Steve's Journal - MY07 Forry

Hi to everyone on ORS!

I hope you’re all well.

I’ve been trawling this forum for some time and been learning a lot through reading what you’re all doing. I thought it was about time I introduce myself and start a journal I hope can grow.

So, I grew up sitting in the back of my Mum & Dad’s MY83 Wagon on trips in the Subaru 4WD Club of Victoria from when I was about 3 til 13 years. They were awesome times doing all sorts of grades of trips and watching a pretty large convoy of Subies do all sorts of tracks and get to some pretty amazing places. Not to mention meeting some terrific people along the way.

Now at 28, I’ve finally bought my dream car – a Subie. Just a couple of months ago I found a great MY07 Forester X… and I love it!

These are a couple of photos of the car when I bought it – completely stock:

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At this stage, I have completed a few modifications:

- Tinted windows

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- Yokohama Geolander A/T’s (215 60 r16) x 4

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- Bash plate (6mm construction-grade aluminium)

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I’ve also added a 12V socket to the boot (wired directly to the battery) for the fridge. It’s been working a treat so far. The biggest challenge was getting through the firewall. It took a while but I did it with no damage and no piercing of any rubber. I pulled out the rubber seal containing most of the other interior wiring, pushed it up through and pulled it down under the dash. It then runs through along the door sills to the boot where it lives in one of the cargo storage containers.

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Next job is securing the fridge (project underway – will detail when I complete).

How does everyone else secure the fridge from bouncing around up a rocky track? Or over corrugations?

I’m planning to do a few other mods over the next few weeks (which I will document on here). They are:

- 1" Body Lift Kit (from Subtle Solutions) – which arrived the other day and intending to install this weekend (pics to come!).

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- Subaxtreme Bullbar & Subaxtreme Rear Bar (with swing away wheel carrier) - install in the next few weeks
- UHF CB Radio (also install in the next few weeks)

I’m keen to hear any thoughts/suggestions anyone has with regard to modifications or anything to do with 4WDing, camping and anything in between.

I'm seriously having lots of fun setting up my ultimate 4WD!

Looking forward to adding more and more to this forum. I’m really glad it’s here.

Cheers!
 
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G'day SteveMY07Foz & :welcome: to ORS.
Congrats on your new ride mate :)

I too really like that sump guard you have there :raz:
Is there any chance of getting the measurements of it from the person (in the Subaru 4WD Club of Victoria) who made it for you at all ?

When you have the rear bar fitted, you might want to seal up the rear vents too, while you have access to them :iconwink:

Another mod you might like to do is diff breathers. They're very easy to do & can be done for less than $20 :iconwink:

Regards
Mr Turbo

Cheers Mr Turbo!

Thanks for the tips... Will look at doing them. Might have some questions for you when I get around to those things! :iconwink:

I'll contact the guy who made my sump guard/bash plate and see if he's cool with me sharing his details... I understand he's supplied them to a few guys on here before. He's a good guy and does a great job.

I'll at least attempt to get the measurements for you.

By the way, your setup looks great too and I've also seen the trips you've been on - magic areas you've been :raz:
 
G'day SteveMY07Foz :welcome:

We can fix that lol :iconwink:

I wonder if we did a bulk buy if he could do it a bit cheaper, there may be a few of us interested...incl me! lol :iconwink:

Howdy and :welcome: SteveMY07Foz!!!

When those sump guards were originally produced, they were being sold right here on this forum too.:iconwink: Y'all just missed the boat, that was around '05-06ish, same one I have sitting in my garage right now.:)

Hi Nachaluva and Carljwnc!

Planning to get the car dirty very soon... want to make sure it's is well setup before doing anything really serious (although I've done a few medium trips with the car relatively stock (a credit to the Forry! ...and Subaru)

Yeah, the sump guard/bash plate is awesome. Very professional job, very neat and I reckon it's going to hold up pretty darn well.

Cheers!
 
- Bash plate / sump guard (6mm construction-grade aluminium)

img0321wa.jpg

Hi again all,

I contacted David Wilson in the Subaru 4WD Club of Victoria and let him know that you were all interested in the sump guard/bash plate. He was very happy for me to share his details. Cost of the plate is $330. If you were interested in speaking with him further about your requirements, he can be contacted on 0429 942 724.

Let me know if I can help in any other way.

Cheers!
 
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Hi Steve,

You beat me to it. I was going to give Dave a call around 6.30 for the same idea. And yeas, I am still in the Subaru 4wd Club Vic. Have been for around 20 years. Should catch up at the next meeting.

