Lift my Forester?

[1-3-2-4]

I agree about the LSD, my 98 Forester did not have one, No way in hell will I get another Subaru without a LSD, and when I do my AWD drivetrain swap I want LSD FRONT and REAR!

[206er]

I would only do the spring lift. body lifts raise the COG without doing anything other than giving you a little more ground clearance.
subarus are a great car to learn off road driving because they arent as capable as say a toyota hilux so you must choose good lines. I have done some very mild(deeply rutted fire roads) 4 wheeling in my wagon, its way fun. I have considered converting my wagon to offroad duty, but decided its time/$ better spent to just get a hilux or a suzuki samurai.

I say, longer travel strut inserts+those lift springs, cut the fenders to however much you need to clear 31's, LSD the rear, lose the swaybars, and go have fun. carry some spare axles because of the tendency to break at a greater angle than stock. what would be totally sweet would be to lose the bumpers and build some prerunner type tube bumpers to fit the body nicely.

D/R trans is good for 4 wheeling, but they cant handle any kind of power and abuse. plus then you lose the 4.44 gears.

anyone know what are some longer strut inserts? some sort of minivan maybe?
also, some coilover sleeves with very long and soft springs designed for circle track racing would be a good option for springs. there are also ford truck springs which will work on a subaru which are dirt cheap of course, and would give some lift. I havent verified this, just playing around with a tape measure at the junkyard.

[BAC5.2]

That looks badass and was just what I was picturing for a new front bumper. I agree I'd substitute flat black for the chrome.

Steve

SubaXtreme e-mailed me back.

They will make me a front bumper WITHOUT the chromness. Just the metal bumper without any hoops. Painted factory color too.

I like their "lift" kit which is just 40mm spacers under the strut. Car performs mostly like stock, just slightly higher.

I don't have any desire to get crazy with the off-roading, or I would have gotten a TJ instead of the Forester.

If I do anything, it'd probably be the 40mm kit and a front bumper.

[93forestpearl]

Hells yeah I'd lift the Forester. I like the idea of the tophat spacers the best. Simple, and avoids new spings, struts, and whatnot. Over three inches with the body and suspension combined with some nice meats on there would nice. ican handle up to about a foot of dense snow in my legacy and thats it. Sometimes more clearance would be nice.

Anything you do to raise any part of the car is gonna raise your CG, theres no getting around it. But trucks aren't known for their handling prowess, thats why I can't stand driving them day-to-day.

[BAC5.2]

Believe it or not, the forester exhibits GREAT road-handling prowess. It's confident in the turns, EXTREMELY neutral, and doesn't seem to roll THAT much (though roll is noticeable).

It's really cool! I can't really get it to understeer under normal driving conditions. I can't really get it to oversteer under the same conditions though either, which I really like about the car.