el_freddo Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Wow, that’s some damage to the outback! Will the plan be to straighten out the front end and go again or reshell the setup again? Cool that the flat towing went well. Over here in Oz we’d get hammered hardcore if we were found towing like that. Our laws state that the towing vehicle must be 1.3x the weight of the towed vehicle. So you can’t flat tow a like-for-like vehicle. But you can often tow one on a car trailer… We’re so backwards like that, and our authorities are complete Nannies about towing weights and vehicle weight limited etc. I swear our ADRs require lower weight limits than other markets. Anyway, I digress. Glad you got it sorted. Cool little solo day trip it seems! Cheers Bennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted August 4 Author Share Posted August 4 10 hours ago, el_freddo said: Wow, that’s some damage to the outback! Will the plan be to straighten out the front end and go again or reshell the setup again? Cool that the flat towing went well. Over here in Oz we’d get hammered hardcore if we were found towing like that. Our laws state that the towing vehicle must be 1.3x the weight of the towed vehicle. So you can’t flat tow a like-for-like vehicle. But you can often tow one on a car trailer… We’re so backwards like that, and our authorities are complete Nannies about towing weights and vehicle weight limited etc. I swear our ADRs require lower weight limits than other markets. Anyway, I digress. Glad you got it sorted. Cool little solo day trip it seems! Cheers Bennie I have to look at it closer but yes my current plan is to cut out and refab the lower radiator support from scratch, probably 2x4x1/8" wall rectangular tubing or similar. Might increase approach angle a bit and probably be stronger. Then finagle the hood latch/upper rad support back into place. Right after it happened I thought about just buying another rust free car and swapping things over but I think it will be easier and cheaper to repair this one. There don't seem to be many laws regarding flat towing, certainly not much enforcement if there are. I can't say I recommend towing something as heavy as your tow vehicle without brakes but we've done it a number of times now. It has become increasingly common over the last 5-10 years to see two or three cars hooked together driving down the interstate, likely all purchased at an auto auction. There are stories that people operate trains of up to six of these cars with more than one powering the assembly. Trying to rent a tow dolly from Uhaul on the other hand took some finagling. The van I used is a 3/4 ton, we've towed a 20' enclosed trailer with it. Eventually talked to one guy who helped me figure out which options to tell them I had so their system would let me rent a tow dolly to tow a FWD wagon, I definitely wasn't going to tell them I was going to be towing a Subaru. And the tow dolly has surge brakes, so definitely safer than flat towing from a braking perspective. That day trip was great, every time I take it off pavement I'm reminded that the first gen Impreza with EZ36 is like a cheat code as our friend A said. Didn't bother airing down, never had to use the low range or even lock the center diff, never got stuck. Also reminded me how many trails there are in the UP. My GPS log is up to 5400 miles of unpaved trails up there. There are definitely some repeats/overlapping trails so let's say we've been on 3-4000 miles of unpaved UP roads but I would guess that is about 1/4 of the unpaved roads/trails there. The one loop I did I probably would have turned around where (or before) that picture was taken it was getting so overgrown but I was still following a trail on the GPS. The other area I wound up in there were no roads anywhere on my map for miles yet quite a few roads/trails I was exploring, some of them quite wide and smooth. "Connected the dots" too as we like to say - go off the end of one road on the map and wind up on a different road on the map miles later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 Oh yea, according to Uhaul, I only use their equipment to move 90s Corollas and Civics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted August 15 Author Share Posted August 15 B straightened out the upper radiator support on the Outback. We cut out the lower radiator support. Hung a straight radiator and the condenser from upper support, hood closed, and started mocking up a new lower support. Got a piece of 3" square tubing to use for that. Put the main bumper beam back into place, squared it up, and cut a new mount for the passenger side. Will post pictures of all that later, planning on doing some fab tomorrow. The main damage to the engine seemed to be where the oil cooler/filter threads on to the block. I tapped it deeper and used one of the longer pipes we'd made when I did the same thing to the black Outback. Also like that time though the block has a hairline crack which was spraying oil everywhere. I cleaned this one out and then poured some super glue in the crack from the inside and outside. Then applied three layers of JB weld. Not real pretty but I ran the engine for a bit and I didn't see it leak a drop. So fingers crossed that will be a semi permanent fix. