2001 Subaru Forester modifications for camping

[offroad]

Transmission cooler is an interesting idea for the Subaru. Look at alternative mounting locations as you will not want to put underneath. You may want to consider rockslides on the rocker panels. Or some equivalent. Mess up the rocker panels and your body integrity is permanently compromised.

 

[subielivin]

Could you post pictures of the reflectix inside? I'm curious as to how you attached it to your windows...and I'm guessing it's removable so did you use Velcro?

 

[Requ21]

Could you post pictures of the reflectix inside? I'm curious as to how you attached it to your windows...and I'm guessing it's removable so did you use Velcro?

The door windows is actually cut to sit between the window, and the weatherstripping.

We just opened the door, laid the reflectix against the window, traced, and then cut about 1/4 inch smaller so it would be held in place by the weather stripping. Works like a charm.. for the back windows I will be gluing small suction cups to the corners of the reflectix.

I'll take more pictures when I'm able to work on it some more.

 

[Belinda2]

I used the small suction cups for years with a car and found it not to be 100% effective with heat, condensation, etc.. I finally gave up on it. I had a 60/40 fold down seat in a Camry, and so slept IN the trunk. I had a 4 sided large, plain, brown, box in the back seat ( no sides on the bottom or towards the trunk). The box wedged against the folded down seat. I could fully stretch out. The "six sided" box opened at the top, so I had some ventilation and light. If you were standing outside the car looking in, the box looked 6 sided from all angles. It is important to get the box high so the heat in the box with rise to the top. A box like this would be: Styrofoam cups that are delivered in the giant size to the "quick Mart" type store, or Toilet paper that holds 24 or 36 rolls.

 

[Requ21]

Congrats! Shes really starting to come together. I'm pretty interested in your sway bar disconnects. Where are you planning on taking that beast, the Rubicon trail? Or just want some more articulation to get through some rough stuff? Post some pics of them when you can. I can't wait to see what else you do to it.

Hey RollinWOT, finally took pictures of the disconnects. They aren't the best pictures, but You should give you a basic idea.



That is the pin attached.



Swaybar disconnected.



Once disconnected, I just zip tie it up, so that it doesn't hit anything.


Requ21

 

[RollinWOT]

Thanks for the update! I couldn't really visualize it, but that really clears things up. Looks simple and easy! Do you just zip tie to the subframe holes up high?

 

[Requ21]

Thanks for the update! I couldn't really visualize it, but that really clears things up. Looks simple and easy! Do you just zip tie to the subframe holes up high?

Yes, I actually just zip tie one side, seems to work well, I pulled fairly hard on it, and had my brother rock the car, it isn't going to make any contact being tied up there.

 

[RollinWOT]

Good, I just hope that the zip tie won't break. If it were me, I'd use a length of heavy gauge bailing wire-something stronger than a plastic zip tie, but still easy to bend. But hey, necessity is the mother of invention, and I'm glad to see that it works for you. Really ingenious stuff. I'm curious to see more pics of how it does off road. How's the rest of the car coming along btw?

 

[Requ21]

Good, I just hope that the zip tie won't break. If it were me, I'd use a length of heavy gauge bailing wire-something stronger than a plastic zip tie, but still easy to bend. But hey, necessity is the mother of invention, and I'm glad to see that it works for you. Really ingenious stuff. I'm curious to see more pics of how it does off road. How's the rest of the car coming along btw?

Yeah I agree, the zip tie is a temporary fix.

I didn't get to work on it today, due to not being able to see 5 feet through the rain.

 

[highdesertranger]

what people usually do is to fab another bracket on the high side and reinstall your same pin there. never have to worry about it. highdesertranger

 

[Requ21]

Well well well.. Made a small amount of progress today, but since I'm leaving Sunday for the maiden voyage, I better stay right after it!!

First thing I did was finish cutting the reflectix for the rear quarter windows, and back glass.  I had mentioned using suction cups to hold the rear pieces in place.. However, after consideration, I ended up using (4) 1"x1" pieces of [off brand] velcro, 1 in each corner.





Then I turned my attention to getting stuff planned out (and cleaned out) in the inside/sleeping area!

During the cleaning phase, I found this secret compartment! I haven't decided what I will store there... but I have decided that from the factory, it stores the little rear cargo cover thing that they sometimes come with.






This is just a mock up, the tub is actually full of my stepmom's Christmas decorations, but it is the same size I plan to use.. You can see the void space in front of the tub, which is where the cooler will sit!




Here it is with the sleeping back rolled out, basically how it will look when it goes into "tent mode" (side note, I have been refering to it as my "Car-V")



Lastly, which I haven't mentioned anywhere in this thread for the simple fact that I didn't think about it until I was mocking everything up today.

As I mentioned, the Reflectix in the door windows is sitting between the windows and the weatherstripping... It can only be [properly] installed from inside. So, once it's in, it is in.. So, during my preperation I realized I really needed a way to open the rear hatch from inside the car... Enter my less than stellar fabrication skills. Think "Function over form" as you view these.





At this point I started focusing on getting it done, and not on taking pictures of the progress (I was running out of daylight)... SO, the finished product, sort of an eye-sore, but it works, and now I can open the hatch from inside the car!



I didn't realize until just now how terrible of a picture this is... in any event, it is what I have!

Gear/stuff I still need (I'll probably buy tomorrow, aka, Payday).... Sleeping pad, my own storage tote, cooler, camp stove with fuel, a couple of flashlights.





Thanks everyone for all the advice, and encoragement!

