AFviper

Great photos, rallies are always great to watch.

I am sure the Tribeca is going to be gone in a few years, it's just too ugly. The platform might be used for a different car though.

Big splash. You know thats a Subaru no a boat, right?

$150 for a set is a great price. I asked at a junkyard about springs and struts, and they set $100 for each spring/strut. The biggest problem I see with going to the junk yard is unless you know how many miles are on the struts you don't know how much life they have left in them.

OEM tires usually are a lot more expensive then they need to be because some people just want the OEM tires and don't realise they can get tires that are better, and cheaper. Since you are only replacing one I suggest you have the store check the tread depth, and if there is a difference you can have the excess rubber shaved on the new tire. Another option is trying to sell the three good tires on Ebay, and getting 4 new tires. Not sure how this would work out money wise, but if you want different tires this is an option.

So the 215/70/15 doesn't rub anywhere even with the suspension compresed and wheels turned? Also where is it close to rubbing, on the strut, or the wheel wells? If you have any pictures of your lifted Legacy, I want to see them.

Go to http://www.cars101.com/subaru/outback/outback2004.html You will find lots of info about almost any subaru model. It seems like in 2004 there were two H-6 versions of the Outback the LL Bean, and VDC. I assume that only the VDC version had VDC, but look through that page, and see what you come up with.

Why not buy an old Toyota, or Nissan truck. They seem to go forever, there are some I saw on ebay close to 300,000 miles that still run. Serious offroading is not something you can do in a Forester unless you do some serious modification Like this guy did:http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=41634&highlight=lifted+forester. This would probobly cost a lot, in both time and money.

No hard feelings. You're right I was on just regular forest roads. It seemed like a big deal to me since this was the first snow, rain we have had since I got the car. I got it in the end of June, lifted it less than a month ago. There isn't much moisture here in Montana during the summer, can't wait till the snow starts falling . I am from the Seattle area, and am starting to miss the rain, it's not much fun driving on dusty roads.

I was by myself so I wasn't going to leave my car IN the mud, crawl out, and snap some photos. But I guess the title is a little missleading. I have a 22" monitor running at 1600x1200, so I didn't notice that these were large at all. I don't want to get mud tires on it, I like the nice handling with high performance tires. The ones on there right now are the stock for the WRX Bridgestone RE92s size 205/55/16. For winter I have Nokian RSIs in 215/60/16, so those will be a little bigger, and will look more in proportion to the car. The treads look a lot deapper in person than in this photo.

My Legacy has KYB GR2 Outback struts on it giving a lift of about 2 inches (didn't measure the ground clearance). I know that I would have done some damage to the bumper, or worse if I still had the original suspension. Here is the car stock except for the WRX wheels Got a little muddy Couldn't resist doing some donuts in a small gravel pit I found A little suspension flexing We had some snow in the mountains The road was rutted and muddy like this for a few miles Showdown ski area in Montana Its not fun unless you get your mirror muddy The nose Subaru stars through the mud

I don't think ABS is supposed make your car stop faster. It is there so you can turn while braking hard. If your front wheels are locked, and you turn the wheel nothing will happen, with ABS the car should respond. So on gravel/muddy/snowy roads if you aren't going to try and slam on the brakes in a turn, it probobly would help to take the fuse out.

Try http://www.subaruforester.com/

24mm? that seems really aggressive, doesn't that give you a lot of oversteer? As for the wheel sizes, larger wheels, more spesifically smaller profile tires should help the car feel a little sharper, and a little quicker on the turn in. The model of the tires will probobly effect the performance more than the size. If you go for a touring tire even in a low profile it will still feel squishy and slow on the turn in; but high performance summer tires will have a stiff sidewall, and will feel a lot different.