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Geez, that front end took a fair hit! It’s worse than I thought it was going to be. I love how you look at the issue and go “we got this” and get stuck into it. Over here that would be a write off for a regular vehicle unless it was something special to its owner and they either know how to fix it or know someone that does and is willing to do the work. Looking forward to the detailed pics of the work done! Cheers Bennie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 On 8/18/2025 at 8:22 AM, el_freddo said: Geez, that front end took a fair hit! It’s worse than I thought it was going to be. I love how you look at the issue and go “we got this” and get stuck into it. Over here that would be a write off for a regular vehicle unless it was something special to its owner and they either know how to fix it or know someone that does and is willing to do the work. Looking forward to the detailed pics of the work done! Cheers Bennie It is here, too. But getting another rust free shell is no small feat in this part of the world. IIRC he travelled to California for this one. Not to mention the modifications already done to this one. That looks pretty nasty, but all ahead of the suspension mounts, so it doesn't need to be mm perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted August 21 Author Share Posted August 21 (edited) On 8/18/2025 at 8:22 AM, el_freddo said: Geez, that front end took a fair hit! It’s worse than I thought it was going to be. I love how you look at the issue and go “we got this” and get stuck into it. Over here that would be a write off for a regular vehicle unless it was something special to its owner and they either know how to fix it or know someone that does and is willing to do the work. Looking forward to the detailed pics of the work done! Cheers Bennie I definitely considered buying a different H6 Outback and swapping the suspension over. Overall this seemed like less work and definitely less cost. 4 hours ago, Numbchux said: It is here, too. But getting another rust free shell is no small feat in this part of the world. IIRC he travelled to California for this one. Not to mention the modifications already done to this one. That looks pretty nasty, but all ahead of the suspension mounts, so it doesn't need to be mm perfect. Exactly. Yes, my brother bought this one for me in California, and while it's no longer completely rust free it's still pretty solid. Figure at least $3000 including transportation to replace it. Which makes these things a bargain really. And this car is relatively stock aside from the suspension and bumper/skidplate. But it's still cheaper to fix this one. Plus either way we'd wind up refabbing the skidplate and radiator/bumper support or whatever you want to call it. And I've been thinking for years about fabricating a better lower radiator support for these cars from scratch rather than just adding a piece of tubing underneath. On that topic. We started by getting the radiator support back into place so the hood would latch and line up. Then remounted the bumper so it sat level and square with the lights and fenders. 2" square tube going back at least a foot into the stock "frame rail" with a mounting flange for the bumper welded on the end. This is the only part that will be permanently welded on the car. Below you can see the square tube is only tack welded to one side of the frame rail. When we get things more solidly mounted the plan is to hammer at least two more sides of the frame rail flush with that tube and weld them also. Then B cut and fit a piece of 3" square 1/8" wall tube where the stock lower radiator support was. Since this is about 3x as thick as the stock radiator support and significantly larger section, plus an actual piece of tubing rather than a couple of stampings folded/spot welded together, I think it's easily 10x as strong as stock. Not that what it's attached to will be very strong. We will pick up about 1" of ground clearance/approach angle. Also by chance the stock radiator mounts we unbolted should line up great by just welding them to the backside of that tube. Got the main part of the engine skidpan straightened back out, bolted back up, and replaced some tubes. Have tubes almost fit from the big square tube radiator support to the bumper beam. Need to figure out exactly how I'm going to make the tabs and piece of sheet metal there. I know what I want just need to figure out the most efficient order of fitting/assembly. Then we still need to add a few more tubes but it's coming together. Ordered some new hoses and tubes for the oil cooler. Edited August 21 by pontoontodd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted September 1 Author Share Posted September 1 Made a tube to brace the radiator support longitudinally and to protect the exhaust. Bracket bolts to the body right in front of the subframe where the bumper brace was bolted in stock. Added a tube to brace that and protect the oil filter and cooler. Tubes welded back in to connect the radiator support to the bumper and to mount a piece of sheetmetal. B cut a piece of 1/8" 4130 plate for the front of the skid and I welded that in. Old airbox guard was mostly destroyed so I made a new one. Welded as much as I could on the car, then we unbolted it. B cut a piece of 4130 sheetmetal to protect the condenser and radiator. Radiator and condenser mounts welded on new radiator support. Basically ready for paint. I would like to get this thing back on the road ASAP but I'm going to see if the paint shop can get this all painted up fairly soon. Have new lines/hoses for the oil cooler, new radiator, etc. B took a pair of good engine mounts off my spare EZ30. So we have to swap some of that out. