Enthusiast III
Advice, insight & support for Subaru specific overland tool kits. Describe or share your setup. Give suggestions for others. Must have for our vehicles needs?
Overland Subaru Tool Kits
- Thread starter DharmaBum
- Start date
Enthusiast III
Looking for suggestions and insight to build a comprehensive tool kit for my Subaru Forester XT. Want to be mindful of space and weight but have the essentials for weekend warrioring and multi day backcountry. I’ll be building off a craftsman 135 piece mechanics tool set (screwdrivers/wrenches/ratchet (1/4, 3/8, 1/2)/. Ditching the SAE pieces. What should I add or be sure to subtract? Any specific size bits to have on hand? Spare parts? Love to hear your thoughts and what you run with for your adventures!
I have 3 bags. One is a roll up tool bag from Blueridge overland. Has separate compartments. Various screw drivers, sockets, gloves, wrenches, pliers, allen keys, etc (all the hand tools) go into that bag nicely. Second bag is from Adventure tool company. This bag has an impact drill, electrical stuff, and spare nuts and bolts. 3rd bag is a husky bag from home depot. Holds my bottle jack, and other jack accessories. All three along with a roll of shop towels, a 100lb torque wrench, pry bar, mallet, and my trasharoo are stored where my spare tire was (relocated to a swinging wilco hitch). Up on the rack I have all my air compressor accessories, traction boards, fuel and water rotopacks, and battery jump starter. Of all the work I've done on my Subaru (2016 Outback) I have only had to use SAE allen keys and metric sockets/wrenches, so I don't carry any standard tools. I carry the tools I have because I've had to use every single one of them at some point when installing/repairing things like skid plates, bumper guard, lights, rack, etc, so it really depends on your need. Things like the impact drill and torque wrench are luxuries and not necessary, but they make life so much easier.
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Enthusiast III
Nice! That makes sense to have the tools you’ve used in the past for mods. I’ll keep that in mind!
Side bar—How do you enjoy the tire hitch? Has the diminished departure angle hindered any of your travels? How is it driving with the weight on the rear? Really want to get my spare off the roof to free up space.
I like it. It does block the backup cam (still looking for a good way to relocate it). I put a front runner table on it and have a smaller water container on it. I have a full size KO2 spare on it, so when the car is loaded up it does lower it. Waiting on some new springs to arrive to fix that. In the future though I'm probably going to get a Rigd tire hitch to replace it. They have more options for mounting things, brings the spare closer to the car and uses a latching system instead of the pin to hold it in place.
Enthusiast III
Thanks for that. I’ve been jumping back and forth between the two brands. I run 2 2gal gas Rotopax on the roof. I saw a photo of Wilco’s unit holding the same 2 cans and allowing for a table. It seems like you sacrifice the table for the cans, or visa versa, with Rigd. I could be mistaken though.
No problem. With the willco solo, if you have a table mounted to it, you can only fit 1 gallon cans. On mine I currently have the table off center and a 1 gallon rotopax on the other side. I have seen people use the rotopax L bracket to mount packs on the side of the tire, but I didnt want to add more weight to the hitch.
Off-Road Ranger I
Mine has been on a 3-week, 7,500 mile, trip to the Arctic Ocean up the Dempster Highway. I only took standard tools, full wrench and socket set, Allen set, pry bar, various pliers, various adjustable wrenches, Hi-lift jack (as I have a lift installed), bailing wire, duct tape, electrical tape, electrical connections, electrical wire, an electrical meter, a computer reader, full size spare, air compressor, traction boards, vehicle extraction tools and equipment, battery starter pack, battery cables, extra gas and various oils for the motor. 2-Outbacks were on this adventure my 2017 and a 2015, both made it without any problems. The 2015 needed one quart of oil 3/4 of the trip.
Enthusiast III
Awesome! Thank you for the details! I'm seeing some standards here, and I also realize some items will be trip specific. Any metric sizes you find to be crucial or worthy of carrying?
Off-Road Ranger I
Not at this time. So far I haven't had to wrench very much on my vehicle out in the wild. The Outback has been really solid. Specific wrenches I've used are more for the modificatiopns I have made to the car.
