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I don't understand the "rub it in" but sure must be funny like you want me to send you a BG Outback...

I got that exhaust for free but if I had to buy one, I'd buy a whole car. Here in Switzerland, you can find a BG Outback for 300/400 $ with 200Kkm.

Like it how you are hanging the exhaust higher ! But wow, all that rust... Did some same sort of work last week. Frankensteined my Forester with a Legacy Outback BG exhaust manifold, up-pipe and down-pipe as the european specs make them take the same route as the turbo Subarus, above the front right cv axle. https://partsouq.com/en/catalog/genuine/unit?c=Subaru+Europe&ssd=%24HSUzdAJ2cgt_cnQ8IkkKCgEACk1ddllUS0xsdGNfY1MHWFcBdwJbFA%24&vid=212&cid=&uid=5410&q=jf1bg9lfbwgo89558

I have Heri axles on my '97 Forester since 2+ years. The inner boots are very fragile and the inner cv's now have some play but still do the job. Its not super quality but the design helped a lot for the long travel coilovers (10"front, 11"rear, no body lift).

Everything seems to be fixed, cool !

I don't rally my forester but drove in Morocco on sand dunes and hit a hidden rock. Did a nice "bang" on the skid plate but only slightly bent it. I love the low range but mostly use it for crawling. With your bigger engines, I think that a standard forester 1,447:1 should be enough. And remember that you can shift from high to low on the fly, they have syncro rings ! But don't push too hard on them, they don't really appreciate...

I have an 8mm aluminum skid plate made of Dural. Its bolted to the chassis with 7 bolts. I can hijack the front of the Forester 2 wheels off the ground without issues anywhere on the skid plate. Few pics of the 1,59:1 low range conversion, DCCD and the skid plate : http://www.forum4x4.org/threads/117587-Subaru-forester?p=2307266&viewfull=1#post2307266

I haven't broken my Heri axles yet but they get a lot of play, like 4-5°. The concept is very good but quality is average. I bought them at Advanced Auto Parts through a friend living in Colorado 2 years ago. I'll try to find some FWD Legacy axles here in Switzerland.

Very nice skid plate. Am impressed with the angle you can get with oem cv axles. I upgraded to Heri HD cv axles but they are not very HD though they give much more angle than oem. What cv axles do you use ?

There are 3 different low range ratios in the EJ gearboxes. Early Imprezas ('93-'95) with 1.6 or 1.8 engines had the 1,59:1 with 3,9 differential ratio Foresters with the 2.0 engine had the 1,45:1 with 4,11 differential ratio Legacys with the 2.5 engine had the 1,19:1 (can't remember the differential ratio but think it's 3,9) Other engine/model/year had 1,45:1 and 1,19:1 but the 1,59:1 was only in the early Imprezas. As said by Cyfun, I think that low range would be too weak for rallying. Better find a 6 speed.

Thank you !

Ah, ok, I see what you mean ! Like you, I have no more sway bars. I do more crawling up mountain tracks (no deserts here !) even though I went to Morocco twice. For more oversteer, I chose the DCCD center differential (35/65 split) route with the possibility to lock 50/50, and for better traction on slippery surfaces, Quaife helical differentials front and rear. And of course, the famous low range modified at 1,59:1 ! But this is your thread, and I'd love to have your skills and be able to adapt motorbike forks (KTM for example) and see if it works even better !

The rear spring rates are softer because of the lighter weight and longer stroke. And because I usually travel empty. What is the tape measure ? (sorry, my english is very basic, I usually speak french !)

http://www.forum4x4.org/threads/117587-Subaru-forester?p=2074279&viewfull=1#post2074279 Here are a few pics, didn't do any torn apart ones though…will do ! And here is a calculation I did for another Subaru enthusiast (email I sent him) First, I converted everything to metric, its easier for me… Weight front : 845 kg - 100 kg (unsprung weight) = 745 kg - 40 kg (strut spring force at ride height, 20 kg per side) = 705 kg Spring rates : 1x 254 mm x 50 N/mm + 1x 254 mm x 40 N/mm = 1x 508 mm x 22,2 N/mm ((50 x 40) : (50 + 40) = 22,2) 705 kg : 22,2 N/mm = 31,7 cm (amount of compression of the springs at full load like when diagonal spin occurs) Spring length at ride height : 508 mm - (317 : 2 = 158) = 350 mm (divided because the weight is on both front wheels) Ride height : 350 mm - 165 mm (thread height) = 185 mm (rod length) Weight rear : 710 kg - 100 kg = 610 kg - 40 kg = 570 kg Spring rates : 2x 280 mm x 40N/mm = 1x 560 mm x 20 N/mm 570 kg : 20 N/mm = 28,5 cm Spring length at ride height : 560 mm - (285 : 2 = 142) = 418 mm Ride height : 418 - 165 = 253 mm I did this calculation if you want to have maximum stroke (what I did to mine). Your hydraulic settings are quite hard I think but its easier to change the oil than the settings. HotBits uses ATF Dexron III (viscosity 34 cst@40°C). I changed for Motorex Fork Oil 7.5W because it works much smoother (no stick-slip) but has the same viscosity because my settings are like oem Subaru struts and I can harden the compression with the knobs (DT2) Et voilà ! Hope it helps you ! Vincent You can see that I use 2 springs per strut because I couldn't find long enough springs. Did this calculation for the newer struts and more for crawling than rallying. Edit : seems I can't post the images

Hi pontoontodd ! Just signed up here to follow your build, especially the suspension setup. Your skills are amazing ! I have a '97 Forester which had custom Proflex Evo 2 struts built for a Forester engaged in the '08 Dakar. I bought them 2nd hand from Bruno Picard in '10 but don't use them anymore as they are not comfortable enough, its my daily. They are inverted struts, I had the same problem as you, the bearings needed to be lubricated to work properly so I tried to find a solution with upper and lower joints around the bearing and fork oil. The result was fine but needed too much maintenance... As I don't have your fabrication skills, I tried another route and found non-inverted struts built to my specs with 24cm stroke front and 26cm stroke rear. I calculated the maximum stroke possible in the front to be 24cm because of the inner CV's and steering components (no body lift) but I can see that you have even more stroke, especially on compression…how did you do that ?

Hi all ! I live in Switzerland where Subarus are quite common, but no one modifies them….except me ! I found on this forum some very good reviews about engine swaps a few years back, which I did. Sorry for my english, I usually speak french.