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Hi everyone in the suby community, I have been lurking here and have read just about every thread relating to my vehicle so I suppose its time to start talking!

My 3rd subie is a gen 2er wagon 5 speed man Lib. I am coming from a full size 4x4 down to this so I can at least have a decent on road drive. I have also investigated LPG in the form of a dounut tank in the spare wheel well good for 50L, cost $2900. BTW some of the gen2 lib conversions I have seen here are amazing and this is exactly where I am heading.

This is going to be a bit cliche' as my first interest is making it into an outback. Lucky there are a few threads on this but I am still left with a few Q's.

1. First up for me is put ouback struts and arms in inc the outback springs as from what I can gather the lib springs are not quite as good. But I would like to know difinitively that they are not actually the same.

2. after making it an Oback i want a bit more lift but am trying to steer clear of a body lift so I would like to know what I can do in the suspension to get another inch or 2 and still maintain proper/acceptable CV angles.


3. i want to put polished aluminium bars in the front and rear to replace the bumpers but am worried I will kill my chances of a RWC and also there is the airbag issue along with insurance. Anyone know if this sort of thing is worth it or should I forget it now?

4. Is a snorkel on a gen 2 lib? I do water crossings and have had diesels so do I need to water proof anything on the car?

Thanks in advance and thanks for making me stay up night after night reading facts my wife finds irrelevant to vehicle ownership

You are on the right track with the suspension. Basically all you need is the Outback struts, some inch lifted king springs (see pic for part number), the rear trailing arm mounting bracket. By reading the pic list you can see for your self the springs are the same as a Liberty. Until you go for a raised spring. The raised springs lift it by about an inch.

So, doing the outback struts, lifted springs and some taller tyres you can get 3" more clearance with out a lift kit.



http://www.subaxtreme.com.au can sell you the bars you are wanting. They do have air bag compatible bars. Custom alloy used to do bars as well but they have gone out of them a bit, mainly focusing on truck bars these days. Bit annoying as they had a stronger bar and were cheaper.

You can fit a snorkel to your gen 2 but it is never going to cross water like your diseasal did. It will be a home made one though as there is no manufacturer doing a direct bolt on.

Silicon spray on all your electrical plugs under the bonnet. There is lots of them. Silicon or silicon spray on your leads.

Word of warning. The ECU for the engine is mounted on the passengers floor in front of where their feet go. If you plan on stopping in the water, plan on mounting the computer higher. I am not saying don't do crossings, just know where the ecu is.

thanks BYB, the suspension sounds easy enough and I am glad to hear FHI didnt over complicate the models.

http://www.subaxtreme.com.au dont seem to have an off shelf bar for the vehicle so I will have to enquire the cost of a custom front and rear, initially though I was going to weld up my own very wide aluminium oval tube front and rear bar. I cant make it compliant with the airbag though so I will probably have to buy one.

And as for the ECU I have flooded both my diesel 4x4s with water up to the centre console so I had better work something out there too although I will likley not be doing the same kind of 4x4ing, I am looking more at trips to fraiser etc..

Now I just have to think about a locker.

Yeah the springs are both same between Liberty & Outback - confirmed that.

I wouldn't go thru water crossing below base of the floor line (under the car - not inside of the car's floor) due rear diff needs to breath and ECU. Once your ECU is drowned.. your engine wont run! - only good positive thing about snorkel is getting forced air into the engine...

I wish i did that at the same time when upgrading to outback struts I should have bought and fitted raised springs on my Liberty. But will do that someday.
Cheers
AP

Fakeback wrote:Now I just have to think about a locker.

U and half of the forum Sounds like your onto a good project, we'll have to get a vic meet going to have a look-see at everyone's pride and joys.

Welcome to the forum!

Cheers

Bennie