Overland OBS (OutBack Sport) Build
- Thread starter vwhammer
- Start date
freshlikesushi
Free Candy
Ahhh that sucks.
For lift kit anderson design is pretty amazing. dude has it down, it may also be worth it to message him on FB and ask his opinion on which shocks to run as well. Hes a smart guy
For lift kit anderson design is pretty amazing. dude has it down, it may also be worth it to message him on FB and ask his opinion on which shocks to run as well. Hes a smart guy
freshlikesushi
Free Candy
I think the travel may be more, but the bracket location is higher on the forester giving more lift
Mongoose Maine
Observer
I like the looks of that bull bar where can I get one ?
freshlikesushi
Free Candy
light mount, not a bull bar
Mongoose Maine
Observer
do you have a link for the light bar and by the way thanks for the idea about the lights in the trunk.
vwhammer
Adventurer
Well I need to get this thing on the road so I just went for the Forester struts and springs.
I found a junkyard about an hour away that had all 4 strut assemblies with springs and upper mounts for $29 a piece.
I was hesitant to slap someone else's used junk on there but the front struts on my car are toast now so how bad could it be.
Either way I needed the springs and this seemed like a good way to get them and maybe luck out and have some struts I could use for the time being until I decided to get some new stuff.
As luck would have it the two front struts I got from the yard are only lightly used KYB Excell-G struts which is what I would have bought if I bought new ones anyway.
so since they were new-ish and I now have the springs and upper mounts I decided to go ahead and buy a pair of new rear struts to match the fronts.
Now I just have to sort out the proper parts so I can recenter the rear wheels after the lift.
This usually involves a different upper trailing arm bracket and or some spacers.
I am trying to figure out exactly what brackets or how tall of a spacer I need to properly center the wheel and give me the most suspension geometry correction.
I could go out and measure all the suspension mounting points and plug it into my drawing software to sort it out but so many people have lifted these things I am sure I can find the info I need on the nets.
Once I sort that out I will either buy some factory brackets or build some spacers and bolt them on.
After that all that is left is sway bar mounts and or end links.
Apparently with lifts over an inch it puts some stress on the end links and they can break.
Aftermarket stuff is absurdly expensive for all that they are so I will likely build my own and make some quick disconnects during the process for off road use.
Other than running around and buying parts I did not accomplish anything else this weekend but I will tackle some more cleaning and parts swapping throughout the week.
More pics to follow.
I found a junkyard about an hour away that had all 4 strut assemblies with springs and upper mounts for $29 a piece.
I was hesitant to slap someone else's used junk on there but the front struts on my car are toast now so how bad could it be.
Either way I needed the springs and this seemed like a good way to get them and maybe luck out and have some struts I could use for the time being until I decided to get some new stuff.
As luck would have it the two front struts I got from the yard are only lightly used KYB Excell-G struts which is what I would have bought if I bought new ones anyway.
so since they were new-ish and I now have the springs and upper mounts I decided to go ahead and buy a pair of new rear struts to match the fronts.
Now I just have to sort out the proper parts so I can recenter the rear wheels after the lift.
This usually involves a different upper trailing arm bracket and or some spacers.
I am trying to figure out exactly what brackets or how tall of a spacer I need to properly center the wheel and give me the most suspension geometry correction.
I could go out and measure all the suspension mounting points and plug it into my drawing software to sort it out but so many people have lifted these things I am sure I can find the info I need on the nets.
Once I sort that out I will either buy some factory brackets or build some spacers and bolt them on.
After that all that is left is sway bar mounts and or end links.
Apparently with lifts over an inch it puts some stress on the end links and they can break.
Aftermarket stuff is absurdly expensive for all that they are so I will likely build my own and make some quick disconnects during the process for off road use.
Other than running around and buying parts I did not accomplish anything else this weekend but I will tackle some more cleaning and parts swapping throughout the week.
More pics to follow.
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Mongoose Maine, That light bar looks like a Rally Innovations. There are quite a few out there, especially DIY.
http://shop.rallyinnovations.com/collections/vendors?q=Subaru
http://shop.rallyinnovations.com/collections/vendors?q=Subaru
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vwhammer
Adventurer
The holiday slowed me down a little and the colder weather made it hard to wash and paint things outside so things have been a little slow lately.
Anyway I got some things cleaned up and painted and am now ready for the reassembly phase.
Here are the wheels all dressed up and ready to have the tires mounted.
And here is the suspension bits ready to to be assembled and installed.
Since I had the suspension all apart and was waiting on better weather I decided to confirm a few things about my suspension choice.
