98 Forester with 2" strut lift and 2" Scorpion body lift 29" Super Swamper TSL 10" under front Y-pipe 11" under rear diff gaurd

Here's my custom EA center console in a Forester.

nice tires. what is the overall diameter in inches? I think you should of left the wheels silver though.

Mt. Angel sounds good to me. Not too far from where I live.

Looks like a good place to go wheelin. nice shots.

I have the 21st and 22nd off. I would be interested in coming up there one of those days.

i'm interested

Here's a shot of my 98 Forester with 4" of lift and 29" super swampers. I Haven't got any good wheeling pics yet. Last weekend I took it wheelin and lost my rear bumper and destroyed the exhaust. a friend took pics on his phone and i'm waiting for him to send me them.

Well It's been a year since I broke my muffler off. About 5 months afterwards I had the cats removed since I kept getting checking engine codes. At the same time I added a free flowing glass pack for a muffler. Now it's louder than ever. I haven't had any engine problems. I do however use the Forester mostly just for off-roading. Most of the time it just sits in the driveway. So I'm not out driving around town all the time with loud exhaust.

I think the EJ dual-range for you is the best way to go. It would be pretty pricey though to import one. But you will keep the AWD and get some low-range as well. I got a ea82 3:90 Dual-range swap in my forester with 29" tires. I gave up my AWD and 4:11 gearing though. Driving around in 2wd with 29" tires is noticbly slower. But Gaining more Off-roadability in 4lo is worth it for me. Since that is all I use the Forester for now.

Awesome pictures. Nice to see some New School Subaru's off-roading. You never see that here in America.

I vote for the AA Scappoose site. Not to far for me. I would show up for that.

I think the Raider has more off-road potential. Being short wheelbase, short overhangs and plenty of room for larger tires. I'm not to familiar for the aftermarket options for Raider/Monteros. but would expect it to be larger than Subaru's. But it all comes down to personal preferences.

The Low-range climbs and does much better in all areas off-road compared to my stock tranny. The clutch is an XT-6 clutch. Which Mudrat claims is the strongest clutch you can get for an ea82 tranny. I haven't noticed any clutch slipping. I don't know what you mean by the Forester was on it's way out. The Old AWD Tranny and clutch have been working great in my SVX. On the street in FWD It is noticably more sluggish because of higher gearing and taller tires. with lift and bigger tires I'm getting about 19 MPG. Overall it is less enjoyable on the street but much more fun off-road.