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'Charlie' is a Gen4 'Safety' Outback, 2.5 Manual, with 'moon roof'.
Colour is 'Champagne' - hence the name. [After a 19th century music hall character and song. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_ ... 28song%29]

The two key features of the 'Safety' package are side air bags [so no body lift is possible] and 'self-levelling' rear struts.

My objective with my mods has been to maximise the ability of the car for off road use and touring, including pulling a small camper trailer, without compromising its primary role as my daily driver.

AIM
The 'concept' is a less 'full on' version of the Gen4 Outbacks of Outback Bloke showthread.php?t=12267 and Superu http://thesuperu.blogspot.com/. I have achieved the same ground clearance of both those vehicles, but my body is 2 inches lower than theirs. This is only really an issue for water crossings, and I don't intend to be too extreme in that regard.

Mods
Rear Struts
The self-levelling struts have been replaced with KYBs, to allow for replacement of the OEM springs with King Springs on all four corners. This achieved approximately 1 inch increase in suspension height. It also raised the back end relative to the front, so it now looks level rather than 'saggy @ssed'.



Subtle strut lift
The King Springs were then followed with a Subtlesolutions 1 inch strut lit.




This is essentially the identical suspension lift to that on Outback Bloke's car, but without the body lift.

Some issues in relation to rear 'toe', (see table) which I hope to correct by fitting adjustable Whiteline rear bushes.



Other mods include:
1/. A UHF CB radio with GPS in place of the 'pocket' between the central air vents.
2/. 6B&S wiring (i.e.THICK) to rear of car to connect to run 'Autofridge' and charge deep cycle battery in camper trailer.
3/. 'SC80' battery management system under the bonnet, to control charging of the auxiliary battery, etc.
4/. Luggage barrier behind rear seat (open below top of seat back, to allow for carriage of long objects.
5/. 2.5kg extinguisher bolted to rear side of luggage barrier.


To come:
* Subaru front 'sports' bar, including lower central bar to take driving lights & hang a water bag.
* Hitch mount rear bar to carry spare wheel and Jerry can.
* Thermo fan cut-out switch with BUZZER.
* Rear fog light.

Touring equipment includes:
* Sup@che@p roof basket.
* Kathmandu side awning.
* 39litre 'Autofridge'.

To answer the question posed by Suparoo at post #13 in 00Outback's thread: showthread.php?p=153864#post153864
A body lift cannot be used with side airbags because it affects (at least in an approval sense) the operation of the side air bags.

its a nice lil rig your building there,
i cant wait to finish mine off,
my car will end up a lil more extreme than yours i think???
yours is far more stylish tho!

Gday longy,

Yes, yours will certainly be more extreme than mine! I have thought about a snorkel, but don't want to go cutting holes in the body work.
Will be interested to see your fridge mount, as that is one of the tasks I have on the list for mine as well.

well after rebuilding the boot, with deep cycle batteries underneath,
the mounts are these tiny lil brackets screwed down, barely noticeable, but firmly secured,
it managed to hold the fridge thru plenty of corrugations and a rough drive thru the murchison 4wd park.,
i need to put more pics up of it,
my camera broke half way thru the biuld process
but its good again now.

looking good, dont mind the gen4 OB's. just needs some bigger rubber!

Dead right Captain. Will get myself some steelies and dirt tyres down the track.

hi all, i have a related question, and was wondering if you could help. i have a 2004 outback manual, and am looking to install new springs and shocks all round, as the springs have sagged considerably in the back.

i'm looking at raised kings, and pedders gas comfort shocks, as monroe don't do shocks for this particular model. if i go ahead with this, am i going to have any issues arising, or will i get away with it without new struts etc.

thanks very much

charlie

Barry1956 wrote:Dead right Captain. Will get myself some steelies and dirt tyres down the track.

Might need them sooner rather than later... I'll be back in a week and a half in lannie - and I'm super keen to get into the cobaws again in Ruby Scoo if you're up for it, or a ride in the passenger's seat

Cheers

Bennie