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'01 outback 2.5AT, VDC offroad/ overlanding build


scalman
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so i bought it this winter ..just ordinary OBW '01 with 2.5AT , and to my surprise it was with VDC, just without VDC switch

i have rear self leveling shocks OEM. they works magic. and with lift they even better. but kinda hard on road.

 

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then changed all oils, engine and diffs, air, petrol filters, some bushings, alternator and AC belts. and did 2'' lift with spacers

 

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ground clearance become pretty good now

 

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and then came new BFG TA KO2 215/65/16

 

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all good now , just i was wondering will that lift i used only spacers and notin else. do i need anything else there to put because i mean some parts now are on real tension like rear shocks, and those bushing will wear more faster i guess. and then sway bar links , those kinda get now more hard work too...or its just all as it is ok and i no need worry too much ?

 

im considering to cut front bumper like in half allmost to get more aproach angle. is that smart to do and will i get realy good results.

i dont wanna custom bars there realy . like i would cut bumper and maybe then put just some bar under bumper like for extra protection. 

 

 

 

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i wouldn't worry about bushings or swaybars.

 

if you have axle issues - keep using OEM subaru axles, buy used ones, reboot them.  aftermarket axles, at least in the US, are low quality.  they're not even great for normal vehicles, but worse with lifted.  i've had aftermarket axles work fine on a normal subaru and then have issues when lifted.  install OEM Subaru axle and all is well. 

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It depends how hard you're going to push the car.

If you really start doing difficult trails, you will want to do something about the bumper covers.  On both of my Subarus I've made the bumper covers bolt on and off easily.  That way you can have clearance for the trail and they don't get torn up, but for driving on normal roads you can put them on so it looks stock.

The other two things I would recommend are some kind of radiator/oil pan guard and gas tank guard.  You can buy or make skidplates.  We've made them out of steel tubing, otherwise the radiator support, oil pan, and gas tank will get badly dented.

I would also not worry about bushings or swaybars.  The lift doesn't seem to hurt them.

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cool thanks for info. and what about cuting half front bumper. i saw couple cars same gen doing that and it looks pretty cool. and then i would make some skid plate maybe where that bumper ends and to oil pan. what you mean radiator skid plate? in what place it should be. can you show like with pics for better understanding.

and yes im thinking to make diff and oil pan skid plates . dont wanna overpay for welded metal peaces ,just wanna make them. like find some metal in scrap yard or rod sign and make from that.

pontoontodd i saw your oil pan protection u made for your outback . is it good enough ?

 

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what if i jut cut bumper like that 

 

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i wanna leave that stock look as much as i can so i dont need take it off everytime i would go offroad. that aproach angle should become much better.

Edited by scalman
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cool thanks for info. and what about cuting half front bumper. i saw couple cars same gen doing that and it looks pretty cool. and then i would make some skid plate maybe where that bumper ends and to oil pan. what you mean radiator skid plate? in what place it should be. can you show like with pics for better understanding.

and yes im thinking to make diff and oil pan skid plates . dont wanna overpay for welded metal peaces ,just wanna make them. like find some metal in scrap yard or rod sign and make from that.

pontoontodd i saw your oil pan protection u made for your outback . is it good enough ?

 

 

i wanna leave that stock look as much as i can so i dont need take it off everytime i would go offroad. that aproach angle should become much better.

 

You should ask those guys if they have overheating problems.  I know it's an issue with rally cars when they lose the front plastic bumper.

The stock plastic will sort of limit your approach angle, but not really.  It's very flexible.  This comes back to the question of what you're really going to do with the car.  If it's occasional mild off roading you can probably just leave it alone.  With your lift it might scrape and flex sometimes but stay on the car for years.

 

I wouldn't bother with rear diff protection, I can't imagine how you could break one of those.

 

I would build something under the gas tank if you're going to do a lot of rocky trails.

 

This is what I was talking about for the front.  You probably don't have to go this far, but the front end will really take a beating if you start pushing the car.  The lower radiator support will start bending up and the oil pan will certainly be destroyed.  Run a tube the full width of the lower radiator support.  On our other cars we've welded plates onto the ends of this tube and bolted it to the tow hooks.  That gives you something solid to anchor your oil pan guard to.  On this car we've run tubes up to the fabricated bumper, but that's a lot more work.

 

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so this would be better then some home made skid plate  like this?

1003d1143859492-home-made-skid-plate-p33

 

and which one better as for skid plate covers engine and that made from bars just protects. i mean from offroading experience which is better . skid plate from  doesnt look anything that strong it would bent with more preasure i guess.

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so this would be better then some home made skid plate  like this?

