Dulagarl: the Lifted H6 Forester

Well, I bought it, and I have to say that what SKT has done is truly inspired.

It’s a freaking rocket on the bitumen, and it has an enormous amount of grunt offroad.

Engine transplant thread is here:

https://www.ausubaru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16564

Here’s a little log of bring it home, and it’s first offroad trip once home.

Jan 29th I flew to Coolangatta. Scott picked me up at the airport and we went for a drive. It didn’t take long for me to be convinced that I should buy this. Sure, it had a couple of issues, for example some worn out bushes in the front end, and a cooling issue, but I could tell that this was a VERY serious vehicle.

Brought it home via Lismore and Casino and then to Tamworth for the night. Next day was Tamworth to Narrandera. Narrandera to Melbourne on the Minday was relatively easy after all of that.

Saw some amazing country in the process. Didn’t have time for many snaps, but here are a few…

Some of the country just into NSW after casino…

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Took a detour via the outer solar system…

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Actually, that virtual solar system drive from siding spring observatory is a good idea. That pic was taken in Gilgandra.

While on the space bent, couldn’t resist a couple of pics with the Parkes Radio Telescope…

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It was 38 degrees Celsius when those shots were taken, and it didn’t get cooler for hours. Unsurprisingly, the vehicle got a bit hot just south of Forbes.

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A bit further south past West Wyalong, and there was still water around from December. Ridiculously flat country with paddocks turned to lakes…

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So, when I got home, I went straight to the mechanic and got an aircon service. I also consulted about improving airflow to the radiator. I looked at pics of offroad bars on Outbacks on the Subaxtreme site, and also the bar on the latest Forester. Armed with that info I decided to cut some holes in the bulbar, and this is the result…

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Gotta love the grille mesh from supacheap auto!

So, I then set up the GPS on the dash with some adhesive Velcro…

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and connected the ECU to the laptop to monitor engine performance and temperatures.

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(BTW: I think I might have resolved the “cooling issues”!)

... part two to follow
 
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Unless you actually bent the rail and did a lot more damage you could have easily cut the relevant area from any Impreza, Liberty, Foz etc then cut the old area out and had it migged in for a couple of hundred max all up, they all have the same 3 inner rail captive nut section therefore saving a lot of money on insurance and time wasting.

Even all the arms etc can be had for little money these days.
 
d_generate said:
Unless you actually bent the rail and did a lot more damage you could have easily cut the relevant area from any Impreza, Liberty, Foz etc then cut the old area out and had it migged in for a couple of hundred max all up, they all have the same 3 inner rail captive nut section therefore saving a lot of money on insurance and time wasting.

Even all the arms etc can be had for little money these days.
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With the benefit of hindsight, I agree, but there were a few obstacles to that:
  1. I can't weld, and non-one in the town I was in could either. there was some welding gear, but I didn't want to screw the job up. (will learn to weld though)
  2. To safely weld would have required dropping out the tailshaft so that the fuel tank could be dropped out etc.
  3. the town had population 40, and the nearest wrecker was in Dubbo, which is where we took the car anyway.
  4. the job in the end will be better than a simple cut and replace, because we'll put an additional plate in the rail.
but yeah you are stictly right, it just wouldn't have been easy to get that done where I was.
 
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Just got a call from the assessor. Repairs are approved.

:-)
 
Good to hear mate. I'd like to see some pics of the plate they put in, I'll be playing down there shortly and may as well do some strengthening while I'm at it.
 
I still want to know what happened????????????????????????? That's a reasonably strong bit of the car though and like I said easily repaired, wet rags will keep the tank area cool, it's the pipes that you'd need to be careful of, aesy to bend up a bit of plate and drill 3 holes in it to strengthen the rail but it would be a pretty freakish accident for it to happen again.
 
d_generate said:
I still want to know what happened????????????????????????? That's a reasonably strong bit of the car though and like I said easily repaired, wet rags will keep the tank area cool, it's the pipes that you'd need to be careful of, aesy to bend up a bit of plate and drill 3 holes in it to strengthen the rail but it would be a pretty freakish accident for it to happen again.
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I hit a washout fairly hard. It was on the left hand side of the road. I had been forced to the centre of the road to avoid some goats, and then a very large feral pig ran out from the left. I had no choice but to go further left to avoid it, and I hit the washout at about 60 kph.

the washout had a significant step up, and while the front wheels effectively jumped it, the full force of the step hit against the fron the the rear wheels, mainly on the right. This caused significant back force which converted to downwards force pulling the very front blot downwards and through. The rear two bolts were similarly affected.

In a non- lifted car, this would be less of an issue becuase all of the trailing arm mounting plate is flush against the rail. In a lifted car, the lift blocks do not cover the whole of the trailing arm mounting plate, meaning that leverage is more of an issue in an impact. The repaier and I also think that the design of the lift blocks would have contributed to the area being softened up over time, and the impact was the final straw.

I will be looking at making new lift blocks for the trailing arm mounts, that cover the whole surface area of the trailing arm mounting plate.

I will post some pics to show what I mean when I get a chance.
 
d_generate.. thanks for pushing for the cause of the tragedy! Feral pig.. OF COURSE! Dulagarl.. When the pictures are posted, not only do we want to see the damage, but ALSO goat & pig pictures please :-)
 
I'm glad it's all happening in the direction of a positive outcome.

Looking forward to getting back out there with you again!

Cheers

Bennie
 
Did the impact feel hard when you hit the wash out?
Did the wheel rub the guard when you had to drive it out?

I know exactly what you mean with the trailing arm spacers, Mine don't cover the whole surface. Maybe I should be wary of that??...

I think if you were in a non lifted Subaru the damage would of been 5x worse and probably written off the car. But then being stock it wouldn't matter as you'd take your money and go buy another one not having to worry about modifications.
 
Any chance of increasing the capacity while it's out :twisted:

Cheers

Bennie
 
I did the Walbro conversion about 6yrs ago in the Liberty but same tank as any awd Subi before 2001, make sure you get the 342, it should plug straight in and put your old sock on, sorry didn't read link after 1st post so not sure what they said.
 
Yep, they definitely said to do that.

Have confirmed that the 342 is the part. Apparently it is better than the 341 because the fuel sock is at 180 degrees to the pump, so theoretically it will use more of the fuel in the tank.
 
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Very glad she's getting repaired :biggrin:

I totally agree with you bout the lift blocks on the trailing arms...they would rock back & forth causing metal fatigue, exaggerated by them covering a smaller area than the original plate. I plan on using an OEM plate as a jig to make up a 10mm plate to spread the load plus I'll also tie the front & rear blocks together to prevent them rocking. Just gotta clear out the garage & get the mig going again....I think your idea of reinforcing the rail is a good one ;)
 
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