Skemcin

I studied the pictures and there just isn't enough to go on without the truck in the shop. Getting the bends and the mounting brackets would be pretty difficult. Sorry I didn't reply sooner - got pretty busy the last couple weeks. I'm still looking for a Brat in the area - checking for sale listings and such. Its a bit of a stab in the dark, but hopefully I'll find something.

Thanks for the feedback and interest. You bring up some valid points that we did discuss during the design process. Basically there were two reasons we went with them. First, we wanted to put as few bend in the tubing as possible as each bend weakens the metal that much more. Keeping the tubing on the same plane will retain the most strength and provide the most predictable reaction to any impact. The second reason spacers were used in some cases was to basically do exactly what you were commented you wanted to avoid. We feel better about the bar breaking off at the bolts/spacers with a massive impact rather than it bending the frame and doing who knows what else to other parts under the car. Another positive result of having the tubing on the same plane is to help in the other impacts you describe. The bar will disperse more energy of an impact over the entire surface area because everything is on the same plane. If there were more bends then the absorption of an impact would be more unpredictable. I appreciate the feedback and when we do our fitment on our next vehicle, I'll be sure to bring these points up for consideration. Thanks again for the input.

Forester KYB struts installed on my 02 Impreza

put new KYB Forester Struts on my 02 Impreza OBS

I typically avoid these types of virtual pissing matches but this has become entertaining. So lets point a few things out. First, I have only posted in the Vendor Forum because that is what I am. I am not afraid to admit that and I think it is clearly obvious my intent is to market my business. My business does nothing but make things for Subarus and I'd be happy to make a financial donation to this community just as I have in other Subaru Owner communities. Money doesn't grow on trees or Subarus for that matter so its not something that I can necessarily afford right now. Your tone is quite accusational and you have no basis to judge me in the manor you do. I am a huge Subaru advocate. I've been driving one for 20 years. I got my sister to buy one, my brother, and my mother to do so as well. I've participated in at least half a dozen Subaru Managed Consumer Focus groups, and (as I've mentioned) I started a business catering only to vehicles made by Subaru. So there is absolutely no merit behind you questioning my passion for the brand. I started posting here, in the vendor forum, because I love everything about Subarus, their owners, and hope that I can provide a service that is not present at the moment. And if there is no place here for the work I do, I'd be happy to leave. But I am more than capable of figuring that out for myself - I certainly don't need one opinionated individual to judge me, to put me in a defensive position, to distract me from learning what the community needs so that I can determine if I can help. Even though I think you are way out of line in taking the position that you do and in the manor that you have, I still respect your input and will consider the valid points being made between the unnecessary rhetoric. The truth of the matter is that I do not know *that* much about the much older Subarus but one way to learn is to throw myself at one. Which is exactly why I've been participating in the conversation about a bumper/brush guard for the Brat. I'd LOVE to get my hands on one to fabricate something - more out of my passion to improve these vehicles and/or to bring more functionality to them. It's not all about the money - but yes, I am a business. But I'm a business driven by my passion much more so than my wallet.

We are excited to announce the beginning of our first rally car sponsorship. This weekend you can see Gorilla Offroad Products on the number 390 car of Alex Rademacher, co-driven by Jean Rademacher. They will be in a '98 Subaru Impreza RS 2.5 in the CRS-GT class sporting the Gorilla Top Mounted Cold Air Intake and Gorilla Mud & Gravel Guards. Check out the action at the High Desert Trails rally in Ridgescrest, CA on May 12. More information on this rally is available at: http://highdeserttrails.com/ If you miss the action pick up the results on Sundday here: http://www.rallydata.com/Results/HDT_2012_ClubScoreBoard.htm For more information on Gorilla Offroad Company production, please check us out at: http://www.gorillaoffroadcompany.com/ or follow us on Twitter: @gorillaoffroad

As the subject states, t-shirts are now available starting at $18.95 and sticker packs (5) for $5. You can PM the e-mail address you use in paypal, go to our website and submit your purchase order (from which I will send a paypal invoice), or simply e-mail me at getdirty[at]gorillaoffroadcompany.com.

FYI - we are looking for our next build to be in mid-June. So, I am starting to see where the interest would be. The build is based on two things: finding at least 5 people who will place a $200 deposit on a bar that we'll build. finding a local car/truck from which to fabricate the bar from. I'll be posting a similar post of a few other Subaru sites and will synchronize updates with respect to what the demand is dictating. So, please let me know year, model, and trim and I'll begin tracking interest.