1003d1143859492-home-made-skid-plate-p33

 

and which one better as for skid plate covers engine and that made from bars just protects. i mean from offroading experience which is better . skid plate from  doesnt look anything that strong it would bent with more preasure i guess.

 

I would think you'd bend a flat skidplate like that more easily than tubing.  A big skidplate like that will protect the exhaust and control arm mounts better than what I built though.  It really depends what you're doing with the car.  If you want to slide up dirt berms, the flat skidplate is probably the way to go.  If you're worried about a giant rock in the middle of the trail taking out your oil pan, a piece of tubing will provide more protection.

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or you can put some tubing and on top skid plate . i was thinking still use my oem plastic skid plate and just put under it some tubing in places that needs to be secured. but maybe im wrong here. im not thinking of doing notin too extreme realy but just in case i would hit something its better to be ready then too late no ?

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so i have leak somewhere , just not sure where it comes from

 

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i cleaned all as much as i could and thightened all bolts i could and oil filter. and now i see what gives that bad smell after engine heats up. that exhaust manifold is all oily..so thats burns and smells, its really bad smell inside car after you drive and then you stop. its smells bad.
and after all that cleaning up and driving like 5 min that smell comes up again. so i duno what else its burning there. maybe inside those manifold covers its oil and i cant clean it .
could i took those manifold covers off ? like leave them without covers. 
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Did you check the valve cover bolts and oil pan bolts?

Try to get it as clean as you can, use brake or carb cleaner, put it up on jackstands, fire it up, crawl under and see if you can tell where the leak starts.

Yes, you can pull the stamped heat shields off the exhaust manifolds and run it without them.  They're pretty easy to get off with a big screwdriver, just pry them apart at the spot welds.

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  • 1 year later...

after my europe 2 weeks about 5400 km trip , time to fix more rust under doorsteps it was really bad . as winter is coming and with snow salt will come 

 

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im just learning how to weld . and with time i get better but sometimes metal there is just too nasty or too rusty to weld it properly or not cleaned enough well. so dont laugh from my welds there. 

still i thing its great and i feel so good about it. i will have how proper metal there that i could lift car via it and it will bw strong enough place even if it will hit something like stones etc. 

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and passenger side same stuff

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just sprayed some antigravel stuff after all . still think i need to seal those properly like with some silicone or thick bitumen stuff maybe. 

outside part is still terrible under plastic. will do that later 

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how car looks now with front bumper half cutt and steel skid plate for better protection. 

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Edited by scalman
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Now for the 2017 summer pleasures that this car gave me . 

2 weeks . about 5400km. just 2 nights sleeping in room in croatia. all other nights in car. 2 people. easy and comfortably . im 186cm. it was just about right to sleep for me. 

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this from croatia near sea on some mountain track

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Austrian  Alps .

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The Grossglockner High Alpine Road. highest place you could go with car there 

 

spot red car there

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2 weeks sleeping in car very comfy indeed . this was my bed

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best tires that i ever used. good for highways for 120km/h cruising then as go on really hot croatia mountain roads. not too agresive as mud tires and not too week as other all terrains. 

 

new led light for trunk. cheap easy to fit and sooo much light . it was about 3 euro for 2 those lights. just connected from existing rear trunk light. 

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new tablet holder . this time its really strong enough for my 10' win 10 tablet. just drilled small whole in that cup holder front panel and used part from tablet holder i bought earlier

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and for some fun in rear seats. Dirt Rally

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Edited by scalman
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Nice Outback !

 

I like the way you reinforced the chassis, it should resist a few winters of salt.

 

Is your rear suspension lifted with springs or blocks ? Because if you've lifted it with springs (Kings, Dobinsons...) it makes your self-levelling struts not work properly.

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Nice Outback !

 

I like the way you reinforced the chassis, it should resist a few winters of salt.

 

Is your rear suspension lifted with springs or blocks ? Because if you've lifted it with springs (Kings, Dobinsons...) it makes your self-levelling struts not work properly.

front and rear lifted with blocks only. front shocks already feels hard and ride harsh i think would be good idea to change to new KYB shocks . and rear i want to left those self leveling as long as they will work.

i did cheap simple lift with spacers. just front spacers don't have camber and caster offset, which would be good to have . and rear don't have trailing arm spacers, i saw some people using that too. i can see some more stress on my rear shocks they kinda always on angle. 

 

and still thinking what to do with rear part its so bad there but maybe i could still find there some place to weld new metal there... not sure 

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im thinking maybe that part with arrow would be still ok to weld on and that other part cut all off and put there so new metal

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what if i weld there something like those 

Rectangular-Tube.jpg

 

and then put bumper on top of it. 

Edited by scalman
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couple more pics from trip in croatia carpates mountains and austria alps. that was most amazing places i saw and visit in my life. would buy some camper trailer and go there again if i would have more holidays. 

