pontoontodd

Yes, rust free cars make life much easier! Forester is pretty much ready to go. I'm still driving my 99 Outback though and it's pretty rusty. Once the 2002 is done I'll probably keep driving both for a few years. Would really like to do a few more desert races while the 99 is still going.

Added a T, tow bar tabs, and little guards for the bolts for the blue Forester skidpan. Also swapped out the rear CV axles on that, long bolt on one corner on the rear, and fabricated lateral links on that corner. Put the hitch from the green Forester on it too.

That trans skid is pretty light. I have bent the oil pan guard on my 99 Outback a little when it was two pieces of 1"x2" rectangle with 1/8" 4130 on the bottom.

I'll make you one for some STI R180 rear CV axles...

This is the front guard for the 2002 Outback welded. Still need to add tubes to the front bumper so can't paint it yet. This is the guard for the auto trans pan. Held a couple tubes in place with magnets a little bit off the pan and fit a couple plates to some of the case bolts/studs. Added some ramps so it slides over rocks better and welded it off the car. Painted and installed.

I just think if you used it through a hole in a flat plate you'd eventually cut through the strap. Used around bumpers or shackles or something they hold up great. We have broken a 1" strap after a lot of abuse but a friend has pulled a semi truck out of the mud with a 1" strap before. The 2" straps seem indestructible for Subaru use.

these also stretch

I thought about bolting on the plates. It would be a little more work and weaker than welding them on. Really there's almost never a reason to remove that plate once it's installed, you can even remove the engine and/or exhaust with it in place. We use these straps for recovery: https://www.racereadyproducts.com/tie-downs--tow-straps/speed-strap/ You can adjust the length, they loop around a bumper or whatever so they don't fall off, and the 2" straps hold up very well. So a plate to loop them through wouldn't be good, that would cut the strap. Plates sticking out down there might catch on obstacles too.

For now I'm not going to add any more plates. I think the extra weight, cost, and difficulty of maintenance isn't worth it. If we start desert racing with one of these then we probably should. We will usually just loop a strap around the front bumper. Planning on making bumpers for both cars. 2002 already has a steel bumper in front. In the meantime we can loop something around one of those tubes going back from the radiator support. Round tubing is stronger but for these guards square and rectangle seems to work out better. Mounting to the bottom of the radiator support and crossmember is easier, then connecting those and giving a flat surface for the plate to attach to is also easier. It's also a lot faster fitting square/rectangle tubes together than round to round.

Similar guard for the front of my 2002 Outback. You can see the auto trans guard I'm working on too, I'll put up some pictures of that when it's done.

This is the guard we just built for the front of the Forester to protect the radiator support and oil pan. Also bolts to the front swaybar mounts for more bracing and somewhat protect the exhaust.

You mean caught between the tubes and the gas tank? I don't think we've had that problem. If you mean smaller rocks could fit between the tubes and dent the gas tank, that hasn't been a problem either. The main goal is to keep the big rocks from smashing into the front edge of the gas tank.

Going to make a few posts about some of the guards we've built recently. This one is the gas tank guard we originally made for the green 2000 Forester. Original: We had to refab a couple of the mounts to fit the blue 2001 Forester, probably mainly from beating on the 2000, I don't think the cars are supposed to be different. Test fitting and adjusting on the 2001: welded the new ends on: quick respray and install:

If it's only 4x as expensive as an ADF lift that's cheap! Would like to see some pictures and videos.

Nothing against Subiworks but didn't see any long travel suspension on their facebook page or website. Hotbits and other companies sell long travel struts, TSS fab built a super wide STI (WRX?) with a lot of suspension travel.

I was going to start on tube bumpers for the 2002 Outback but realized I should really get the long travel done first to check tire clearance. Removed the stock front bumper cover and beam. Started on a skid for the oil pan and realized I didn't have enough tubing for mine and my friend's Forester and his needs to be done sooner. Got the front part done though, bolts into the radiator support and in place of the tie down loops. Mounted a transmission cooler in front, didn't have to drill any holes. This is what it looks like with the mounts painted and lines installed. Curious to see how the auto works off road. This is the skid for the Forester so far. It will have a plate between the square tubes on the bottom, the tubes will give it some bending strength and should be a little more ground clearance than what he had before. This is roughly what I'm planning on the 2002 Outback. I also plan to run square tubes from that front beam to the swaybar mounts to brace things and guard the exhaust. I also tried to get the gas tank guard we built for his 2000 Forester on the 2001 and it didn't quite line up. Shouldn't take too much work, we just ran out of time yesterday.

Putting smaller (276mm) front brakes on the 2002 white Outback so I can put 15" wheels on later. Got a 6MT/R180 swap on order for the 99 Outback, should be in Friday.