I've seen one done in the style you describe and it was pretty well built. It took a little more cutting in the hood than I would have felt comfortable expecting an end customer to do - ok for DIY but not quite for resale. We toyed with adding some pipe/tubing to our MAP box to see if we could incorporate a MAF sensor and we were just brain dead that day - couldn't really "see" it if you know what I mean. I think its doable but you might be right in terms of it being cost prohibitive but we're gonna give it another look soon enough. I'd be interested in seeing what you end up putting together. Thanks for the post.

You are obviously among of the 5% I referred to in my earlier post. If you do not like the product - fine. But don't make accusations unless you have information to support your claims. No one was even asking for your opinion. And since you still have not provided any evidence that hydro-lock is an issue for ram air intakes - which by the way this is not the first - then I'm not sure what your motivation is except to seek out some deeply rooted shortage of attention you must be dealing with. Maybe you should try posting on NASIOC. Do your research. If used properly, the intake will not cause hydro-lock. If the car is not driven properly it is no more vulnerable to hydro-lock that any OEM intake or canister system is. Just to make a point, here is a video of a Rally car, at speed, going through a pretty deep puddle. If you watch the water, it doesn't come near the center of the hood - where the hood scoop and intake would be. But, you can hear the motor struggling as it takes on water through the stock snorkus system that pulls air from the fender well. It takes on water, runs like crap, but still does not hydro-lock. forward to 1:40 Again, unless you throw a bucket of water into the hood scoop you are not going to have a problem as a daily driver or even racing. Can we please move on from this point now? Your comments, which necessitate clarification, have derailed my initial post. I appreciate the concern and your doubt, but in the future please keep posts on topic and/or start new ones respective to a point or question you wish to make. Respectfully Skemcin

Thanks - I've been happy with the positive feedback I've received since starting the company. I just hope we'll be able to continue to get more of this stuff done. Its all of work but its great to see it on people's car/trucks.

Thanks. WE hope to continue to ad more vehicles to the list - its all in the demand. If I get 5 people of like make/models and a local car to use for fabrication, then we are good to go. I've been running mine for a couple months now and I like it alot. We're still collecting data, but its all positive results. If it all goes well, a MAF box will be next. Interesting choice of emotion icons - water ingestion is not going to be problem for 95% of the people out there. Short of throwing a bucket of water into the scoop there isn't much to worry about.http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gorilla+intake This isn't the first "ram" air to ever be installed on a car so I still have a hard time understanding why there are folks that bash this idea. Everyone of them that I've asked have never had a ram air car or heard, let alone seen first hand, the very thing they are warning people against. If you don't have evidence then don't shut something down based on mere ignorance. If you've got a story to tell about water ingested through a hood scoop that caused a catastrophic failure - please share. I'd be happy to share more videos, one particular one of a rally car crossing a stream at full speed that sucked water in from the OEM snorkus system (because it was too low/in the vendor) that only had a few seconds of running rough. So, how about that story?

Hi all, I wanted to announce, formally, that we've launched our website and our twitter account. Check us out online at http://www.gorillaoffroadcompany.com/ and on twitter @gorillaoffroad As we get more photos of our customers cars and trucks we will add a photography section to showcase our products installed and in use. Please, feel free to submit your photos and videos. Thank you for your support.

Thanks for the posts guys. I'd love to get my hands on a Brat (any Subaru really) to get something fit. I'll ask around and see what might turn up. Would you guys (Brat owners) be interested in a bumper replacement with an integrated winch mount or just and outright bolt on bar?

Understood. I've just started this company and I have a lot of reorganizing and planning to work out for the second quarter of 2012. We've got bars for almost all the Impreza's - not yet the 93-01 years - and all the Bajas. I've hope to organize some sort of confirmation of the Baja bar fitting directly on Legacy models as a sedan, wagon, and/or Outback set up. If the swap bar, center jack plate, and front subframe are unchanged than the only concern would be the bumper position/differences. As for the older Brats and L-Series cars I'm sure something cheaper could be figured out since there isn't as much plastic in the way - the frame and bumper is much more accessible. As for now - I have no idea when I will be able to get to all this. There seems to be a decent amount of demand, I just have to find the best way to address it. I am very much interested in serving the new and aged Subaru vehicles so I will work on getting some threads here (and on other forums) to help me gauge / address the most interest. Thanks for all the posts and interest. I hope to get to everyone's request/vehicle at some point.

