blk99obs

Yea I'd like to see what you come up with for an OBS.

damn that sucks about the damage... i had a friend with some front end damage and the ghetto fix we did was to get a chain with hooks, wrap one end around a tree, and then either put the hook in, or wrap the chain around where its messed up, put it in neutral with a couple feet of slack on the chain, and then have like 4 or so people push it backward as fast as they can so when the chain tightens up the weight of the car wants to keep going and yea just pull out whatever dents and damage you can, see if its good enough, and if so weld some support in if it suits ur fancy to keep it that way.

oh right on! I ended up springing for the bravos in the same size, I really like the look of the bighorns, but they seem a little too aggressive for me. Was reading on 4x4 forums about big mpg losses with them too which really concerns me... though I suspect they are probably going to larger sizes too when they buy them... that and what they are driving is a lot heavier so hard to say really... It looks like the only areas I should really lose out in so far as comparing the two are snotty mud because the bravos wont clear nearly as well and ice/snow since they dont have holes for studs. I'm not too worried about it though, im pretty sure im not hardcore enough to need something like that. Let me know how they are for sure! and props on having the cajones to take the M/T leap! I'll be getting mine on tuesday so pix to follow! Was gonna get the grabbers but they couldn't cut me nearly as good of a deal on them because I guess they get Maxxis in massive bulk but General is like special order so woulda been literally twice as much, but its all good, we run Maxxis tires on our DH bikes so will be kinda cool to show up with them on my car too =D

Yup I was just looking at those, so thats the ticket for daily driver eh? Hows the gas mileage/noise with those? notice any significant difference? Any other options I should look into? Also, will 14" steelies off of something like an older legacy clear my brakes on my 99OBS? They said at les schwabe that their multifit ones would be the only ones that would work because they have more brake clearance than stock ones would, but they want like $50 a piece for them and I think they may have said that just to sell me some wheels... I could trade in my current wheels and get some 14" stockers from another older subaru at the Junkyard for free if they will fit... pretty sure I saw an old legacy with some. Anyone know for sure on that? Thanks for the help so far!

Ok so I went to get my alignment done today, and as I'm waiting im looking through the racks and I see the 27X8.5/14 Maxxis bighorns... Well I was pretty pissed because a week or 2 earlier when buying tires I asked if they had/could get anything a little more aggressive than just touring/all seasons that I could possibly fit on the car, and they told me no, so I just settled for all seasons... Well today I asked them to test fit those Maxxis bighorns and sure enough they fit with the same clearance as my current all seasons. Now as absolutely sick as those maxxis bighorns looked, so far as my reading goes, the fuel economy drop and noise increase might be a little much for me to handle, and they also look like the gaps between the treds are so large that I wouldn't have much rubber on the road at any one time. Since this is a daily machine that sees prob 90% pavement I'd like to have something thats more a compromise between an all season and that Maxxis mud terrain, something that meets in the middle, still reasonably aggressive but more leaned toward a highway rig that occasionally sees offroad. Any suggestions on what to look for that I can get from Les Schwab? They said I can trade in my tires I have on some new ones if i do it in the next couple days so the ones i have arent too worn to trade in as new. Something cheaper than a maxxis would be good too. So I'm looking for an all terrain 27x8.5/14 thats available at Les Schwabe I suppose or H/T? I guess that means highway terrain? anyway I'll keep researching but it would be really helpful if you guys could chime in as I think im going to try and switch them out tomorrow. thanks very much!

I used 03 forester springs/shocks in front with 3/8 paranoid spacers, and 99 forester springs/shocks with 99 imp tophats in rear. I am now level enough that I can't tell if I have rear end rake anymore or not... I'll have to check, if I do, its VERY little.

hmm... well if I go to do any more with spacers I'll keep that in mind! The size I got were only $25 so I figured what the hell.

Wish I did, looked on their web site and couldn't find it. I just walked into the store and asked for a camber kit for a 99 imp and they had it there in stock. it was made by SPC (Specialty Products Company).

ok thanks guys, well im thinking in that case I may cut into a blown fuse, solder some wires on each side and hook up a switch so they make a closed circuit when the switch is on.

I was wondering how hard it would be to put in a kill switch for the ABS system, so like when I'm on snow or otherwise slippery off-roading I could disable it. Any ideas? I've always driven non-ABS cars anyway so thinkin about just tearing the whole system out, did it on a friend's prelude but this is an entirely different beast. I'm not all that hot on how it all actually works, but I'm thinking if theres a power wire either into the ECU unit for it or the pump motor part, that I could tap into with a relay or just a simple switch, that would be pretty sweet. Anyone done this? or have an idea of how I might go about it? I think id rather have a disable switch, but tearing it out would drop some weight... With the hondas you pretty much yank the pump motor piece where all the brake lines go and replace it with a proportioning valve. Same deal here?

While I personally don't have any experience with the same issue you are having, I will say with experience from other cars (mainly honda CRX, integras, etc) reman axles are NOT worth your time, and can in fact be dangerous I've found... One screwed up at a very inopportune moment and nearly made me wreck. That said, my dad has an old GL thats bone stock, does nothing but putt down the highway, and hes always having problems with reman axles, and the same goes for a friend of mine that had a stock GL. The thing is, you are adding stress and using lower quality axles which is a bad combo when you think about it. Get away from those kragen special axles, and hit up Napa and buy some NEW ones, not reman. It will cost you more, but you get what you pay for, I put some on my integra and CRX, never had problems again... and I thrashed on those cars hard. If you can find some good stock ones, run em!

Thanks Superu, shes a 5spd!

