Frug's Forester XT 2005 Offroad-assissing project

Hi there everyone.

This is a little thread about my progress of turning my 2005 XT into a softroader that i can take out and have a little fun in.

Firstly, let me tell you a bit about me. I'm not very good with cars, I'm more of a Bicycle man, but i'm willing to give anything a go, if i can put it back together and more than happy to get as much infro from people with more experience. If I'm not keen on doing anything, I'm more than happy to take it to a trusted mechanic and pay for their expertise.


Now, the new love.
She's a late 2005 Forester XT. She's done 60,000kms, stock when i bought her. Kept in really good condition, with nothing i can really see wrong with her. That's about it about her.
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This pic was taken after I'd transferred my King Springs and KYB struts off my old Forester X.

List of things I'd love to get done to the car:
King Springs
KYB Struts
1" body lift
BF Goodrich AT Tyres
Front and rear bars
New exhaust (for a little more perrrrr)
Roof Racks
Side Awning
Shovel mount
UHF Radio

Hope you enjoy my travels into car customising!!!
 
Click to expand...
First thing's first

So, the first thing I needed to do to my XT was to transfer everything I'd done on my 2006 X, onto my new XT.

I'd fitted King Springs, KYB Struts, BF Goodrich AT tyres and a Bash plate to my X, so getting the same body type in the XT, I figured that those things should be able to be swapped straight over............hopefully......

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These 2 pics were taken before I'd done anything to my XT.

So, because I'm pretty hopeless with car mechanical things, I popped both the cars off to Pedders to get the springs and struts swapped over. I was a little worried about if the struts would swap straight over, since the XT had self levelling struts on the rear, but after a few calls to King Spring and KYB I was 80% sure it was going to fit.

Sure enough, after a day at Pedders, both the springs and struts swapped over. I also had my OE steelies, with my BF Goodrich 215/70 ATs, from the X swapped over too.
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With the new springs and tyres, the body clearance increased by about 50mm.

The ride is really great. The new springs and struts made the car very responsive and minimised body roll. The tyres are a bit noisy up to about 70km/h, but at 100km/h they are no noisier than the original tyres.The scrub the rear mud flat at about 3/4 lock, but how often to you drive at 3/4 lock anyway!!

Next update will be the new bars and exhaust system (the bars have been in production for the last 2 months)


Until then!!
 
Nice cars Frug, if they both are manual, you could swap the box too, you then would have an XT with dual range !
 
Your new (to you) XT looks great frug & even more so now that you're had the suspension, wheels & tyres swapped over :raz:

Well done mate :)

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Hey JF & Mr Turbo.

Unfortunately, both the cars are Auto. I've sold the X, so now all i have is the XT. I went on a trip with the Subaru 4 Wheel Drive Club Victoria over Easter, and she went fantasticly!! Having an Auto, means that I don't have to worry about stalling, which a few of the others did on the steep stuff. I know ppl think that having an auto is a bit of a cop out, but i'm new at this and any small help I can get is great!!

By the way Mr Turbo, love the look of your car. Awesome!!!
 
awesome car mate, i would love to have the turbo in auto with the mods you have!
how is the vic subie club?
i've always wanted to join but trying to get my rig up to scratch (slow and painful process)
my partners uncle is in the club, probably met him. his name is damien and drives the same car from memory
 
Hey Thunder.

The club is going really well. We just had an Easter trip out to Mount Cole, which had some really great tracks and some really challenging ones too. You should check out the S4WDCV website. There's heaps of pics from the trip. Also their Facebook page has lots too. From your profile pic, your car looks pretty set up! I've only been a member of the club for about 5 months now and everyone has made us feel more than welcome. You should come along one night. Yeah, I know Damien, he's the President. Great guy.

What mods have you done to your rig?

D
 
Thanks mate. I've got some reliability issues to sort first. Have car booked in for new shocks and timing belt on the 9th. Once that's done I'll get my sump guard and new tyres. It already has lifted springs and cb. Money is holding me back, saving up for a wedding kills the "fun" funds lol
Once it's all done I will join the club for sure
 
Sweet as Thunder. What tyres were you thinking of getting? I am running BF Goodrich AT 215/70 16R. They are a super good tyre. The 70s are about the tallest tyre you could run. They scruff at 3/4 lock, but that's all. I see the guys here, for all my tyre needs. They have a special for April. BFGs for $235 each including fit and balance. He's a good guy and he's locally owned. The club also has lots of connections for cheap parts for your Suby, so once you join, you can reap the benefits!!
 
I'm looking at maxxis mt 753 in 205/75r15 about 150 a tyre. Can't fit that big of a size on my forester as its older and uses different rear struts.
That's a very good price for Bfg. I work in a work shop so I get cost price parts :ebiggrin:
I look forward to joining and do some of the trips.:monkeydance:
 
nice one. Look forward to heading out with you sometime! Let me know when you plan on coming to a meeting and I'll make sure I meet you face to face!

D
 
If you get rear trailing arm spacers you should be able to push up too 225/70r16 rubber.
 
Update

Over the last few weeks i've been busily getting more work done of the car. The new springs, strts and BFG tyres have made for some real exciting driving and fun times off road.

So, after much looking around at forums and speaking to many Subaru 4WD Club Victoria members, I'd decided to get myself some Subaxtreme bars. I'd seen many forum threads about making your own or buying second hand, but that's all WAY too beyond my skill set.

So, after many lengthy discussions with Dave, from Subaxtreme, I sold a Kidney and Lung to raise the funds needed for my dream front and rear bars.

Manufacturing time was 6 weeks, but it was well worth the wait.

We drove up to Goulburn and had the bars fitted.

Here's a pic of the car before
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and after
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Take note of how low the exhaust is hanging. Crazy!!!


I've had it on for a week now. The finish on the bars is great. It's a little darker, but that just makes it stand out a little bit more. The spare tyre mounting is also really great. I can remove the spare from my floor wheel well and now use that as extra storage.

It was a crazy amount of money, but i'm planning on keeping this car for a while and going many a place.

Next thing to fix is the exhaust. It hangs down way too much, and kinda defeats the point of the rear bar.

Until next time....
 
Awesome bars there frug! :biggrin:
Glad to hear you managed to get your "dream" setup, we've got an extra lung and kidney for a reason don't we.:rotfl:
The change to approach and depart angle is incredible.
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Looks great frug.

Interesting that you got the front bar for what looks like a MY 03 - 05, and kept a cut of the trim above the bar. It looks like what dellsfoz did.

Don't be surprised if you get some cooling issues: some of us have cut holes in our bars.
 
:woohoo:Looks fantastic frug :raz:
I have both front & rear bars myself & yes, they were worth every cent (or should I say every dollar)

I have to say that the wheel on the back looks huge.

As a matter of interest, is the wheel carrier you had put on detachable ?

I know they were toying with that idea at one stage I think.

Regards
Mr Turbo

 
Looks awesome.

I thought the windscreen washer bottle and intake plenum would be exposed but all seems to work well!
 
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