We had two bars in stock but ended up selling them at the last second. If you're interested send me you zip code and I'll check to see if we have enough material for a couple more.

possible, sure. :-) We've got a pretty good process down and it essentially goes like this. First, we have to find a local vehicle, or someone willing to drive whatever distance to allow us to have the car for any least one full (8am to 8pm) day. Once we can lock down the use of a vehicle, we post a deposit link - usually $200. It is fully refundable (outside of paypal fees) should the minimum of 5 deposits not be received. Once 5 deposits are received, we move forward with booking the build and we do the work. Once the bar is fit - it is usually no more than 2 weeks from the point that the batch is made (all depending on quantity sold) the bars are ready to ship. I'm about to go on a week's vacation, when I get back I can begin to see if I can track down a local Brat - I know of one, but it is in mint condition and not likely going to be given up for us to play with. Obviously, if you happen to find one, please let me know. The shop is in New Lenox, IL. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thanks for your interest and I hope we can get something worked out.

Just a few from a little trip I took today.

Look what we picked up tonight: Sorry for bad photos wife has the real camera.

Sounds like the beginning of a plan. And I think hitting the cliffs would be an excellent idea - I plan on getting over there once I get some decent tires. So there are a couple options for us to consider. Once you're here, we could: take a finished Baja bar and skid plate and fit that on your car - if there are no fitment problems, then you can decide to purchase that and within an hour we'd be done. take a naked Baja bar, fit it and if there are no issues we can look at the tie downs and incorporate them if things line up. I would have to check but I would imagine the time/material cost of that and the powder coating would be almost identical - so you could purchase the naked bar with the additional mounting points and be off to the cliffs. I'd bring a couple cans of spray primer to get something on the bar before you take off. Then you can get it powder coated back home somewhere. if the naked Baja bar doesn't fit, we can estimate the time needed to modify the Baja bar to make it work - unfortunately that could be a few hours and maybe a couple hundred dollars more. You'd still leave with a finished naked bar but it would be the perfect/appropriate fit for your car. Let me know if you want to work on getting something formally set up. For our build/fit days like this, we decide on a date and then just ask for a $200 deposit to be made. That's fully refundable up to 24 hrs prior to the build day - after which we just hold $25 for cancelling on short notice. We're at the shop 7 days a week so let me know if you have a particular date in mind.

Thanks for the post. When we looked at the Baja, it was interesting how they put that truck together. They beefed it up and did a couple things that surprised us a little. We put crossing tubes on the Impreza bar to stiffen the front end: but the Baja not only had a decent cross member where the center jack plate is, but the front bumper beam was heavy steel - two stamped sheets welded together and bolted on like the Impreza. And, the Baja has all its fuel and brake lines tucked away - they aren't exposed underneath the truck - pretty interesting. Anyway. We've got these bars for the 02-11 Impreza, all the Bajas, and early next month we'll have the late model (SH) Forester done as well. Let me know if you want more information on reserving a bar for production.

I think it actually goes to 04 and then the bumper changes a bit. I haven't checked around but we would like to test fit the bar on a couple Legacy chassis to see how well it mounts up. Would you be interested in swinging out to New Lenox over the next week or so? Looks like you've got an 02 OBW - correct? Here are a couple photos .... and more here: http://https://picasaweb.google.com/101615133256633682715/SubaruBajaBar Final Cost: $ 399 = Naked Bar (powder coating is FREE) $ 175 = Skid Plate $ 125 = Winch Mount $ 049 = Tow Hook EDIT: Current pricing is available at http://www.gorillaoffroadcompany.com/faqs.cfm

Hwllo, I recently started Gorilla Offroad Company located in Plainfield, IL. I wanted to introduced the first two products we're offering. Light Bar: Starting at $399 with up to 8 light mount tabs, optional skid plate and winch mounts this bar also reinforces the subframe and radiator shroud. We currently fit 02-11 Imprezas and 03-06 Bajas with the late model Forester fit being done the second week of April. with several more photos available here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101615133256633682715/GorillaBar Top Mounted Cold Air Intake: At only $325 shipped to the lower 48, this item is a great replacement for the OEM snorkus system that sucks are from the fender well. Available for MAP cars only, this intake does require a hood scoop but is perfect for getting direct clean, cold air. with several more photos available here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101615133256633682715/TopMountColdAirIntake If you have any questions, please PM or email me skemcin [at] gmail.com

BUMP We are beginning a production run of: 03-06 Baja 02-07 Impreza 08+ Impreza If anyone is interested, please let me know. We just need a $200 deposit by this Friday to reserve your bar in this batch. PM any questions.