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 Love your work fellas! Cheers Bennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted September 24 Author Share Posted September 24 (edited) Got the spare tire well tank for the Impreza back from the fab shop. Before sending out for paint I capped and sleeved this tube so it doesn't just fill up with a pint of mud. Welded and painted passenger side bumper mount. That square tube goes a good foot back into the body. Replaced the engine mounts, that was more difficult than expected. Split engine mounts in middle, they didn't have the retaining plates like the ones off the other engine I installed. Lowered the exhaust to do it, the gaskets were definitely blown out. Unfortunately even after replacing with new the one still seems to leak a bit. Removed the oil pan and hammered it back out, bit more capacity than stock now. If nothing else it will take longer to get smashed up against the pickup now. Put foam strips around the radiator to seal up the gaps. Who knows if it will help, if nothing else helps keep the top tank from rubbing on the radiator support. Had to put in new threaded inserts for the skidplate. Those tack welds are just so they can be tightened down initially, they expand and clamp on the inside of the crossmember. Bracket for skidplate support, dipped that one in the enamel paint and looks good for now. Replaced trans cooler, condenser, and radiator. Bumper and skidplate etc back on. Maybe should have tried harder to find a paint shop that could match the body side color better but this place at least seems to use some very durable paint. Plus I think they're the only place in town that sandblasts prior to paint which was necessary with some of the old rusty pieces. Thought about going with white instead but I'm not sure that would be any better. I know, travelvw and slammo think I should have gone with black. Still need to replace the driver's side radiator fan and install the front sheet metal panel and license plate. Drove around the block and seems to be back to normal. No leaks I've found. Plan on driving it quite a bit tomorrow. Edited September 24 by pontoontodd 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelvw Posted September 24 Share Posted September 24 Should have been black, yep ;). Front end looks like it can handle a smash from an amateur driver! Nice work. K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted October 1 Author Share Posted October 1 Drove white Outback around town a bit, seemed to be slipping at times. Hadn't realized the auto trans fluid was low, didn't realized it had lost much. Wound up adding three quarts but it is now slightly over full. Back to its normal amount of auto slushiness now I think. Washed it and put the front piece of sheet metal B made and license plate on. I've driven it over 200 miles and about five hours of driving, seems basically back to normal, alignment seems great. Haven't noticed any leaks. Hasn't been starting without using a jump pack so we cleaned up all the battery cable/starter connections. Didn't really help but the lead clamp on the ground post was due for a replacement, cut back those cables and cleaned them up. Eventually got a new AGM battery which seems to be working. Replaced the rear washer pump, old one was leaking. Replaced the RF headlight, one of the bolts had pulled through in the hit. Got a driver's side radiator fan and installed that. Exhaust was rubbing on driveshaft a bit, B had rigged something up that was almost preventing that, I tweaked it a bit and it seems good now but the middle section of the exhaust could definitely use some improvement there plus the cone gasket has been leaking for years because the flange bottoms out. B helped me replace the pitch stopper. The stock plastic one broke in the crash, which I didn't realize until fairly recently. Took some jacking up of the trans and prying to get the new pitch stopper to bolt up. On the plus side that straightened out the trans mount and probably gave us a bit more exhaust to driveshaft clearance. Pulled a vacuum on the AC system, seemed to be leaking a bit. Put a little charge in it and the o ring on the low side of the compressor seemed to be leaking. Replaced that, didn't seem to leak, put the rest of a can in it. Enough to actually run the AC, high side 50, low side slight vacuum, doesn't blow