SJ Forester Lift help please

SubieS

Forum Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2018
Messages
4
Location
Queensland Australia
Car Year
2015
Car Model
Forester diesel
Transmission
CVT
Hi All I have a SJ forester in Oz and I was hoping for a lift and wanted to know if it is the same as for a SH?
Also what sort of lift provides less strain on all the components and as well as low maintenance?
hoping to get at least 25mm here along with running 225/60's should help give me another 10 - 15mm.
Appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks
 
I'm in the same boat. SJ Foz looking for a mild lift. I've settled on the strut top spacers and supplier but have yet to decide on how much lift.

My main obstacle is a smidge extra clearance for rutted sand tracks. To digress I currently have the OEM aluminium bash plate that has held up to current abuse (Straddie, Byfield NP, 5 rocks and Condamine Gorge '14 River Crossing') but I'm considering upgrading that too.

My thought process so far...
I was considering 1" strut lift but I am worried about no camber and castor offsets for front wheels and any extra hassles for alignment and wear as a result. Rear end I'd get the 1" subframe spacers to recenter/align the rear wheels.

2" lift would be great but I'm going to run my 18" rims on my XT for a little while yet. The tyres (225/55r18) get me where I need to go for now.

Aesthetically, it may look out of place with all that space between tyre and jacked up body. I could and would run a 17" rim and put on 225/65r17s but I might leave that until the legalities of oversize tyres is sorted and I can't afford to do both now. I could run a 235/60r17 but I prefer to run a skinnier tyre. Does 10mm make a huge difference? That's another thing I'm working out.

1.5" lift for me sounds spot on with the front camber and castor offsets built in. I would prefer a 1.5" subframe spacer for rear wheel alignment. I could run the standard rims and tyre combo for a little while longer.

I've shared a couple of exchanges with Subie Lift Oz. Strut lift at 1.5" is possible with front offsets built in. Rear subframe spacer is either 1" or 2". I haven't gotten back to him yet to ask whether a 1.5" spacer is possible. I'm guessing it's cost prohibitive to manufacture a 1 off size in the materials used as it's a solid piece of kit.

I'm keen to see where this thread goes!
 
Yeah, get in touch with Nachaluva. He does beautiful work, and is a helluva nice bloke.

He'll sort you both out.

I need to get a 1" lift all round for Roo2, but life has intervened for the last couple of years. I suppose that's better than death intervening!
 
Hey SubieS

I can definitely help you out. [FONT=&quot]A 2" lift kit with inbuilt camber & caster offsets and rear subframe spacer kit will keep the good Subaru handling & alignment. The SJ kit is similar to the SH kit, but with a few extra parts.

It's a diesel? So the smallest wheels you can run is 17" to fit over the larger brakes. A few people are running 225/65/17 with no rubbing on the SJ. It's possible 15" or 16" rally wheels like Methods or Sparco will fit, which would be great for more tyre sidewall, but I don't know of anyone who's tried it yet.

Here's a couple of customer's cars to wet the whistle...
[/FONT]


Ratbag said:
I need to get a 1" lift all round for Roo2, but life has intervened for the last couple of years. I suppose that's better than death intervening!
Click to expand...
Yeah we need to get you sorted out sometime! Would be good to catch up again...
 
Hi NachaLuva LLLOOOOVVVEE the photos drool drool. I have the diesel CVT and I love it. Hoping to keep the current wheels but looking for the extra clearance and keeping the cost down. Being 225/55/18's I am expecting that there is a limited number of good tyre replacements and really can't get much bagging out on the soft stuff . Thankfully I am not a beach driving fan. Hoping to be able to get bit better on the fire trails etc. with a small increase to 225/60/18s and still keep the spare in the boot. Bit surprised I can do 2" with no accelerated parts wear and extra strain though... this is good news. Thanks.
 
pbilz... Five rocks Wow
I have seen so many cruisers and patrols bogged in there even with experienced drivers all from not enough clearance... good job in the Foz. I guess I am with you no keeping the 18" wheels... don't mind the look of them and like to work with what I got... better chance of justifying the expenditure.
 
Haha... yeah had I really known what it was like I wouldn't have done it in my stock subi. There was a smile of excitement on my face going in. Coming out was a smile of relief that my rear bumper and the rest of the undercarriage was still attached. There was a lot of dragging the belly through the sand.

It would have been an interesting look with a rear bumper strapped to the roof for the drive back to Brisbane.

A 2" lift would have been perfect.

But subi's love sand. Sand driving is all tyre pressure, then knowing how to work the right foot and where to put the wheels due to current clearance. For sand I start at 16psi in my tyres. Plus my Foz probably weights more than a ton less than the big boys.

There was a dual cab with big floaty tyres stuck on the same soft sand climb mine made it through. Only way it could have got stuck was tyre pressure. I'd probably guess that all the big boys trying to prove they can do it on high pressures contribute to the deeper ruts and need for high clearance in the first place.

Here we are at Stockyard Point on firm ground.

 
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As the proud owner of the blue Forester (photos of both Foresters at Fraser Island) I am very happy with 2 inch lift from SubiLiftOz. I was hesitant to go 2 inch (was going to go for one inch) but I like the look of the 2 inch lift and don’t think it is excessive at all. I use the car with stock wheels in a professional setting and it still looks the part. Oversized tyres and 16 inch wheels take me off road. So far Fraser Island and the Victorian High Country.

No problems to report and going strong after 12 months or so!
 
Subaru Man said:
Oversized tyres and 16 inch wheels take me off road. So far Fraser Island and the Victorian High Country.

No problems to report and going strong after 12 months or so!
Click to expand...

And both you & Chris went great on Fraser I, gave the XMode a good workout & couldn't get bogged. The early generations of Subaru are good on Fraser but the later gens are crazy good! You did well on some tough tracks up in the Vic high country too :monkeydance:
 
Sorry [MENTION=2617]NachaLuva[/MENTION] I have been thinking a little more about this
Does the 2" lift you are talking about reduce the suspension travel at all?
Also does anyone getting the lift look at increasing the suspension travel through new shocks etc. or is everyone happy with stock?
Thanks
 
SubieS said:
or is everyone happy with stock?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Not everyone is happy with stock, well certainly in the older models, not sure what can be done in the newer ones.
 
Strut lift does nothing to shock travel in general as they tell.
 
SubieS a lift kit lifts the entire car higher increasing ground clearance & approach/departure angles. It doesn't have any effect on suspension travel. The only way to increase travel is with long travel coilovers like Hotbits, very good but very expensive at around $3k. The most cost effective build for good results is a 2" lift kit & stock suspension, it is the most pliant & gives the best ride & articulation offroad
 
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