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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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That hill climb looks like proper fun. It also looks like skid plate country! It is steep and the Subarus often hop on the rock steps. I can imagine how the drivers of the real 4x4s can get scared of going up, but they should be fine. The low centre of gravity is just lovely on these inclines.

El_Freddo's L Series has really good articulation/suspension travel and he didn't have any problems at all in the final incline where most would lose momentum with that sweet, sweet low range.
 
It was great catching up@1WD, that was a helluva track!!

NachaLuva has 1,59:1 low range, doesn't he ? Probably your next mod !

Not in this gearbox, I have that in a offroad gearbox I haven't fitted yet, needs a new input shaft bearing & I want to get a 20kg centre diff

[MENTION=145]El_Freddo[/MENTION]'s L Series has really good articulation/suspension travel and he didn't have any problems at all in the final incline where most would lose momentum with that sweet, sweet low range.

Also 4.11 diffs instead of the usual 3.7 or 3.9, plus a helical LSD front diff :lildevil:
 
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Top trip. I think a couple of people on the trip learnt a few things!

Cheers

Bennie
 
Howdy gang,
It’s been a while.
I hope you’ve all been well.
There’s a few new updates for the 1WD Foz!

I’ve installed Subieliftoz’s biggest lift for my Forester, the Monster lift.
Its 4.5” front and 5.5” rear with 2” subframe drop and 4” trailing arm spacers.
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My old lift of 2” front and 2.5” rear is now for sale, If your interested pm me !
I’ve also had the new Torq Locker installed (Big Thanks to El_Freddo!)
along with new front kyb shocks and standard kings springs which has completely transformed the ride to a jaw dropping new height.
I have a few new mods that are nearly ready to be installed also ie:
# New Rhino pioneer tray and roof racks
# Kings 2x3 awning
# SF spoiler
# Flares
# Dynamic D +0 offset rims

I just need to choose which MT tyre to go with on my new rims, I’m nearly 100% on 235/75/15 in size.

I’ve also installed a UHF which has been amazing since I installed it, and a new 12” 750W RMS subwoofer to replace my 2 150W RMS subwoofers I had previously which provides more bass and more room in the boot too!

Cheers

1WD
 
looks cool man. now looks like toy car with those small wheels haha. it will be so high you will need stairs to go in car lol
 
Looks like you've been having fun!
 
I definitely need bigger tyres!!
And I wouldn’t say it was fun installing it all lol but it’s nearly time to enjoy it all which I’ll let you guys know about
Cheers

1WD
 
Nice. I think it's the same tyre size that the folks at the YT Power of Your Brain run in their SF. They are using Yokohama G003s if I am not wrong. With their setup and the locker, they are now able to play with the pace of Jeeps.
 
What tires you think to put on ?
 
You're right about the tire size and brand ABFoz, but they don't have that SLO monster lift !

I think that 1WD needs a 1.59:1 now....and maybe 4.44 diff ratios too
 
I think that 1WD needs a 1.59:1 now....and maybe 4.44 diff ratios too

Both!

But I think 1WD is already sick of someone telling him this ;) ;) :p

Cheers

Bennie
 
Well if you go to drive off in the L one day and nothing happens, at least you'll have a reasonable idea of where your transmission has gone..

Hmmm... I hadn’t thought of that. But I also don’t have 4.44 diffs (I wish! Far too much machining and welding required formmy wallet’s liking), he will NEED 4.44s! Probably even more so than the L low range mod - but while the box is split...

Cheers

Bennie
 
he will NEED 4.44s! Probably even more so than the L low range mod - but while the box is split...

Cheers

Bennie
I’m just so lucky that I have such a good mate that’s put his hand up to split 3 box’s and make a Monster Offroad transmission out of them for me, people like this don’t come around very often!!
Then to top it off the same guy offers to help re wire the Ej22 loom and ecu into my Foz while I’m over seas !!!

Thanks Bennie
Your a champion

Cheers

1WD
 
Another update is I purchased a 2007 H6 Outback for my wife, it has Si-Drive which helps ALOT with saving fuel(it basically has 3 different modes of driving, fast normal and fuel economy) and it has paddle shift which is actually quite cool.
I’d upload photos but they all seem to be too large 🤔
Why is that ?

Cheers
1WD
 
ohh as mine just cooler outback with si drive. its awesome to drive around sure.
depend where you uploading photo from , im doing it with imgur.com First upload photos there from phone then share link to forums. works great everytime. if they really too large you can take links with smaller pics from imgur
 
I’m just so lucky that I have such a good mate that’s put his hand up to split 3 box’s and make a Monster Offroad transmission out of them for me, people like this don’t come around very often!!
Then to top it off the same guy offers to help re wire the Ej22 loom and ecu into my Foz while I’m over seas !!!

Poo! Did I say all that?? That cider must be stronger than I realise :p

As for the wiring loom, I’ll be cutting things out of it ;)

Good times ahead. And I’ve got plenty of time on that box build, you still need to collect some bit from what I recall!

Cheers

Bennie
 
What can I say.... it’s been a long while, but I’ve been active lol.





So now i have new kings springs and KYB shocks and the 5.5” Subieliftoz Monster lift kit in it with 4” trailing arm spacers and 2” subframe drop and the new R160 Torq locker but looks ridiculous with the old rims and tyres so I looked around and went with Dynamic D 15” rims in -2 offset and BFG KO2’s in 235/75/15 which needed some massaging and cutting to make fit.

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Couple poser shots lol
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Cheers

1WD
 
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