cold. Figure I'll check it in a week or so and see if it's leaked. We're basically past AC season here but it is handy for defrosting the windshield at times. Radiator fan runs with the AC on. We tried pulling the swaybar mounting bracket forward by using a come a long (hand winch) to the Impreza but I don't think it moved. Doesn't seem to hit the tie rod so I guess it's good where it's at. Rear portion of the driveshaft is bent, I'd say 1/8-1/4" (3-6mm). Buckled in the crash maybe? There's a high frequency vibration that's worst at about 50mph, I assume from the driveshaft. Got one on order from a junkyard. We went over some things on the Impreza. The rear wheel bearings had a little bit of play. Slight on the RR, about the amount we start to consider bad on the LR so I replaced that. Much easier with the bolt in wheel bearings. Replaced that CV axle too, inner boot was starting to cut/tear. Old wheel bearing spun freely and sounded bone dry, good thing I replaced it. B tightened down the aluminum bracket for the LF control arm, those bolts were quite loose for some reason. He adjusted the driver's door, hadn't been staying closed firmly again, catch probably just shifted out a bit. He found a leak in the RF tire, seems to be a decent sized stick or something. So I have a few tires to take to Discount sometime for their road hazard warranty. Unfortunately the trans started making a lot of noise Sunday on the way home from a day trip. Made it home fine. Most likely similar low range failure the black Outback had. Going to start transmission removal today. Have some new low range parts made up - different material/heat treat, more oil holes, additional bearing - hopefully will last longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 I love your checklist of stuff you worked through, very systematic! Interesting about the low range, you’re probably keen to know what the issue is. I’m keen to see a low range for the 5spd! That redesigned rear knuckle “just paid for itself” (quote from “The Castle”) with that bolt on bearing replacement! I bet the rally crew would be interested in a set of these knuckles! Keep up the good effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted October 3 Author Share Posted October 3 On 10/2/2025 at 2:02 AM, el_freddo said: I love your checklist of stuff you worked through, very systematic! Interesting about the low range, you’re probably keen to know what the issue is. I’m keen to see a low range for the 5spd! That redesigned rear knuckle “just paid for itself” (quote from “The Castle”) with that bolt on bearing replacement! I bet the rally crew would be interested in a set of these knuckles! Keep up the good effort! Coincidentally when I typed up that post I was using our checklists for notes. There's always plenty to do on all of our cars, some issues more pressing <cough> than others. Don't hold your breath on the 5MT low range, the odds of me making those are extremely low. No way any of these modifications ever "pays for itself" but yes the rear knuckles with bolt on wheel bearings and big front axles and bigger rear brakes are a welcome improvement. B and I were discussing upgrading his drivetrain to 6MT low range/R180/billet rear knuckles over the winter. We have most of the parts and his rear diff has been making noise for over a year now. Spent some time this week on the trans removal. No major obstacles. Trans crossmember was nicely packed with dirt, took a few minutes to clean that out. Just got it out this morning. Missing one of the brass thrust washers in between the planet gears. Didn’t find any chunks of brass so maybe I just didn’t have it in there on assembly? The brass washers that are still there are worn about 1/3 of the way through from the needles. Going to see if I can find some steel washers that size but not before this goes back together. You can see it was breaking the needles inside the gears that were missing the dividing washer. Found a few partial needles in the trans. The parts of the noisy one in the black Outback that were worn/discolored are similar in this one but not as bad. Finally made parts to replace those with a different material/heat treatment, more oil holes, and an added bearing. Makes me wonder if the low range in the black Outback was missing some needles and that was what was really causing the noise. Still haven't removed and fully inspected it. I should have tried locking the center diff to see if that made the noise go away. Pretty sure we tried that in the black Outback and it didn't quiet down though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelvw Posted October 5 Share Posted October 5 Nice to see the low range improvements/upgrades about to be put to the test: my favorite of all your upgrades is a proper low range. Keep up the great work. K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted October 8 Author Share Posted October 8 On 10/5/2025 at 8:42 AM, travelvw said: Nice to see the low range improvements/upgrades about to be put to the test: my favorite of all your upgrades is a proper low range. Keep up the great work. K Going to the UP in a few days but I don't