Switching between sump guards..

[essfoz]

How hard is it to remove and reinstall the OEM plastic sump guard? I can't really afford a subaxtreme sump guard yet, but in the meantime, I'm thinking I could switch between metal and plastic guard before I go offroad? Or would that be too much work?

 

[havachat]

On the SG there are four bolts and quite a few annoying plastic clips. they are easy to remove and replace. Your subi does not have air bags so you can look at alternatives to Subaxtreme.
On both my SGs I have guards that aren't air bag compliant. One is 6 mm construction grade aluminium made by David Wilson from the Subaru 4WD Club of Victoria.
David charges member $300 and non members $330 for these. The sump guard can be easily removed to change the oil.

 

[Ratbag]

^ Some of the SF models came with air bags.

The GT models almost certainly came with them standard. They were optional on some models.

 

[essfoz]

Yeah, I have airbags, unfortunately, but probably more fortunately than anything.

 

[kiwifoz]

I'm in NZ so no ADR compliance issues here, but I just bought an old L-series bashplate off a wrecker for $10 and it bolted on pretty easily. Had to widen the two rear holes 1cm on both sides, and use two large washers to secure the front holes.

Does the job but it doesn't provide water/dust/sand protection, which is what you want I suppose. Works well on rocks though, I can tell you that!

*Edit - ignore the red writing, that was for another post