I'm all about empowering enthusiasts like you to build your Subaru to take you further.
There are three things I love most in this world: filmmaking, photography, and my overland Subarus.
I want to take you on my journey through my lens, whether it's building a dailiable overlander with my Forester Wilderness or the ultimate overland beast with my 2005 Forester "The Adventure Wagon".
I don't want to just build my cars though, I also want to get out there. Not only do I want to go on some amazing adventures, but I also want to flex my creative muscles and expand on my creative endeavors in the great outdoors.
Whether you're looking for some tips to build your Subaru, or you just want to sit back and get some creative inspiration, there is something here for you!
When buying out 24 crosstrek wilderness not ONE Forester Wilderness on the lot, Would have been nice to look at them too I don't particularly like the outback its way to long
This is super comprehensive and a great video with a ton of information that a lot of folks don't consider. Another thing a lot of people don't consider when lifting a Subaru (or at least one with a CVT) is CVT wobble. This happens with the increased driveline angle and companies like ADF sell an anti-wobble insert which can introduce additional NVH. On my 2014 Outback, I did the smaller ADF lift and the CVT wobble was barely noticeable. I didn't notice it most of the time unless I was really looking for it. On my 2017 Outback, I did the 2" ADF lift (with the added height in the back to combat the dreaded saggy butt), and the CVT wobble around the 20mph mark was very noticeable. I installed the anti-wobble insert, and NVH at highway speed was awful so I pulled it back out and just tolerated the brief shudder at low speed. Sometimes it's readily apparent. Sometimes it's easy to ignore. But it is there and something to consider.
The purpose of lifting a vehicle for offroading for overlanding is to allow for more ground clearance over obstacles on trails. Lifts are not intended as a cosmetic mod usually, even though it is a side effect of installing a lift kit.
Thanks for the great video. I have 225/55/17 tires on my crosstrek but I have a spare tire as size of 215/60/17. Does it couse any problem if I use it for a short time period?
I would certainly get the right tire as soon as possible. The Subaru AWD system doesn't like various tire sizes. I was lucky to get by a whole year without needing my spare.
As far as VT, NH, and Maine go, the only places seem to be in the white mountains and north from there. There is a spot in Thompson CT you can trail on as well. I live in a dead zone and haven’t had much time to explore a lot in the area.
What killed the Forester Wilderness for me was the lack of turbo! Have had two Foresters, capable things that did things in the outdoors like no bodies business. No rock crawling but handled everything and that is even before Subaru made the Wilderness line. The Outback Wilderness is so comfy, and man the thing has some speed 5.8 seconds to 60! Not the awful grandpa speed of the Forester Wilderness. I also like the cargo area in the Outback Wilderness much better, you can now put a sleeping bag and snooze inside no problem Forester was a little cramped and the cargo is more vertical. Once you own a Turbo Subaru there simply is no going back. Having all the capability of a Subaru with speed on roads is a very nice touch that the Forester sadly just doesn't have. Subaru crippled not just the Forester like this but just imagine a Crosstrack withe that turbo...but noooo Subaru will not do that...Jeezzzz! WHY THE HELL NOT???? Let us not forget the towing capacity 3500 pounds a lot more useful.
Just went back to Subaru (this is my 3rd), after a brief dalliance with a Mercedes (I needed the comfort of tye seats for 6+ hour drives). Got a Forrest Green FW about a month ago and am absolutely in love with the vehicle. I live out in the boonies of NE PA, so snow and poor road conditions were my primary criteria for a vehicle. I also play in a band, so having the cargo space of the Forester is a huge plus. For my needs, i honestly dont need the HP (the Benz had plenty).
I got a set a wheels from a friend and they're 225/40R 18's all around for my 04' Subaru outback, turns out they just barely fit, it's like a half inc maybe even some odd centimeters difference in the hub size. I learned a lesson today sadly, the hard way - - Moral of the story test fit before you buy ladies and gentlemen
I’m dealing with this at this moment lol. What Ratchet did you use at the 3:00 minute mark I need something that can handle that much breaking power. Thank you!!
I don't really remember the brand of it as I borrowed it from a friend, but I think any tilt head style ratchet should work, it just needs to be thin enough to make it in between the bolt head and the axle. You could probably also get it with a wrench and a pipe too.
I would have to disagree with you on the aftermarket for the FW. While, yes, the content online for the car is lacking, you can find aftermarket parts all day for the FW from companies like LP Adventure, Rallitek, Ironman 4x4, etc. Where it's lacking though is more on the performance side, because the OW is boosted and has extra goodies to make good power. So its more a question do you want a good off roader? Or do you want an off roader thats also fast?
All the companies you listed also have parts for the OBW and CTW as well, but there are other manufacturers who have made off-road parts for those models but not the FW. CA Tuned Off-road is a good example, they made a good selection of parts for the OBW, but not the FW. Grimmspeed has several parts for the OBW and CTW, but only a few for the FW. I’m not saying there aren’t any parts for the FW, there just aren’t as many compared to the others.
They actually can't keep the Forester Wilderness in stock in my area. I happened to get the last 2024 one here locally and everything else was sold out that was already ordered.
Yeah you probably have a bigger stock of Outback and Crosstrek Wilderness models there since the factory where they build them is in Indiana. The Forester is still built in Japan.
I plan on doing adf 2.5” lower and 3” upper plan on clearing 31’s, prolly forceum m/t’s, cant beat a full set for $400. I am doing this on my 99 fozy and it will be in the next few weeks, i will try to make videos of the build as i go.