anticipate using the low range much. Thought I replied here but don't see it now so I'll try again. Got the low range rebuilt with some of the upgraded parts. For instance, added needles to this surface on the input shaft that rides in the high range output shaft. These are locked together in high range but are always discolored and worn after use. Trans went back together fairly easily. B checked the gap on the crank trigger sensor (only .024", would be fairly difficult to reduce) and replaced the clutch disc. We put the trans back in and reassembled the rest of the car. Seems to be back to normal. At first the clutch action was strange, the first half of the pedal travel just got the slave pushrod in contact with the fork so you had to push the pedal all the way to the floor. Tried pumping it up and bleeding it, no improvement. After maybe an hour of city driving it's suddenly back to normal, only have to push the pedal about 1/4 of the way down to disengage. Low fuel light no longer works, it was working during last year's trip out west but I ran out of gas with the gauge a little above empty and no light on the dash. Fortunately was able to coast into a gas station to a pump, did have a jerry can with me. One of the seals on one of B's struts was out of place so we took the strut off and went through it. Got the seal retainer welded back into place, replaced that seal, cleaned up the threads on the shaft, and replaced the bumpstop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted October 25 Author Share Posted October 25 B and I went to the UP trail riding a couple weeks ago. Went well, will post a full trip report later. Replaced driveshaft in white Outback. Eliminated that vibration but the engine (converter?) has some kind of vibration related to engine RPM and load. It's most noticeable and actually fairly annoying idling in gear. One possible cause is that despite replacing the exhaust manifold gaskets I think at least one of them still leaks. Have driven it about 500 miles since the front end rebuild though and seems mostly good. Only CEL/MIL is for one of the O2 sensor heaters. Not sure if I've mentioned it here but my wife's 2001 EZ30 Outback has had a wub wub noise proportional to road speed for a couple years now. Has probably gotten worse in that time, definitely louder or quieter depending on cornering. Have assumed it was a wheel bearing for quite a while now but couldn't figure out which one. Wanted to stick with the press in wheel bearings so the ABS would still work. It's stock and still basically rust free being from Oregon and we basically never take it off pavement. Have checked for slop and temperature a few times but neither side seems to get sloppy or hotter than any of the other hubs/bearings. Recently I decided it seems like it was probably coming from the RF and ordered a bearing, seals, and hub. Started disassembly and everything went smoothly, in fact most of the fasteners still have all the plating on them, until I got to the axle. Axle nut came off easily but the outer CV wouldn't budge in the hub. Eventually just took the whole mess off and put it in the twenty ton press. First tried some heat, more penetrant, had the spindle nut threaded most of the way back on and pressed on the socket so it wouldn't mushroom the end of the CV. Wound up shearing off the flange of the spindle nut. Had to bore that out of the socket in the lathe. Now I just started pressing directly on the CV stub and heated the hub with the oxy acetylene torch until it was cherry red. This time I broke the knuckle and somehow popped the CV axle out of the outer CV? Dug an old knuckle and axle out of the basement of the correct vintage. The ball joint in the old knuckle wasn't sloppy but the boot was torn and it was dry and rusty so I didn't want to install that. Took a while to get that out, barely got it to budge with the slide hammer. Took the good ball out of the now broken knuckle, anti seized and installed it. The only good axles I have in the right style do not have ABS rings on them for some reason. And I couldn't find any loose ABS rings. So I put it all together without that, will have to pick one up and install it sometime. On the plus side, there is now no noise when driving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted October 31 Author Share Posted October 31 Video from our trip to Arizona in April Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted 12 hours ago Author Share Posted 12 hours ago Long overdue trip report from early October. B and I decided to revisit some of the challenging portions of the trail riding with T in 2019. Friday morning before I left I shoved a couple pieces of hardware cloth between the radiator fans and grill/bumper. We met at Canyon Falls and headed north a little bit and started trail riding. Many of the trails we were on Friday were not on any of our maps and were quite overgrown. One of them stared getting soft and the Impreza started digging in to the mud. I locked the center diff and got out the folding recovery ramps and was able to get back to dry ground. We saw several different Notice of Authorizations