I measured (roughly) the stroke of both the Forester and the Impreza struts and determined that by using the Forester bits I am giving up more than an inch of suspension travel.
I also noticed that the shafts of the Impreza struts are a solid 3mm bigger in diameter.
Lastly I discovered that there is seemingly very little extra tire clearance gained at the spring perch by using the forester bits.
I tried to line things up and get some pics to illustrate what I mean but it was tough to get everything lined up.
I find it hard to believe this is the difference between fitting the 215/65 over the 215/60
The strut with less material on the perch is the forester strut
If this is all that is needed to make the the 215/65 fit then I am of the opinion that a 3 or 5mm wheel spacer and the impreza struts with strut top spacers would be the way to go.
Adding some stiffer stock height springs from King would probably be just about perfect.
You would have the ground clearance, the tire clearance, the max travel you can get with stock stuff and the stiffer springs to keep from bottoming out and aid in load carrying.
I may end up going this route after I try this set up and note it's shortcomings.
Anyway, I still need to get to work fabbing up a trailing arm bracket spacer and take a look at the anti roll bar end links to see what I am going to do there.
Shouldn't be too long now and it will at least be rolling and drivable
More later.
Anyway I got some things cleaned up and painted and am now ready for the reassembly phase.
Here are the wheels all dressed up and ready to have the tires mounted.
And here is the suspension bits ready to to be assembled and installed.
Since I had the suspension all apart and was waiting on better weather I decided to confirm a few things about my suspension choice.
I measured (roughly) the stroke of both the Forester and the Impreza struts and determined that by using the Forester bits I am giving up more than an inch of suspension travel.
I also noticed that the shafts of the Impreza struts are a solid 3mm bigger in diameter.
Lastly I discovered that there is seemingly very little extra tire clearance gained at the spring perch by using the forester bits.
I tried to line things up and get some pics to illustrate what I mean but it was tough to get everything lined up.
I find it hard to believe this is the difference between fitting the 215/65 over the 215/60
The strut with less material on the perch is the forester strut
If this is all that is needed to make the the 215/65 fit then I am of the opinion that a 3 or 5mm wheel spacer and the impreza struts with strut top spacers would be the way to go.
Adding some stiffer stock height springs from King would probably be just about perfect.
You would have the ground clearance, the tire clearance, the max travel you can get with stock stuff and the stiffer springs to keep from bottoming out and aid in load carrying.
I may end up going this route after I try this set up and note it's shortcomings.
Anyway, I still need to get to work fabbing up a trailing arm bracket spacer and take a look at the anti roll bar end links to see what I am going to do there.
Shouldn't be too long now and it will at least be rolling and drivable
More later.
Very interesting differences between Impreza and Forester struts.
If I understand well, the shafts diameters are 25mm on the Impreza versus 22mm on the Forester ?
The housing is shorter by inch on the Impreza ? And the shafts longer by an inch too ? Could you measure them, please ?!
And what are the differences at the rear ?
Thank you !
If I understand well, the shafts diameters are 25mm on the Impreza versus 22mm on the Forester ?
The housing is shorter by inch on the Impreza ? And the shafts longer by an inch too ? Could you measure them, please ?!
And what are the differences at the rear ?
Thank you !
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vwhammer
Adventurer
I got the suspension installed today.
I still haven't had the tires mounted yet and I need to decide what route I am going to go to drop the rear trailing arm bracket.
After looking at the anti-roll bar end links I think I am just going to leave them alone for now.
As you can see from the following pics the bushings are being flexed quite a bit at full droop.
However, this is what bushings are supposed to do and it should be much less severe once the suspension is at its resting ride height.
I am just going to leave them alone and fix them if they break or if I notice any issues off road.
It is possible that one could gain some more flex with some links that don't bind up as much or possibly ones that can be disconnected.
However I don't think I will be doing that kind of off road enough to worry about it at this time.
If they break or if I feel like taking it to the next level then I will address the end links.
I did do a little comparison of the rear struts while I had the Impreza and Forester bits off the car.
The rears certainly do appear to have more clearance at the spring perch for bigger tires but, from what I understand, tire clearance at the rear is usually not an issue.
obviously the strut is taller as well.
Sorry jf1sf5 I did not get the measurements you were asking for.
I simply did not have time to mess with it.
One note I recall is that the forester shafts were actually 19mm and the Impreza shaft was 22mm, on the front anyway.
This project has made me realize a couple of things about this platform and ones like it.