Beigewagon.
 
It's manual (with low range).

great :ebiggrin:

Hi again all,

I contacted David Wilson in the Subaru 4WD Club of Victoria and let him know that you were all interested in the sump guard/bash plate. He was very happy for me to share his details. Cost of the plate is $330. If you were interested in speaking with him further about your requirements, he can be contacted on 0429 942 724.

Let me know if I can help in any other way.

Cheers!

thanks for that will have to contatct home when i have money :lol:
 
1" Lift Kit Installation

Hi guys,

An update to the journal: installation of the 1” Lift Kit (body).

The Lift Kit is from Subtle Solutions in the US:

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The sitting height of the Forry before installation:

Rear
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Front
img0337jbj.jpg


One lifted Forester coming up!

We started at 8am and finished at 1pm. It wasn’t a bad effort given, at the half way point (when we got the rear strut towers out), we discovered we had to compress the springs and remove the shock absorber in order to get the original screws out of the top and replace them. Quick dash down the street to get a spring compressor and all sorted.

Front strut tower out (note; old screws removed and replaced with longer screws, supplied):

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Front strut top lift placed ready for install:

img0343ge.jpg


The top of the tower mounts under the bonnet (passenger side installed, drivers side yet to be installed):

Drivers
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Passengers
img0355cp.jpg


Gotta love home jobs!:

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So, as I mentioned, we removed the rear strut tower and found a rubber seal around the top (which, of course, now makes absolute sense – stopping water and dust getting into the car!!). Just hadn’t anticipated this as part of the job.

img0362gd.jpg


We needed to compress the spring in order to take off the seal and remove the original top screws:

img0365hy.jpg


Towers back in… and the final result is a lifted Forry!!

liftkitbeforeafter1.jpg


liftkitbeforeafter2.jpg


I’m thrilled with the result. A 1” body lift.

I put the car in for a wheel alignment as soon as I could to ensure I didn’t do too much incorrect wear to the tyres. Turns out it wasn’t out much as we had marked the camber bolt before removal of the front strut towers.

I want to get the car out a lot more before I decide whether I need a greater lift; say 2” (King Springs, higher KYB Struts). I also need to see whether the CV joints will wear more quickly as a result of the increased pressure placed on them and the geometry being out.

Time will tell.

At this stage (a few days in), I have not noticed any change in on-road handling, which suits me perfectly as it is my daily drive. No knocks, swaying around corners, etc. Happy as.

Now to see how the improved clearance goes off road!

Cheers!
 
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Thanks for the detailed report, Steve.

I look forward to getting the Subtle 1" blocks later this year as well. I don't expect to want more than 1". Although I will definitely be looking at a slightly bigger tire (General Grabber, if they ever come back in stock) as well as King Springs. Two road-blocks remain: (1) I think my LLBean has the self-leveling rear struts, which will presumably have to be replaced. (2) I would still like to figure out a solution to avoid the rear wheel moving forward in the wheel well after the 1" lift goes in, e.g. adjustable trailing arms or a spacer for same.
 
Great write up SteveMY07Foz :) & well done mate :ebiggrin:

Your Forry looks fantastic now, the 1" lift really suits it :raz:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
looks the good, now makes the tires look to small....
the added king springs will be fine for the cv's but more then that will wear them quicker

Thanks Thunder039! I guess the tyres do look small, but I think I'll leave them that size as I don't really want to change power/gear ratios (although a small increase wouldn't matter majorly, I suppose).


Thanks for the detailed report, Steve.

I look forward to getting the Subtle 1" blocks later this year as well. I don't expect to want more than 1". Although I will definitely be looking at a slightly bigger tire (General Grabber, if they ever come back in stock) as well as King Springs. Two road-blocks remain: (1) I think my LLBean has the self-leveling rear struts, which will presumably have to be replaced. (2) I would still like to figure out a solution to avoid the rear wheel moving forward in the wheel well after the 1" lift goes in, e.g. adjustable trailing arms or a spacer for same.

No problems Esher! :raz:

Yeah, the wheel moving forward under the wheel arch is a bit of a problem. A small one the way I see it. I'm not too overly concerned about that (at this stage! :redface: )

Sounds like you have quite the plan for your LLBean and I'm guessing there could be an issue with combining self-leveling rear struts and King Springs :sad:

I'm just tackling one at a time. If I find that I need more of a lift after the 1" body lift, then I'll go the King Springs, otherwise, I'll leave it.

