LIFT KIT and SUSPENSION ... The OVERLAND SUBARU FORESTER PERFECT SETUP !

Hi guys and welcome back to my channel. I was just looking at my suspension and lift setup and I actually had a lot of questions about it so you know what let's make a video about it. So when I first installed my lift and my new suspension setup a few years ago I went for a 2-inch lift kit from Andersson Design and Fabrication aka ADF and a full set of Pedders Easy-Fit SG struts and springs but with heavy-duty springs on the back. But I quickly found out it wasn't the best choice and here is why. Okay let's check the front of the car first. So first of all the SG springs on the front are stiffer than the SF springs so that results on a higher lift and you're gonna say hey Jordan an higher lift that's awesome this is what we want. We want the Forester all up above the ground and that's great news. Yeah sure but with the 2-inch lift block on top of the struts we end up with the maximum angle the CV can take and that means more CV boots wear and when you lift the front wheel while off-roading it will even damage your CV cups just like you can see on these pictures and that's not ideal. Secondly the springs are just too stiff and you can really feel it on the steering wheel during rocky sections on a trail and that's not very comfortable. Okay and now I'm still talking about the front suspension of the Forester but not springs anymore but struts. And the problem is SG struts spring perch are actually lower than SF ones. And with stock wheels that's going to be a very very tight fit with bigger tires as you can see here with my 215 75 15 inches BF Goodrich KO2s and they are far from being brand new. It's a very tight fit and you can actually see some scratches on the spring perch here and to fix that you will have to run spacers or low offset wheels. And now the rear suspension and as you can see no actually you can't see anything let's go to the other side. So as I said on the back of the Forester I first installed SG struts with heavy duty SG springs and a 2-inch lift kit on top of the struts and also the trailing arm spacers to keep the wheel centered in the wheel arches. So SG struts are definitely the way to go on the back of the Forester because the spring perch is way higher than the SF ones so you can fit bigger tires without any trouble. But don't go with SG springs on the back even the heavy duty ones because they are actually less stiff. I don't know the antonym of stiff so they're less stiff. So that's why even with my 2-inch lift on the back and the heavy duty springs I end up with a saggy butt with the back end of the car lower than the front end. I was really disappointed because it just looked terrible. So to take care of this saggy butt I installed this time SF heavy duty springs on my SG struts and they are stiffer because the spring is actually thicker as you can see here. And the second thing I've done to fix this saggy butt is to add an extra 8 millimeter which is 0.3 inches spacer on top of my ADF lift block and that's already better. So that being said what do I recommend for your overland Forester build? So after being through all of these troubles because of my poor choices I'm gonna tell you what I recommend for an overland build. And be careful here I said overland build and not off-road build because they're a slight difference. On your overland build you want some more ground clearance, some more capabilities, that's for sure. But what you also want is reliability. You also want reliability because when you're gonna be in the middle of nowhere you want something simple and easily fixable and that's why I'm gonna talk to you about monster lift kits like four six inches with subframe drop spacers, extended brake lines, hoses and stuff like this. No no no this is not what you need and this is not what you want for an overland build. So this is why I recommend for your overland Forester. On the front keep it simple with a good quality SF suspension assembly and on the top of it you just add a two inch lift block. That's it no more. On the rear SG struts with SF heavy duty springs and a 2.5 inches lift block. Don't forget the SF top hats for your SF springs and also the trailing arm spacers to keep your wheel centered. And don't go with raised springs they are just not good. So with this setup you're gonna have a nice ground clearance, you're gonna be able to fit bigger tires without troubles and you can load your Forester with all of your overland gear without getting a saggy bat. It's also a simple and reliable setup you can install and work on by yourself. It's way too windy so I really hope all of this information are gonna help you build your overland Forester. I already talked about my roof rack setup, my snorkel setup, you can check out those videos on my channel and really soon I'm gonna make a video about my tires and wheel setup so please stay tuned. If you like this video please subscribe to my channel. You can also check my Instagram account, my Facebook page and my merch store. And if you want to support me in another way I also have a Patreon page. And by the way I really wanted to thank all my patrons for making all this possible and also my two most recent patrons. Thank you guys, you are the best. So thank you guys for watching and see you next week!