98 Outback - What would you do to off road it?

[springer-]

New here but have had Subbies forever. I currently have a 98 Outback 2.5l with 5mt. 215,000 miles and tight as can be. I am replacing it with a 2000 Outback Limited Sedan.

 

I would like to off road the 98. What I am looking for is suggestion on what to do to it to make it a good off roader. I've done some searches and reading but I figure the wealth of knowledge and experience here is better than any search I could do. More than likely you all know what works well and what doesn't. Not to mention any tips and tricks that could easily be missed.

 

Recommendations for lift kits, tire size, suspension upgrades, traction mods, etc., are all welcome.

 

Ideally when done it would still be road legal and off road capable.

 

Background info ...

I have had probably 20 Subaru's including 3 Brats, 79 GL wagon, 82 GL Wagon, 86 Sedan, 87 Wagon, 92 Wagon, 94 Wagon, 98 OBW and a slew of parts cars. With exception of my current 98 they have all been put through the paces. I have force fit them between trees they didn't fit between, done hill climbs, traversed raging rivers, ponds and streams. I have crossed railroad tracks where there was no crossing, over downed telephone poles, trees, snow banks and anything else in the way. I've had them in water over the hood, had sheets of ice 4" thick crashing over the car, and would follow any snowmobile trail any where.

 

One car I had a rubber hose that ran the length from an electric fuel pump on the spare tire and went in the gas cap for fuel. Another one had a wire under the hood that I would connect to the battery to make all the lights work for night time use.

 

One I hit a curb with so hard it bent the drivers front wheel back so far it rubbed on the inner fender. I wrapped a chain around the lower control arm and attached it to a dozer and slammed it in reverse until I bent that wheel back out. You would be amazed how well that car ran down the highway after.

 

I could on and on with stories and if there is a section here for it I might do that.

[Dickensheets]

Hey welcome.

 

I would spend your money elsewhere (jeep, toyota etc.).

 

We all love our subies but they are not designed for offroad use. First, they are unibody, they lack aftermarket support, the approach and departure angles are all wrong, they have no low range, the gearing is too tall, the front is IFS, the wheelbase is too long. You will break the bank.

 

I think you need a beater jeep or tacoma project. Results will be vastly superior. I'm not bashing soobs. I have 2. But I've been in the offroad scene before and soobs just don't work.

 

Happy new year. Ryan.

[98obster]

I would also agree that there are better "off road" platforms than subaru, the OP probably realizes the limitations of subarus (I hope) for offroad. imo, the AT is better for "off roading". But I'm sure there are some Aussie people who would love to help you spend your money as they love the OB and can help with lift kits, bumper deletes etc. It's been said countless times, the subaru is mostly a jack of all trades and master of none. you'd be better of modding an OBS or d/r GL

[idosubaru]

lift and larger tires.

 

get a rear VLSD if yours doesn't already have one.

 

2" lift is easy.

 

there are a few vendors and fabricators on here that make lifts. SJR (who i've bought from), BYB, and Bill Omlin come to mind.

 

The "offroad" vehicle discussions are silly but apparently we must endure another one. Any vehicle is limited, that's a comparison game or competition not offroading. Doesn't mean they aren't fun. Offroading is picking a place and enjoying it. Just because I'm sponsored to play a sport doesn't mean i think everyone else that plays that sport needs to be as well, they can still enjoy it without the practice, competitiveness and high end equipment that I have. Let folks enjoy it how they want even if that means they can only traverse 60% of the US instead of 60.2%

Edited December 27, 2009 by grossgary

[springer-]

Thanks for the input so far, hope it continues.

 