posted for culvert and temporary bridge construction for logging operations. Some of these were about ten years old but we'd never seen them before anywhere. Impreza temp gauge started creeping up, the main fan fuse was blown so we replaced that. Not really sure why, it was fine the rest of the weekend. The hardware cloth in front of the fans did keep getting packed up with leaves and other vegetation all weekend, we cleaned them out quite a few times. Unfortunately none of the trails we explored for the first few hours went anywhere so we had to go back to the highway to go north a few more miles to some other trails. We were heading towards a hill on the topo that showed a trail going to the top so I tried to get there. Again wound up on some trails not on the maps and eventually came to a sign with a skull reading Paul Hytinen's trail of no return. That trail was basically a straight shot to the top of the hill. The first section was a fairly long and rocky climb, the only time I used low range all weekend. And yes that's an interior door panel lying next to the climb. We both made it up with no major drama and the rest of the trail was fairly mild. It was getting late so we camped in the little clearing at the top of the hill. In the morning B discovered that his RF tire had gone flat due to a small sidewall cut. He was able to double plug it. One of the first trails he had us go down was fairly narrow, rutted, and muddy but we made it through. At this point his plug was leaking so he replugged it which lasted the rest of the weekend (sort of...). Found a big tailings pile back in the woods. Found some decent campsites along a road next to a neat stream. Went to one of the stream crossings we'd turned around at on a previous trip with a less capable Subaru. Crossed it easily and continued. Went up a muddy climb that wasn't too steep but had a lot of logs that we're guessing other people put down but probably didn't help us. We both made it to the top but then I managed to go a little too far to the right and slide into a soft spot. Shortly after this I had a small stick jammed in my LF brake heat shield making an amazing amount of noise so we removed that. At that point I realized I couldn't open the RF door because the rocker was smashed up. Found an old RV way back in the woods. Went up to Mt Arvon from the west. Parking area was full of golf carts so we continued northeast. Got to another stream crossing we'd marked and turned around at with T but this time crossed easily. Eventually reached an old railroad grade that started out muddy and rutted which we had also turned around at on a previous trip. A little ways east a beaver dam was flooding a portion of the grade. This pond looks like it was probably occupied. Fortunately there was basically a beaver dam on either side of the road. We dug some drains in the dam on the downstream side and were then able to drive through. We were both briefly stuck but some jacking and logs under the tires got us back on the move. Just east of that was a four way intersection. We continued east on the grade and stopped at another beaver dam. This one was a similar deal but did not seem active, they had kind of dammed both sides so we dug ditches on the downstream side. Frog eating an earthworm, don't think I've ever seen that before. After a little draining It was starting to get a little late so we decided to go back to the intersection which had a big clearing and cook dinner. We then drove back to the beaver dam to check the drainage. Just before we got there B's Forester got stuck in a muddy rutted section and wasn't driving and making a noise that sounded like splines stripped out coming from the rear end. I was able to push the LR IB CV back in the diff and he was able to continue driving. We dug some more in the main section and fortunately kept walking to the far end and started draining a short but deep section at the end. By now it was getting close to sunset so we drove back to the big intersection to camp out. CV popped out of the diff a couple times on the way back. We jacked it up each time and were able to get it back in but it didn't seem like it had popped out far, maybe 1/4”. The next morning we started disassembling that suspension corner and got the axle out. Splines on the IB CV had stripped out, fortunately the diff gear looked fine. Put in his spare LR axle, ate breakfast, and drove back to the beaver dam to survey our work. Water levels had dropped almost a foot overnight. Found some more tadpoles and insect larvae We were both able to drive through, the hole at the far end was still deep enough to be deeper than my bumper so it's a good thing we drained a foot of water out of that. Of course just a little further was an even bigger beaver dam and this one was mostly on the downstream side of the road so we turned around and went back through the one that had been draining overnight to the intersection we'd camped at. Headed south and then continued east. Looped around to the other end of the grade and found another beaver dam quite a ways from where we'd turned around. Headed north, found some cool