Good luck with it all... hope to see a bit of a journal from you... :iconwink:


Great write up SteveMY07Foz :) & well done mate :ebiggrin:

Your Forry looks fantastic now, the 1" lift really suits it :raz:

Regards
Mr Turbo

Cheers!
 
Great write up, some good pics. I like the spring compressors...where did you get em from?

It certainly looks great with a lift :biggrin:

There's a few places you can get trailing arm spacers...I'd try calling Crossbred Performance .

They do all the lift components and are great quality, plus very good to deal with.
 
Great write up, some good pics. I like the spring compressors...where did you get em from?

It certainly looks great with a lift :biggrin:

There's a few places you can get trailing arm spacers...I'd try calling Crossbred Performance .

They do all the lift components and are great quality, plus very good to deal with.

Hey Nachaluva,

Spring compressors are from Burson's (gees... that is one scary job to do though!! :eek: Full faith in those things!)

Thanks for the advice. Still considering trailing arm spacers and/or what else to do with relation to lift. But might sit on it for a little while.

Cheers!
 
Subaxtreme Bullbar & Rear Bar (with swing away wheel)

G’day all,

An overdue update to my journal: the purchase and install of my Subaxtreme Bullbar and Rear Bar (with swing away wheel carrier).

After liaising with Subaxtreme for some time as to whether my request would work (I can’t speak highly enough about their preparedness to go the extra mile!), it was arranged I would drive up to Goulburn from Melbourne for a getaway and to have the install done by them. It was nice to get away from Melbourne for a few days and relax while seeing the install take place (something I had been eagerly wanting to see come to fruition!).

My request was the install of the previous model bars on my 07 Forester; that is, the Bullbar and Rear Bar usually designed to fit an ‘03-‘05 Forester. It was due to my preference for the shape of that bullbar, increased approach (side and front) angle and general ‘appearance’ of the previous model that I made this request. And in Subaxtreme fashion, they assisted me to achieve this – with flying colours!

As far as I (and Subaxtreme) are aware, there is only one other person who has installed this earlier model bar on an ’06 or ’07 Forester. Dellsfozz, from this forum, has a great write up about it here.

I ordered them with the ‘Fuji Grey’ finish which is a colour Subaxtreme had matched (EXACTLY!) to the original Forester plastic trim.

The Bullbar

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The Rear Bar (with swing away wheel carrier)

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Ready for install

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Rear Bar install first

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I had anticipated the need to replace the muffler as the original one is really large and hangs down quite a bit

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Rear bar installed – just need to connect the lights

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Now for the Bullbar: this was to prove to be a little more difficult. As Subaxtreme had not installed an ’03-’05 model bar on an ’07 model Forester before, there were some readjustments they had to make on the fly.

Naked.

img0436ta.jpg


The one major reason Subaxtreme had designed and manufactured the tapered-look Bullbar (which I chose not to have installed) was because it covers and protects the washer bottles on both sides of the car. I knew going in to the project that I was going to have to replace the washer bottles just as Dellsfozz (from this forum) had done previously. This project, for me, is still in the planning stage and I will detail when complete.

Bullbar installed (‘Fuji Grey’ matches original Subaru grey exactly)

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That is one dirty great big muffler… needs replacement

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Unfortunately, I had to come back to Melbourne from Goulburn :-( No, it was all good, just an enjoyable and relaxing couple of days.

As I said, I can’t speak highly enough of the effort Subaxtreme put into the project; from the professional manufacturing of the bars through to the installation (with great attention to detail).

Replacement muffler (small, tucked away nicely… and has the added feature of a nice purr, adding character to the car – but nothing too loud or stupid!)

Improved clearance and departure angle

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And… finally, some ‘glamour’ shots!

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I will detail the replacement of the washer bottles as soon as I complete.

Once again, I am thrilled with the result of some modifications to my beast!

As we all know, the modifications we do to our cars can be endless and I still have more I wish to undertake… but bit by bit we’ll get there.

My Foz performs brilliantly offroad but these added features are just part of the ongoing 'fun' project.

Does it ever stop?! hahaha
 
Very nicely done and integrated. You'd think it was a factory option because of the fit & finish!

I'm glad to hear SubaXtreme were that helpful. I've read of a few dramas with install of SubaXtreme front bars/fog lights but its good to see they went the extra mile and got the job done right for you.

Looking forward to seeing this thing hit the tracks!
 
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