NC Forester Build

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Current Build List

Exterior:
TRF custom tube front bumper
TRF custom tube rear bumper
TRF rock sliders
Smittybilt D-ring shackles
Curt XL roof basket
Yakima Rack with 56" round bars
Yescom 6x8' awning
20% tint
Tepui Kukenam 3 Baja Series RTT (old setup)

Suspension / Bracing:
ADF 2" front spacer lift
ADF 2.5" rear spacer lift
ADF 2" sub frame spacer
ADF multi-link spacer
Group N STi engine and trans poly mounts
Torque Solution pitch stop mount

Wheels and Tires:
15 x 7 +10 KMC KM716 Nomads in matte bronze
215 / 75 / 15 General grabber AT2
17 x 7.5 +48 Sparco Terra in matte bronze (old setup)
235 / 60 / 17 Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S (old setup)

Engine and Exhaust:
Modified and deleted air box
Modified windshield washer bottle
2013 STi sedan catback with quad tips (old setup)
2013 STi sedan mid pipe
TRF custom axleback exhaust single exit

Armor and Recovery:
Primitive Racing front skid plate 3/16" with oil holes
Primitive Racing rear differential skid plate 3/16"
X-Bull Gen3 traction boards
Hi-lift Jack

Lights:
4, Hella Valuefit LED spot lights
Mostplus 6k LED headlight bulbs

Interior:
Blox Racing weighted shift knob
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Click to expand...
Cool and then we need pics too if you can
 
So why did I go with a Subaru? Well, I've owned a lot of cars in my short lifetime and over the past 5-6 years I had 4 Subies and two Hondas/Acura. I did the low car thing for a long time and as I get older, my back cant take getting in and out of slammed to the ground cars not to mention being 6', 5" didn't help either. I wanted to move from the Subaru cars and get a Forester or Outback, preferably an XT BUT just like the 4runner/tacoma community prices were outrageous. I also wanted a manual transmission and so I was able to find my 2010 Subaru Forester 2.5X Premium through my dealership network. I traveled up to Subaru Southpointe in Durham, NC where the car was located and Im glad I had put a deposit on it when I first saw it cause apparently the manual Foresters sell pretty quick (I guess they dont get traded in too much). The car had only one owner, someone from New York who later moved to the triad area, had 105k, and was in relatively good condition. It did have some rust on the exhaust which I will eventually get to but the rest of the undercarriage components were great.




In addition to getting away from the lowered/slammed community, I wanted a car that could haul my camera gear and would allow me to sleep in when I go to track events. Im a freelance photographer who specializes in automotive photography so I find myself at a lot of different race tracks in the southeast and having something that can haul a lot of stuff is great. I soon realized that I am still too tall to completely lay down...but at least it does everything else i need it to do. Leading up to the overlanding/offroad thing, I once had a 2000 Nissan Xterra back when I was a broke college kid. That thing was stock...af but I still took it offroad whenever I could...street tires and everything, even to a few intermediate trails at Uwharrie OHV. I had that thing for 6 months and I just didnt have the money to do the stuff I wanted to. NOW however, Im able to do everything I want.
 
Fast forward a 1.5 months later and I started modifying the Forester. The great thing about Subaru, is a lot of models have interchangeable parts. My generation Forester shares almost everything in common with the 08-14 Impreza/WRX/STi and in some cases 15 - present WRX/STi. I went ahead and had my exhaust taken care off since it was pretty much a rusted hunk of metal. The amount of rust falling off the hangers and around the flanges was ridiculous. The SH forester exhaust can be swapped out with the 08-14 WRX/STi sedan models only and is a direct fit from the cat back (or where the downpipe would be on the turbo models). It gives the car a nicer sound to it but because of the equal length headers on the NA cars I dont get that nice Subaru rumble, but cold starts are still pretty cool. I got my replacement exhaust from my friend Corey and his 2013 STi sedan. Another problem area were the heat shields around the stock manifold. They tend to rattle...a lot...and it doesnt stop. I went ahead and had them all cut out and removed.