Requ21

 

[subielivin]

How big of a cooler are you thinking? I was going to get one around 26" and put it behind the driver seat. Also if I you slide the passenger seat all the way forward, there's room for a decent sized storage bin, if you stacked something on top of the said bin and made it level with the back seat, you could potentially add ~14" to your sleep space. You would have to remove the headrest of course and ditch that idea

 

[Requ21]

How big of a cooler are you thinking? I was going to get one around 26" and put it behind the driver seat. Also if I you slide the passenger seat all the way forward, there's room for a decent sized storage bin, if you stacked something on top of the said bin and made it level with the back seat, you could potentially add ~14" to your sleep space. You would have to remove the headrest of course and ditch that idea

I'm not sure on the cooler just yet, but will update you tomorrow, hopefully.

I was looking at options with the passenger seat, however I decided that leaving the seat how it is, and putting my pillow over the hump would be more comfortable than trying to build up around it.... it's like subaru didn't plan on people living in the Forester when they designed those seats lol.

I've begun thinking through the process of a more extensive conversion, for if I decide to stick with the Forester long term... in my head it becomes a very interesting looking vehicle..

I was going to remove the passenger seat for storage like you had mentioned before, but for this first trip will be leaving it in for my brother to ride in, he will be tent camping, and will find a walk-in spot near a large clearing we located on a Forest Road that I will be parking at. One car just makes more sense economically, plus his car isn't really "dirt road friendly".



Follow up camp stove question, because as I said, I've never used one... I'm thinking (for now) picking up a single burner butane unit, just until I'm sure I'm sticking to the life style... the one I'm looking at takes the aerosol looking cans, does anyone know how much cook time to expect from one of those cans?

Thanks, Requ21

 

[WriterMs]

I might have missed it amid all the mechanical stuff.... did you mention what you are taking as far as a luggable loo or porta-potty? Suanne (in her Prius) and other car campers have used less-than-5-gallon buckets.

 

[Requ21]

It wasn't discussed, either a bucket with seat (plus a lot of plastic bags) or doing the old school dig a hole at least 6-8 inches deep.

When I either replace, or rebuild for actual living, the bathroom situation will be addressed more properly.

 

[RollinWOT]

Looking great so far Requ! I love how clean the installation of the relfectivix on the windows looks. In my camping toilet, I use a 5-gal bucket, plastic bags and a pool noodle notched to fit around the mouth of the bucket. Then, when you're done, everything packs neatly back into the 5-gal bucket with the lid on. The "6-8" deep hole" option you're looking at is called a "cat-hole," btw. I would love to see you stick with the subie for long term. My reasons behind this are, 1-no payments, 2-vehicle familiarity, 3-you've already put money into it as far as mods go. Cheers!

 

[Requ21]

Looking great so far Requ! I love how clean the installation of the relfectivix on the windows looks. In my camping toilet, I use a 5-gal bucket, plastic bags and a pool noodle notched to fit around the mouth of the bucket. Then, when you're done, everything packs neatly back into the 5-gal bucket with the lid on. The "6-8" deep hole" option you're looking at is called a "cat-hole," btw. I would love to see you stick with the subie for long term. My reasons behind this are, 1-no payments, 2-vehicle familiarity, 3-you've already put money into it as far as mods go. Cheers!

I've been considering a bucket set up, with some kitty litter in the bottom. A pool noodle seat is pretty brilliant! The cat hole is a fine technique, but the squatting gets uncomfortable after a while lol.

 

[WriterMs]

Not to mention that you may find yourself in some places where there is no privacy for digging a cathole!

This link goes to Suanne's great blog about living out of a Prius. Note her pics of how she stays clean and also positions her "short bucket" for when an emergency strikes and she is not near an alternative:

http://suanneonline.blogspot.com/p/bathing-brushing.html

 

[Requ21]

Not to mention that you may find yourself in some places where there is no privacy for digging a cathole!

This link goes to Suanne's great blog about living out of a Prius. Note her pics of how she stays clean and also positions her "short bucket" for when an emergency strikes and she is not near an alternative:

http://suanneonline.blogspot.com/p/bathing-brushing.html

That's a good point!

I'm going to check out her blog from the beginning when I have time!

 

[Requ21]

Let the record show, that the maiden voyage in the Subaru was a bust... triple digit temperatures, plus a lot of rain made for a fairly unenjoyable attempt at camping... the Subaru is in bad need of a roof vent fan, it is very poorly insulated, as I suspected.

Things I learned on this very short journey, because I feel learning is more important than success in some situations.

For me personally, the Forester will not be large enough for long term dwelling, without physically removing the rear seats, and building a subfloor to level it out, and removing the passenger front seat to allow more floor space. At 6ft tall, the back of a forester does not seem to offer a comfortable sleeping position when half of the car is being used for storage.

The technique I used on the Reflectix covers for the doors, gives 100% light blockage, but does not allow me to Crack the windows for air flow... major bummer, I managed to sleep for about an hour and a half total, between waking up in pools of sweat.

I bought a large Styrofoam cooler which kept everything nice and cold (albeit for the short time we were there) however... it squeaks something awful going down the road.

The combination of 2 nights in a row of less than 2 hours sleep, less than ideal hydration levels, and lower than normal caloric intake (due to it being so hot I physically couldn't eat) makes for a less than perfect physical and mental wellbeing on the 3 hour drive home.. however, 2 hours in the AC, 40oz of water, and 4 packs of cheese crackers later, I did recover well.

Bug spray made with Deet seems to block sweat, making you miserably hot when it is 103 degrees. Although it does keep the bugs away.

All of this new information is going on my perverbial drawing board for the construction of my ideal vehicle.


Nature-1. Requ-0