Couldn't find stock spring rate right off, but 200#/in sounds about right. Rear suspension has about a 2:3 motion ratio, so that's effectively 2*2*200/(3*3)=89#/in at the wheel, which seems low, I think the springs on the struts are usually around 150 stock. You would want to shoot for 150-200 at the wheel, probably closer to 200, more than that and it will start getting harsh. The 450 would be exactly 200 equivalent so it might not be terrible. Another way to look at it is you'll have say 900# sprung weight on each rear tire. 2:3 motion ratio means 1350# at the spring. With no preload a 450#/in spring will compress 3", which is probably more than half the shock travel. With an inch or two of preload you'd probably be sitting about where you want to be. The stock springs are 11" long installed, so you could get a 12" long spring 400-500#/in. I would be tempted to go with a 400#/in 14" long spring to make it a little softer and give you lots of bump travel but it might coil bind. If 3" ID springs would work you can get those for under $100 each, you'd have to measure. Might be able to find something on that Moog chart that would work, in that case they're usually under $50 each.

There is a company called Subiefish that makes adapters to fit Tacoma struts on the rear of a Subaru. They say you get some lift and the Tacoma Bilstein shocks are fairly cheap and are much stronger than the Subaru rear struts. Sounds like you might be able to just use the Subaru top hat and the Tacoma spring and strut.

We parted out my friend's 2000 Forester over the weekend. Took all the body panels, lights, suspension, drivetrain and more out, left most of the interior in. The shell with the interior weighs 1200#. Sunday we pulled all the suspension off his 2001 Forester he drove back from Oregon and put the long travel struts, long front CV axles and tie rods, front control arms, etc on it. We still have to put oil pan and gas tank guards on it but we can probably reuse the guards from his 2000. Still working on long travel parts for my 2001 Outback. Will hopefully have money soon for the STI drivetrain conversion for my 99 Outback, have a plan for replacing the center diff with low range.

Appreciate the brush tip, I may have to look at that on mine. I replaced the blower motor in my 99 Outback when it finally stopped working with one out of a 2002 Outback parts car. It is still working but it seems weak. I am willing to buy a new one, wondering if anyone knows what brand has the best performance, or if any of the blower motors on Rockauto fit. Specifically the VDO blower on Rockauto is twice the price of the rest, I'd be willing to pay it if it pushes a lot more air. Looks like Subaru wants $130 or $143, anyone know the difference between 72210AC150 and 72240AC000?

I've been thinking it would be much easier to just start with an STI than do what I'm doing, you'd have good power and a strong drivetrain without swapping in six cylinders and six speeds. Until recently I have only seen them as low as $8000 and that's with some body damage and a lot of miles. One of my friends who has one was just telling me he has seen them fairly cheap on auction sites with body damage, but we're going to do that regardless. Looks like three have sold in the last two months on ebay for $3000-5000 without significant damage. There are a couple on another auction site right now with 50-100k miles with hail damage and clear titles. So it looks like they're much cheaper than I thought. I would put different struts on it and might have to space the subframes, but that's probably less work than an engine and/or trans swap. Could sell the stock struts if they're decent. Not sure if I could find decent off road tires for 17 or 18" wheels to fit over the brakes. Wouldn't have the interior space we're used to. Thoughts?

Excellent recovery. How long did that take?

Definitely if you're trying to do traditional off roading (slow crawling), a truck or Jeep is the way to go for all the reasons you listed. I wonder how much of our body problems have been due to corrosion and how much of the problem is fatigue. I've never had to fix the body on my Impreza, it is originally from Colorado so it's not super rusty. The same corner of the Forester has come apart twice now, I would think if it was due to insufficient spot welds it would have held after being fully welded. I have had rear shock/strut mount portions of the body come apart on a couple Subarus now and seemed mainly where they were rusty. Points toward corrosion as the main cause. In the next few years we'll find out, we should have a rust free Outback and Forester with long travel by the end of the year. Also, full frame doesn't mean it doesn't break, one of the main problems with the Raptor was that the frame would crack. More easily reinforced than a unibody for sure. Everything fairly stock, Subarus definitely ride better than any truck or Jeep I've been in. We usually go 2-3 times as fast in stock Subarus and I just can't drive at a Jeep pace. Most trails within 1000 miles of my house, even at off road parks, can be driven in a fairly stock Subaru, so I'd rather just do them at a quick pace for more entertainment. I think I really need to get a ride in a decent pre runner or two and see how it compares to what I have now. For say a $10k budget that might be the way to go. Similar vintage Tacomas and Rangers are similar curb weight to our Subarus. Certainly full size trucks are heavier. The stock(ish) Subaru seems to be the way to go on a ~$2000 budget. We have also beaten the crap out of my 96 Impreza, it's amazing where that thing will go and be fairly comfortable doing it. Another big advantage is a few guys can each buy one and have common spares and tools.

Doing something different is more interesting. Really we got into the Subarus since the stock Subarus ride much better off road than fairly stock Jeeps and trucks. With similar money in either for aftermarket suspension, maybe the truck is the way to go, real low range, lockers, bigger tires, etc.