Subaru Outback Wagon into Baja Rig

fj40offroad

New member
Hello, I have been meaning to get this up for awhile. Since the motor went out on my wagon last spring and after putting 3k into it for a JDM engine and transmission from metricmotors, thank you Chris you were amazing to work with and help to resolve issues with. So after tossing this much into it figured it was time to make it a fun vehicle and not just a point A to B.
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After having a 95 lego that I was constantly shrinking the gas tank on rocks and what not.
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the OBW was beginning to have this problem so, a lift was needed. Out of cost being a determiner, I settled on putting 2008 Forester FXT shocks and struts all around that I found and had shipped from Washinton for $400 with only 10k on them.
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The goal was to have approximately a 2.5-3 inch lift ended up with about a 2.75 inch lift then after having my tires shredded needed tires badly so I upgraded to the 215/75R15 BF Goodrich AT ended up with just under a 3.5 inch lift, makes it really nice doing oil changes! ;-)
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At the moment I am working on some designs to build a similar bull bar to what subi xtreem is doing in Australia
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Along with a dual swing out rear bumper with built in compressed air tank. On another note in a conversation with Chris over at Metric Motors it came up to put a small turbo on my NA 2.5 DOHC and only run it with 3 lb of boost to bring the pressure in the motor to sea level to improve fuel economy and power. Any thoughts would be appreciated thanks!
 

fj40offroad

New member
The bumper it took about 1 hour to line things up and toss together the mounts the rest was getting the 6 bolts to go into the old bumper mounts, for me to really trust this mounting set up in the future I really need to scab plate back up onto the frame with 1/16 to 1/8 plate. Here are a couple photos of the set up. Enjoy
After removing the plastic smoosh guard
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Then had to chop off this top piece of junk, a sawzall would have been nice sadly I only have an angle grinder!
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Placed the bumper in place and took some measurements
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fabricated up the mounts
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Cleaned out the rusty holes
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Job complete
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fj40offroad

New member
Regarding the rear bumper I am working on will be very similar to this one. My dad and I fabricated this one for his Alaska Cruiser FZJ80, this will help to get the hitch up a little higher and help that departure angle, increase the strength of it as I plan to use a hitch rack to carry around my KLR 650, allow for space for gas cans outside and locked up, spare tire outside of the car, so I can put tools in that spot since the full size spare no longer fits. Oh ya and an easily accessible cooler to grab the beer ASAP!
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Eaglefreek

Eagleless
Cool build. My only concern is hanging a heavy bumper and a heavy bike off the rear might be asking a little much of the Subaru.
 

fj40offroad

New member
Cool build. My only concern is hanging a heavy bumper and a heavy bike off the rear might be asking a little much of the Subaru.

the 99 obw has a tow capacity of 2700lb my understanding is average tongue ratings are 10-15% of trailer weight, I will be operating at its upper limit with 15% being 405lb, however I have installed the larger and higher spring rating 2008 forester FXT shocks and springs, the mounting shouldn't be a problem considering this design is to have the bumper rails run right up against the rear diff mount, possibly if I get more uncomfortable running the beams even under the Diff mounting, I have been looking at building a lift to drop the suspension and help to straighten out the angles on the CVs. it would have to be all incorporated. Not the safest thing in the world but I have already towed a 5kip trailer about 100 miles sagged like crazy, biggest problems was the breaking. The tongue on that trailer was probably between 0.8 to 1kip. That was on the draw tight hitch mounting set up, that only uses 6 bolts into the frame! Three on each side

I will try to get some more specs as to the force ratings as I can find them! I am tempted to cut into a different frame and get an accurate measurement on the thickness of the steel and take it up against its yield point and modulus of elasticity. I have inventor at my disposal so I already have most of the bumper drawn up so putting the frame measurements in and finding my safety factor shouldn't be hard.

If you have any recommendations let me know please.
Cheers
 
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