Outback '01 2.5 4eat VDC project

i wish i could go fishing nowadays more. but as i went there just for 2 days so i better chose just boat fun in lake then swimming a lot. i was fishing before more often. im looking now to buy maybe inflatable boat. small and cheap but not too cheap. something like intex excursion 4 maybe. so i wouldnt pay 5 euros per/hr for boat/kayak everytime . its about 115-120 euros this boat here. i like seats they look more comfy then other boat just simple sitting as my back rly killing me in kayak .its just too hard for me to sit on that narrow small seat in kayak for more then 1hr.

wonder anyone here using any inflatable boats for lake , river fun ?
everyone asking me : why you go 150 km just to swim in lake , we have lakes that are not that far here. But i just dont like do stuff near home rly . and those lakes are many lakes connected with each other , its not same as just be on 1 lake. here you can go from one to another and so on. i love that.
yes its same place. its just around where i live
will have now 4 days free and 2 days free together with gf so maybe i will go to lakes again overnight. now i have set up my fridge/cooler to work overnight if i would need it . and its good to charge phones overnight too without using main battery . now i just need make some simple second battery charging system when cars running.

that lakes area where i go for many yrs looks like that.its 2hr drive there but its not bothers me at all. just cost some. as my mpg is worse then it could be with that P0420 error coming then and now. in worse case scenario im using mindblowing 20l to 100km and on better times maybe about 15-16l average on 100km. thats still bad what other people here getting with LPG systems same cars same engines. they getting some 12l to 100km average. i never got that number ever. but then i always drive on that P0420 error.

disconnected front sway bar and waned to find solution how to keep it there not removing it . first tried some straps but hat broke on more extreme flex there. later tried with some rubber . as im seeing how it moves and im thinking if i do like quick atach to it and somewhere high
but i got more flex and managed to drive same place that i tested just couple days before more easily.



later i put there some rubber stuff and secured it on that rubber so even if its reaches max flex it could move some on rubber not braking it.

other thing what gives that front sway bar disconnection ? in city as i drove i couldnt felt any difference. so i wonder is it more on high speeds . and what other parts now work harder as i disconnected sway bar ? and should i be worried if i will drive daily now without sway bar ?

If your shocks are in good condition, it will be ok but you will have to drive smoothly. Another thing that will change is you will get more grip on the front wheels, no more understeer. I drive without swaybars since....can't even remember !

what you mean drive smoothly ? like carefully , and what if my shocks not in best condition , will i have problems ? should i test that maybe on higher speeds if some woblle will appear or smt .
well you have very good shocks there so its hard to compare stock shocks to that.

and i made comparison on pic mine couple days ago same spot with sway bar and today without. doesnt look any difference on how much front wheel drops, just it felt that got more grip i guess. or i was just in impression that i got .

Yes, I mean carefully.

Best is you drive your Outback on a very low traffic road and you make some tests (braking, cornering, tight turns...) to feel how it behaves. I never had wobbles even at high speed (140+km/h)

But for sure, the HotBits can be tuned on compression and rebound so its not a good comparison.

iv heard one guy from australia with this gen outback with lift and without both sway bars driving ok everywhere. i think hes just having stock shocks. some people say it can be s cary some ppl say its ok so its hard to know what they mean for real. i never drive more then 120-130km/h my tires doesnt like that speed they rly becoming loud so i not do it . and i never need that just couple times when i go on highways and thats rare most in summer drive to sea place . im not using highways other times i like more slow but more twisty interesting roads where you have some things to see not just drive straight for hrs . so most times what i do its 90-95 km/h between citys and of course 50-55km in citys.
i tested allready some cornering at 40-50km/h , braking and such stuff and i dont see much difference. same as with rear sway bar removing i found its better driving car for me . maybe more leaning on corners but thats fine.

latest test VDC without front sway bar. think i got more grip and it was easier on VDC to make car go forward.

changed front driver side wheel bearing , that i was changing last year. so its holded just about one year.
changed both front ball joints.
steering rack still has looseness in it . but its big improvement allready for front.
i guess removing front sway bar just makes all those things more pronounce. so all must be in very good condition without sway bar.
hi lift jack was very good for that front job. no need to secure car under because hi lift it just holds that very secure. compare to the normal or oem jack that comes with car i have those 2 now and they both starts to not work after some time when i use them fully lifted .

and my trunk load for daily driving i take all in there. i have swiming suits , all tools for any car repair, recovery gars and other stuff for just camping

You should never use just a HiLift jack to support a car as they are very dangerous and many people have been hurt.

Kevin said:

You should never use just a HiLift jack to support a car as they are very dangerous and many people have been hurt.

