Shiv
Forum Member
Hello everyone,
Yet another update for the Outback:
This week it got a second lift. I went with a 1"inch body lift in the form of Subtle Solutions spacers. The previous lift was a spring lift only. Together, I've now got some really decent ground clearance both under the car and now also under the body as well.
As you can see - the front is sitting higher than the rear. I've just ordered a set of 3/8" inch Saggy Butt Spacers which should rectify that by lifting the rear end up.
What you cannot see is that the front tyres are running positive camber (wheels pointing inwards?)....which is not very positive for me with regards to tyre wear. Once the rear spacers go in this week, I'll get the wheels aligned and see how it is then. If not, any solutions?
I took it for a bit of a test to the Lidsdale State Forest (just beyond the Blue Mtns) and I'm pretty damn impressed!
The route didn't go quite to plan. I was aiming to go down some steep tracks to the famous Coxs River (4WD only). But due to extremely heavy winds, it wasn't long before I came across my first of what would have been many fallen trees across the track. So I was forced to turn around (actually had to reverse done a steep hill...GNARLY!) and make alternate plans.
Ended up crossing to the other side of the Great Western Highway to the Western side of Newnes Plateau, which is an awesome 4WD playground.
Here is a video:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPcKL6M9gfY"]Newnes Plateau & Lidsdale State Forest - YouTube[/ame]
^As always, video does no justice whatsoever to hills and inclines.
These hills were hard enough to walk up let alone drive! It took me around 2-attempts but I got up after getting a feel for things. The all-terrain tyres were f**king brilliant! Lidsdale is covered in sharp shale rocks and you can't stop half way up a hill so you gotta keep the boot into it. After my confidence grew, I realised what they were capable of so I didn't mind spinning the tyres where necessary.
I did cheat however. For once in my life, I actually used the VDC system. Its mostly a hindrance off-road. But at low speeds crawling up steep rocky hills, it came into its element. You can feel it vectoring torque from one corner to another so as to keep the car heading in the direction of the steering inputs. Very impressive, though no substitute for a proper diff locker system when the going gets tough.
Most of the day was spent at Newnes which looks to have had some track maintainence recently so it was in fairly good condition making going easy. I drove through one of the famous "Lost City" junctions. Absolutely incredible place. Rock formations ("pagodas") millions of years old. Lots of Aboriginal significance and historic importance going back to the Gold Rush era. But I won't go into a history lesson now...
I also put together a video compiling footage from before the lift kit with some sandy river crossings and some other footage as well:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrBO8cAOgOM"]Subaru Outback Softroading (2012) - YouTube[/ame]
Will update this thread when I get the spacers
Yet another update for the Outback:
This week it got a second lift. I went with a 1"inch body lift in the form of Subtle Solutions spacers. The previous lift was a spring lift only. Together, I've now got some really decent ground clearance both under the car and now also under the body as well.
As you can see - the front is sitting higher than the rear. I've just ordered a set of 3/8" inch Saggy Butt Spacers which should rectify that by lifting the rear end up.
What you cannot see is that the front tyres are running positive camber (wheels pointing inwards?)....which is not very positive for me with regards to tyre wear. Once the rear spacers go in this week, I'll get the wheels aligned and see how it is then. If not, any solutions?
I took it for a bit of a test to the Lidsdale State Forest (just beyond the Blue Mtns) and I'm pretty damn impressed!
The route didn't go quite to plan. I was aiming to go down some steep tracks to the famous Coxs River (4WD only). But due to extremely heavy winds, it wasn't long before I came across my first of what would have been many fallen trees across the track. So I was forced to turn around (actually had to reverse done a steep hill...GNARLY!) and make alternate plans.
Ended up crossing to the other side of the Great Western Highway to the Western side of Newnes Plateau, which is an awesome 4WD playground.
Here is a video:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPcKL6M9gfY"]Newnes Plateau & Lidsdale State Forest - YouTube[/ame]
^As always, video does no justice whatsoever to hills and inclines.
These hills were hard enough to walk up let alone drive! It took me around 2-attempts but I got up after getting a feel for things. The all-terrain tyres were f**king brilliant! Lidsdale is covered in sharp shale rocks and you can't stop half way up a hill so you gotta keep the boot into it. After my confidence grew, I realised what they were capable of so I didn't mind spinning the tyres where necessary.
I did cheat however. For once in my life, I actually used the VDC system. Its mostly a hindrance off-road. But at low speeds crawling up steep rocky hills, it came into its element. You can feel it vectoring torque from one corner to another so as to keep the car heading in the direction of the steering inputs. Very impressive, though no substitute for a proper diff locker system when the going gets tough.
Most of the day was spent at Newnes which looks to have had some track maintainence recently so it was in fairly good condition making going easy. I drove through one of the famous "Lost City" junctions. Absolutely incredible place. Rock formations ("pagodas") millions of years old. Lots of Aboriginal significance and historic importance going back to the Gold Rush era. But I won't go into a history lesson now...
I also put together a video compiling footage from before the lift kit with some sandy river crossings and some other footage as well:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrBO8cAOgOM"]Subaru Outback Softroading (2012) - YouTube[/ame]
Will update this thread when I get the spacers
