grantwilson
Adventurist
This is to chronicle the build of the (what I venture anyways) first offroad oriented outback. Take it for what you will, but that’s what I am categorizing it in. It is meant to basically go anywhere a jeep/fj/4runner whatever will go, and be self sufficient. By the end of this there will be drawers for camping supplies, hot water pressurized shower, and a whole host of other things to make this an amazing "overlanding" vehicle.
First off, a little guide for you. All the images are hosted on my flickr. If I do some reorganizing and jazz, some images may disappear, just give me a heads up, and I will fix the links to make sure they show alright. Next, if you have any questions, concerns, elaborations, suggestions, feel free to interject. There is always another/better way to do it and I am open to the help. Eventually this will be an actual webpage (just gotta do it) with details, pictures, video etc etc. Chime in and lets make it fun!
So, why an outback? I have owned a decently built JK 4dr (2.5" lit, 33s, skids, onboard air, rock sliders etc etc etc) and loved offroading. It was quite fun. The ride sucked, MPG (ok, doesn’t really matter to me, but it may to others) really sucked iwth 33s not regeared and loaded down, and it was noisy, temperatures were weird inside because of the top and a host of other things. I wanted something better. When i was in Saudi Arabia, i had a chance to work on a friend's outback and take it out quite a bit. He wanted a fun desert camping car. I outfitted it with about 3" of lift, all adjustable control arms, some custom bits and bobs and it was awesome. It was a tank that went through anything. But not only that, it was comfy, quiet, and just worked. I wanted it. Fast forward to a year later, I am back in the USA. I make a line to the Subaru Dealer and test drive the forester and the outback. I settled on the outback, mainly because of ride quality and was on my merry way.
Running Tally of Parts and cost:
Car: 27,800
Yakima Load warrior rack[/URL] - 120.00 Craigslist
Yakima Load Warrior Extension[/URL] - 139.00 Amazon
Cooper Discoverer A/T3 245/65-17 5ea. - 850.00 Town Fair Tire (local shop price matched Discount Tire price)
Midland CB radio 1001z[/URL] - 41.18 Amazon
K30 mag antenna[/URL] - 26.62 Amazon
SWR Meter[/URL] - 15.95 Amazon
Jumper cable for WR Meter [/URL]- 12.95 Amazon
Torklift hitch[/URL] - 264.00 Torklift
Curt Wiring harness[/URL] - 25.50 - amazon
Masterbuilt HFTB HITCH-HAUL Folding Receiver Bar[/URL] - 25.00 Amazon (daily lightning deal)
Curt Manufacturing 31006 Spare Tire Mount[/URL] - 78.00 Amazon
3 bolts to mount wheel - 13.00 Lowes
Smittybilt 29312B Receiver Hitch D-Ring [/URL]- 30.98 Amazon
2 of Titan Wheel Accessories t150-545-545-12125-2 (2) 1.50" inch (38mm)[/URL] - 99.90 (4 total spacer) Amazon
2 of WARN 85340 0.875" - 1.125" Universal Swivel Light Mounts[/URL] - 26.49 x2 - Amazon
TMS® 2 X 18w 1260lm Cree Spot Led[/URL] - 52.00 Amazon (2 units)
StowAway Hitch Tightener[/URL] - 21.95 Amazon
Superwinch 1145230 Terra 45 4500lbs synthetic rope[/URL] - 301.99 Amazon
4 2015 Legacy wheels (one is currently spare, eventually will be main wheels) - 250.00 Craigslist
Anderson Design 2" Lift kit with subframe spacers - 550 (hes on facebook)
Front Skid Plate[/URL] 2013+ Outback
Add Oil Holes Extra $20, Thickness : 3/16" - $288.00 primitive
Add Fumoto Valve [/URL]$29.00
3/16" Rear Differential Cover [/URL]- $110.00 primitive
14mm Camber Bolts[/URL] - 1 $19.00 primitve
2015+ Outback/Legacy 3/16" Mid-Armor[/URL] - 1 $135.00 primitive
ARB 2000 awning[/URL] $258.30
FourTrex Mount[/URL] $93.10
Awning Room[/URL] $156.60
Trailhead deflators[/URL] $53.96
ARB tree strap[/URL] 10' $35.00
ARB snatch block 7000[/URL] $83.77
Black MaxTrax[/URL] $289.00
Mounting Pins for Maxtrax[/URL] $26.96
3/4" ARB Red Pin shackles[/URL] (Qty 3) $31.59
synthetic rope shackle[/URL] 26.00 - (all above from southeast overland. picking up items from an offroad event this weekend)
Steel for winch mount and other items - as of 5/12/15 $118.00
