(Part 3) Top products from r/battlewagon

First off as a reminder for everybody: if you guys could make suggestion posts self-posts, that would be great! I'll leave this here since you've already got some comments already and are off road in the picture. :)

Now...

Here is my wagon currently.

There's a pretty good amount of stuff you can do for your wagon. :)

Starting with protection, Primitive makes excellent quality plates that will keep your car safe from rocks and branches from stabbing into your under-body driving or if you bottom out. I highly recommend Primitive. They're excellent to work with.

Let's talk about lifts, now! :) There's multiple ways to lift an Outback. Subtle Solutions and Gorilla Off-Road Company both make 1" Spacers that allow you to lift without much (if any) correction to the suspension.

After lifting, getting an alignment is definitely recommended. Also note that 2" is pretty much the max for lifting our cars unless you're wanting to getting into dropping the subframe. SJR makes a lift that goes 4" and 6", but they increase in price significantly from the 2" model.

If you're looking for a lift that has some more on the road benefits, King Springs are another viable option as they have ~20% stiffer progressive spring rate that keeps the car stiffer on corners and keeps you from bouncing around off-road. They're usually put on new shocks and the most commonly used ones are KYB GR2s. There's a little discrepancy on how much they lift, but it's usually 1"-1.5". The King Spring + KYB GR2 combo will run you ~$900, which is a little pricey, but worth it if you're looking for an improved ride.

One last route to go (which I think I'm going to do these and regular height King Springs) is an SJR lift which uses metal lifting blocks found here. They provide a 2" lift and are angled to keep stock strut geometry which is definitely nice.

Lights are a place you can mix it up a bit. Hella 500s are tried and true and have a more "rally" look to them, but I recently bought this front LED light bar and absolutely love it. It's light output is ridiculous and it's great for the price. So far, no complaints. Just remember for bulb lights, circle lights generally put out more. :) Her's my top LED light bar as well if you're interested.

I got this roof rack and am very happy with it. It's solid and great for the money. They make an extension piece as well and a cargo net

Rally Armor Mud Flaps are useful for keeping the mud on your car down and also defecting rocks from your paint. :)

And last but not least, tires! I highly recommend General Grabber AT2s. You can go about one more tire size bigger than stock and still not rub. :) Tires are one of the best upgrades you can get for going off-road. :)

I hope this helps! :)

So the hitch that I found sits comfortably behind the number and actually affects the exit angle very little if at all. I'll also be getting a 1 1/4 to 2 inch adapter that is technically only meant for class II hitches, but for only holding a spare tire, it will be fine. It's also fine for holding a bike rack or something. I'll edit this comment when I'm at my computer and show you what I'm getting

EDIT:

1. This is the hitch that I will be using. If you look at the pictures, it seems very discrete without much taken away from exit angle.
   
   
2. This is the best one that I can find for your car. There aren't any pictures form reviews, but it sounds like in the comments that it is also discrete, although there's no guarantee. If that one doesn't work, something custom is probably your only option.
   
   
3. This is the adapter that you can use. Just remember that as a general rule of thumb, your towing capacity is cut in half if you use one of these, just as a safety precaution. Towing with an adapter also depends on how strong the pin is that you're using to hold it into the base hitch.
   
   
4. This is the tire holder that I am probably going to get. It seems a little short, but I measured on my car and it should be alright. If it is way too short, you can get a hitch riser like this
   
   
5. THIS is the tire carrier that I want, because it is very very strong and the cheaper one folds to the side, which is really nice. I don't know if I'll be able to afford it, though, so I'll see
   If all this metal that's bolted to your car is rattling around way too much because of the couple millimeters of play in the hitches, pick yourself up a couple of these and it's problem solved.
   
   Hope this helps! If you want to know anything else, let me know
   
   
   Edit 2: formatting

So this weekend was Week 6 of Adventure Tour. I've skipped a week of submitting because I did not take pictures the last couple times I was out.


This weekend was amazing. Drove roughly 70-80miles of gravel roads this weekend. As the title of this post states there is now a rule that my buddy and I have adopted for our outings and that is: "If the road splits we must take the one that appears to ascend". It's lead to some absolutely great places! Best rule! My paint took an absolute beating this trip and yet, apart from the dirty scratches, appears to have held strong and I should be able to buff it all out. There were a number of spots where tree branches spanned across and touched eachother from both sides of the road and I plowed through. (I figure if it gets too bad I still have 2/3 of a gallon of paint left over for a respray). If you are thinking about a new, white paint job for your car I HIGHLY recommend using Ford's Oxford White, single stage. This stuff is tuff! Next time I'll get pictures of this, it was honestly insane, ha.


