Subaru Owners Registry

[Wawa Skittletits]

So just to be clear for those of you that don’t know it isn’t necessarily the heat itself that kills transmissions. It’s what the heat does to the transmission fluid that’s the problem and it’s not something limited to Subaru CVTs. It’s long been an issue with automatics/magical slushboxes/autotragics. This is why Subaru has a severe service interval for the transmission that is otherwise a lifetime fluid. In the case of my 2015 Outback it’s 30k and I believe that’s shared by a lot of other Subaru’s.

 

[Baipin]

Aftermarket would be my first choice @Baipin. Depending on how you intend to plumb it in you'll want to look at the different styles to determine what best suits your climate or intended climate.

I'm thinking I'll do something like this:
I face more cold weather ( as low as -30C, often -15C) than I do warm weather, though that often gets up into the +30C range when it does manage to get hot. What size of cooler would you recommend for a FXT 2018?

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

I'm thinking I'll do something like this:
I face more cold weather ( as low as -30C, often -15C) than I do warm weather, though that often gets up into the +30C range when it does manage to get hot. What size of cooler would you recommend for a FXT 2018?

However you intend you plumb it in I'd recommend incorporating some form of thermostatic control and if you deal with cold weather it's not a bad idea to retain the factory cooler/warmer. Go with either a fluid control thermostat or a cooler like B&M with a stacked plate design. The latter has the benefit of simplicity and self regulates as opposed to a fluid controller that operates either open or closed (bypass). Check out the B&M 70264.

 

[Sasquatch SC]

People ask me, “Trey, why do you drive a station wagon? You don’t have any kids & you’re single?”

This is the answer... so my senior dog can have a throne when we go on vacation.

 

[icestorm]

That’s an awesome photo.

 

[Sasquatch SC]

That’s an awesome photo.

Thank you. She’s a happy girl. She’s been with me for almost 13 years old now. Retired South Carolina Search & Rescue w/ 6 hurricane disaster response patches. 43 total career recoveries. Couldn’t be more proud of her. She can’t get around very well anymore bc of a hereditary degenerative nerve disorder (no pain) but she loves riding in the boat & going fishing w/ me. When the weather breaks I’ll post a picture of my rig - a Subaru towing a skiff named the Suboataru.

 

[Sasquatch SC]

Bathroom break. 3½ hours of highway during a severe thunderstorm down. 97 more miles to Edisto Island!

 

[Terry Pickens]

New front and rear bumpers going on my Outback. Here is a tease of the rear. By Stellar Built in Sacramento, CA. Getting her ready for an adventure to the Northwest Territories, Canada next month.

 

[Logan Hall]

New front and rear bumpers going on my Outback. Here is a tease of the rear. By Stellar Built in Sacramento, CA. Getting her ready for an adventure to the Northwest Territories, Canada next month.

View attachment 103781

Not gonna lie, that subiebooty is pretty sexy.

That reminds me, I finally got that new bumper built and painted.



Next few things will be to add the rear flares, add a bunch of lights and then the primitive racing lift.

The lights will prob be the most difficult part for me since electrical is not my strong suit

 

[Sasquatch SC]

New front and rear bumpers going on my Outback. Here is a tease of the rear. By Stellar Built in Sacramento, CA. Getting her ready for an adventure to the Northwest Territories, Canada next month.

View attachment 103781

That thing is SICK! I really want to put a spare on my rear, but it would make the camera obsolete. When I am reversing my car, I still usually physically look behind me instead of only using the camera - but the camera is insanely helpful for backing up an empty boat trailer.

 

[Sasquatch SC]

Not gonna lie, that subiebooty is pretty sexy.

That reminds me, I finally got that new bumper built and painted.

View attachment 103795

Next few things will be to add the rear flares, add a bunch of lights and then the primitive racing lift.