Wood for drawers and drawer slides, hardware - 120 - Lowes
Air Horns - 160 - amazon daily deal
Husky Floor mats[/URL] - 80.00 amazon
30" led bar[/URL] - 200 - side tracked offroad
frontrunner floorboard water tank and hose kit[/URL] - 200.00 - frontrunner
camp chef triton shower[/URL] - 126 - amazon
water filter[/URL] - 8.00 - amazon
water pump[/URL] - 58.00 - amazon
outback by Flsimages, on Flickr
It all started with tire. Everyone has to have tires right? Decided on a 245/65-17 Cooper A/T3 mainly because of all the crazy awesome reviews i read about them. Im happy with them
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
white letters out baby!
So what do you do when you get new tires? You go offroading. This was at about 900 miles i believe?
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
[video=youtube;xMlKVWUrR8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMlKVWUrR8[/video]
first project was to pull the bumper and core support, check if i can figure out how to mount a whinch
XT013017 by Flsimages, on Flickr
XT013037 by Flsimages, on Flickr
i figured it out. ill show you when i do it
So that actually brings us to today, current times
Stuff is starting to show up in the mail
rear recovery point:
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Top is the stationary rear tire carrier, bottom is the unit i have to make work with it
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
wheel spacers!!!
I went ahead and put together the rear tire carrier. I started with what you saw above and got to work
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
cut off the part that would slide into the hitch
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
and make it nice and smooth
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
slide into the area the rear rack would normally go.
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
make some holes and throw it in
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Ill be covering the pin in maybe a rubber hose to snug it up?
used a wheel spacer to set up the studs
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
bolted it down to position all the bolts in the slots
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
lay down some ugly welds (dont have gas yet :/)
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
and its done
waiting on my torklift hitch and i can put it on
- - - Updated - - -
teaser
rear with lift, front without
XT013069 by Flsimages, on Flickr
- - - Updated - - -
did a little work (im kinda skipping around. have to do a writeup on the lift)
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickr
side facing lights for camping/trail
by Flsimages, on Flickr
using the Warn tube mounts (2 or under 25 bucks)
oh, what do we have here
by Flsimages, on Flickr
- - - Updated - - -
2015 Subaru Outback Expo by Flsimages, on Flickr
2015 Subaru Outback Expo by Flsimages, on Flickr
2015 Subaru Outback Expo by Flsimages, on Flickr
2015 Subaru Outback Expo by Flsimages, on Flickr
- - - Updated - - -
i call first!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
- - - Updated - - -
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
- - - Updated - - -
hitch is installed. the rest of the welding on the winch mount is done, had to raise the hitch mount tire carrier to look right, welded that all up. i have a bunch of welded bare metal stuff. but whatever. i threw this car together in like a week and a half
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
First off, a little guide for you. All the images are hosted on my flickr. If I do some reorganizing and jazz, some images may disappear, just give me a heads up, and I will fix the links to make sure they show alright. Next, if you have any questions, concerns, elaborations, suggestions, feel free to interject. There is always another/better way to do it and I am open to the help. Eventually this will be an actual webpage (just gotta do it) with details, pictures, video etc etc. Chime in and lets make it fun!
