[bhowdy]

StupidChicken
I wanted to thank you for the great build thread! There are not as many of these type build threads on the Crosstrek forums as I am used to on other car / truck forums ... yours was very helpful.

I am a recent, first time Subaru and Crosstrek owner having purchased a 2014 Crosstrek with a whopping 21,360 miles on it! My other vehicle is a highly modified Nissan Frontier Nismo .... the wife has a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee

I seem to build everything that I drive LOL ..... My hobby is off-roading and then the other expensive hobby is wildlife photography. I bought the Crosstrek for the gas mileage and the AWD advantages. My Nissan averages 14.8 miles per gallon!

I don't plan on any extreme off-roading adventures with the Subaru (I have another vehicle for that) ... I do like to run the many forestry service roads in our area (east Tennessee mountains) and the Crosstrek will be nice for that. I envy the folks out west with all the BLM lands.

I do plan to lift the Crosstrek (kit ordered) and get a set of skid plates. Of course the lights will need to be changed to leds and other mods are planned.

When I first saw your switch panel I wondered "what will he need an air compressor for?" You answered that later in the build story. My Frontier has on board air for the ARB air lockers (front and rear are locked) and of course airing up the tires. If you have not had a small compressor before be very careful about how very hot they can get! The other problem people have is under sizing the wiring ... but your friend helped you avoid that potential problem. But as you said..... you wanted the on board compressor .... I say, so why not?

I was not able to find anything about how you attached you light bar (in the grille) ... did you build a support, was there something there that you were able to use?

It looked like there was a lot of "hood glare" from your light bar that is mounted on your basket ... yes / no? I had a 50" bar on top of the Frontier and could not handle all the glare, and did not want to flt black paint my hood .... red clay mud is almost impossible to get out of flat or textured paint.

I really like your front protective bar .... have you thought about putting rocker panel rock sliders on your Crosstrek? Those on my truck have saved my bacon many many many times.

Did you ever get the Fumoto oil pan valve? They are great!

Not to get in your business but ..... Do you have much / any experience using a High-Lift jack? They can be dangerous when used incorrectly ... plenty of off-road recovery accidents involve farm jacks each year. If you can find an area off-road or overlanding group that holds training on vehicle recovery techniques they usually provide instruction in using a high-lift jack. At least they do here.

Be careful when getting a wheel off the ground with the cv axles ..... If the tire is spinning when it touches back down, especially if it hits back down hard it can (will) pop the cv joint ... I know this from experience ..... It is fun to do but a pain in the butt to fix on the trail. Serious Nissan and Toyota off-road folks usually carry a spare cv axle in their vehicle

One final thought / comment ... The dyno numbers for your Crosstrek are better than I would have guessed .... I already bought a window sticker for mine that says "slower than it looks!" My Nissan is a mini beast ..... a V6 that started life a t 261hp and now is at 335hp thanks to my friend the engine builder.

Love your build thread ... thanks again

My little Nissan 4x4

 

[stupidchicken03]

Thanks for all the kind words!

I got lucky that the 32" LED bar fit perfectly where it is. I had to fab up my own brackets to attach it to the front of the car. Unfortunately, I never took any detailed pics of how I did it, and many have asked about it haha.

There is a bit of hood glare, but I also think it might be partially from the plexi-glass cover in front of it. I think its deflecting light onto the hood rather than beaming straight out. I dont use the basket often, only when needed. Even with light being beamed off, it still makes a HUGE difference at night when needed!

There is a local fab shop that borrowed my car for a week and mocked up a set of beefy sliders. They are going to make a jig off that set, then build a 2nd set off the jig. Once those are complete, they will have me install the 2nd set and test. If all goes well, they will be in production of them!

I did get the Fumoto valve and they are wonderful. I had my on my first Subaru (WRX) and currently still have one on my second (STi) as well.

Yea, I deff know that the hi-lift can be dangerous. I have only used it on the car for testing purposes a couple times thus far. Waiting for the sliders to be made so I can use it much easier.

The truck looks like fun!

 

[bhowdy]

Thanks for the quick reply ...... The slider "arrangement" sounds like a great deal. I had my sliders for the Nissan made by a local off-road fabricator ... they are welded to the frame for more "bangabilty"

I will install a light bar where yours is installed ... I like the location a lot

My Nissan is a great truck ..... I will put it up against most of the Jeeps that I have ridden with. It only took $8,0000 worth of suspension parts (4" suspension lift / 1" body lift), running on 35" tires, ARB air lockers front and rear, 6 speed manual transmission and the 335 hp V6

I am excited about my Crosstrek being another tool in my wildlife photography efforts .... It took me to this opportunity last week!

 

[stupidchicken03]

Thats amazing!

 

[stupidchicken03]

Have an appointment today to drop the car off at the dealer.


Had some odd wearing on the drivers seat and center console armrest.* Figured it MIGHT be covered under the 36k mile warranty.. and I was like 600 miles shy of that when I brought it in.



They are going to replace the bottom seat cover and the armrest

 

[stupidchicken03]

Thanks to a buddy of mine, got an oil cap from a limited run of them

 

[stupidchicken03]

Spare tire carrier on the cheap!
​​​​​​​(lots more pics in the thread linked below)
https://www.subaruxvforum.com/threads/diy-spare-tire-carrier-cheap.176165/#post-2041170

 

[stupidchicken03]

On Saturday a couple friends and myself decided to check out the off-road route from Forest Hill to the back of Soda Springs (Just outside Donner/Tahoe).* It was about 34 or so miles of dirt trail, with one or two semi-sketch spots for the Subys, but we made it through without issue.