As for the off road capabilities of the Subaru, read the second half of my post. Seriously, I was on this old abandoned railroad bed that crossed a swap. Both sides sloped off a good 10 feet and the Subaru just fit the tires side to side before the sides dropped off. There was no turning back once you started down this snowmobile trail. It was January and the coldest day of the year and me an 2 friends were headed. Half way down the old track there were trees growing up out of the old railroad bed. One on each side and close enough together that the Subaru would not fit between them. After a few minutes of debate that forward was the only way out and that NO other vehicle was going to come get us out, we got back in the car. I crept up slowly and positioned the front quarters equally at the trees until they touched. Then I let her rip. The Subaru was about 4 inches too wide when I started. It was perfect fit when I got to the other side. I crushed in all the quarters and doors, ripped the mirror off and pushed in the side lights. Once we got to the other end of the trail we found it closed off by a telephone pole that was down across the opening. There was no way to avoid going over it unless I tried to go back the way I came. The two friends got out and went into the road to watch for traffic. I waited until they gave me the signal. They waved me on and I let her rip again, hitting the pole straight on. The Subaru jumped up and slammed back down, the front wheels were over. Then the rear wheels, up and over. At the same time the rear wheels were crossing the pole, the front was crashing a 4 foot high snow/ice bank. I smashed through the snow bank and cut the wheel sliding to the stop as I side swiped the snow bank on the other side of the road. My friend jumped in and we were off.

 

There is no way any other car could have made that trip. We went back and did it again. I drove that car for months after since it was my daily driver. As mentioned in the op, I could go on and on with stories like that.

 

Yes there are other vehicles that can do more stuff off road than a Subaru but I have never had a Subaru fail me off road yet and they were all stock with nothing more that retread snow tires. With a lift and better tires, aka ground clearance, I can have a lot of fun off road with my OBW. I am not looking for a mud bogger, rock climber, monster mobile but rather a fun car that can do many of the trails in the woods here in Maine.

 

Back to the thread .... what's a VLSD? I am guessing the LSD=Limited Slip Diff, what's the V?

 

2" lift and tires, do you think that would get me 10" of under carriage clearance?

 

BTW, Thanks for any comments and help.

[idosubaru]

Viscous Limited Slip - it's what all the Subaru's came with (the ones that had it anyway), so they're easy to find.

 

2" won't get you 10" in an OBW I don't think. You would need 3-4" for that I believe.

[WoodsWagon]

Subaru outbacks have lift blocks between the crossmembers and the body to keep the axles flat with the longer outback struts. Experience has shown that running outback struts in cars without the spacer blocks doesn't seem to kill off the axles any faster. So, measure how tall the lift blocks are between the engine crossmember and the body and build some strut top extensions 1/2" taller than the lift blocks and you should be good.

 

Either remove the front outback bumper, replace it with a legacy bumper, or build your own bumper. Building your own bumper that can take a hit is recommended. Same goes for the rear bumper. They really are too low to have a good approach or departure angle and often get torn off on the trail anyhow.

 

Unplug the two front impact sensors for the airbag system if you're really planning on beating the car (which it sounds like you are). Having an airbag go off can be really distracting when you're trying to keep up momentum over an obstacle.

 

Remove the cold air intake bit that goes from above the ABS module (the part with the nest of brake lines) to above the right front headlight. That will make it so you're pulling air from behind the headlight rather than the wave of water coming over the top of the headlight and being funneled into the intake. Better yet, take some flexable hose, like a dryer vent, and build a snorkle.

 

Bigger tires with agressive tread are always recomended.

 

I'd also recomend welding the center differential. If you remove the shifter and rear driveshaft, you can remove the rear endplate off of the transfer assembly and pull out the center differential. Welding the diff up will greatly reduce the chance of getting stuck with one rear wheel in the air. It would make the car drive the same as your older subarus did when put in 4wd rather than Fwd, so binding on tight turns on pavement.

[springer-]

Thanks for the reply. I think I would be more interested in purchasing a manufactured lift kit rather than making strut spacers. I understand what you are saying and from reading more, I think I would like to go 3"-4" of lift.

 

I do plan on changing the bumpers, great tip on the impact sensors.

 

A short snorkle is in the plans.

 

I'm not opposed to welding the diff but are there any other options available? Lockers, better diff, retro fits?

 

 

grossgary, Do you know how I would tell if I have the VLSD?

[johnceggleston]

grossgary, Do you know how I would tell if I have the VLSD?

 

it is unlikely that you you have one, they were not common in the late 90s. but they were standard in 03, so just get one from an 03 outback / GT manual car and bolt it in. some models had them standard in 01.

[subaru360]

I would add skiplates for the oil pan and rear diff. Get some offroad or snow tires. You might as well cut off the bottoms of the outback bumper covers, since you'll just tear them off anyway. Outbacks sit fairly high already, you might not even need a lift.