carljwnc

I'm NOT laying claim to the name, feel free to use it if you wish (I'm sure there are many Blubarus out there). This is the back end of my wifes '03 Forester X;

Thanks subie94!!! At some point in time I'm going to submit some of my pics to Subiesport and Drive magazines, but mainly I just like sharing them with the rest of the Subaru junkies out there.:cool:

A 'meet' in Brown Mountain will have to be scheduled seperatly from the Sept. meet in Tellico. There is no easy dirt road through the middle with difficult side trails, it's all or nothing.:cool: At a minimum I would say a sump-guard is nessesary, and no stock Geo 900 tires. I have not explored all six miles of trail, only about 1/4 mile, I don't know what lies beyond where I went, things could get over our Subie heads. Provided that things don't get too much rougher, we could prolly do the whole thing in a couple of hours. Body damage is very possible and recovery equipment will be carried (and hopefully not needed). Lastly I wouldn't want to venture in there with more than three cars total, the trail is narrow and two-way, too many cars and it would be difficult to get out of the way of oncoming trail users. The meet in Tellico will be open to anyone who wants to join in, the main road we will drive is just a little rougher than your average gravel forest service road. Anyone who wants may venture off on the side trails to either impress or entertain the rest. My Tellico info source:http://www.tellico4x4.com/catalog/tellico_trails.php

The whole 'terrapondus' idea started years ago (before I had two kids) when I rode bicycles alot. Even on my skinny tired road bike, my rides always involved some dirt riding. I never could find a word that described my tendency to always deviate from the common travel surface, so I took it upon myself to do some extensive research (about 15mins. in my community college library); terra= earth or dirt, pondus= weight or influnce (latin). That being said, Subaru's and me get along very well, both on and off the road. I'm surprised you don't have more off-road available up in the northeast, of course, I have to travel about 2hrs to get to either Tellico or Brown Mountain, there are some closer legal places but they are very small. We do have an endless supply of gravel forest service roads, not very challenging, but do make it more fun to get out in the woods.:cool:

Stock '05 Forester XT at Tellico, sump guard installed (but not used) at Brown Mountain. I did all of trail 1 and some of trail 5 in Tellico. I only went about 1/4 mi up trail 1 in Brown Mountain until the threat of a thunder storm and a lack of confidence in the stock Geolanders (weak sidewalls) sent me towards home. Both places have much more to offer with some slight mods and/or bravery (I was by myself on both occasions). Meet to come, Sept. in Tellico. Tellico; Brown Mountain;

I'm going to replace my Geo's with BF Goodrich Traction T/A's. Great reviews on tire rack and another forum. Reasonable price, M&S rated and hopefully they will be OK in the dirt.

Bumpity, bump the meets coming up. 11:00am Pisgah National Forest visitors center.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=31913 :cool:

I am hosting a meet in Pisgah National Forest on May, 7th. All of the details haven't been ironed out just yet, but if there is intrest shown, I'll post up details as they become available. This will be the third meet we've had here and it's always been alot of fun. Mostly a social, family friendly event with a drive (gravel and tarmac options) and a picnic. Perhaps this year there may also be an early morning 'spirited' tarmac drive Sat. or Sun. morning. Planning has been going on at subaruforester.com, heres a link to the thread which includes links to the past meets http://www.subaruforester.com/viewtopic.php?t=7431 All are welcome, come out and enjoy the Mountains.:cool:

If you have an '03 or newer Forester, 15" wheels will not clear your front brake calipers. I've looked into this option for my '05:(.

I don't get to check in here nearly often enough, too much work, kids, ect... Mentis, welcome to the great state of NC, glad that you made it to Chapel Hill without incident, wish I could help you out with a mech. there. I'll try to do some digging and see if I can help you out. Of course, there are a few good ones here in the mountains, but more than a few miles away. I will be hosting another WNC soob meet May 7th and perhaps 8th, in Pisgah National Forest, I will post more as the time gets closer. Cheers,

There will be a meet in Pisgah National Forest May 7-8, mostly folks from forester.com, but all are welcome. This will be our third meet and they have been great so far. I'll keep you posted. Of course, if anyone else gets one together sooner, I would like to attend.

