swcolegacyl

Hi Jabbott126, the clearance under the green Legacy and the Outback are about the same. The header pipes sit a bit lower because of the DOHC engine. All the suspension was moved from the from the Legacy to the Outback. The only difference is that the Outback already has factory lift blocks, about 1.5". I added them to the Legacy. So really it's the same lift as the Legacy. It amounts to about 3.5" of total lift, just about 9" in the front and about 13" at the rear with the King springs.

This all started because I had 2 bent rims. (off-road casualties) Both of the bent rims were on the back of the car, but I could still feel a vibration at higher speeds. So i tracked down the identical rims on eBay.com and bought 2 replacements. Turns out there off a 2000 VW Jetta. I originally bought them off of Craigslist years ago for the green Legacy. Now I had a matching spare rim, the best of the 2 bent rims, and I have 2 sets of the General Grabber AT2s, 1 set is studded. The 205/75r15s won't fit in the spare tire well of the '99 Outback, so now it's on the roof:

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire1.jpg

 

Old Spare 195/75r15 just barely fit the spare tire well.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire3.jpg

 

So i decided to get rid of the hump and make this space more usable:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire4.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire5.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire8.jpg

 

A friend gave me a nice piece of stainless steel for the project. I glued and screwed it down with 3/4" self-tapping screws.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire6.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire7.jpg

 

I sprayed everything with 2 coats of Rust-Oleum LeakSeal top and bottom.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire9.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/OutbackSpareTire10.jpg

Hey derp, thanks as all always.

 

Spent the weekend in one of my favorite ski towns, Crested Butte, Co. I had to test out the new suspension and new studded General Grabber AT2s. The car drove fantastic, the skiing was fantastic too!

 

Stayed at the haunted Forest Queen Hotel:

https://travelcrestedbutte.com/crested-butte-haunted-hotel/

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/CrestedButte1.jpg

 

Crested Butte's Main st (Elk Ave):

 

Looking East early Sunday morning:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/CrestedButte3.jpg

 

Looking West:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/CrestedButte4.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/CrestedButte5.jpg

 

The studded Grabber 205/75R15 tires are amazing in snow and great on the highway too.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/CrestedButte6.jpeg

 

North side of Black Canyon Reservoir near Gunnison, Co:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/CrestedButte2.jpg

Time to replace the rear struts and springs.

 

New KYB 2002 Forster rear struts and new King Springs:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearSprings1.jpg

 

1.4" lift over stock

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearSprings2.jpg

 

Rear camber adjuster: They are not stock, but i can't remember where I got them. I had to buy the adjusters to get the '96 Legacy rear alignment to work out.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearSprings3.jpg

 

Rear struts were shot. But to be fair, I did get a lot of miles out of them. And all the suspension on the '99 Outback was moved from my '96 Legacy.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearSprings4.jpg

 

I kept the top strut mounts because they were good condition and they already have 1" Subtle Solutions lift spacers on them.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearSprings5.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearSprings6.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearSprings7.jpg

Hey stenben, pretty clean car, looks good. Any other mods?

Hi gregsplett, really I'm far less concerned about weight then cracking the rear diff on a rock. My car is not setup for rally racing, it's used mainly for camping in remote places. The steel skid plate added about 6Lbs to the car. To answer your question, I have know idea how much my car weights. But it probably has 100+Lbs of equipment in it now. Shovels, jack, rope, emergency stuff, extra gas...

Being that it's been in the 50's in Colorado, I figured i'd get another little project done on the car.

 

New rear differential skid plate:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearDiffSkidplate1.jpg

I found this one on eBay (used) for $30.00. 1/8" steel, it's actually meant for a 2000-2003 Outback, but with a little mod it fit perfectly.

 

Primitive makes a nice skid plate that i almost bought for $100.00 but it's made of aluminum.

http://get-primitive.com/skidplates/58-standard-316-aluminum-rear-differential-cover.html

 

Installed:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearDiffSkidplate2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/RearDiffSkidplate3.jpg

Dark_Horse, this mod was done on my 1996 Legacy (witch had a 70/30 front/rear power split) and it was about 5 years ago. Honestly I cant remember where I spliced into the circuit. Pretty sure it was under the dash near the TCU. My 1999 Outback has a 55/45 front/rear power split, so this mod is not necessary.

Hi Dark_Horse, Duty Solenoid C is at the back of the transmission you should find the wires you need there. On the 1st page of this thread there is a download link of PDF files that I've collected while researching Subaru's.

