Wagonofdoom - 2015 Outback build

[freshlikesushi]

so after i tacod a trailing arm, i ordered a new one. 40.00 with bushing
by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

not gonna ************* taco again is it...

 

[Jaxie]

Not a car person so forgive my ignorance here. There's a few places I want to go where they say something like it's recommended to have a high clearance vehicle and low range (figuring for hill climbs since that's the part that usually gets flagged). With a small lift and x-mode do you think that a Subie would work for these?

 

[calicamper]

so after i tacod a trailing arm, i ordered a new one. 40.00 with bushing
by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

not gonna ************* taco again is it...

Thats the nice thing about steel stamped parts they are easy to beef up. I was wondering if you might put some plate on it or sort out a way to beef it up a little. Nothing worse than a perfectly good vehicle left stranded due to a weak suspension part. The aluminum formed rear swing arms on the BMW X5 shattering on the Dakar support X5 machine was a bit a black eye for BMW. LOL

 

[freshlikesushi]

Not a car person so forgive my ignorance here. There's a few places I want to go where they say something like it's recommended to have a high clearance vehicle and low range (figuring for hill climbs since that's the part that usually gets flagged). With a small lift and x-mode do you think that a Subie would work for these?

Hard to say. Depends on terrain, length of grade, conditions, your tires, your skill, your balls or ovary size

 

[LRNAD90]

not gonna ************* taco again is it...

BE careful 'beefing up' components like this. Just remember that next time it may not 'taco' but something else likely will, and that something else may be either a) more critical or b) much more expensive and difficult to replace...

I had an '05 Outback, loved it for what it was, but the components are not designed for truly going off-road, so this kinda of 'sacrificial' stuff is inevitable..

Nice Build though, always cool to see someone 'doing it different'..

 

[freshlikesushi]

im working on grabbing another subframe. By time this is done, short of the mounts ripping out of the unibody, nothing will taco.

to be fair, I have a lot of rear end work ill be doing this fall/winter when its too cold to camp. right now its just getting it back on the road with beefier stuff. The OEM arms had an inherent flaw in the mounting area where it folded over at the flange that the bolt goes through the knuckle at. Its very thin stamped steel. I reinforced those two and boxed in the bottom. It wont make it bulletproof as I used the same gauge that it was OEM, but it will make it handle a bit more weight. You have to realize, im almost 500lbs over stock in the back half of the car fully loaded. off camber, failed uphill, reversing to go back at it, one wheel dipped off and the car put all the weight there. It was one of those freak situations that hasn't happened to me yet, so it failed. Hopefully it will be fine, but im not going to chance it happening a second time. Id rather find the next weak link.

 

[LRNAD90]

The OEM arms had an inherent flaw in the mounting area where it folded over at the flange that the bolt goes through the knuckle at. Its very thin stamped steel.

The original chassis engineers may have very well created that 'inherent flaw' intentionally, as a sacrificial link to prevent other damages. There are a lot of those engineered into cars. Remember how cheap that replacement arm was? Just saying..

Anyway, you are taking the car and adapting it to use well beyond what the engineers had intended. It's cool, but it's not going to be without its trials and tribulations. Seems you are well aware, so I will stop beating the dead horse here, and just watch..

 

[freshlikesushi]

beat it as much as youd like

id rather have someone beat it and come up with something i didnt than not.
fell me?

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I don't think it's an engineered weak spot. That's a part that really should be able to take the vehicle's weight on it in all directions. And it's clear it can't. And considering how low that thing hangs down underneath the car (the rear might as well be a solid axle) it really should be much stronger. It's pretty obvious it's just a cheap out on subaru's part. That stamped part probably costs them $10 less per side on each vehicle over a cast arm. Over the course of that model's lifetime it's probably $500,000 savings. Add in a couple more parts like that here and there and that's how automotive companies are staying alive in this day and age.

By the way, you aren't the only one who's had that part fold. You're the third individual I've heard about now, and I'm not exactly going out and looking for them. The one was also from off roading but the other one hasn't even had the car on a gravel road. So it's not looking like it only fails because the car was abused.

 

[freshlikesushi]

well that's quite interesting to hear. I haven't even gone out and looked

I am however about 70% sure BRZ trailing arms will fit. have someone checking measurements for me

 

[cstaikos]

have you removed the front sway bar? would that do anything to benefit off road or no?

 

[freshlikesushi]

no noticable benefit. i put mine back on

 

[calicamper]

I think the suspension approach subaru takes which makes for a really soft pretty pliable suspension to start with is probably less affected by sway bar delete than vehicles with much stiffer suspension setups. Not to mention the Wagonofdoom is probably not exactly a lightweight considering the cool gear and modifications Fresh has added. I would expect the sway bar having even less impact on things as you add weight to the rig.

 

[freshlikesushi]

Honestly...it handles great. the Rallitek rear springs made the car totally different. it drives relatively stock now, but a tad flatter in the corners

 

[Herbie]

I think the suspension approach subaru takes which makes for a really soft pretty pliable suspension to start with is probably less affected by sway bar delete than vehicles with much stiffer suspension setups. Not to mention the Wagonofdoom is probably not exactly a lightweight considering the cool gear and modifications Fresh has added. I would expect the sway bar having even less impact on things as you add weight to the rig.

Yes, it's the rally-car heritage - by design, they're always a bit under-sprung and over-damped. The sway bar is just a side-to-side spring, and a light one at that (unless you've "upgraded"), so it will have a minimal effect.