Anyway, hope the pictures are fun to look at! Enjoy the Pacific Northwest scenery!


-Kershaw Hatchet (http://amzn.com/B000EYHF9G)

-Woody's 20" LED bar (Bought at Napa, looks like a rebrand of another companies LED bar. Decent quality, 54 Watt, 18 LED, 4050 Lumen)

-Cheap Para-cord from local sporting goods store. 100ft of 50lb is what I keep handy.

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PS- It seems every time I take this car out it amazes me that, for a barely modified car, it can handle some of the places I have taken it. This isn't 'actual offroad' to me, but it's offroad exploration and taking my car where few cars have ever gone. I don't expect it to crawl over large rocks and through deep mud, but when I get to a steep grade of loose, softball sized rocks and the car climbs for 100 plus feet without even flinching or pushes through trees and thick brush it puts a damn big smile on my face. That's what this battle wagon is to me. Fun!


It leaves home cleaned up and proper and comes back scratched, dented, antennas twisted, bumpers slightly loose, branches hanging on to the undercarriage, and tires spitting bits of gravel in protest of being back on solid pavement once again.. but it handled it.. It's small battle against the misconception that these are nothing more than commuter cars as it returns home with mud caked fender wells, nature scraps, and new scars. Trophies from a hard day's driving.

end story/rant

TLDR: I like my car for what it is and it's fun to shatter molds.

Both camber bolts and slotted holes have a risk of slippage. It's definitely important to tighten them down well. When tight they shouldn't slip, though it is always a risk. It isn't excessively risky though. I actually put a WRX through some serious paces with wobbly bolts in the lower front holes. You could feel when they should shift camber and the front end washed out, but that is pretty controllable.

I would recommend a carbide bit if you can. It will be more precise and easier than a drill bit. Something like This, though you should be able to find it cheaper.

Primitive spacers are actually made out of hdpe too. I forgot to take pictures but it was super easy and they look great. I bought a 2 foot sheet here (they have different sizes and thicknesses as well) and just drew on the template, cut the outside with a jigsaw, drilled the stud holes out, and then started the middle hole with a big drill bit and finished with the jigsaw again.

Radio Coaxial Mount Antenna Spring
The mounting location is actually really nice, and it was very easy to set up. If you want a more detailed explanation, I'd be happy to give one.

A tow hook... like a shackle? The closest you can get to what you are looking for (as far as I know) are these receiver mounted setups. You could then have a metal shop fab up a mounting plate of some sort. Kind of hard to know exactly what you are talking about with no pictures to reference.

https://www.amazon.com/Removable-Hitch-Receiver-Portable-SHIPPING/dp/B000RGW6FE

I've seen this, but it's not that powerful. https://www.amazon.com/910500-Drill-Winch-500lb-capacity/dp/B00SF70SN4

Then there's this attachment to mount medium hitches to hitch ball. https://www.amazon.com/Superwinch-2060-Portable-pattern-capacity/dp/B001Q3E5W4

You could also look at mounting a hook into a hitch mount (http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/winches/hitch-receiver-mount-for-winches-69106.html) for the winch. I've found that the front hook off of a TJ Wrangler will fit inside the hitch mount. I have no idea what it's rated for, but my limited uses on trailers seems to be fine.

Also, don't use jumper cables... They make quick disconnects for the wiring that would be much safer.

Yep, this is it: Amazon

ViAir compressor (can pop a tire back on the bead)

Come along

Tow Strap + limb saver

ratchet straps

ducttape

painters tape

paper towels, shop towels, toilet paper, wet wipes

breaker bar + torque wrench + 17, 19, 21mm deep sockets

2 gallons of water

tire plug kit

valve stem covers

Oil, coolant, PS fluid, brake fluid

work gloves and nitrile gloves,

spare fuses

tool bag

toiletries

protein bars

warm clothes + disposable poncho

trash bags

ziploc bags

mud/rain boots

blanket

ham radio stuff

jump pack (the little power bank one)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCJTJPW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here you go: KYB 341276 Excel-G Gas Strut https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EQ8GRE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_kVXUc2DPkw3bN

Smittybilt 13047 3/4" Stainless Steel D-Ring https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CF3IRY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dwbjybBFAKYGK

These guys would probably do the trick