[SBAddictions]

Hey there everyone! Been lurking for a while and figured this would be a great way for me to get more active with the community. (Thank you Shmee for the inspiration!)

I bought a used 2012 Subaru Forester 2.5x Premium a few month back with around 75k if i remember right (it has been a while) from the dealership i used to work at. It isn’t a turbo spooling fun toy but with me being of the younger demographic(higher insurance) and just wanting something roomy and that i can explore in, this was perfect.

From my understanding, the only things that have been done to this by the previous owner were:
-cheesy aftermarket walmart stereo face
-HID low beams
- and some other previous lighting in the front of the vehicle. The wires are still there but i have yet to figure out what they are.

I am still learning how to use these forums but i will do my best from here on out to take photos and update this feed with my modifications. I already have done a handful of things like lighting, modifying roofrack, custom bumper stuff, tinting taillights etc. my whole purpose for this is to help other SH owners get inspired and to give information that I myself and others have spent hours looking for lol. So far i have done a lot of experimental stuff to it to see what exactly i am looking for. I hope you all enjoy or learn something!

 

[SBAddictions]

One of the first things i did was buy weathertech floormats for the front and rear seats. I recieved them 1 day before i went exploring in mud with MTNROO Nebraska and HOLY CRAP did i make a good purchase. These things hold everything! Withing 24 hours of use they went from black to brown from mud and dirt. They clean pretty easily, are rigged and durable, and just all around apealing! I still have them and they are still perfectly fine and saving my interior! (Strongly recommend)

Next, i purchased RallyArmor SH specific mudflaps and loved them. Key word loved, these thing look great and hold up/clean up well but unless you are buying them for a show car i wouldn’t recommend. I have had 2 rip off of my car now. Once with a light amount of mud. I put it into reverse and it spit it out the side. I reattached it but now a seperate one ripped off in decently deep mud a few weeks back. I never put it in reverse so that means this thing flung around my wheel well and got buried into the mud instantly. (Photo attatched shows what it looks like after the second time.) i have now bought RokBlokz so I’ll inform my opinion on those later on when i install them.

 

[SBAddictions]

One of the next “big mods” i did was plastidip my grille and bumper. I have never liked the factory grille on these things and the bumper i wanted to experiment with looks. (Hits the plastidip. None of this was ment to be permanent, just temporary ideas until i decide to solve the problem.) so i bought all the materials: 3 cans of plastidip, a tack cloth, wax and grease remover, and a can of the UV protective plastidip. I started by making sure my car was fairly clean. ( this was done over the winter at work so my car was filthy.) after cleaning it up i ripped off my bumper which is incrediblly easier than the audis and lexus’ i work on all day😅. I then stripped the bumper of the fog lamps and completely sperated the grille into all of the pieces: emblem which i cleaned and retaped, backing plate, front chrome, and upper chrome bar. Thoroughly cleaned all of these with wax and grease remover and set them up into my spray booth. It took a few hours to do all of this because i was also trying a peelable tint onto my taillamps and spraying flexseal on my roof rack to help weatherize it and give it more appeal with the texture. They all turned out great and i used every drop of flexseal (2cans) and all of the plastidip. The tint i only managed to use half of the can which i was thoroughly surprised with. The roof rack came out as expected and the grille/bumper exceeded my expectations. As for the taillamps, with it being peelable i wasn’t expecting much but the definitely gave me a good idea of how dark i would like to tint my taillamps later on. As of now (about 2 months after the fact) the plastidip is peeling really bad which was to be expected. As for the taillamps and roofrack they are holding up. I can see some wear on the tint but the rack is looking great still! Attatched are some photos to show the aftermath of all the mods the next daywhen i went adventuring with MTNROO Nebraska!

 

[SBAddictions]

Hey everyone! It has been a while! I have been super busy but still got some more done to the ride. I recently installed the Sports grille to replace the stock “dentist” grille. They are discontinued but they do come paint to match and since i work at a subaru dealership i managed to get my hands on a brand new OEM one in my color!

Shortly after i got some 3/4” d-ring shackles, daystar spacers, and d-ring bump stops. I mounted these to the supplied OEM tow hooks that come with the vehicle and keep them mounted on the car for looks and for a quick setup when recovering other adventurers. I specifically wanted blue shackles so it took longer to find a decent set for a good price but any 3/4” d-ring shackle would work. The spacers are used to help hold the shackle into the tow hook without it bouncing around, while the bump stop prevent the d-ring from tapping and rubbing against your bumpers.

The last major thing i did was getting wheels and tires!!! After hours of research, questions, and scouring this forum for information (thank you all) i finally pulled the trigger on 15x7 method MR502 VT-specs wrapped in 215/75/15 firestone destination ATs. These things are BEAUTIFUL together and i have yet to be stopped! I dont rub except for the small entruding piece of fender liner towards the cab. It isnt bad at all because it is only on the lower spot of the liner and after about 2-5 turns of it rubbing, it wesrs the liner down enough to not happen anymore.