This Meet is still on!!! Despite the floods, road closures, ect., ect. We are meeting at the Pisgah Visitors Center between 11:00-11:30. There may be some winging it, and rain is predicted, but we will meet and enjoy ourselves. Alternate meeting spot, the Bi-lo at 64 & 276 (if 276 is closed). Hope to see you there!!!

Sweet, hope that your trip goes well. Your headed to Chapel Hill, right? When you feel like visiting the mountains let me know. Unfortunatly your going too miss our little meet in Pisgah NF by a week, but we're doing it again in May.

Alex12, It may be to late for this, but this is how I knocked out the old bearings. This is somewhat of a staged photo, I had already knocked out the bearing on top so it's just sitting there, but I think it gives you the idea.

I can supply pics but it would have to be this weekend. You have to knock the bearings out from the back side (outer bearing gets pushed out from the inside of the knuckle, and vice versa). I used a piece of tubing that fit through the inner race, and knocked on the inner race of the bearing I was pushing out. Hope this helps, someday I'm going to do the full write up on the job with the pics.........someday........

I have an '05 Forester XT on the way!!! Crystal Grey, MT, Rear diff. protector. This will be an off-road project car. Probably subaXtreme sump gaurd, 40mm lift, front and rear bull bars (better approach/departure angles). Will install diff. breather tubes and better tires, and some custom fab'ed mods of my own....and, and, and............... Sad to see the '83 GL go, but I need a safer car to 'haul' the kids around in. Just 3-7 more weeks to wait (coming from Japan)

The fuel pump on my '83 GL has been noisy since I got the car two years ago. I switched it out with the one from my parts car, which I know was good, and the noise was still there. I looked at a diagram of the fuel pump innards and saw that there is a check valve in there, which I thought was "clicking" (my noise) due to perhaps some fuel line obstruction. So I ran the car out of gas, and blew compressed air through the fuel lines to try to remove the obstuction (if any), no luck, still clicking. So I've just lived with it, the car runs fine. Would love too figure it out now that I'm about to sell the car.

Congrats on the new baby!!!!! I've got one, 5mo. old daughter to go with my 4yr. old son. Good luck on the house, moving, job, ect...... Jacksonville could be a good place for a future meet, any dune driving action??? I am, however, more of a mud/rock kind of guy. Any of that???

Sounds like we have an eight car count so far, plus some definite maybe's, and some others 'hemmin-and-hawin' in the background. I may have a brand new Forester XT to drive by then (deposit has been paid), or I may be old-school in the GL. Bumpity-Bump,

Scott, I don't know just yet how hard core off-road I'll want to get. I may be.......this is exciting and slightly embarassing.........a New-Schooler!!! You know whats coming;) . I would like to get a bit more extreme than the gravel roads though, but if everything goes right this meet may be the first dirt the new car sees. If I still have the '83, lets go for it.

the goat, Hope to see you, I know how the work thing goes, hopefully they will let you off for one little weekend. Rallywagon, are you refering to the off-road in Sylva??? or where we went in Lake Lure??? It would be nice to do a little off-road excursion if we can. It will also be nice to meet the rest of your family. on3letsgo, I also know how the school thing goes, I just graduated (WHOOHOO!!!), you can always skip school and come anyway;) , if not we will be doing this again the first weekend in May.

Moosens,Come on down!!! We're only about 15 hours away from you. There may be some REAL off-roading too, if I can talk some others into it.:cool:

Gathering of Subie's in the woods of Pisgah National Forest. Gravel road (easy) or tarmac driving, Barbecue (weather permitting) or lunch at the Pisgah Inn. We had a meet in May that got rained on, however we had a lot of fun anyway. Family/kid friendly. Should be mostly Foresters, and a couple of old-schools, however, ALL Subie's are welcome!!! Please check out this thread for details: http://www.subaruforester.com/viewtopic.php?t=3783 Look forward to meeting some of you.

I must say that you did a BEEEEEE-U-TIFUL job on that car, looks great!!!!