2017 Subaru Forester 2.5L

Rubyredfozzy

Rubyredfozzy

Rank VI
Launch Member

Benefactor

3,771
Fort Mitchell, AL, USA
First Name
Aaron
Last Name
Welch
Member #

9264

I am finally in stage 1 ( research) of transforming my soccer mom SUV into a capable off road vehicle. I am only in the research phase however with much help from @WaWaSkittletits I have found many new websites full of Subaru goodness.

In stage 2 ( planning) I plan on posting my webpages I find as well as pics of the items I wish to add on. I will also add links to you tube videos I find useful for my build so others can take a look themselves.

Stage three ( the build phase) will begin once I return from Afghanistan and get to spend some of this hard earned money.

My forester will be set up to:
1. Daily drive20180214_162156[1].jpg
2. Transport family to adventures
3. Strengthen the vehicle for mild off road abuse 20171230_111458[1].jpg
 
20180325_145814[1].jpg 20180325_145828[1].jpg The first thing we added was the Yakima rack from the dealership. it is not the final product we will keep but it will get us by for now. So far it has held up to three trips across the country fully loaded down. I contemplated adding another crossbar for more support but I was afraid I would load the rack down with more than the actual roof was made to handle. I take the small flex in the cross bars as a sign I have overloaded the rack and back off a bag or two.

The box I have on top will be modified to secure to whatever brand rack I end up with. The box is from the Army and was used as a shipping container for rifle optics. I believe all of the M68 aim points were delivered inside these boxes. they were set up to carry 6 small pelican cases inside. They are fully lined in foam and have some pretty secure locking mechanisms on them. thy are extremely rugged and have made many trips with me to include Afghanistan currently holding some of my personal gear and extra batteries. 20180209_181832[1].jpg
 
I needed to find a place for my second OB emblem at this point. I initially tried to get them to stay on the front fenders but they had to many curves to lay flat enough anywhere I thought looked good. Last thing I wanted was to come back from a trip and the badge was MIA. I chose the drivers side dash for two reasons. One is it will remind me to Explore. I will see it every time I drive. The second reason is because of something I am guilty of any time I see a cool rig. I look at the whole thing. Sometimes I peer inside to see what kind of cool gadgets they have at risk of being thought of as a potential thief. Just admiring however, it is one more chance for someone whos interested to see the emblem and check out OB. 20180325_144329[1].jpg
 
I have been looking up ways to strengthen the chassis on the forester in order to withstand the pressure caused by constant off camber movement while driving. I looked to whiteline performance for help. They make a ton of parts for Subaru at the moment and I have been told by one of their reps they will be prototyping and hopefully fielding an improved front sway bar for the newer model year forester. I off road quite a bit and know the advantages of unhooking a sway bar on my jeep however, in my unibody vehicle the sway bar is set up to help keep the control arms in check at full droop and full compression. That being said I found some videos of lifted and lowered foresters that ran into issues with sway bar set ups when done incorrectly. These sway bar supports while not specifically mentioned on their website, can and will fit the 2017 forester adding a level of rigidity to the suspension components. The best thing is the 2.0L sway bar will also fit the 2.5L and thus adds a adjustable sway bar to the mix. You can set it to full soft for the trail or mid-full hard for street driving for better handling. I see that as a benefit because as with my jeeps in the past once you lift hem you get a lot of body roll. with stiffening the sway bar I foresee returning to stock like handling in a lifted foz. Id love to hear your thoughts on the possible addition to the rig. sway bar.png https://whitelineperformance.com/products/kbr15-chassis-brace
 
Below I have added the video I found to be the most helpful in setting up mu suspension. The guys at MRTPerformance.com are spot on with their videos and explanations of their projects.
 
while the video talks about a lowered vehicles some of the principals I think still apply to off roading due to the added stress we add to our rigs.
 
As for the lift I have decided to go with ADF 2" lift. I did some homework and their product seems to come with everything you need and they designed it to take care of all of the lift issues I can think of. https://andersondesign-fab.com/product/2014-2018-forester-2-strut-spacers-w-multi-link-spacers-na/
Strut-spacers-and-multi-link-spacers-500x500.png
 
Last edited:
tyleromyah said:
Nice thread! Always good to see more Subaru action. We have an 07 FXT, adf lift, and some other goodies. Wawaskittletits has lots of good info, and i am more than willing to help. Also, thanks for your service!!

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Thank you. I'm so bored I am planning how to spend my money in the thread. It's all i can do for 9 months so i should have a pretty good plan and execution of the build by the time i get home. I plan on posting videos of the build and reviews of what I buy.

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Rubyredfozzy said:
Thank you. I'm so bored I am planning how to spend my money in the thread. It's all i can do for 9 months so i should have a pretty good plan and execution of the build by the time i get home. I plan on posting videos of the build and reviews of what I buy.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using OB Talk mobile app
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It's a good start, and many new to subaru would appreciate the reviews i'm sure.

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tyleromyah said:
It's a good start, and many new to subaru would appreciate the reviews i'm sure.

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That's exactly why i want to do this thread. I've seen a handful of builds but not many who talk about thier options they considered and why. Most threads just show what they bought and what it looks like after install.

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KINGHAWV said:
Nice build!!
Click to expand...
I'll be doing a 2" kit from ADF as well on my Outback plus King springs for a near 3" lift. I've researched all the kits and the guys at Anderson spend as much time in the muck as they do the shop. They know their stuff!

Great info on the sway bars too. I hadn't considered it for my Subie but I'll be looking into it now.

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DaveT said:
I'll be doing a 2" kit from ADF as well on my Outback plus King springs for a near 3" lift. I've researched all the kits and the guys at Anderson spend as much time in the muck as they do the shop. They know their stuff!

Great info on the sway bars too. I hadn't considered it for my Subie but I'll be looking into it now.

Sent from my LG-H873 using OB Talk mobile app
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I wanted to look into it and i chatted with their online help messenger. The guy was helpful. I think some of the equipment crosses over due to subaru using a common platform for several of their cars.

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Rubyredfozzy said:
I wanted to look into it and i chatted with their online help messenger. The guy was helpful. I think some of the equipment crosses over due to subaru using a common platform for several of their cars.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using OB Talk mobile app
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Added a small fire extinguisher before i left. Finally got my wife to take a pic of it for me to post. It was the perfect size for the random little cubby in the back. It's suprisingly easy to get to as well. IMG-20180401-WA0007.jpg

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I've owned the Fozzy for about 2 weeks and have already moved well away from the stock look and am super excited to install the ADF lift kit and adjustable suspension components next week! I decided to go with the 1.5" ADF kit with 1.5" multilinks and SuperPro rear control arms, rear toe-links, upper a-arm bushings, and front camber bolts. Below is a pic of how she sits right now at stock height and 225/65r17 BFG KO2s.IMG_20180912_134251_267.jpg
 
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