The lights will prob be the most difficult part for me since electrical is not my strong suit

I was worried about the same thing with my lights, but I bought this remote control wiring kit from Amazon. It was $12 and stupid easy. Once you have all your lights mounted where you want them, you connect one end to your positive battery terminal and a good ground in the engine bay. Then you run the other wire out to your lights. You can daisy chain them all together if you want. You don't have to worry about trying to install a switch since it uses a key fob remote, and it has a 40A relay and a 30A blade fuse already built in. It is good for anything up to 300 watts.

 

[Logan Hall]

I was worried about the same thing with my lights, but I bought this remote control wiring kit from Amazon. It was $12 and stupid easy. Once you have all your lights mounted where you want them, you connect one end to your positive battery terminal and a good ground in the engine bay. Then you run the other wire out to your lights. You can daisy chain them all together if you want. You don't have to worry about trying to install a switch since it uses a key fob remote, and it has a 40A relay and a 30A blade fuse already built in. It is good for anything up to 300 watts.

That sounds like a sweet deal. The switches and fuses were what I was more worried about because as far as I know I don’t really have too many good areas to mount a switch panel in a 2010. Thanks

 

[Sasquatch SC]

That sounds like a sweet deal. The switches and fuses were what I was more worried about because as far as I know I don’t really have too many good areas to mount a switch panel in a 2010. Thanks

Yeah - I was worried about the same thing. Mine is a '19 and I really did not want to cut into anything on the interior for switches. I ran the wire to the lights on my roof out of the hood near the wipers and then used some windshield silicone to keep the wire in place and I ran it up the windshield gutter. My car has those 3 home link buttons underneath the rear view mirror that you can program for your garage or whatever. I had one already programmed for an automatic gate, but by holding the on button on the fob while pressing one of the unused home link buttons it was able to learn the frequency. I did the same thing for the off button on the fob and the remaining home link button.
Now I keep the fob on the same ring as my boat keys so when I'm coming into the landing after dark I can hit it and light up the whole area around my car (FYI - if for some reason you want to find some sketchy people, you can usually find them hanging around parks that have public boat landings after dark). Then when I get to the car I can just use the pre-installed home link buttons to turn the roof lights off or on.

 

[Terry Pickens]

Not gonna lie, that subiebooty is pretty sexy.

That reminds me, I finally got that new bumper built and painted.

View attachment 103795

Next few things will be to add the rear flares, add a bunch of lights and then the primitive racing lift.

The lights will prob be the most difficult part for me since electrical is not my strong suit

I just got this setup. It is pretty slick and I mounted the included 100amp relay and bus box to the top of the fuse box in the engine bay. Ran the included cable through the exiting wiring harness hole in the firewall and mounted the switch panel to the dash. That is all plug and play. The wiring to the lights I will do. Just make sure you are running the correct size wire for the amperage and wire run length required. You can find these tables on Google. I've had this for awhile and for get the company name I got it through. My son will remember, I'll ask him and get back to you. I'll post photos of this kit when I get the car back on Friday.

 

[Nick - Overland Pro Shop]

New front and rear bumpers going on my Outback. Here is a tease of the rear. By Stellar Built in Sacramento, CA. Getting her ready for an adventure

Very nice! Definitely post more pics soon!

Any of you guys have footage or videos of Subarus partaking in more hardcore offroading? I see lots of videos of stuff on fire roads/forest roads but its mild at best.
The only video I've seen is this one:


They put the dual range transfercase/transmission combo in those foresters for lower gearing. I was really impressed with the stuff they went through. Too bad importing one of those is like $3k

I don't know why Subaru isnt building something more offroad worthy out of the box. They could add a lift and low range gearing and maybe beefier cv axles. I think there is definitely a market for it. Who wouldn't want an offroader with 30+mpg potential.

 

[Baipin]

Very nice! Definitely post more pics soon!