Heading over the famous Forest Hill Bridge (highest in California and 4th in the US).

I keep my tires at a high PSI since I commute so much for work, so as soon as the road ended, and the dirt started, we aired down.* I only dropped to around 27, my friend in the Taco went down to 22.

Downloaded off-line maps for Google Maps to keep our directions going, you will absolutely loose cell reception.

Little pit stop. We stopped 4 or 5 times over the 30+ miles.* Bathroom breaks but mostly to enjoy the views.* We wanted to get out there and explore this since the storms are coming in this week, which means snow for where we were at.* It was cold enough where the ground was still covered in frost.

 

[stupidchicken03]

First spot that was a little eh for the Crosstrek.* It was a fairly steep grade, and a lot of loose rocks that were the size of softballs or larger.* Had to pick a decent line and went after it.* Friend in the Outback said it handled it like a champ.* I think spots like this is where the advantage of having a CVT shine lol.

One of the stops we made.* Absolutely beautiful view of the canyon.* Snapped pics and buddy in the Taco got some drone footage, cant wait to see that!* Would love to head back here when there is a bit of snow cover.

​​​​​​​

 

[stupidchicken03]

Getting close to the end

We passed over a couple small creek passings and a (at the time) dry creek bed.* This was the largest over the American River.

Prior I had mainly used the ARB compressor to top off my tires during rotations or seasonal changes.* This was the first time I got to put it to real use to air the tires back up.
Did all four of mine from 27 to 40 PSI.* Then did the Tacos larger tires from about 22 to 30 PSI.* Good enough for him to drive back on.

It was an awesome drive, will absolutely do it again.* Would love to do it in the snow, at least part of it.* It really depends on how much snow is down as the roads leading out to the trail are not plowed.

 

[AlexOD]

First spot that was a little eh for the Crosstrek.* It was a fairly steep grade, and a lot of loose rocks that were the size of softballs or larger.* Had to pick a decent line and went after it.* Friend in the Outback said it handled it like a champ.* I think spots like this is where the advantage of having a CVT shine lol.

One of the stops we made.* Absolutely beautiful view of the canyon.* Snapped pics and buddy in the Taco got some drone footage, cant wait to see that!* Would love to head back here when there is a bit of snow cover.

​​​​​​​

Awesome!

I was going for one last drive before the rains come, but have had a busy few days at home.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

 

[stupidchicken03]

Awesome!

I was going for one last drive before the rains come, but have had a busy few days at home.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

I know how home stuff goes too. Ive gotta finish cleaning the gutters and installing my homemade gutter guards before the rain starts tomorrow haha.

 

[stupidchicken03]

Welp ive been MIA for a few weeks. *Normal end of year time off and not wasting it online at home haha.

Last week I went up the hill to our family cabin in Truckee as no one had been there yet this winter. *Checked around the place and shoveled the snow off the deck. *I was staying the night as I planned on snowboarding the following morning.

So before it go too dark, it made my way out to the local lake to snap some pics and wait for some decent night shots.

I also threw on some colored Lamin-X for the ditch lights and added some holiday lights to the roof, tis the season haha.

Some 3 wheel snow action*

 

[stupidchicken03]

Darkness started to set in

Not the Crosstrek, but I got the other Subaru up and running.* Hadnt driven it in at least 3 months. Battery was beyond dead, so I got a replacement.* Also still planning on putting it up for sale very soon here, and wanted to keep the Enkei RCT4s.* I bought my buddy's stock Evo 10 wheels as they're the same bolt pattern and they had been sitting in the garage for months.* They were just the wheels, so I bought some new tires this week to throw on.* Also removed the red mirror caps and now it looks like a whole new car.

​​​​​​​

 

[stupidchicken03]

Ended up doing the oil/filter/tire rotation yesterday. Also because my next part finally arrived lol.

Here are how the washers were going to work with the supplied Primitive Racing skid plate.

These are the front nuts

The rear bolts

Installed after my oil change

So the fronts still poke slightly, but majority of the nut is protected and should still leave more than enough to get a socket onto if I were to really hit something to mess em up. The rears are totally protected.

 

[stupidchicken03]

The other mod that finally arrived yesterday were my hood struts. They did not come with instructions so i made another thread with step by step pics for install.

https://www.subaruxvforum.com/threads/hood-strut-install.176741/

Finished product

 

[stupidchicken03]

Newest mod

Full write up: Applies to All Model Years - DIY engine bay LED lighting

 

[stupidchicken03]

Next mod finally arrived!
New hard shell RTT from Outer Tents!

After unboxing it to inspect for any shipping damage, the guy offered to put it on the car so I didnt have to lift it.

Strapped it down and drove it home. Going to take it down and check out the inside later today once it cools down outside (currently 101* F haha).

 

[stupidchicken03]

RTT "mod" is done and its on the car.

Acquired vinyl sheets and drew on my "design"

repeated 2 more times

Then lots of cutting out, trimming, and patience

Couple before/after pics

 

[stupidchicken03]

Snapped a few pics of it on the car over the weekend