So, why an outback? I have owned a decently built JK 4dr (2.5" lit, 33s, skids, onboard air, rock sliders etc etc etc) and loved offroading. It was quite fun. The ride sucked, MPG (ok, doesn’t really matter to me, but it may to others) really sucked iwth 33s not regeared and loaded down, and it was noisy, temperatures were weird inside because of the top and a host of other things. I wanted something better. When i was in Saudi Arabia, i had a chance to work on a friend's outback and take it out quite a bit. He wanted a fun desert camping car. I outfitted it with about 3" of lift, all adjustable control arms, some custom bits and bobs and it was awesome. It was a tank that went through anything. But not only that, it was comfy, quiet, and just worked. I wanted it. Fast forward to a year later, I am back in the USA. I make a line to the Subaru Dealer and test drive the forester and the outback. I settled on the outback, mainly because of ride quality and was on my merry way.
Running Tally of Parts and cost:
Car: 27,800
Yakima Load warrior rack[/URL] - 120.00 Craigslist
Yakima Load Warrior Extension[/URL] - 139.00 Amazon
Cooper Discoverer A/T3 245/65-17 5ea. - 850.00 Town Fair Tire (local shop price matched Discount Tire price)
Midland CB radio 1001z[/URL] - 41.18 Amazon
K30 mag antenna[/URL] - 26.62 Amazon
SWR Meter[/URL] - 15.95 Amazon
Jumper cable for WR Meter [/URL]- 12.95 Amazon
Torklift hitch[/URL] - 264.00 Torklift
Curt Wiring harness[/URL] - 25.50 - amazon
Masterbuilt HFTB HITCH-HAUL Folding Receiver Bar[/URL] - 25.00 Amazon (daily lightning deal)
Curt Manufacturing 31006 Spare Tire Mount[/URL] - 78.00 Amazon
3 bolts to mount wheel - 13.00 Lowes
Smittybilt 29312B Receiver Hitch D-Ring [/URL]- 30.98 Amazon
2 of Titan Wheel Accessories t150-545-545-12125-2 (2) 1.50" inch (38mm)[/URL] - 99.90 (4 total spacer) Amazon
2 of WARN 85340 0.875" - 1.125" Universal Swivel Light Mounts[/URL] - 26.49 x2 - Amazon
TMS® 2 X 18w 1260lm Cree Spot Led[/URL] - 52.00 Amazon (2 units)
StowAway Hitch Tightener[/URL] - 21.95 Amazon
Superwinch 1145230 Terra 45 4500lbs synthetic rope[/URL] - 301.99 Amazon
4 2015 Legacy wheels (one is currently spare, eventually will be main wheels) - 250.00 Craigslist
Anderson Design 2" Lift kit with subframe spacers - 550 (hes on facebook)
Front Skid Plate[/URL] 2013+ Outback
Add Oil Holes Extra $20, Thickness : 3/16" - $288.00 primitive
Add Fumoto Valve [/URL]$29.00
3/16" Rear Differential Cover [/URL]- $110.00 primitive
14mm Camber Bolts[/URL] - 1 $19.00 primitve
2015+ Outback/Legacy 3/16" Mid-Armor[/URL] - 1 $135.00 primitive
ARB 2000 awning[/URL] $258.30
FourTrex Mount[/URL] $93.10
Awning Room[/URL] $156.60
Trailhead deflators[/URL] $53.96
ARB tree strap[/URL] 10' $35.00
ARB snatch block 7000[/URL] $83.77
Black MaxTrax[/URL] $289.00
Mounting Pins for Maxtrax[/URL] $26.96
3/4" ARB Red Pin shackles[/URL] (Qty 3) $31.59
synthetic rope shackle[/URL] 26.00 - (all above from southeast overland. picking up items from an offroad event this weekend)
Steel for winch mount and other items - as of 5/12/15 $118.00
Wood for drawers and drawer slides, hardware - 120 - Lowes
Air Horns - 160 - amazon daily deal
Husky Floor mats[/URL] - 80.00 amazon
30" led bar[/URL] - 200 - side tracked offroad
frontrunner floorboard water tank and hose kit[/URL] - 200.00 - frontrunner
camp chef triton shower[/URL] - 126 - amazon
water filter[/URL] - 8.00 - amazon
water pump[/URL] - 58.00 - amazon
outback by Flsimages, on FlickrIt all started with tire. Everyone has to have tires right? Decided on a 245/65-17 Cooper A/T3 mainly because of all the crazy awesome reviews i read about them. Im happy with them
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickrwhite letters out baby!
