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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.

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!!!

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......




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.


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!!

Very nice looking rig and would love to see some action shots of it.

frug wrote:The scrub the rear mud flat at about 3/4 lock, but how often to you drive at 3/4 lock anyway!!

By this I'm guessing you mean the front mud flaps? otherwise you're doing some pretty crazy driving

Very nicely done/to be done Forester! Love the colour too.

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


and after









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....

So, after the front and rear bars were installed, the exhaust pipe out the rear was hanging really really low, and looked quite ugly.

So, off to Classic & Custom Exhaust Factory in Coburg North. Super firendly guys and they really know what they are talking about. I went to a few exhaust places around Coburg, and the place I went to didn't faf me around or act like it was a job too hard. Brilliant guys and place.

Here's a pic of the exhaust before:




and after:





as you can see, the departure angle has increased lots and it's given her a bit more of a perrrrrrr!!


to be continued......

Im loving your build frug, they should come from the factory like that.
Subaextreme makes the best Subaru barwork in the world and they're no more expensive than non-Subaru bulbar manufacturers here in Oz. Hope that eases the pain.
So what's next? LSDs?

There's prob a few more small things i'd like to do. Maybe a 1 or 2"body lift, just to get some clearance on the side panels. An LSD might be a possibility, but i'f heard that they aren't all their cracked up to be. I'd much prefer to get lockers (if they even make them for a Suby).

A few accessories are needed. UHF, Awning, shovel holder. Just little things link that.

frug wrote:There's prob a few more small things i'd like to do. Maybe a 1 or 2"body lift, just to get some clearance on the side panels.

A lift would go really well...

An LSD might be a possibility, but i'f heard that they aren't all their cracked up to be. I'd much prefer to get lockers (if they even make them for a Suby).

I'm pretty sure you already have a viscous LSD in your '05, its only the SF that didnt have a vLSD, it then got dropped for the SH (I think).

You could improve on it with a plated diff which is "almost" as good as a locker. I'm afraid no-ones done a locker for a Subie (yet)....

frug wrote:

Looks good mate! Another way I've seen it done tucks the exhaust up even further:



Maybe a "future mod"? Also notice the hole on the left to access the swing arm bolt without having to remove the whole bar - I don't know why they don't do that before they paint the bar and send it on... Anyway, you're foz is coming along in leaps and bounds!

Nothing better than a subi beat out the back either!

Cheers

Bennie

Hey everyone.

Installed a Subtle Solutions 1" lift kit to the car a few months agfo and forgot to post the pics up.

Here are some pics:


















All done. 1" lift gained. Haven't measured total lift including my BFG AT's.


Cheers!!

Hi there everyone.

Due to my change in life (now work all weekends and have a business car), I am regretfully selling my pride and joy.

Yep, my Forester XT MY06 is for sale.

I've had her for nearly 2yrs and she has been a dream to drive and work on.

Item: Subaru Forester XT, October 2005 build MY06, Turbo 2.5lt

Description: I bought her as a standard XT and as you can see by the pics i've kitted her out. I wanted to build the ultimate reliable touring car and I think that I've come pretty close. Please see the pictures below for a visual of the car. She has done just under 84,000kms. Garage serviced 9 months ago. I do most of my own servicing, but get her serviced at a garage once a year, just to be sure. She geta about 11lt/100 combined. Automatic with Sports Shift, Xenon headllights and LED lights in rear bar.
She's been on a few really great trips. Some include the High Country in Victoria, several trips around the Yarra Ranges and down to Gippsland.

Modifications and extras include:
SubaXtreme Front and rear bars
King Springs
KYB Struts
1" Subtle Body Lift blocks front and rear
New exhaust
GME UHF and aerial
Thule roof racks with shovel holder
Geordigear Awning, with detachable room
Alloy Sump Guard

I also have 5 steel wheels (no dents or flat spots), with BF Goodrich AT 215/70 16r tyres fitted. Tyres have 70% of tread left and the spare has never been used. Will sell for $700 the lot.