If I did not have another off road project in the works for more serious off-roading, (my Vanagon) I could totally see myself doing great things with this car.
Most of the mods are as simple as a rock and functional and reliable to boot.
I could see whipping up some custom subframes for suspension geometry corrections, bigger lift and the most travel possible
Then I might track down the right parts to deal with some gearing for larger tires.
Then I would put larger tires on and work with the approach and departure angles a bit to really make this thing useful.
Would it ever be a rock crawler?
Probably not.
Does the lack of a low range limit what it is capable of.
In my opinion I don't think it does.
I believe a lack of lockers is this platforms biggest downfall.
Even just a rear locker would be a serious upgrade.
I also think a rear diff with an available locker could be swapped in with the aforementioned custom subframes.
On the other hand a properly designed big lift would give these cars ground clearance that would surpass most "off road" rigs today.
Combine that with its light weight and low center of gravity and I would venture to say that you could go most places that all but the most equipped trucks and SUVs could go.
I can't help myself but to dream of the possibilities.
Alas I digress.
Anyway, I am just going to shoot for a simple and cheap build for now given the type of off road and camping I intend to do in this car.
I will likely work on some body protection/approach and departure angle improvements in the form of some bumpers and will likely build some sliders for the rockers.
I will also be working on some storage solutions, likely in the form of a small light trailer, to keep the inside open to work on a low profile sleep platform.
I was also thinking about a low profile roof top storage arrangement that fits between the factory roof rails.
This would be for things like clothes and other personal items for my wife and I.
The idea would be to pull into camp and set it all up (Shelter, kitchen, shower, restroom) from the trailer so the car can be taken other places while our camp gear holds our spot.
Then we simply get back from where ever and pull the car in to function as our bed.
I think that's all for now.
More next time.
I still haven't had the tires mounted yet and I need to decide what route I am going to go to drop the rear trailing arm bracket.
After looking at the anti-roll bar end links I think I am just going to leave them alone for now.
As you can see from the following pics the bushings are being flexed quite a bit at full droop.
However, this is what bushings are supposed to do and it should be much less severe once the suspension is at its resting ride height.
I am just going to leave them alone and fix them if they break or if I notice any issues off road.
It is possible that one could gain some more flex with some links that don't bind up as much or possibly ones that can be disconnected.
However I don't think I will be doing that kind of off road enough to worry about it at this time.
If they break or if I feel like taking it to the next level then I will address the end links.
I did do a little comparison of the rear struts while I had the Impreza and Forester bits off the car.
The rears certainly do appear to have more clearance at the spring perch for bigger tires but, from what I understand, tire clearance at the rear is usually not an issue.
obviously the strut is taller as well.
Sorry jf1sf5 I did not get the measurements you were asking for.
I simply did not have time to mess with it.
One note I recall is that the forester shafts were actually 19mm and the Impreza shaft was 22mm, on the front anyway.
This project has made me realize a couple of things about this platform and ones like it.
If I did not have another off road project in the works for more serious off-roading, (my Vanagon) I could totally see myself doing great things with this car.
Most of the mods are as simple as a rock and functional and reliable to boot.
I could see whipping up some custom subframes for suspension geometry corrections, bigger lift and the most travel possible
Then I might track down the right parts to deal with some gearing for larger tires.
Then I would put larger tires on and work with the approach and departure angles a bit to really make this thing useful.
Would it ever be a rock crawler?
Probably not.
Does the lack of a low range limit what it is capable of.
In my opinion I don't think it does.
I believe a lack of lockers is this platforms biggest downfall.
Even just a rear locker would be a serious upgrade.
I also think a rear diff with an available locker could be swapped in with the aforementioned custom subframes.
On the other hand a properly designed big lift would give these cars ground clearance that would surpass most "off road" rigs today.
Combine that with its light weight and low center of gravity and I would venture to say that you could go most places that all but the most equipped trucks and SUVs could go.
I can't help myself but to dream of the possibilities.
Alas I digress.
Anyway, I am just going to shoot for a simple and cheap build for now given the type of off road and camping I intend to do in this car.
I will likely work on some body protection/approach and departure angle improvements in the form of some bumpers and will likely build some sliders for the rockers.
I will also be working on some storage solutions, likely in the form of a small light trailer, to keep the inside open to work on a low profile sleep platform.
I was also thinking about a low profile roof top storage arrangement that fits between the factory roof rails.
This would be for things like clothes and other personal items for my wife and I.
The idea would be to pull into camp and set it all up (Shelter, kitchen, shower, restroom) from the trailer so the car can be taken other places while our camp gear holds our spot.
