yeah CA is getting an unusual amount of rain lately. The last big rain we had, water was right at the back door leading to the house. Patio gets really flooded, only had water actually come into the house once though.
Hey! That's a Subaru, not a Yota! That trail looks really similar to one I've run numerous times down in Tillamook State Forest, OR (Archer's Firebreak - V Notch). Old pic:
Yeah well there's always that one guy in the group. I just wish I had a winch system on her. We're usually alone out there and far from help. That stops me often from going further.
That'd be awesome to stick a hidden winch behind the bumper! Subarus are very capable vehicles - with a winch it'd be almost unstoppable. Maybe add a small lift for addtl. clearance and some aggressive tires. I've seen some rowdy lifted Subees around here. I had an aluminum hidden winch on the Tacoma before I got the ARB bumper. My Uncle (in-law) and I designed it, and he welded it together. It worked great for years - and I gave it to my dad for his taco. Maybe you (or someone else) could design something similiar?
That's a nice winch system y'all made. I like how clean looking it is. I don't plan on doing much of that because my subee is only a 4cyl. Plenty for the light vehicle it is especially with a good driver behind it. But I just don't want to dump all that $$$ into a vehicle that I don't know how long it will be around. I want a new subee. But as for mine one thing a lot of people don't know is that the car isn't built to original spec. Since Subaru felt that most people would be highway driving they lowered the rear end one inch. Thats why if one wants to upgrade to the aftermarket KYB struts (most popular) the package will automatically raise the rear one inch but not the front thus bringing it to what the original plan was for this AWD vehicle. My plan is to go with the KYB upgrade and switch to a bigger and more aggressive tire which will give me more ground clearance without having start swapping out and upgrading other parts of the suspension and drive lines. Maybe a tire that is 1-2 inches bigger but only aggressive to a point since highway miles will greatly surpass off road miles. I really like your winch system. Definitely keeping that one in the noggin. Thanks for the info.
Did some more mods to my ARB bumper: Added a beefy "stone guard", which is basically a skid plate to protect the radiator and aux. oil/trans. cooler. ARB wanted $80 + Shipping for one of theirs in 18ga. stamp steel, but I fab'd one up for about $20 using some 3/16" A36. Then I welded some burly 1" recovery points to the bumper. For some reason, ARB did not add any shackle mounts on their Tacoma bumpers and I only had the stock tow hooks up front. I wanted something that would be more in-line with the frame, and also handle the weird angles/weight that goes along with winching. The (2) recovery hooks have been sufficient up until now, but I also reinforced them while I had everything off. I notched and cut the bumper, and slid the 1" recovery mounts in, welded the face (front and back) and also ran a fat bead along each side, top and bottom. The location I chose allows them to be semi-recessed and not stick out too far, but it also allowed me to get maximum contact and footprint to weld on, so these mounts are welded in-line with the frame for maximum shear/torsional strength and will provide a much better pull angle in relation to the winch line.
Semo, we look for raw obsidian. This area of the Gila has some very large quarryies that were used by the Mimbres and Warm Spring Apache tribes. Lots of obsidian and flint, do you need some?.
@DiscoveryLover that is one slick looking Tundra. You can tell he’s thinking about how awesome it is in the second photo.