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+100

Maybe i used wrong words here. I mean lift a car and leave car lifted on it for longer time like 2,3 hrs while i work on car.
So what you do then? Put support under car and remove it? As i see it and how im using it its becoming same thing as support there. Well much better then notmal jack and we use them all time.
Car is on flat surface and reat wheels are locked , car cant go forward backward or to sides , why hi lift is dangerous , i cant see that. Do those pins somehow magicly unlocking and its falling down?

scalman said:

Car is on flat surface and reat wheels are locked , car cant go forward backward or to sides , why hi lift is dangerous , i cant see that. Do those pins somehow magicly unlocking and its falling down?

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A good push on the car and it's likely to fall right off, even if the tyres are locked/chocked. I've seen it happen.



Should always use stands.

I do understand that. It would go off if it would be just on jack like just jack hooked on car . but not if jack adapter tube is inside cars jack point . and as tube is square they dont let jack go to sides and how it could fall off front and back i have no idea.

If adapter would brake then yes car would fall down . but i tried to push car to all directions as i lifted it. I wouldnt risk it to some stupid mistake so first i test it by pushing car. I tested same way my welding. I pushed lifted car with all wheels really hard so that i could see will it brake , and so far its not braking.
But sure safety first . just hi lift jack itself is made very simple and when its on locked position there is no way it could just fail . at least not so much as normal jacks i tried. I have all kinds jacks and almost all of them are now too short to lift my car.

Having it in a solid bracket would certainly make it more stable. Now if you could hold it in place with a pin so there was no way for it to slide out, and that bracket/welding is strong enough not to break from lateral force..

You think i need a pin ? Well any hole there will just make that part weaker . i dont think that with all that weight that car puts on that hi litft jack it could still like slide out of it. I never saw any other car adapters to hi lift uses pins. Well to use it like outside on soft ground would be different story sure so im thinking to make or buy some larger pad for it. Buying would be better as i could buy light but strong plastic pad and if i make one it would be wood or metal pad more heavier . funny thing that im using hi lift in garage where ppl would use they daily jacks but with hi lift its so much easier to lift car and faster. And it lifts higher. Just as i keep it in trunk its very bad place for it as i need to take everything from trunk to reach it.
Keep it on roof rack i could but again keep it there daily i just duno. It could drag some atention to it. Not that it cost a lot . i payed 50 euros for it. Still it would look so extreme there. It would be almost heavier then roof ra k itself . but i tried it to put it on top near side not on the sode as most do . on top it wont stress so much roof rack frame as on side. So on top near driver side its kinda fits simply there. Just need some heavy U type bolts to secure it. And lock maybe to keep it there.

As Ben said, use stands. You can always leave the HiLift in place but have extra security under the car. Also if I remove a wheel I always put that under the car as well.

scalman said:

You think i need a pin ? Well any hole there will just make that part weaker . i dont think that with all that weight that car puts on that hi litft jack it could still like slide out of it. I never saw any other car adapters to hi lift uses pins.

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Neither have I, but I have seen a landcruiser fall off a high lift jack and if that's all you've got to do this sort of thing, I was justlooking at ways of stopping it moving.

funny thing that im using hi lift in garage where ppl would use they daily jacks but with hi lift its so much easier to lift car and faster. And it lifts higher.

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People shouldn't just use their daily jacks when working under vehicles, it's not worth the risk because you spend a long time dead as it is - don't want to make it any longer.

When I swapped my axle from over spring to under spring on my trailer, I didn't have enough stands so I used a couple of spare wheels I've got as a third stand. pretty bulky and not userfriendly but a hell of a lot safer than using the bottle jack (or the jockey wheel) as a third stand.

well sure and still that russian old times part in me dissagree with you. many things are dangerous. i just put wheel that i remove under car and couple logs on it so it would match car height. thats very fast and affective support. and in garage i dont work under car but from hole or how its called

Having a pit (that's the hole) would be awesome.

Having something under the car to stop it flattening you if it does come off the jack is a very good thing, didn't realise you were doing that too, thought you were just relying on the jack.


With your skills, I recommend you whip yourself up a couple of decent stands for the car to sit on. probably only take you half an hour or so! I saw a neat set in a video the other day, two stands that ran between the wheels on either side. pretty neat.

maybe you have some pics of those ? yes that would be good thing. i had some ideas in my head as well. and sometimes i just work on car in my "garden place" just on grass. using planks and normal jack there, but that jack now refuses to work . thats second one that broke allready. its same as was oem in car. have one small hydraulic jack that i carry in car all times but it need some planks under it so it could lift car in air. and now when i removed front sway bar to lift front you need soooo much height. haha.
one very good lifted subaru gives space to go under car without any lift at least from front or rear. very simple. i can even lay on side and still fit there. nothing better then working on your car on fresh grass outside not in garage.

those HG leaks got out ta control last months. its just all over place that oil its on steering rack so it looks like rack is leaking but i dont think so . gearbox front part oily as well , again from HG leaks i think. and oil now goes away really too fast. i guess summer and this hot weather just makes things worse.