Thanks for the kind words Sifu! Strut health is unknown honestly. The fozzy I pulled parts from at the junkyard had a digital odometer and no battery/key so no clue there. When I pulled the rears apart for the top-hat swap, I sort of pushed and pulled on the strut shaft of the stockers and the ones going in and seemed about the same so I called it good, no visible oil leaks on either *shrugs* Latest update is I bought an SPC camber kit for the rear for $27 from kragen (they actually had it in stock!!!) and ordered some 3/8" Paranoid Fabrications saggy boob spacers. Once the spacers and camber kit are in, its time for the alignment rack!

ok well put in the 03 ones, seemed to help a little, not much though and certainly not as much as I'd hoped... so I think its time for saggy front spacers, I'll probably roll with 3/8 and see how it is. Edit: after some more rough measurements, seems like 3/8" is the ticket, will leave me with just a little bit of rear end rake... So paranoid 3/8" are ordered! Wish me luck!

Yea from what I read the max is 3/8" before you need longer studs, so if using spacers I had planned to pound out my old studs and put in new ones on the front and then run 3/8 in the rear... but does anyone know the lift difference between 1st and 2nd gen foz assemblies?

Yea the pics I took don't show it too well, but in a flat parking lot you can tell for sure. One guy actually came up to me and asked me why it was only lifted in the rear lol... Anyway I guess I'll head to the junkyard and see about testing some 03 fronts.

How do you guys level out after the fozzy lift? I have 99 foz strut/spring assys on my 99 imp but I have about an inch or so more lift in the back. What kinda difference in lift is there between 1st and 2nd gen foz assemblies? I'm thinking I might try and grab 03 springs/struts for the front. Either that or I'll just buy some 1" strut blocks for the front and maybe 3/8" for the rear. What would you guys do? I'm looking at these in the 1" model for front, assuming they will fit... I'm not hip to the GF, GC, etc, lingo... used to drive me mad tho with honda lol, DC2, EF8, EG, etc... ugh. http://www.paranoidfabrications.com/shop/subaru-impreza-gc8-hdpe-front-spacers-copy/ pix in my build thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=126884&page=3 Thanks in adv for any advice!

Stock Stock wheels/tires, fozzy lift. skidplate new wheels, 215/65/15 tires

I'm running 99 fozzy spring/strut assemblies all the way around. My only issue with it as of right now is that I have roughly an inch of rear end bias, so front needs raised more... thinking about grabbing 03 fozzy assemblies and trying those in the front and see if I level out.

Ok 99 foz sus lift is complete! got it all under there and was very pleasantly surprised at the ride quality/handling I think the ride quality actually improved, seems like when I go over the same bumps I feel them less! and cornering is nothing like I expected based on some reviews, its not bad at all IMO, I expected to have to slow way down in the corners, but really I've only barely had to slow down so far. I've yet to really hammer it hard, in my normal daily driving I corner pretty fast, most people not used to it are looking for things to grab on to in my car when a corner comes up lol, but every once in a while I really smash thru a corner so we'll see what happens when I decide to try it with the new setup. So far I've got 99 fozzy wheels, rear sway brackets, trailing arm brackets, and spring/strut assemblies all the way around. I also put on the front skid plate from a loyale, which to my surprise was a very easy install, the rear mounting holes were the same so all I had to do was bolt it on for those, and then for the front there were 2 unused and threaded holes in just the right spots so all I had to do was drill 2 holes in the skid plate and it was good... I also blew a hole in it with a torch so I can get at my oil drain plug without taking the plate off. At this point I'm stoked on how things turned out and I love being the only guy in town with a tall suby Now just need to get her aligned, put some wheel spacers on, maybe rear camber kits before I align *shrugs* and put a tranny mount in and I should be all set for the time being. I picked up some tires, ended up with some 215/65/15 mastercraft all seasons, not as aggressive as I'd hoped but there wasnt much available that I wouldn't have to nip/tuck to fit and since its my daily pavement machine I figure thats fine... I mainly just needed the clearance anyway as most places I go traction isnt much of an issue, plus these tires won't bury themselves in the sand! and I live right on the beach so thats always a good thing. I also figure aggressive tires will decrease fuel economy so might have been a good thing I didn't get them for that reason too. Thanks to everyone who helped, for their time and patience with the suby noob! Pics coming soon!

Ok thanks guys, I just stuck with the 15" fozzies!

Yup I'll probably post some tomorrow if the weather is good, has been terrible lately, rain rain and more rain and grey... and not enough room in my shop to get good pix with the car in it. Just got tires tonight, didn't get as aggressive as I'd hoped for, ended up with some basic all-seasons but they'll be good all around tires since this car is a pavement pounder primarily. Might see if I can pick up some 5mm wheel spacers tomorrow, think I can squeeze out a little more track width

So I have a set of fozzy 15" steelies, but I was at the JY and saw a set of 02 OB 16" alloys. What do you guys think is the better choice given the clearances of the 99 imp? im thinking ride quality vs handling due to shorter tire. Also I read that the OB wheels are +55 offset where fozzy are +48 so i guess 5mm spacer with the OBs? I liked how the fozzys felt with the wider stance, but I also like the idea of lighter alloys for my car and I think they look better... iono i been trying to decide the past couple days... wish the OB ones had tires so I could test them, then it would be easy.

One other thing I find key is to keep momentum, try not to stop if at all possible, and keep as fast as you can safely go because the faster you go the easier the car will stay on top of the sand as well. I take my OBS with stock tires in the sand and yea if I wanna hit 2nd I have to shift quick and do it almost redlined in 1st... I also didn't air down so that woulda helped but yea thats the best advice I could give too is low pressures and momentum... Like find yourself a spot where you know you can stop safely in the middle of where ur driving and if u run into trouble try and point for that spot.

Awesome pix, nice setup! keep at it!