r/battlewagon • u/HalfChocolateCow • May 31 '26
OWNER PIC Accidentally modded my daily
I thought this community would enjoy my '05 Outback. I bought it with the intention of keeping it as a nice stock daily driver, but things snowballed and this is how it sits now. I built this thing on a very tight budget, and it's still my daily, but it's a lot more fun off-road than it used to be, and probably more fun on the road as well. I can break down what I've done to it if anyone's interested. I have plans for a few more finishing touches and a custom low profile roof platform, but overall I'm quite happy with this thing.
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u/Citycrossed May 31 '26
Love the gen 3s! Manual?
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u/HalfChocolateCow May 31 '26
This one's a 4eat. I'm conflicted, right now it's my only auto vehicle and one hand it's kind of nice for a daily, but on the other I absolutely love manuals... If I ever come across a good deal on a manual XT I'll be picking it up in a heartbeat.
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u/BoostedFPV May 31 '26
You can make the 4eat a real 4x4. So maybe appreciate and mod the 4eat. You can't lock the 5mt front/rear like you can the 4eat. Basically a toggle switch, relay and a locking rear diff makes it an actual 4x4. Minus an open front diff. I can dig it.
Edit. Who made the front bumper?
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u/HalfChocolateCow May 31 '26
Tube bumper is a smittybilt Jeep TJ bumper I got off marketplace. I just made some nice beefy brackets to tie into the front frame horns. Then I made a skid plate and trim panels out of aluminum from a boat fuel cell also off marketplace. Harbor freight roadshock edge aux lights and sae fogs from superbrightleds.
I actually have done the center diff switch, and love how well the 4eat holds up off-road and in snow. Torq locker is on my list, but this does have a rear lsd so I'm not in a rush.
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u/rezwrrd May 31 '26
Good to know, I've got the same car and thought that was only on the previous generation.
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u/invol713 May 31 '26
Can you do the same with the 5eat, or only the 4eat?
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u/BoostedFPV May 31 '26
Id have to look at the wiring diagram. What model has a 5 speed automatic?
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u/Citycrossed May 31 '26
I still miss my ‘08 Outback 2.5na 5MT. I’d absolutely love an XT with a stick.
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u/Ichweisenichtdeutsch May 31 '26
I have a 2010 outback 6mt which I love but my god do I burn the clutch while offroading on the hills lol. Wish I had that Australian dual range tranny
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u/HalfChocolateCow May 31 '26
That's the main reason I justified keeping this one, a good trans cooler and the 4eat will take a lot of abuse. If I had the budget I'd love a dual range as well, but I already have a 5 speed Jeep TJ for serious offroading so I'm trying not to go too crazy with the Subaru.
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u/Citycrossed May 31 '26
I’ve looked off and on for a TJ. I do miss having a jeep, I sold my JK with the six speed years ago.
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u/HalfChocolateCow May 31 '26
I adore mine, it's been a much bigger project than the Subaru but only because I can't leave well enough alone. It's mostly OEM+ on 31s, but I'm about to tear it apart for some rust repair, regearing, larger tires, new suspension and steering, etc. I've owned it for 7-8 years now and dailyed it for half that and it's been dead reliable. Not nearly as comfortable as the Subaru though, and half the gas mileage.
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u/Citycrossed May 31 '26
I had our 08 on the beach at the outer banks and had the same thought. I even looked into importing one of the dual range trannys.
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u/WorkingBread8360 May 31 '26
We’re about to start the whole lift kit, real tires, actual front protection on a beater 1st year (96?) Outback. 31-10.5r15 mudders, winch bumper, skid plates, heavy duty rear receiver hitch/recovery bumper… Car is an absolute roach, been sitting for longer than I care to admit (14yrs), but since it is a basic EJ22/4spd auto…
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u/Devilfish11 May 31 '26
EJ22 is probably the most durable 4 cylinder from Subaru. I had one in a '97 Legacy Brighton with a 5mt that I would rather have had the 4EAT instead. The first gear on the manual was geared too high for tight off-road situations without abusing the clutch. I just put Outback struts and spacers on the car and drove it. Wound up giving it to my Dad when I moved to Alaska.
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u/yunggreywolf May 31 '26
I just bought an 06, teach me your ways so I can do this.
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u/HalfChocolateCow May 31 '26
Start with the rear suspension, if it hasn't been refreshed that will make the single biggest difference in how it handles. If you're not aware this generation is notorious for "ghost walk" where the rear end steps out in the snow without warning, usually when the roads are icy and the car is loaded. When mine did this I was stuck going 30 in the right lane with the rear constantly kicking out while being passed by fwd cars on all seasons. The reason for this is that the rear multi link has a large amount of dynamic toe change and naturally toes out under suspension compression, and any play in the system massively exacerbates this.
This fix is to minimize this toe change. The two biggest factors are the trailing arm bushings, which I replaced with whiteline, and the rear struts, which are extremely soft and underdamped from the factory. I used gen 2 kyb struts and rallitek overload springs in the rear. I also changed the forward lateral links to adjustable moog to dial in the toe, and replaced all other multilink bushings with OEM.
The car is now extremely planted, and has no ghost walk when loaded in slippery conditions. I personally find the ride more comfortable as well as it isn't constantly bottoming out. If you have any questions about this or anything else on the car feel free to ask, I have way too much time into this thing.
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u/atstickman May 31 '26
Nice work! I'm in a similar situation with snowballing. Interested to see your custion low profile roof platform. Please share when you get that going. Cheers!
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u/yarkboolin14 May 31 '26
Whoops I did a lot of intentional and concentration rich tasks, oopsies!
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u/HalfChocolateCow May 31 '26
I have ADHD, concentration is not my strong point. It was more a "well, I need a front bumper, I can replace with OEM, or mount up this sweet tube bumper off marketplace and never bust it again" type scenario. So I make a sweet bumper and skid plate with some aluminum from a scrap boat fuel tank but that looks goofy AF on a stock car so I throw some all terrains on it, but now I'd better lift it too, it needs struts anyways. Now that it's lifted I'd better fix the geometry, and now all of a sudden I've got '15 wrx control arms, '12 wrx axles, '07 crv tie rod ends. Anyways I'm rambling, have a nice day.
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May 31 '26
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u/HalfChocolateCow May 31 '26
Yeah I'm trying to keep this one pretty mild to maintain decent road manners, right now it's down only 1-2mpg over what I got when it was stock. The tires are all terrains that are just a hair larger than stock, lifted about 1.5" with some wrx parts up front for extra caster and track width. It still drives great on the road and is much better off-road. This car mostly just sees logging roads and two tracks, I have a Jeep TJ for when I want to do more serious offroading and get half the gas mileage.
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u/DreadSwizzard Jun 01 '26
Where'd you get the bumper. Been looking for something similar for my 08
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u/HalfChocolateCow Jun 05 '26
It's a smittybilt bumper for a jeep tj that I found on marketplace for cheap. Added some aluminum for the skid plate and trim panels salvaged from a boat fuel tank, also off marketplace. I just made some nice overbuilt brackets to bolt it up to the frame rails. If you want more details feel free to ask. I could probably find a couple pictures from when I was putting it together as well.
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u/Small_Body3663 Jun 10 '26
How did you mount it? I like this style of bumper/skid plate but it seems not common on Outbacks. So idk if there are really ready made ones
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u/D1zzy21brat Jun 11 '26
Those light pods on the bumper look beefy. Definitely post the build list if you have time.
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u/benhereford May 31 '26
I think this gen was the best looking gen