 

check out:

AUTO_TRANS_DIAGNOSIS_4_SPEE.PDF (page 3)

 

Duty Solenoid "C" regulates hydraulic pressure of transfer clutch and controls driving force to rear drive shaft. Duty ratio of solenoid is controlled by TCM. Solenoid is mounted to transfer control valve on side of extension case.

Hi Dark_Horse, Thanks for checking in. First off, i'm sure you know, it's not exactly 4WD it's more like 50/50 power split front to rear. I believe that most Legacy's from '95 -'99 range from 70/30 front/rear to 55/45. I did not use a resister in the circuit at all. AWD was no change to factory wiring, FWD i bridged the FWD fuse holder under the hood. And 4WD mode i cut power to duty solenoid C making the drive train 50/50 power split.

 

I never had any problems with the system. I only used FWD a couple times when i tested it. But 50/50 was used often. I only did this mod on the '96 Legacy, this is not necessary on the '99 Outback witch has 55/45 power split and excellent traction control. From what i've found, the '99 Outback transmission was used until 2014.

 

92,000 views, always surprises that anyone is checking out this thread. It's been fun maintaining this blog. Hopefully lots more to come.

I never had a grand plan for the Subaru, it's just kinda evolved into an off road beast by trial and error and lots of research. I've learned a lot from this site and other Subaru forums. At this point I probably could have bought a new Jeep or Truck with the time, energy and money that i've put into the '96 and '99, but to me the Subaru is perfect for what i like to do and my mechanical abilities. My car drives as well at 75 on the highway as it does rock crawling. It's agile, stable, reliably, efficient getting 26+ mpg and lots of fun to drive. I've enjoyed maintaining this thread and getting feedback from other Subaru enthusiast. Not quite sure where this Subaru Outback is going, but i'm thinking about putting in a limited-slip rear diff and i've been researching installing a supercharger and of course maybe a bit more lift. We'll see.

 

Thanks everyone for you support, questions and comments.

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/Outback.jpg

Hi coreyh29645, I'm running General Grabber AT2 the size is: 205/75R15

A little upgrade: My steering wheel looks and feels like it has 219000 miles on it. No texture left, you can see by the pic it's real shiny and smooth. To the rescue, good old eBay.com $20.00 for 2001 wheel and $20.00 for an airbag. After a real good scrubbing and swapping the cruise control switch, the new steering wheel looks and feels great. I'd guess it had about 50-60 thousand miles on it, very little wear.

 

2001 steering wheel installed:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SteeringWheel2.jpg

 

original 1999 steering wheel:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SteeringWheel1.jpg

Time again for Telluride's last festival of the summer season:

 

https://carsandcolors.com/

 

Kind of cold rainy and snowy this September weekend.

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-1.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-5.jpg

 

Even the cops got into the fest. Marshalls Dept. Ferrari, don't want to try out running this car.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-3.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-4.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-6.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-7.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-8.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-9.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-10.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-11.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-12.jpg

 

And one lonely Subaru amongst giants: My car actually got a lot of attention. I entered it in the Cool Cars on Colorado part of the fest.

https://carsandcolors.com/subevent/cool-cars-on-colorado/

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-14.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-15.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/TCC2017-16.jpg

I love the look of the steel rims, but they are starting to get pretty beat up. Spray painting all 4 only took about an hour. I made a simple cut-out from a piece of cardboard to keep paint from getting on the tires. They look much better now:

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/PaintRims1.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/PaintRims2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/PaintRims3.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/PaintRims4.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/PaintRims5.jpg

Hey All, I've made a few changes to the car this summer like new tires, new LED head light bulbs and LED front and rear blinker bulbs. I've repainted the black bed liner to the lower section of the car and added 1/2" aluminum angle iron to the bottom edge of the rocker panels.

 

New set of General Grabber AT2's

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/NewTires.jpg

 

New coat of Herculiner bed liner and the aluminum angle iron on the bottom edge of the rocker bolted on with 10mm bolts and nylock lock nuts.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/BedLinerAndRocker.jpg

 

I bought some new LED headlight bulbs but had a little space problem on the drivers side. Between the battery and the headlight there is a horn, 2 relays and fuses for bumper LEDs, Winch control relay and lots of wires. So was not not quite enough room for the new LED bulbs that have built-in fans. The simple solution was to move the horns:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/MoveHorn1.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/MoveHorn2.jpg

 

And the new LED head light bulbs:

 

https://kensun.com/collections/super-bright-led-conversion-kit/products/led_kit_9007_super_bright_with_eti_led_chips

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/LEDBulds1.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/LEDBulds2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/LEDBuldsLeft.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/LEDBuldsRight.jpg

Hey -Thanks derp. It's nice to live in a place that i can justify it. Out here they're are hundreds of miles of old mining roads. Most haven't been driven on, in many many years. They are lots of fun to drive, camp and check out the old mines.

