1WD Foz's

1WD Foz's Foz

Howdy guys and girls,

Im new around here and thought id start a journal to document my hopefully awesome adventure modding my 98 FOZ.

It all started about 7 months ago when i came up with the idea of buying a second car for my wife and I to use for our 1 hour long drive to work, giving our Honda a rest.
Initially i was looking for a cheap Land-rover discovery also thinking we could use this to do some camping and light 4x4ing on our days off, but quickly realised that a Discovery would eat my money in fuel alone so started looking for a cheaper alternative.
Then i noticed a nice looking 98 on gumtree for $2000 no reg no rw, 189k
and seller says clutch may be due.....
I hesitated in calling him for about 3 weeks as i just wasn't sure about Subaru's or Foresters in general, then one day noticed he dropped the price to $1000
So i gave the guy a call and went and looked at it.... $900 was his lowest and the clutch felt fine.
I drove her home (with a permit).

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Booked her in for a Rw the next week and listed defects found was:
~Replace wiper blades
~Rectify R/H tail light and stop light
~Replace drivers seat belt
~Secure spare wheel
~Secure battery
~Replace and bleed brake fluid
~Replace clutch & brake pedal pads
~Clean and rectify oil leaks
~Replace L/H inner cv boot
~Replace front & rear sway bar link bushes

So i did what i could and got mechanic to do the rest.
Next week i had rego :monkeydance:

I drove it around for a couple weeks and started to notice that if i put my foot flat.... some times it would slip, so i looked up clutches on ebay and took a gamble with a relatively new melbourne based brand "Blusteele' as they had crazy low prices, $250 new ,shipped, with 12 month warranty.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Blusteele-Clutch-Kit-for-Subaru-Forester-S10-2-0Ltr-SOHC-EJ20J-98-02-w-WARRANTY/182301956674?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

I had it sitting there for when the Foz needed it and it wasn't long until i got the car bogged (in my front bloody yard mind you) :rotfl:
and the clutch was ruined after minimal attempts of getting out with road tires.

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look at the damage to my Neighbours front lawn :redface:
luckily it only cost a slab to recover.

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The truck that pulled me out :rotfl:

So i threw my car at the same mechanics that did my rw and they installed my clutch!!
Also had my flywheel machined and they found a leak in my rear main seal so replaced that while they where there....awesome!!

My wife and i started exploring how far down the dirt track this little foz could take us in places like Lerderderg State Park & LaL LaL & Bungal state forest. whilst we stuck to the chicken track mostly... I realised fast this was a capable little beast.
Next thing to go was me rear left shock...... i knew it was coming tho, and taking it offload didn't help a bit :shrug:
So I ordered rear KYB's and standard Kings springs from Archm-suspension in Bayswater as they had the best prices and the boys down there are really nice.
you can find them on ebay

https://stores.ebay.com.au/archmindustries/

So i had them Installed and straight away what a difference it made, the rears must have been so saggy before cause it looked lifted when i picked her up lol

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New rear kings springs and kyb shocks

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Old ride height :rotfl:

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New ride height

Then it was time for some new tires as i had a few issues with the old ones
I went with 4 x Yokohama Geolander G015 AT in 205/70/R15's

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The last issue i had was the speedo died, subaru wanted $350
wreckers cost $10 and i got 2 :rotfl:

And im trying to figure out what this loud noise is coming from my rear passenger wheel area, it comes and goes ,sounds like a loud grinding noise majority of the time around 90-100ks.

1WD
 
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Click to expand...
Weight is going to be the biggest thing with your neat little trailer - putting higher sides on it will increase weight, which means less stuff to put in it. Plastic boxes might be the better solution - again, you'd need to be careful of how much weight each one adds (there's some heavy plastic boxes out there, don't pick them!