Condition: Excellent Condition. I take really good care of my car. Car seat covers have been on the front seats and floor mats throughout. I've also had a Vinyl mat over the boot carpet, to keep it clean.

Location: Warburton, Victoria, Australia.

Price: $20,000. The car also comes with the Thule Roof Racks, Geordigear Gumtree 2.0m Awning with Gumtree Tentroom (awning & Tentroom, roof shovel holder and square tow hitch tongue. I am asking $20,000 because the car has some serious cool mods, which I have spent a fair wod of cash on. This car is perfect for your touring needs. I have investigated heavily on the parts I've fitted, as i'm a firm believer of do it once the right way.
Rego till December 2014.

Contact: Please shoot me a private message or an email to frug_79@yahoo.com. Happy for inspections, but please only serious buyers.

Pics:









More pics in my next thread.

I am very sad to let her go, but very excited that someone else will enjoy her as much as I have.

More pics:

Here she is all kitted out.

Well, after selling my pride and joy back in 2014, it was time to get another Forry.

Life has changed a bit over the last year, with the arrival of our first child in Jan. This gave me perfect fodder to purchase another Forester!! Safety, reliability, comfort, familiarity.......you know how the hard sell goes!!

After much searching around I came across a Forester, XT Luxury, 2007, Auto with just 65k on the dial!! And for around the $14k mark too!! And the best thing, it was the exact same Champagne colour my old Forry was!! Classic!! It was meant to be.

And so began my Suby Lift quest.

Here's a pic of her when I took possession of her with 25cm (10") standard height:


The previous owner had plans to do the typical Suby thing - slam her on her ass and soop her up with a crazy big-arse exhaust, but his situation changed and I rescued her before that botched surgery!!! He had already put an STi Intercooler scoop and STi grill on the front and Plasti Dipped the rims which is a nice touch.

After my last Suby, I had a fair idea on the lift setup I was looking for. Get some height, but nothing too silly, just enough to inspire for confidence.

So after purchasing some King 20mm lifted springs, KYB Struts and 1" body lift blocks from Subtle Solutions, it was off to the "chop shop" to get them installed. I also invested in some 1" Trailing Arm spacers too. After lifting my previous Suby and seeing how dicky the rear wheel looked in the wheel arch, I decided to get the spacers.

After with increase height to 31cm (12"):


I also needed 2 new Camber bolts too to get the wheel alignment right.

Next was to get rid of that hideous rear muffler and to give her a little Suby purrrr. So, off to the "chop shop" again to get an oval "sports" exhaust fitted, night and tightly up in the muffler well.

Before........yuck!!!


After.......just right!


Getting the muffler sorted is a must for any Suby lift project, the old one is just crazy bad.

The final step was tyres. I'm not doing anything crazy in this car, however I'll be driving a bit in the snow, so I needed some AT tyres to inspire confidence.

I had BFG ATs on my old car and they were amazing tyres, but I was using the car heavily off road then. I also didn't want to spend the $300 per tyre!!

I searched for a while to come up with the perfect size that would give me more lift, but not rub too much as full lock. I had purchased a second hand set of 15" rims, which the intention of putting the off road tyres on them, but after comparing tyre sizes, tyre wall depths and overall lift, keeping the 17" rims on was the best solution for the job.

I finally came up with the Yokohama Geo-Lander ATs 225/60/17. Bob Jane had a special on to buy 3 and get the 4th free. Winner!!!

Before:



After......tough!!!





And a lift up to 33cm (13")!!


The ride is surprisingly softer now that there are some bigger and squisher tyres on her.

So my project lifter the car 8cm (3") and total spend inc labour was around the $2k mark, which I think is quite ok.

Learned anything? Next time I would get the 2" Trailing Arm spacers. The wheel still sits a little to the front of the arch. I'd also get the mid muffler removed from the exhaust under the car, to give her a little more purrrr.

What's next?? Well, a bash plate is needed as well as I might experiment with a bit of Plasti Dipping!!

Stay tuned!!