waterfalls. Revisited some other muddy spots we'd turned around at before and got stuck briefly and turned around again this time. A while later on another trail B got the Forester stuck in a frog filled stream crossing. Some jacking and shoveling and wood under the tires got him out. Then we got to another muddy rutted section. We walked it and poked at it with sticks and it didn't seem too bad except for the far end. Which is where I got stuck, somewhat high centered on some small trees that were fallen across the road we hadn't bothered to move. Probably with a little more momentum I would have gotten through. Took us quite a bit of high lifting, shoveling, recovery ramps, and wood stacking to get it on semi dry ground. Then B got stuck a little before where I had. We hooked up our straps and I was able to pull him up to the decent section of trail. We continued down that trail and just before we got to the major dirt road there was an RV and a giant tent set up in the trail. Fortunately there was a side trail nearby that connected to the dirt road and we continued. Our next point of interest was the beaver pond where T had flooded his Impreza in 2019. If I hadn't had it marked on my GPS we would never have noticed it. The road was built up several feet and a new culvert had been installed. The pond was still there but not much risk of flooding the road anymore. We went to a waterfall B had taken us to before, it's probably about a 50' slide and does have a little parking spot alongside the trail but no signs or anything. There's some metal chairs and pots and pans, a legit grill, and other cooking supplies stashed there but probably not enough flat ground for a couple tents so we decided not to camp there. We continued north and found a spot on a side trail to cook dinner and camp out. We headed back south, not long after that B's RF tire had another sidewall leak, this one probably worse than the first. We just swapped on the spare tire. Headed down a long somewhat rocky trail/road and rediscovered the vintage Barrington IL city bus turned camper we'd seen in 2013 and haven't seen since. Also saw an old plow truck parked alongside the road. Drove up to Big Bay and got gas at the station on the south end of town, it's well stocked with groceries and even has a decent hardware section in the back. Stopped at Thomas Rock Scenic Overlook on the way back to the trails. Excellent view, short walk. B wandered us down some narrow trails in varied forests we'd never been on. Headed back west on a slightly more northern dirt road than we'd been on. This one must have been some kind of major route long ago as there was a concrete bridge near the (current) end of it. Drove around the trails in that area, some good fall views but everything was eventually either bermed off or overgrown. By this time we needed to go back to civilization so we headed south on a major dirt road. Stopped at a boat ramp/park to air up and eat PB&Js and checked out an old truss bridge that's only open to pedestrians. We were entertained by the bicycle hanging from the top and ratchet straps underneath. Convoyed down to Green Bay, got gas, ate dinner, and split up for the rest of our drives home. Shortly after we split off I was stuck behind some old man camped out in the left lane. I finally got a gap on the right to pass him and as I was doing so I saw a cop parked in the median. Looked in my mirror to see the lights flashing and the cop pulling out on the highway. He eventually caught up to me and pulled me over. I assumed it was going to be for speeding. He walks up to the passenger window and asked if I'd been having fun off roading. Then says he pulled me over for loud exhaust. Asked if the exhaust was modified or if something had come loose off roading, I chose the latter option. He came back with just a warning ticket and said he was jealous of the fun we probably had over the weekend off roading. I would definitely like to make the Impreza quieter I just don't know how. I do have a slightly larger muffler I want to try but I doubt it will make much difference. I have a little more motivation to try it now though. Overall we had a good weekend, only major repair was the rear CV axle, good weather, almost no rain, almost no flying insects, no ticks. Saw a surprising amount of frogs. Trails were relatively dry, fall colors were neat. Should probably go up in October more often. Over 200 miles off pavement, spent the majority of our time and maybe miles on trails/roads we hadn't been on before, probably a quarter to a third of our time on roads that weren't on any of our maps. Perhaps the biggest portion of just trail riding of any UP trip I can remember. We were on some major dirt/gravel roads but it was a small portion of the time. Probably only 10-20 miles of pavement driving all weekend. Had to go out of our way to get to a gas station. We'd both dumped our jerry cans in our tanks but I was still probably within a half gallon of being empty by the time we filled up. Definitely further encouragement to get the extra ten gallon tank hooked up. Used the weavable recovery straps a few times for