2016 Outback: The Traveler - Long Distance Expo Build

[p nut]

Guess I'm the odd one out, but I prefer a cooler to a fridge. Cheaper, more spacious, and nothing to go wrong. Buy yourself a quality cooler, though, like a Yeti. ExPo did an article on various coolers: http://expeditionportal.com/the-big-chill-overland-journals-cooler-test/

I've kept food cool for days on end, even in the heat. Hamburgers included.

 

[PirateMcGee]

You don't need a huge or expensive fridge especially for one or two people. I have a dometic CF25 that I got for under $400 off amazon and it takes up very little room but is plenty big. Here it is in my Honda Fit.....

 

[Apdl]

I have the H/P Sport AS tires on my CRV as they were OEM

They are so terrible too many near misses in the snow the first winter i owned it, I have a dedicated set of snow tires now.

Looking forward to wearing them out so I can get some more aggressive tires from May to Oct

 

[midlifecrisis]

I tell ya, I never thought I would end up with an Outback. The only Subaru experience I've had was someone I know in High School had one. It was a hand me down wagon, not sure what model or year. He was always blasting around and hooning the living daylights out of it, and not the safe ways.

I started with the Subaru as the last option. My same friend went through several engines, although again...hooning.

In the end I thought the level of offroad ability would be just what I needed. Light to Medium offroad ability with a level of comfort that makes 3000+ mile trips enjoyable.

I had pretty much decided to get an Outback when I saw FreshLikeSushi's build on Jalopnik (AND HERE ON EXPO) and Midlifecrisis' build HERE ON EXPO. Those were the icing on the cake.


Also, my parents love the car too and want to buy it from me if I ever get tired of it . That won't be for a while!

Don't believe I've ever inspired anyone to do anything before, and I'm a father! At least not anything legal!
I'm really glad my little adventure got your creative juices flowing....just like Grants build did for me.
Everybody heads in their own direction, but it's sure nice to have a place with so many great ideas to work with and from.

Couple of quick opinions from my own build and my subsequent experiences.
1. The fridge is awesome. To each their own, but doing away with ice runs was priceless for me. And if I recall correctly, the 43Q fridge was less than $400 as well.
2. I am currently looking at a tweak where I can stick the fridge on a hitch rack, drop in a filler panel in the current fridge spot and have a two-wide sleeping spot when needed. Got a girlfriend who might be interested in some quality time on the road with me....but not 27" wide quality time. Being modular is nice.
3. In retrospect I would have probably gone a little bit deeper on the under floor storage. When I did the build I more or less just picked a number that seemed reasonable and ran with it. I've come to realize that a couple more inches of depth under there would be nice, and it doesn't really matter in the "head room" since you;re laying down in there anyway.
4. I'm still wrestling with the canopy deal. I picked up a screen room tent to try that I think will "dock" nicely with the car, but I'm not ready to roll that out to the world yet....needs some beta testing.
5. On board 12V is pretty sweet as well, worth the effort I think, as is the water system. I did a week in Canada this fall and never filled up my 16 gallon tank.

Good luck on your build, and don't hesitate if there is anything I can answer for you!