I noticed that the batteries weren't charging all the way. The controller that I had used was about 6 years old, time for a new one:

 

About $13.00 on eBay.com

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem13.jpg

 

The new controller uses a Positive-Ground so i had to completely rewire the system.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem14.jpg

 

Now we're getting a full charge:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem15.jpg

 

And my big panel: 50W and it happens to fit perfectly into my roof rack basket.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem16.jpg

Finished the solar system: I realized that i had enough room for 2 more batteries. I added 2 12v 8Ah batteries to the pack, now with a total of 12vdc @ 40Ah. And i mounted the power panel and 400W 120vac inverter.

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem11.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem12.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem8.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem9.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem10.jpg

Time to get the solar system installed in the new car. In the '96 Legacy i had installed a system that charged the car battery with a solar charger. I'm doing things different in the '99 Outback. In the new 'trunk' space behind the drivers sear i installed 2 12V 12Ah AGM batteries. And a solar charger with a switch to charge the batteries from the cars alternator or solar panels.

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem1.jpg

 

2 x 12v @ 12Ah AGM batteries:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem2.jpg

 

Install system:

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem4.jpg

 

The copper wire to the side of the box will go to a power panel pictured below.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem3.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem5.jpg

 

On order from eBay.com $13.99. I still have to figure out where to mount it.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SolarSystem6.jpeg

Hi Setnev, I don't know about coilovers. But if you find a good match please let me know. Below is a list including the one you mentioned of Subaru lift and spacers.

 

My car has about 8" clearance with the lowest point being the exhaust resonator. How you drive is as important as the clearance under the car. Drive slow and pick your route and you can get pretty far without braking the car. I might be adding a 2" sumo lift to my car. Now i have the subtle-solutions 1" spacers on top of the struts.

 

Lifts:

http://www.subieliftoz.com/

http://www.sumoparts.com/

http://sjrlift.com/

http://www.funonwheels.net/hirisesubaru/pages/lliftkit.htm

 

Spacers:

http://www.subtle-solutions.com/index.php?cPath=21

http://trakplus.com/

Hi Setnev, Thank you. Lots of learning along the way.

 

On the '96 Legacy, I went with '98 Forster struts, 1" list spacers and the rims went from 14" stock wheels to 15" with larger tires. Totaling a 4" lift. The '99 Outback got all the suspension and wheels and tires from the '96. With the Outback i only benefit the Forster struts, 1" spacer and larger tires (205/75 R15)

 

If you've looked through the thread, you'll see my friends blue '98 Outback. He lifted his about 3" and he's has had constant issues with CV joints and tire wear. Problems that i have not had.

Changing switches:

 

I bought a new lighted power switch for the winch from China. $3.56 including shipping, and i showed up in about a week. Amazing!

 

The winch switch keeps getting turned on accidentally. So, I've been trying to find a switch that is harder to turn on and indicates when it is on. I found this one on eBay.com that seems to fit the bill. The switch is really nice and I changed the location of the winch master switch which should also help.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/SwitchesNew.jpg

 

About 3 weeks ago i broke the antenna mast off, on a tree branch. Most of the time i listen to my iPod via Bluetooth and i don't need the antenna up. So i replaced the mast for $35.00 and added a switch to lower the antenna and keep the stereo on.

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/Switches2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/Switches.jpg

 

 

PS: RumbleRumble -Nice video!

Hey derp, thanks for the suggestions I'll check out chip coat. I kinda figured that the sun would be the problem for the rubber coating. I can always remove it and try something else.

 

First camping trip of the season, back to my favorite spot. Love where this car can go.

 

The big rock to the right of my car you can see on google maps/earth:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.3260303,-108.9641568,139m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/Camping1.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/Camping2.jpg

 

http://srvtelluride.dyndns.org/Subaru/Camping3.jpg

Hey thanks gregsplett, I didn't bother taking any pics while i was doing the masking and painting because i really expected this to be a disaster and have to remove it. But after the paint dried, the texture and the finish look great and seems fairly durable.

 

And thanks for the youtube.com link, always love checking out Subaru vids.