The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

G'Day, It looks like you guys have got a good forum going on here! So here goes my first post. I havent got a suby yet but im looking around and was hoping for some advice. My l300 4wd van is about to kick the bucket and im looking for a replacement vehicle that has been nailed down to a liberty. Not sure of which year will suit my needs the most. I do a lot of highway driving but need it to do some light off-road stuff as well snow driving.

In particular I fly paragliders so often i need to get up some really steep tracks. These are usually in pretty good condition, i.e you don't need the ground clearance of a landcruiser to get up, however its really steep and we usually need the low range to get up. Im also looking for better reliability as I have been constantly fixing the l300 and im sick of spending so much just to keep the thing going. Ive noticed the pricing for liberties seems to be really chaotic as there are newer vehicles that have done heaps of k's for the same price as older cars that have (apparantly) been looked after and done less k's.

So, basically ive been looking at getting an older 90-94 wagon with more k's (200k+) or a newer 95-96 with 150k+ k's. How many k's do you generally get out of these things before you start spending big to keep them on the road?

Economically im not sure which is a better way to go, but my real question is in terms of the offroad capability, as the older model *seems* more offroady having the dual range transmission. Is this the case? How does the newer transmission (and car in general) compare?

Also, the older ones come with the air suspension, which ive heard negative things about. What does it roughly cost to change over to springs (as well as possibly lifting the car at the same time)?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks heaps, zol

The standard dual range libertys low range is hardly low, its something like 1.12:1,

The newer soobs have the dual range also, however not in the libertys, only in the foresters and outbacks, you may want to think about an auto H6 outback if your budget permits unles you definatly want to a manual then you may want to fit aftermarket low range gears that scorpion subaru sell, they take the low range to something like 1.5something:1

others know what the ratio is exactly

If you buy a decient vehicle to start with you should easly get 3 maybe 400,000 km's as long as you spend the money to fix little things imediatly so they dont become/cause major problems

changing from air struts to springs is quite an easy job, and putting in the lift kit is also reasonably easy..well..moderate unless mechanically knowledgable with a good common sence..i fitted my lift kit and struts over 3 nights of a few hours each night reasonably easily, main isssue being the exhaust hitting the rear crossmember but is easily overcome....my car does quite well even with just the single range,, but steep steep hille either require speed, or low range..which i would still highly reccomend.

Cool, thanks for the info guys. devil, how much did you spend on the struts + lift kit? i'm happy to do the install myself. bb my limit is about 10k max and i'm definately after a manual. Do the outbacks have low range only on the autos?? Also, i've seen the scorpion subaru website, but no contact details for them, do you know their number/address??

thanks

Na the manual has the low range not the auto, sorry for the confusion, nt sure bout the number

the autos are not dual range to my knowledge...only the manuals..struts brand new kyb's are about 130 odd for the rears and the fronts are aroun 200 odd each, springs should be aorund 250 for new kings or alike..lift kit ranges from aroun 400ish in one brand to about 850 to another brand...i only have a $400 one and it works just fine:) but if u go lift kit must get the bigger wheels to compliment the lift plus the lift is only a body lift so unless u get bigger tyres youll still be dragging the driveline the same height around as before,

the best combination to get is outback struts ( to fit biggest possible tyres)(or just buy an outback to start with ), expect to pay upto 750 ish for a new set, plus springs, 27 or 28" offroading tyres...and most ppl on this forum fun a 2" lift kit..where as i run a 3" lift kit...all personal preference on that. for 10 grand you should be able to buy a newer car and lift etc with no problems.

I feel your L300 pain, been there, done that, in no rush to do it again.

If you're budget is about 10k I would recommend a 1st gen Outback ('96 to mid '99, technically just a gen 2 liberty with taller suspension) most of the work is already done for you, you'll have the taller suspension with out air bags and dual range (1.192:1 reduction) BUT you can fit a L series low range (1.5:1) to this box.

The scorpian kit is only necessary for the 8 bolt boxes (Gen 3 liberty, late '99 onwards)

The ~20% reduction of the standard low range is good if you want a little bit extra pull for towing or climbing a hill, I'd try it out before you go and dismantle you gearbox to fit the lower gearset.

With the Outback you'll also get at least an EJ25 2.5L 4 cylinder, if you take it easy you can get about 8.5L/100km out of the EJ25, but if you put the boot in or need some pull it goes very nicely.

If you need a bit more clearance you can try raised king springs, give you an extra inch of clearance to fit bigger tyres, if you still need more clearance then you could go for a lift kit.

Jordan.

Thanks so much for the really good info guys! i'm sold on the outback now and looking in the paper for one right now

Jordan, the l300 has such a dodgy reputation. I knew it when buying it, and now its ended up costing me heaps. Having said that i've had a lot of great times in it and if it wasnt for the reliability problems it would be an excellent all round vehicle.

One of my mates upgraded his to a liberty about a year ago and it's funny, sometimes he sees me in my van and misses it but each time i catch up with him the first question he asks is hows the van running? When i till him about whats the latest thing thats gone wrong he just laughs and i can tell he's glad he got rid of his.

zol