I hear lots of guys say, "Torque the lug nuts to 65 foot-pounds" but my 2014 Forester docs say go with either 79 (steel wheels) or 89 (aluminum). Am I being misguided?
Still got my 2004 forester. I don’t do too much rough roads. But I do love it for camping. Just started sleeping in it too! More room in the back for that.
If you buy them from somewhere like Primitive Racing, you can buy the lug nuts with the wheels. Due to the holes being indented, I don't think the OEM lug nuts would work.
So. Call me stupid. NOT. I Lift and work on offroad trucks straight axle and IFS. BUT. I lifted 06 forester 2in spacer and bought the rear adjustable control arm kit like a $500 lit. Sota good lil high in back but my driver rear axle keeps pop out of diff. I mean as soon as i leave the driveway. Any ideas? Thanks
I don't know for sure without looking at it but it sounds like the snap ring for the axle might be not seating in the diff correctly or might be missing, so your axle isn't being held in. Either that or something is out of alignment and the axle can't sit in the diff properly.
@TheCreateOutdoors I done bunch research on line last night and these models something about a LSD diff that the clip stays in the diff so maybe it's still in it and I thought it pop in lol. Will see this evening.
Hi Do you need some great lighting for your car to help you better driving, off-road. We're the pro auto lighting company for nearly 20 year and we're looking forward to sponsor some lights with your rig:)!
Hey there! I would definitely be willing to work with your company! It would probably be best to reach out to me via email. You can find it in my channel description!
@@TheCreateOutdoors Sure Will do! We just not saw the contact methods when we left the comment. But not we see it. Sending you more details now. Looking forward to sponsor your build!
Thanks for the video! I was thinking to start doing some recordings of my offroading and stuff in my Forester Wilderness just to put content out there as I also think that Forester Wilderness content is very sparse, but as I'm not doing RU-vid and we all know that it's kind of time consuming, I couldn't get to that... But this video gave me another inspiration to add up to the content. Maybe one day.
Thank you Wondering about cooling ( I had friends 20 years ago swapping to bigger radiators in Arizona) I would be interested in knowing about Subaru Radiator cross compatibility
Well, if your hope is to promote the Forester, I would recommend making a video with more substance. There wasn't much information here. The most information provided was vague; one would expect the Forester to be heavier than a Crosstrek and have less power than an Outback. But what exactly does that mean? Well, the Forester is 3,620 lbs, while the Crosstrek is 3,370 lbs and the Outback is 3,920 lbs. The Outback has a 2.4l turbo which delivers 260hp and can tow 3,500 lbs, while the Forester has a 2.5l with no turbo, offering only 182hp and 3,000 lbs towing capacity. The Forester does win on some things. One is subjective, and that is the stance and interior space. More head room in the Forester, though the leg room in the rear suffers. The main superior feature is approach and departure angles. Now, if you care about getting everything you can offroad from subies, this is important. However, the ground clearance is slightly better on the Outback (9.5) compared to the Forester (9.2), but this can always be improved with a lift. But overall, the OBW just offers more in more areas. I also recommend showing something that looks a little more challenging for the vehicle than driving through a puddle, or down a flat gravel road that a Honda Civic could handle easily. These vehicle can do more than that, and if you're promoting it, it would improve the appeal I think.
This wasn't an informational video, there are plenty of those on RU-vid. Admittedly yes, I should have put the power to weight ratios on screen, but there are plenty of review videos out there, I really don't need to do make one myself since it isn't my specialty. This was an introduction to my Forester Wilderness and talking about why there doesn't seem to be much content on it, not on the car itself specifically. This is New England in March. Many trails are still closed up north at this time and you won't be seeing much technical stuff in this area. I'm not looking to go with an off-roading route with this car anyway, I plan to overland with it instead. This spot was open, and I thought it would be better to film out in nature than in my driveway. I also doubt a Honda Civic would make it the entire route that I went. My mistake for not showing more of the bigger rocks we had to climb over.
@@TheCreateOutdoors Fair enough. I think you're right that people will be looking for videos on the Forester Wilderness, which is why I think having the numbers and some technical information would be beneficial and attractive to those FW folks out there. The fewer videos you have to compete with, the more people will be valuing the information and representation compared to the OBW reviewers.
@@cloudoftime I can agree with that, although due to my perspective audience throwing all the numbers out there, it can get confusing, unless you have more car knowledge like you and I.
@@TheCreateOutdoors I hear you. Well, I wish you the best of luck. That's just more opportunity for other videos anyway if you want to get into that stuff. I really like the Forester Wilderness (I have an OBW myself), I just wish the FW came with a turbo option. I'm sure the FW community will appreciate your efforts.
How does the newer one handle the normal bumps of the road compared to 2005? Not big rocks but regular divots, does it ride smoother? I have a 2006 OB, been eyeballing a 2024 FW pretty hard because it still has some regular knobs, instead of the full screen like the OBW has.
I’m not going for a big lift, just putting forester springs and struts on an 05 impreza that i use as a work truck. I need as much weight capacity as possible and just a couple extra inches for bigger tires. Any recommendations on what type of somewhat affordable springs to buy?
I haven't really looked much into springs but King Springs are probably one of the first that come to mind, but I'm not sure what the spring rate will be for those. Stock Subaru Forester springs are comfortable enough. Keep in mind that Forester suspension will give you a 2" lift, if that is something you are okay with. I would certainly take a look around and do some research on what would be best.
Picking up a 24' FW in Autumn Green today. All of the turbo hype is ridiculous. Turbos aren't needed to offroad. Plus, non-turbo engines have less issues. Can't wait to see more vids. Keep'em coming!