Blackberry 2006 Forester 2.5l X

Howdy Folks,

You guys are building 'em a lot closer to what I hope to achieve with the 2006 Subaru Forester 2.5l X I purchased summer 2011 so I've decided I'm moving my build journal over here. My goal is to build a mini-overland vehicle with all-wheel drive capable of taking me from the north end of North America to the south end of South America. The trip is more of a dream than anything else, but who knows, maybe some day I'll be able to put it together and make it happen.

In the mean time, my hobbies tend to focus my attention on the outdoors and my work necessitates a lot of long distance travel. Both of these routine endeavors are a whole lot easier and cheaper if I'm self sufficient.

Living Quarters (complete)
  • Maggiolina Grand Tour Med
  • Shipping Crate
  • Anti-Condensation Mat (med)
  • M/10A-M - Winter Cap for medium Maggiolina

Suspension and Traction Retrofit (due Nov/Dec 2011)
  • King Springs
  • KYB GR2 Struts
  • Team Dynamics Pro Rally Wheels 15 x 7"
  • BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO (215/75R15) 100/97S C

Mobile Comms
  • ATT Mobile Hotspot Elevated 4G
  • Monthly Mobile Service Fee (5 GB)
  • Subaru Forester 2003-2008 - ProClip Angled Mount
  • Pioneer AppRadio SPH-DA01 Car Flash Media Player - 6.1" Touchscreen LCD Display

Rolling Kitchen
  • 50% Cargo Area Drawer Kitchen (custom)
  • Origo 3000 Non-Pressurized 2-Burner Alcohol Stove
  • Water system with sink
  • Engle 43qt Fridge/Freezer
  • Dutch Oven (7qt)
  • Cutting Board
  • 50% Cargo Area Stowage Cabinet (custom)

AUX Power BUS
  • PowerFilm F15-3600 60w Folding Solar Panel
  • PowerFilm RA-9 Charge Controller
  • PowerFilm RA-7 15' Extension Cord
  • IBS-DBS Dual Battery System with Microprocessor
  • IBS Swivel Mount
  • Optima Yellow Top D34/78 Gel Cell

Under Armor
  • Primitive Racing - Forester Ultra Armor
  • Primitive Racing - Forester Front Oil Access Hatch Option

General Mods
  • 20% Window Tint
  • Paint Magiollina tan to match interior
  • ARB style front bumper (may have to be custom fab)
  • ARB style rear bumper with swing arm tire carrier (again with the fab) and spare fuel tray
  • Repurpose spare tire well for storage
  • Snorkel

Lighting
  • 2x 10" Rigid Industries "E" Series LE Light Bar (front bumper) separate circuit
  • 1x 30" Rigid Industries "E" Series LE Light Bar (below MGT on load bar) separate circuit
  • 1x 10" Rigid Industries "E" Series LE Light Bar (rear above hatch) integrated circuit with reverse lighting
  • 2x 4" Rigid Industries "E" Series LE Light Bar (internal rear hatch for down lighting and right side vehicle down lighting) separate circuit
 
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Howdy & welcome to ORS, Saguache (im a bit late on that)! I see you are from the always beautiful, Gunnison, CO.... Lucky dog!
Sounds like a good plan you got goin on, i look forward to keepin up with it :cool:
You ever checked out these guys? Central Overland Might pick up some good ideas from them, they are a pretty regional forum, as opposed to widespread international. I think a few of them just finished up a pretty good trip running through your area.
 
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Thanks DirtyRU,

I have more plans, just ran out of time and had to work. I'll finish off the list tonight and post some photos too.

Thanks for the recommend, I've been a long time member over at https://www.expeditionportal.com/ (formerly under the user name 4AFK) and am super excited to be working on the Forester as my new platform.
 
Good deal. Yeah, ExPo was actually where i found the guys for central overland. Chances are if you can think of driving a trail, someone on that site has already done it!
 
Sounds like you have it all planned & worked out :)
Your Forry is going to be one fantastic vehicle when its finished, thats for sure :bananatoast:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Update

So some updating is in order I think, I pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth for a bit there. Last fall and winter I spent a lot of time focused on my 1983 VW Vanagon. The good news is that while it got most of the attention I had it after I got very sick in March. It has since been sold to pay off medical costs. Good grief!

Some sad news, I can no longer drive. Some happy news, my wife really likes to drive the Foz and is keen on me finishing the major enhancements I outlined above.

So stay tuned folks, there should be some updates from the Colorado high country shortly.
 
Sorry to hear much of that, but good that your wife is enjoying the Foz, so hopefully you also get to enjoy it from the right hand seat.
 
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