Then we simply get back from where ever and pull the car in to function as our bed.
I think that's all for now.
More next time.
vwhammer
Adventurer
It doesn't look like much but I did manage to get all the suspension bits on and I am pretty pleased with it at this point.
I apologize for the dark pics but it was, well, getting dark but I wanted to snap some quick shots with my phone.
So here it is
I would like to point out that everything did not fit exactly as I had hoped.
I ended up with a 1.5 inch (38mm) spacer between the body and the trailing arm spacer in an attempt to correct some suspension geometry and re-center the rear wheel in the wheel well.
A lot of the people that have done this lift seemed to suggest that a 1 inch spacer or a set of early legacy outback trailing arm brackets will fix this problem.
However even after the 1.5 inch spacer the tires still sit pretty far forward in the wheel well.
so far in fact that I had to remove a little part and trim a bit of my rocker cover to make sure everything clears at full droop.
I may check out a set of forester trailing arm brackets in the future because it is suggested that the mounting point is actually moved back on the bracket.
I feel that this with the spacer should center everything up nicely.
I also ran into a rubbing issue between the tire and the strut.
The passenger side lower spring perch cleared the shoulder of the tire by a little over a 1/4 inch (6-7mm).
However, the drivers side tire made contact with the perch.
Not really sure why this is the case and I did not think this was an issue with the later forester strut swap but it happened to me.
I simply removed the tire and used my trusty ball peen hammer to persuade a small area of the spring perch to give the tire a little space.
This actually worked quite well and you would be hard pressed to really tell anything has been done.
Best of all is that I now have a similar 1/4 inch of clearance on that side as well.
Now that I have seen how it all goes together I am excited to test a better set up using some upgraded Impreza struts with longer travel.
I think I could modify the perch to clear the tires I have or even possibly some larger tires.
Like so.
I will try this for a while but I have the impreza strut bodies here that I can modify.
Then I can pick up a set of better quality inserts and get it all set up and ready to bolt on.
AnywayI have not actually driven any real distance with the set up yet to see how it feels but I am pleased with the height.
I sure it will settle a little but it should be good for now.
I am hoping to get it in to the alignment shop next week so I can really test everything out.
I am getting some electric and some insulation in my garage the week after christmas.
Then I can get going on fabbing up some bumpers and maybe some skid plates if I dont end up buying some first.
More to follow.
I apologize for the dark pics but it was, well, getting dark but I wanted to snap some quick shots with my phone.
So here it is
I would like to point out that everything did not fit exactly as I had hoped.
I ended up with a 1.5 inch (38mm) spacer between the body and the trailing arm spacer in an attempt to correct some suspension geometry and re-center the rear wheel in the wheel well.
A lot of the people that have done this lift seemed to suggest that a 1 inch spacer or a set of early legacy outback trailing arm brackets will fix this problem.
However even after the 1.5 inch spacer the tires still sit pretty far forward in the wheel well.
so far in fact that I had to remove a little part and trim a bit of my rocker cover to make sure everything clears at full droop.
I may check out a set of forester trailing arm brackets in the future because it is suggested that the mounting point is actually moved back on the bracket.
I feel that this with the spacer should center everything up nicely.
I also ran into a rubbing issue between the tire and the strut.
The passenger side lower spring perch cleared the shoulder of the tire by a little over a 1/4 inch (6-7mm).
However, the drivers side tire made contact with the perch.
Not really sure why this is the case and I did not think this was an issue with the later forester strut swap but it happened to me.
I simply removed the tire and used my trusty ball peen hammer to persuade a small area of the spring perch to give the tire a little space.
This actually worked quite well and you would be hard pressed to really tell anything has been done.
Best of all is that I now have a similar 1/4 inch of clearance on that side as well.
Now that I have seen how it all goes together I am excited to test a better set up using some upgraded Impreza struts with longer travel.
I think I could modify the perch to clear the tires I have or even possibly some larger tires.
Like so.
I will try this for a while but I have the impreza strut bodies here that I can modify.
Then I can pick up a set of better quality inserts and get it all set up and ready to bolt on.
AnywayI have not actually driven any real distance with the set up yet to see how it feels but I am pleased with the height.
I sure it will settle a little but it should be good for now.
I am hoping to get it in to the alignment shop next week so I can really test everything out.
I am getting some electric and some insulation in my garage the week after christmas.
Then I can get going on fabbing up some bumpers and maybe some skid plates if I dont end up buying some first.
More to follow.
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