2013 Subaru Forester (SH9 3rd Gen) going the Expedition route

[machine1]

Howdy from North Texas! Picked up my 2013 Forester XT in October of 2012. It's the turbo model with a 4-speed automatic.



Added some mudflaps to keep the rocks from eating at the paint:



The stock all-season tires weren't going to cut it. After a lot of research I went with the Cooper Discoverer AT3 in 235/60R17. Stock tires are 225/55R17. I went from a 26.7 inch tire to a 28.3. They fit, barely.

Installed a Torklift Central Ecohitch hidden hitch for a recovery point and to carry our mountain bikes:



After owning the Forester about a year I finally decided to take it off-roading:

Took the Forester into trails where fenders are optional:


I snuck into Cars and Coffee Dallas caked with mud:



Found out that maybe I need a skidplate to protect the front:


Installed a new Primitive Racing 3/16" aluminum skidplate to protect the lower front. I also installed Smittybilt 3/4" shackles front and rear for recovery points:

Out on the trails at Northwest OHV Park in Bridgeport, TX:

 

[machine1]

Climbing one of the big hills at the OHV Park:

Our Texas Oklahoma Off Road Subaru group back in March, yes such a thing exists:

Colorado:

New Mexico:

Taos:

So what's next for the Forester?

This Spring I'm lifting it an inch with lift spacers. That will bring my ground clearance to 10.7" (stock is 8.9").

I'm shopping for a roof basket, I'll be using it to carry a full-size spare tire/wheel, jerry can, shovel, etc. I've gone back and forth between mounting the spare on a hitchgate tire gate or a roof basket. I've decided on the roof basket because I need the hitch for carrying our mountain bikes.

In the future I'll be lifting it another inch with King Springs and a rear subframe alignment kit. That'll bring my ground clearance to 11.7" and I'll be able to drive through some of those big ruts the Jeeps leave for me. I'll probably be looking for more underarmor protection for my transmission and rear diff by this time.

Under the hood I'm keeping it stock. It's got enough power (225 hp/225 lb-ft torque) and the gas mileage sucks because I drive with a heavy foot (18-20mpg average).

Primitive racing has been working on a hidden winch mount that replaces the front bumper support, I'm keeping my eye on that to see how much it's going to cost.

Stay tuned...

 

[WMDunkin]

Congrats, welcome to Expo side of things, I have been following your build on youtube and facebook for a while now. Really makes me want to get a Forester.

 

[Rosco862003]

Your Forester looks great, and is making me try and find excuses to buy one! I was thinking though, that a spare tire is typically more of a permanent thing as opposed to a bike. Although the tire and roof basket looks rowdy, not only will it raise your COG, it will lower your mpg even more than it already is. If you mount the bikes on the roof you could install the bike mounts to your factory crossbars, leave them up there with little afterthought to wind noise and reduced mpg. You could then mount the shovel and other accessories on the hitch mount in turn keeping your COG lower than it would be if everything were mounted on top. Either way I look forward to seeing more of your Forester!

 

[2 E L O]

Very nice!!

 

[Hodaka]

Check out the Kuat Vagabond and Vagabond X roof baskets. I've got the Vagabond on my OB, nice piece.

 

[machine1]

Thanks for the kind remarks everyone!
WMDunkin, I'm hoping each trip the videos get better in quality and content.

Rosco, the problem I'm running into with the spare tire mount on the hitch is that it'll block my backup camera and I'll have to wire up license plate lights and relocate my rear plate. I may end up just throwing the spare in the cargo hold Jeep Cherokee style. I am concerned about the height of the spare, I would like to park in my garage. I may be reaching a height limit in garage door clearance with the lift and roof basket.

Hodaka, thank you for the tip, I will look into it.

 

[tarditi]

Very cool - I had my WRX set up for rallyx and had primitive stuff on my car - they make great products.

 

[machine1]

May 2014 - Texas Hill Country

We took a half-day back country trip south of Mason TX down James River Road.

Checking out the view:

A couple of shallow river crossings:

Texas Hill Country:

Trying to beat the sunset:

We encountered tons of deer, rabbits, jackrabbits, emu, goats, and cows. One decided to block the road so we had to go around her.
We ran into private property(no trespassing sign) and then a river crossing(Mill Road) that looked too sketchy so we ended up turning around and going back to where we came from.

Here's a video of the James River crossing, it was about a foot deep:

 

[java]

Looks great! Ive got a soft spot for the Forester.

 

[machine1]

Thanks! That's an awesome 4runner you have there.

 

[java]

Thanks! That's an awesome 4runner you have there.

Thanks! I wish the 4th Gens weren't having issues. My wife wants a new one....

 

[p nut]

Awesome Forester. I've been looking at new ones. Too bad the towing capacity took a hit for the new models. Still looks like a fun and economical rig.

 

[madmaths]

Love it man!!! awesome!! I love your forester ! great traction!

 

[machine1]

A couple more videos I uploaded from the Hill Country adventure...

Majority of the road was like this.


Road leaving the Bat Cave.


A small shallow river crossing.


My next set of pictures/videos will probably be from an upcoming OHV park trip in August. We're having another Subaru off-road meet.