I've actually got a camper that you could put on it if you're interested. It's a little bit bigger than the trailer though.. ;)
 
Yes most certainly weight is a big issue.
But to be honest I filled the trailer on our last trip, and it was really good (apart from being a bit jumpy from having small tyres and limited suspension travel)
Majority of the stuff we bring isn’t all that heavy, with the most heaviest singular objects being my air compressor or tool bag. But if I had to guess I’d say The trailer would have been sitting around the 200kg-250kg mark including the 75kg that the trailer weighs, so I think I have room for a little more weight but would also like to use scalmans idea of using storage containers to maximize space and keep everything nice and tidy, which alone would save me the weight of all the random containers I use now.

I looked at a roof top tent as an option but disregarded it once I figured not many places I camp at have the option to park on level ground, and I know I could get wheel levels and stuff, but by the time I do all that I’d be able to set up my pop up tent much faster, plus the money saved helps with other more needy things like bull bar and winch [emoji6]

I’ve got 2 main tents that I use
1 is a 4 man Aldi pop up tent which is more like a 2 man plus a little storage, but that one shoots up in around 1 min and is more than comfortable.
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My other tent is a 6 man tent which cost a lot more and has more room but takes longer to set up, usually only use it on camping trips where we stay for 3+ nights.
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I have 2x self inflating 4x4 sleeping mats that are amazing to sleep on
12mm thick memory foam makes for a good sleep in the bush, if you’ve never slept on one of these I highly recommend getting one when they go on sale at either bcf, anaconda or rays outdoors.
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We got a king single and a single mattress which together makes a queen size bed.
We also have some nice stretchers but they take up a lot of room (probly the whole trailer for both of them lol)

We have decided to go for another trip back to Mooralla in about a week as we just can’t get enough of these smoky Quartz lol
So will be testing some of the ideas you guys put forward on this trip.
One thing we need is a better esky/ice box as we only have
2 x 30L poope ones from Kmart or something, but they don’t do very well.
I don’t have dual batteries so won’t be looking into a 12v fridge freezer as again it’s to big and too expensive for what we need .

Thanks for all your suggestions guys, really helps me to stay motivated with this project.

1WD
 
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Sorry Kevin
I feel silly cause I don’t know what a pneumatic system is lol
But in all honesty I’m happy with my $50 pop up tent and the money saved not getting a rooftop
(Although it looks awesome on a subaru or trailer behind a subaru)
Maybe when I get older and can’t be bothered with tents anymore lol

1WD
 
nice camping there. i use air matres in tent too but more simple one without any extra foam layer.
so your ice box is with 12v no ? i mean just for cool air. i have one that is simple small and cheap. you can plug it as you drive but when you stopped then its done sure. you could maybe just use second car battery if you have one somewhere as i do and just connect it from it while you camping. not sure how long it would keep. i think we both need that second battery box setup. i will make it some day for myself.
as im camping im planning with foods that no need fridge at all. so i dont need fridge at all for food just maybe for drinks as im driving. there are plenty foods that you can cook and dont need fridge. pastas, sauces, smoked meat.
 
Very good idea with being more selective as to what we eat while away !!
No my eskies are non powered
Just crappy ones
I do have a 100L ice box that I’ve never used because of its size but may try it this time in the trailer, also will need to go get ice 2 days into our trip

1WD
 
you could look for cheap cooling box as those. people here selling them like for 30 euros.
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some of them can heat and cool. some just cool. and mine is similar too. and it was doing good job for keeping drinks and some food cold until it worked thou. then that plug started to melt down on me. was problem for bad contact and cheap chinese plug on cooler box. i guess its need proper quality new wire with 12v plug and it would work ok.
so if you get those cheap boxes first thing to change wire and 12v plug on it . they really crap and melting .
now that i was thinking. if you put ice packs as you drive in that cooler so while driving ice would not melt and then as you no drive ice will keep cold for some time until its melts.
or just go solar+extra battery and be self sufficient. i would love to have that. and as those systems gets more compact and solar panels gets better i think its pretty cheap too.
 