So what do you do when you get new tires? You go offroading. This was at about 900 miles i believe?
Untitled by Flsimages, on FlickrUntitled by Flsimages, on Flickr[video=youtube;xMlKVWUrR8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMlKVWUrR8[/video]
first project was to pull the bumper and core support, check if i can figure out how to mount a whinch
XT013017 by Flsimages, on FlickrXT013037 by Flsimages, on Flickri figured it out. ill show you when i do it
So that actually brings us to today, current times
Stuff is starting to show up in the mail
rear recovery point:
Untitled by Flsimages, on FlickrTop is the stationary rear tire carrier, bottom is the unit i have to make work with it
Untitled by Flsimages, on FlickrUntitled by Flsimages, on Flickrwheel spacers!!!
I went ahead and put together the rear tire carrier. I started with what you saw above and got to work
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickrcut off the part that would slide into the hitch
Untitled by Flsimages, on FlickrUntitled by Flsimages, on Flickrand make it nice and smooth
Untitled by Flsimages, on FlickrUntitled by Flsimages, on FlickrUntitled by Flsimages, on Flickrslide into the area the rear rack would normally go.
Untitled by Flsimages, on FlickrUntitled by Flsimages, on Flickrmake some holes and throw it in
Untitled by Flsimages, on FlickrUntitled by Flsimages, on FlickrIll be covering the pin in maybe a rubber hose to snug it up?
used a wheel spacer to set up the studs
Untitled by Flsimages, on FlickrUntitled by Flsimages, on Flickrbolted it down to position all the bolts in the slots
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickrlay down some ugly welds (dont have gas yet :/)
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickrand its done
waiting on my torklift hitch and i can put it on
- - - Updated - - -
teaser
rear with lift, front without
XT013069 by Flsimages, on Flickr- - - Updated - - -
did a little work (im kinda skipping around. have to do a writeup on the lift)
Untitled by Flsimages, on Flickrside facing lights for camping/trail
by Flsimages, on Flickrusing the Warn tube mounts (2 or under 25 bucks)
oh, what do we have here
by Flsimages, on Flickr- - - Updated - - -
2015 Subaru Outback Expo by Flsimages, on Flickr2015 Subaru Outback Expo by Flsimages, on Flickr2015 Subaru Outback Expo by Flsimages, on Flickr2015 Subaru Outback Expo by Flsimages, on Flickr- - - Updated - - -
i call first!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr- - - Updated - - -
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on FlickrUntitled by Grant Wilson, on FlickrUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr- - - Updated - - -
hitch is installed. the rest of the welding on the winch mount is done, had to raise the hitch mount tire carrier to look right, welded that all up. i have a bunch of welded bare metal stuff. but whatever. i threw this car together in like a week and a half
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on FlickrUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Last edited:
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good control arm
dented control arm
Subaru Outback Switches
Subaru Outback Packed up
camping out
polar opposites
Subaru Outback
Subaru Outback
Subaru Outback
Subaru Outback
Subaru Outback
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Mid Atlantic Overland Fest
Mid Atlantic Overland Fest
Mid Atlantic Overland Fest
Mid Atlantic Overland Fest
Mid Atlantic Overland Fest
Mid Atlantic Overland Fest
star trail maof
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