 
October 11, 2018

A week later I had ordered my wheel and tire package. I did countless hours of research as to what would fit and what wouldnt on stock suspension. I wanted a wheel brand that was proven and a good tire brand the performed well but didnt sound like a helicopter going down the road. I ended up going with some 17 x 7.5, +48mm Sparco Terra in matte bronze and for tires I went with 235/60/17 Cooper Discoverer AT3s. The setup barely fit inside the wheel arch. The rear fender liners had to be removed in order to fit the rears on but the fronts remained on. I did have minimal rubbing but only at full lock. The Coopers were great and I would recommend them to anyone. They were quiet for daily driving, handled phenomenally in the dry and wet, cut through dirt and mud but werent too grippy for some snow hooning in an IKEA parking lot.






 
Haha being too tall you should then go for outback maybe. Im just 6.1" but i could sleep there no prob and front seats folding flat with rear ones so then even more space if you put feets to cars front
 
November 02, 2018

Picked up a Curt XL roof basket from a 5th gen 4runner that we were selling at work. It was a nice birthday present from my General Manager.



 
scalman said:
Haha being too tall you should then go for outback maybe. Im just 6.1" but i could sleep there no prob and front seats folding flat with rear ones so then even more space if you put feets to cars front
Click to expand...

I actually owned am 05 LGT Wagon but I never once laid down inside it. Also Outbacks are still pretty expensive in my area otherwise I wouldve gotten one.
 
Interesting here foresters cost more as they more popular cars i guess. Same yr outbacks or legacys much cheaper so it depends i guess.
Coopers great tires im sure and those 15 rims will do much better for all purposes then 17
 
February 24, 2019

I used my tax return to purchase a RTT from Backcountry.com made by Tepui. The model I got was the Kukenam 3 Baja Series in Blue/Grey and got it on sale and shipped to my job for $1000. The setup was pretty straight forward but I kind wish I had some help. I started the installation after work in the shop at 6PM and didnt finish until 8 something. Luckily I had some people in the shop to help me lift the tent on top of the car. I also went to the REI and picked up some longer round bar rails (because I though I would need them for the tent but I didnt) but they've been on the car ever since.







 
I ended up selling the tent later down the road because it wasnt ideal for the stuff I was doing at the time. It became more of a hassle if anything. I would like to do another one a few years from now but on something like a trailer setup or a clam shell for super fast setup and put away.
 
(May, 2019)

I had the headlights wrapped in yellow film which looked great imo and helped cut through fog and dirt but would not pass NC inspections. The headlight bulbs were replaced with MOSTPLUS LED bulbs which look similar to 6k HIDs. They were $50 on Amazon.


 
I wonder how those led bulbs feels for other drivers on road? Allways wanted to upgrafe my h7 to something better
 
August 2019

Got together with some of the Mtnroo North Carolina members and drove up to Asheville. Subaru was doing their Road Trip Tour to REI to feature the new Ascent. I dont travel to Asheville a lot but my god I have never seen so many Subaru's in one place...it was mind blowing. Weren't there for too long and after we had grabbed some lunch we drove West towards Cherokee to go and drive Heintooga Round Bottom Road.

Taken from blueridgemountainlife.com
"Heintooga Round Bottom Road is rugged and remote 28 mile and mostly one way gravel road that weaves its way down to into Cherokee North Carolina. The road offers views of pristine forest, wildflowers, wildlife, and creeks. You’ll drive through and along side often untraveled areas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Heintooga/Balsam Mountain Road are usually open from late May through October. They can close during at anytime though due to fallen trees or severe weather."

It was a great road to do, easy to moderate in some places, great for a first time driver. I want to go again with a bigger group and possibly camp this year.







 
I had forgot to mention that 2 days before Christmas 2018, my sister had backed in to me so if you see any scuff marks on any of the pictures its not from any excursions lol

 
So you said you had now enough money to do all that, and thats just from freelancing photography? Thata cool then. I love taking pics
 
September 2019

I took a trip to the OBX for a car show ran by Sumospeed. They are a car club/movement located in VA Beach and they host some awesome events. This event happened to be in Kill Devil Hills and we were only there for a few days so I wasnt really able to visit and explore a lot of areas. Many years ago my dad has a beach house out there and the year of Hurricane Sandy pretty much destroyed everything but before that when I had my Xterra, I drove up and down the OBX, includng Corolla/Carova. Unfortunately, we had a storm a month or so prior to us coming out for this event that closed the beach access in Carova so I wasnt able to take the Forester out. Bummer. I also had sold the RTT because it wasnt as great as I thought it would be and became more of an inconvenience.


 
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