1WD Foz said:
Sorry Kevin
I feel silly cause I don’t know what a pneumatic system is lol
Click to expand...

Not silly - just young! A "pneumatic" or "air filled" tyre is what we all use.
I have been in situations where the ground was very uneven and so I just let the tyres down to suit; hence a "pneumatic leveling system". :iconwink:
 
Kevin said:
Not silly - just young!
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Well if 32 is young I’ll take it hahahahaha

Thanks for clearing that up lol

So the term pneumatic applies to all tyres ?

1WD
 
Yep, tubed or tubeless are both "air filled" - and yes, 32 is young compared to some of us! (my son is 32)
 
ahh ok
gotcha :iconwink:

Now i know your age i will add extra wisdom to all your posts :ebiggrin:
and to mine you could add some ignorance :lol:

Thats what makes forums like this one so awesome,
Not much else matters (including age) apart from our shared passion for our subaru's.

1WD
 
age is doesn't matter here . some people very smart in young age and some can be silly no matter how old they are. most man who love cars are young in heart as boys. well at least i am.
level car with tires sure if you dont need a lot there. but you can always dig holes under wheels and level car that way.
 
Yes, I'm certainly young at heart, it's just the rest of me that's stuffed! ;-)

I don't dig holes in established camp sites unless absolutely necessary, we follow "Tread Lightly" ethics, and I carry a couple of blocks of wood for leveling purposes but on occasion I've deflated tyres as well.
 
Kevin said:
Yes, I'm certainly young at heart, it's just the rest of me that's stuffed! ;-)
Click to expand...
Im sure your not that "stuffed" :poke:

Kevin said:
I don't dig holes in established camp sites unless absolutely necessary, we follow "Tread Lightly" ethics, and I carry a couple of blocks of wood for leveling purposes but on occasion I've deflated tyres as well.
Click to expand...
Im guessing you wouldn't like prospecting for smoky quartz then lol

One of the more senior prospectors that i met at Mooralla, travels down from brisbane to Mooralla every year with his wife to dig for smoky quartz (his wife doesn't dig tho lol). The deepest hole he dug was 25feet deep, this year he only got to 15feet, and the crystals he got where amazing(deeper you dig the bigger & better they are) not bad at all for 65yr old :iconwink:

Id love to see your rig up close one day Kevin, when will you be down this way again (VIC)?

Ive been thinking about trying to organise a ORS road trip for anyone interested....:rock:

1WD
 
So just got back from another trip to Mooralla Victoria, car was amazing..... except for the fuel gauge which I don’t trust anymore after watching it rise and fall to nearly empty all within 5-10 min. Was nearly on empty and filled up but only filled half tank then it shot up again to full so the issue is when it’s below half I think.
And at one point I experienced the opposite wheel issue where I had front left and rear right in the air while driving over very soft soil and car didn’t want to move lol, instead digging a hole with the 2 wheels touching the ground.
A small amount of freaking out that I was stuck and I dug all sand/soil away from in front and behind all wheels and bam she was out. Maxi tracks would have worked a treat
(next time Aldi sells them I may invest lol)

But apart from those small issues we had great fun and found so many smoky quartz this time as I actually dug a decent hole instead of just “noodling” around the surface.

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This is about 1/5 of what I found in our hole, after a clean they’ll come up real good.
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1WD
 
cool . if you wouldnt explain what you dig up there i would think way worse thing there haha. nice findings there.
your mudflaps soft or hard oem ones ? i lost my oem on one side somwhere , i knew it will go off at some point as those oems are hard plastic and they can get in a way. now im thinking to put proper soft rubber mudflaps.
 
Hahahahaha yes nothing sinister happening
Just finding awesome gems [emoji6]
My mud flaps are the hard style oem ones
So far they haven’t gotten in the way but I do want to change them,
Just not sure what style to go with

1WD
 
Well those rally style looks good on all subarus i think
 
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