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G'day, I have received the 03 Forester XS and must say I'm blown away with the cleaver design of this vehicle. After taking it through a " back rd" from Apollobay to Gellibrand through The otways I'm embarking with friends to wards Salt Creek SA for some beach fishing, tomorrow. My question is what pressure do you run on sand? (My Land cruiser I run 18 psi on split rims) . The Foz has standard Rd tyres and alloys.
2nd how do the tie down/recovery points hold up with light "Snatches"? For reverse snatch I'm going to use tow ball pin.
3rd I read there is issues with the front plastic bash plate. Is it really an issue in sand?
If you have a spare sec please help me out and I will try and get some pics up after the trip. Cheers
oZ.

You'll be fun running 18psi in the foz on standard wheels. You can go lower if necessary but start there.

You'll be fine snatching from the tow ball pin, just don't use the towball. Hell you can even do hard snatches from the pin. I've pulled out all sorts and my 01 Foz is still driving.

If the plastic splash guard comes off, throw it out and buy a metal one.

Good luck and make sure to take some pics and post them up!

Thanks Taza.will give it a go. Cheers

Lowest I ever put my Forester tyres down was about 8PSI with Desert Duelers. Didn't have any problems.
Whatever you do don't snatch from the towball itself.
Bash plate won't last forever if it's the plastic one, but it'll do for now - get a nice alli one or make one out of checkerplate once you need it.
Also:
Take lots of photos!

Dont snatch from the tie down points at the front, they will rip right out

Thanks gannon. What do people have as front recovery points?

60.... Had a tyre down to 12 psi yesterday. not by choice. Damn screw I picked up.

get an equaliser strap and snatch off both points at the same time (gently.. dont let wanker big truck drivers rip the front end out of your car - i've seen it done)

The cars only 1300 kg. getting close now Kingston SA. Any good aftermarket recovery points?

The other thing you could do besides letting the tyres down is to get yourself a set of Max Trax and carry a shovel just in case. Just dont forget to pump up the tyres when you get back onto the hard stuff and do not under any circumstances to any fast tight turns while the tyre pressure is down. I have seen too many tyres rolled off the rims.

Thanks for the tips, had a great evening session on the beach. 16 psi front 18 rear. No fish. Got some go pro footage and glory shots at sun set. Love the Foz!!!oZ

Great to hear you're having fun

gday again, sorry about the late reply, but here is what I have been doing with my XS forester. Having a ball in Vicco. My miss and I are heading back to the Kimberly (Fitzroy Valley area) tomorrow. I just wanted to share some pics with you mob. Have a great year and if you up that way in 2014 let me know. oZ. (ps. got plans for the Foz, great car)
PPS. trying photo bucket for pics, need to up load.
cheers

[img][IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119 ... catch2.jpg[/img][/IMG]

[img][IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119 ... -gelly.jpg[/img][/IMG]


[img][IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119 ... canoe1.jpg[/img][/IMG]

[img][IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119 ... t/abay.jpg[/img][/IMG]

argggg......

[img][IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119 ... catch1.jpg[/img][/IMG]

[img][IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119 ... /camp1.jpg[/img][/IMG]

[img][IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119 ... /sand1.jpg[/img][/IMG]

enjoy the pics boys and girls. keep in touch oZ

Coupla nice fish

ozdog wrote:My question is what pressure do you run on sand? (My Land cruiser I run 18 psi on split rims) . The Foz has standard Rd tyres and alloys.

I run all my tyres at 14psi and never had an issue. I make sure I never turn too sharp and always let the car follow the tracks by itself (with some small help every so often) but remember to carry your tyre pump with you. I prefer to drop them to this first time so I'm not putting any strain on the engine. I have let them down to 8psi to get out of some really boggy patch but pumped them back up to 14psi once I passed that patch.

ozdog wrote:2nd how do the tie down/recovery points hold up with light "Snatches"? For reverse snatch I'm going to use tow ball pin.

I'd recommend you purchase a recovery hitch for the back and then use the balance/equalizer strap on the front. Make sure you always use a stretch strap between the 2 cars and not a tow strap.

ozdog wrote:3rd I read there is issues with the front plastic bash plate. Is it really an issue in sand?

On sand the plastic tray is fine but just remember it has no support/protection, so it's not really a "bash" plate. If you are looking for more protection for the sump, then I'd look at making one or buying the Subaxtreme one.


Oh and nice fish

Thanks for your feed back RSR 555,
You can see in the beach pics there was a lot of tracks to follow and as you say let the car "track" but I couldn't help myself every now and then making my own tracks
I found with my standard tyres and no lift it did bottom out every now and then in the well worn tracks. Because I let the tyres down it lowered my clearance and the plastic plate comes into play, plowing the sand. It did hold up and I didn't need the recovery points. Im living in Black Soil country so I know about correct, safe "snatches". I personally believe in over engineered recovery points, that's why I ask?
The car is in storage atm but when I get back I hope to trick it up a little for weekenders.
Cheers From Noonkanbah STN W.A

Not much sand driving at the station.. LOL

RSR 555 wrote:Not much sand driving at the station.. LOL

lol

From what I've seen on TV some of those WA station turn to thick sticky mud everytime it rains!

+1 on the front tie down points. They arent very strong so you need to use an equalizer strap like this:


Feed it through the loop of the snatch strap so you dont need a bow shackle to join them.

Never use the towball to snatch or tow from, its extremely dangerous. YouTube is full of vids of this causing damage & there have even been deaths

IMO 14PSI isnt too risky on the tyres, just dont turn sharply or go too fast

RSR, down to 8PSI? That must've been very soft lol