Forester: ExPo Subaru Project

[Superu]

Tires should do well in the snow.

Eww, yeah... I would sooner take a hammer to it.

I'm curious to see if chains are going to be that big of a concern this winter. I've heard good things about the Geolandars and snow/ice.

Those Geolandars are what I ran on the Superu through several winters and never had an issue. They handled well enough on ice and had terrific grip in deep snow.



Come to think of it, they were pretty good in the wet as well! :ylsmoke:

 

[Payback]

:lurk:

 

[Chazz Layne]

Part II Begins...

 

[Superu]

View attachment 203951

Good move. Paul Ecklund @ Primitive is a great guy to deal with and was very helpful in building the skidplates for the Superu. Looking forward to seeing this next evolution.

 

[WMDunkin]

Agreed Primitive Racing skids are the best. I love mine and they have saved me on more then one occasion.

 

[Chazz Layne]

Much better...

 

[WagoneerSX4]

No crossover is deemed anything close to an expedition vehicle until it's got some skid plates. Those of us not blessed with ground clearance need to invest in protection. I know my poor dented and scratched skids have paid for themselves tenfold.

 

[zjrog]

The Subtle Solutions spacer goes on top of the strut and wont help with spring perch clearance. Some folks do a strut bottom lift but it looks pretty sketchy...
View attachment 178604

Kind of glad I didn't see this when I had a minivan, I'd have found a way to try that... Then again, there has to be a way to "overbuild" this so it doesn't seem so sketchy...

 

[arlon]

Sure makes you wish Subaru had come through with their diesel for the US market a few years ago.. )-:}

 

[Chazz Layne]

Part II of the build coming soon...

 

[Dranged]

Whoa!! that's on a first gen forester?!! 2nd gen forester struts afford a little more room, but that's a pretty tight squeeze with a taller tire! So you're running a 49+ offset and got that much more lateral room to squeeze that tire in there? That means that with a 45-40 or even less offset, it is still unknown what [ultimately] could fit under a second gen forester strut?!!?

good work there E.J.

I see your gap and raise you
View attachment 186804
215/75 15 Toyo Open Country stuffed under my first gen rear strut. I'm running 6mm less offset than the stock rims, safe to say this is the largest size you can run on this generation.

 

[E.J.]

Whoa!! that's on a first gen forester?!! 2nd gen forester struts afford a little more room, but that's a pretty tight squeeze with a taller tire! So you're running a 49+ offset and got that much more lateral room to squeeze that tire in there? That means that with a 45-40 or even less offset, it is still unknown what [ultimately] could fit under a second gen forester strut?!!?

good work there E.J.

Tight squeeze that's for sure. I'm running 42mm offset rims in the picture, I've since added 6mm wheel spacers for a little more breathing room. I've hesitated on swapping to SG struts because the SF's supposedly have longer travel.

 

[E.J.]

Part II of the build coming soon...

:lurk:

 

[ChazXJ]

Part II of the build coming soon...

Great name and great build, excited for this

 

[stolz]

My wife owned a 1998 Subaru Forester Manual Transmission. It work extremely well on dirt roads, and even made it up a little hill climb that someone couldn't do in a early 2000's F-150. It was an amazing car, until it blew its head gasket.

Stoked to watch this build progress.