Any of you guys have footage or videos of Subarus partaking in more hardcore offroading? I see lots of videos of stuff on fire roads/forest roads but its mild at best.
The only video I've seen is this one:


They put the dual range transfercase/transmission combo in those foresters for lower gearing. I was really impressed with the stuff they went through. Too bad importing one of those is like $3k

I don't know why Subaru isnt building something more offroad worthy out of the box. They could add a lift and low range gearing and maybe beefier cv axles. I think there is definitely a market for it. Who wouldn't want an offroader with 30+mpg potential.

I'm looking for more of that too - and it's definitely out there, you've just got to look a bit harder. Some of the best stuff isn't easily searchable:



2015 Subaru Outback at Rausch Offroad park

and my personal three favourites:

Rob on Instagram: “Sometimes things are a little crunchy. That's why skid plates should be your first investment! This would have stopped me dead in my tracks…”
Subaru conquers the Hell's Revenge Trail
Subaru Outback 2014 Difficult Offroad [HD 1080p 60fps]

The last video provides a good comparison to other "real 4WD's" - note how the Outback even exceeds them in some areas, such as roll-over angle, and its light weight in getting out of some nastier terrain.

Bonus: Believe it or not, some pretty built Subarus have made it through the Rubicon!
Subarus at the Rubicon Trail

EDIT: Sorry for the formatting mess, but some of the links keep reverting back to [MEDIA] tags.

 

[Nick - Overland Pro Shop]

Because once they made all the necessary mods it would no longer be a 30+mpg off-roader. Also, 90% or more of their customers could care less not to mention the additional price they would have to charge.

An increase in 2 inches of suspension travel and a bumper better designed for approach angle would have little if any effect on fuel economy. Keeping overall wheel/tire diameter the same as stock would also have no effect on fuel economy. Owners of subarus that have lifted them seldom report lower mpg unless they are running a heavy all-terrain tire in plus sizes above stock diameter.

I would also argue there is a demand for it. Look at how many subarus are being sold now. Subaru cant keep up, they advertise 8.9 inches of ground clearance on forester, crosstrek and outbacks for a reason. Ford has the fx4, Chevy/GM the z71, Toyota the TRD, Jeep the Rubicon, and Subaru........

 

[Smileyshaun]

It became apparent this weekend that I may need to consider getting a bigger vehicle. But amazingly I only had a small amount of rubbing over big bumps .

 

[Sasquatch SC]

It’s called a Forester
Subaru builds for the masses not us on this forum.

I ruled the Forester out from the get-go because it only had a 1,000 tow rating. I wanted to be at least be able to tow my flats skiff so I needed at least 2000 lbs. The official tow rating on my '19 Outback 3.6 is 2700 lbs. I should technically be able to tow a bit more comfortably with the suspension upgrades, stiffer rear sway bar & heavy load springs at the rear. I had a Class III 2" receiver installed normally, but then I had a welder friend do a solid bead weld on both sides of where the receiver meets the frame. I installed a Redarc trailer brake controller for the car, a new brake system on the trailer, a trailer weight distribution system, and then a transom saver which is essentially a long pole that mounts to the trailer a little in front of the axle and then it is strapped to the outboard to lessen the load behind the trailer axle.

 

[Smileyshaun]

I ruled the Forester out from the get-go because it only had a 1,000 tow rating. I wanted to be at least be able to tow my flats skiff so I needed at least 2000 lbs. The official tow rating on my '19 Outback 3.6 is 2700 lbs. I should technically be able to tow a bit more comfortably with the suspension upgrades, stiffer rear sway bar & heavy load springs at the rear. I had a Class III 2" receiver installed normally, but then I had a welder friend do a solid bead weld on both sides of where the receiver meets the frame. I installed a Redarc trailer brake controller for the car, a new brake system on the trailer, a trailer weight distribution system, and then a transom saver which is essentially a long pole that mounts to the trailer a little in front of the axle and then it is strapped to the outboard to lessen the load behind the trailer axle.

the funny thing is if you look outside the USA the trailer ratings for Subarus is almost double