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I always enjoy your videos ! It seems that the rear suspension on your Outback and the Forester doesn't have a lot of droop ?!

No, it sure is a EJ22E (first pic) and probably a phase 1

I have swapped my '97 Forester EJ20J (122hp) for a '96 Legacy EJ22E shortblock. I kept all the electronics, intake manifold and exhaust and it works just fine. The reason I did the swap is that the EJ22E is non-interferential and has low end torque. But compatibility between EJ engines is not a science. The EJ202 (125hp) is easier to swap with a EJ251 as the connectics/electronics are compatible and you can still run the EJ202 ECU. Finally, its more of an electronic rather than a mechanic issue.

This is what we found out too but I don't want to change my SF for a Forester with VDC (SG phase II) so we will try to retrofit an ABS/VDC unit in my old SF and power the VDC through an Arduino. Well, its a project.... In the real world, my air piston lift system works pretty well, here is a video shot in Corsica where the 30cm (at lowest part) of ground clearance weren't too much

Are you trying to make your ABS unit a Traction Contol unit ? With the help of two friends, we are trying to find out if it is possible using a Arduino. It would be for offroad use only. Starts here, but for now its just some brainstorming : https://www.forum4x4.org/threads/117587-Subaru-forester?p=3747436&viewfull=1#post3747436

Beautiful work on the bumper but it must not be light !

Thats what I thought too but I did find a small difference between different rear/right axles. I had a r/r axle popping out the differential when going through rough terrain so I compared it to other r/r axles I have and found they all have a different length of a few millimeters, just enough to keep the axle in the differential.

Nice grinding of the cups, how much of an angle do you get now ?

Have you already changed the SF (40cm) lateral links with SG (41,5cm) or WRX (41cm) lateral links ? I opted for the SG's. The axles on SF's and SG's are the same length but I found a little difference between left and right, about 5mm if I remember correctly.

You will be limited by the plunge at the front even with the ball spline axles, they only have 45mm plunge. And because the control arms are shorter than the axles, the more droop you have, the more the axles go towards the inside of the cups. At the rear, with ball spline axles, you shouldn't be worried as much as the lateral links and the axles are about the same length. And the inner CV's can go about 40°

I had some Heri ball spline axles for three years in the front of my '97 Forester, they did the job but I wouldn't recommend them, they had a lot of play and I was always scared to break them.... Now I have oem SVX front axles, 30°+ vs 25° for the oem Forester axles. If you install ball spline axles at the rear of the Forester you don't need them to have much plunge as the lateral links and the axle are about the same length.

The humming noise could also come from the rear differential, but if so, it usually makes more noise on acceleration or deceleration but not on both. Nice pics of your travel by the way !

In my opinion, your vibrations come from the front inner CV's. You should add a body lift or lower your strut lift. And take the sway bar out...

Because you love jumps and because I just found this video...

Your best video, really enjoyed it !

Your Outback is like the Terminator in the first opus, it just doesn't die !

Another nice trip report, thanks ! As for the jumps in the video, it seems that the 35mph is the most comfortable !

I would love to have your machining/welding skills !

I maybe didn't use the right word. I thought that the shims were the washers used to slow up the piston in the shocks. How do you name this part ? Valving washers ?

Maybe on the Fox shocks is it easier to change the shims but on the HotBits, I would have to drain the oil too thus why I changed the viscosity of the oil instead of the shims. The recommended nitrogen pressure is around 8bar/120psi and I went up to 12bar/180psi and everything is still fine, nothing's leaking, the nitrogen in the canisters is separate from the oil with a floating piston, not a membrane, this maybe helps for more precise oil filling keeping the seals in good operating conditions.

Very true about the viscosity of the different oil brands. The official measures are done at 40°C and 100°C and are measured in cSt (1 centi-stoke = 1mm2/s). Another way to modify the dampening is to change the hydraulic settings (shims) but thats a longer work. The easiest way is to change the nitrogen pressure, its not as accurate but it still helps finding the right settings.

The springs were inline just like most coilovers. I'm sure it does help to have them angled but I still think that the problem came from the wrong lubricant. I now run the non-inverted HotBits coilovers since '14, Back then, I also feeled that they were not as smooth as OEM struts even with softer spring rates so I decided to test different oils, ATF Dexron III being the oil used by HotBits. I first tried Citroën LHM, a little better but not good enough, then I tried Motorex 10W fork oil, and suddenly the stick-slip effect was gone but the damping was too firm so I changed for Motorex 2,5W....and now I have a flying carpet ! So from my experience, the right oil is the most important when it comes to shock absorbers.

I understand that you won't give more details about your struts as you are trying to sell them. I was just curious as I had Proflex Evo 2 inverted struts that didn't work as smooth as yours by the looks in the videos, and it was nothing to do with spring rate and/or hydraulic setup, only stick-slip due to bad bearing (though PTFE) and lubrication of the bearings. I think that they were not designed to be Mc Pherson type struts from the begining. I finally sold them cheap....

Nice videos ! Would you make any of your coilovers, how you build them inside and out, what parts you used, spring rates and the stroke you get out of them. Would love to see all the engineering involved for the fabrication.

2019 is going to be a very interesting.....happy new year !