recovery, 5-10 times for pulling/breaking logs out of the trail. Radiator fans getting blocked by vegetation was an ongoing issue but fairly easy to deal with. Glad I put the hardware cloth in front, it may have saved the condenser from getting truly packed and folded over with debris. B didn't have that problem, we're assuming it's a pusher fan thing. I plan on putting the two small puller fans on the primary fan circuit. Those shouldn't attract as much debris and hopefully will be adequate for cooling most of the time. Then put the two big pusher fans on the second circuit, probably with a bigger relay and fuse. One morning the clutch pedal was almost to the floor but still worked. Eventually pumped up and seemed to work normally the last couple days and ever since. Mpact clutch disc seems a lot smellier than the one I had before but worked fine. It smelled like I'd been slipping it badly a bunch of times and while I was certainly working it in the woods it didn't seem to be slipping. Only used the low range once but had the center diff locked most of the weekend. Unlocked it a few times for long gravel roads. It did lock itself a couple times but then stayed unlocked all the way home and the next day of driving. Not making any more noise than usual. The next day while driving parts to heat treat in town some hispanic guys in their 20s were stopped next to me at a stop light. They signaled me to roll down my window and asked if the Impreza was fast. I just told them it had a six cylinder. Driver says me too and asked if I want to race. Sure. Light turns green and I let out the clutch at about 5000RPM and it proceeds to slip pretty badly as the car accelerates. Meanwhile their Chrysler 300 front driver is burning a tire. I had a couple car lengths on him but he stayed in my blind spot up to about 50mph when I backed off. The next weekend my wife and I went up north and stayed with some of her family. Impreza cruise seems to be working consistently, I wonder if the connection to the trans was getting loose/dirty. Has a bit of a wiggle when cornering sometimes. Eventually figured out one of the inner lateral link bushings is shot. Trans was noisy on the way back up north but has been quiet lately. Mostly in the center diff portion I think, when locking that it's definitely quieter (when it's noisy). It does have three different models of tires on it at slightly different pressures. Did lock the center diff by itself a couple times after the rebuild but hasn't in a while. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontoontodd Posted 11 hours ago Author Share Posted 11 hours ago Took five wheel and tire assemblies to Discount for their road hazard warranty. Only one leaked, others had big cuts in sidewalls etc. They'd ordered five new tires as replacements and then swapped them on to my wheels. When I pulled in to pick them up the manager recognized me and came out of the building and met me in the parking lot to tell me where they had them stacked. He asked about how the car did off road, how far we go, etc. Not necessarily a good sign when the tire shop manager instantly recognizes you. Drove the white Outback to the machine shop last Monday and the trans broke on the way there. Shifted hard (which it does the first few shifts when cold sometimes) then no forward or reverse propulsion. Faint grinding noise when in gear. C picked me up and gave me a ride to my house. Drove the Impreza to the scene and we hooked up the tow bar and lights. Towed it back to my house. Drove Impreza in garage, unhooked tow bar, jacked up rear of Impreza, pushed sideways, drove Impreza out, pushed Outback in. That week I disconnected everything from the trans and on Saturday B helped me swap it out. I refabbed the exhaust to get some driveshaft clearance. Used a steel cone to make the muffler rounder, replaced the most bent/crushed piece of tubing, relocated one of the hangers for more CV clearance. While I was doing that B disassembled the auto and confirmed that the input shaft broke. There were also a couple of chipped gear teeth on the center diff (?) planetary but I don't think that was a problem. I found one of them on the drain pan magnet. After driving it a bit I am still getting used to how much smoother it is. I knew the old trans was shifting hard sometimes especially when cold but I still find myself bracing for a hard upshift or downshift that is now super smooth. Perhaps smoother shifting than ever in my ownership. Sunday my wife and I went kayaking with the Impreza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammo Posted 11 hours ago Share Posted 11 hours ago I guess it's a good thing you got that spare 4EAT after all. UP weekend sounds like a blast, I'll have to join y'all again one of these times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelvw Posted 1 hour ago Share Posted 1 hour ago 9 hours ago, slammo said: I guess it's a good thing you got that spare 4EAT after all. UP weekend sounds like a blast, I'll have to join y'all again one of these times. Same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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