 

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there were sleeping. would be nice have some kind of AC in car while not driving from extra battery maybe or some kinda of way to have fresh air in hot hot places. other then that sleeping in car was almost perfect. enough space too

 

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everything i used was my phone Xperia Z1 and navigon app with europe maps. 

i had extra tablet and my laptop for some extra media or movies but wr never used that. it was no time . so much fun that you no need even phone or internet , just something to take photos. later i cracked my phone screen so was using other samsung j5. not so good camera ont that one.

 

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when you see this view you know you gonna have best time no matter weather 

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climate control in car saved us all times . without it cant imagine how i would survive there. sometime just stayed in some places just leave car on idle and using AC for couple hrs just to have nice fresh cold air inside. burned some extra fuel , but its was worth it.

 

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slovakia carpates

 

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That is some amazing scenery!  Looks like you had a good trip.  That road you have pictures of looks pretty new.

 

Is this a road or hiking trail?

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You might be able to get screens to put in your car windows so you can get some fresh air without letting arthropods in.

Edited by pontoontodd
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That is some amazing scenery!  Looks like you had a good trip.  That road you have pictures of looks pretty new.

 

Is this a road or hiking trail?

tGcpVRZ.jpg

 

You might be able to get screens to put in your car windows so you can get some fresh air without letting arthropods in.

 

it was hiking trail for walk. i saw couple people went back from it. road was down on both sides and i was climbing here some more from road. very amazing place it was. 

see those small cars down and on right side little road. thats same place

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and same place near car parking was even snow . it was like +35 celcious and then you step on real snow... its like some magic

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at last MOT test . went for it without fixing more rust or putting back rear sway bar plus somehow brake fluid leakage appeared from nowere. got about 13 bad points that needs to be fixed. ouch. allready put back sway bar and made handbrake harder. ohh and i would need take out all lift spacers. ouch. meaning again do alligment after. but its doable. already got most parts and will need more welding rust fixing. maybe couple days will do it. or 3. 

and engine really oily mess looking too. i wonder is this just because bad head gaskets or something else. hard to say . 

they said : at least wash engine properly..

 

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but those place really hard to reach , i dont even see those myself. i just put camera on diff angles and get pics of stuff i never saw myself. but clean those all places not so easy. 

Edited by scalman
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at last MOT test . went for it without fixing more rust or putting back rear sway bar plus somehow brake fluid leakage appeared from nowere. got about 13 bad points that needs to be fixed. ouch. allready put back sway bar and made handbrake harder. ohh and i would need take out all lift spacers. ouch. meaning again do alligment after. but its doable. already got most parts and will need more welding rust fixing. maybe couple days will do it. or 3. 

and engine really oily mess looking too. i wonder is this just because bad head gaskets or something else. hard to say . 

they said : at least wash engine properly..

 

0pIMRkl.jpg

 

wKZnpZ9.jpg

 

vRNC0nw.jpg

 

but those place really hard to reach , i dont even see those myself. i just put camera on diff angles and get pics of stuff i never saw myself. but clean those all places not so easy. 

 

Do you have a pressure washer?  Or a coin operated car wash nearby?  Soak the engine and trans in engine degreaser and then blast them off.  That's the only way you'll get any of that clean without spending many hours.  Too bad about having to pull the lift spacers for inspection, what a pain.

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Do you have a pressure washer?  Or a coin operated car wash nearby?  Soak the engine and trans in engine degreaser and then blast them off.  That's the only way you'll get any of that clean without spending many hours.  Too bad about having to pull the lift spacers for inspection, what a pain.

yeah it is pain. just because they saw spacers or rear. if they were somehow covered from eyes , they wouldn't say nothing. because they have no idea about how outback must be. they even thought my engine is lifted or lowered. i was poker face. i told them: its outback don't you know ? they didn't knew. 3 MOT guys went under my car to look do i have rear sway bar or not lol. and they were talking about my rust there. 

no no pressure washer . coin operated yeh but is it right thing to wash your engine with it ? i duno will i reach all places from top car.  but yeah i could try. good idea thanks. 

Edited by scalman
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so i like music in car so much. and i wanted to have subwoofer and amp in trunk but same time to make there bed for sleeping or just carry bags of potatoes or some wood or anything i would need. as my car is family car and its working car same time i need all space if i would need carry 5 people and all their bags incar .

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thats why sub box its on one side of car and amp is on other same place. and still i have place behind that amp for 1l oil, some bottle of extra coolant , some glass washer maybe or other bottles there. and something can put on top, all that to leave trunk space all free and usable.

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i really like how car looks with that front bumper now and some skid plate that is stronger then looks.

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Edited by scalman
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