A little river crossing and mudhole and rock crawling

[slcOBGuy]

I was on a sweet forest road in the back woods east of Salt Lake City doing a fall leaves venture and discovered this road and had to take it. Had my girlfriend take the video on my phone and she gets a little excited while I attempt things, but this is the first opportunity we've actually video'd what I've been able to accomplish in my base OB, no mods at all!

Enjoy, would love to hear comments!

2011 Subaru Outback Rock Crawling - YouTube

2011 Subaru Outback Rock Crawling - YouTube

2011 Subaru Outback River Fording - YouTube

2011 Subaru Outback River Fording - YouTube

2011 Subaru Outback Mudhole - YouTube

2011 Subaru Outback Mudhole - YouTube

[imcja]

May want to consider a mod or 2; skid plates. And try not to get a bad case of hydrolock...not sure how sea worthy the 4th Gen OB is...

[CNY_Dave]

Send the vids to subaru to remind them who their core is...


Dave

[slcOBGuy]

imcja, I'm hoping to do the 2 inch lift someday and when my stock Conti's need retirement I'll get something a little more substantial! Can't afford skid plates for a while I think, but that would definitely be on my list of mods...

Yeah, think I will send these to Subaru and remind them that this is why we want something a little off the ground and hardy.

[subiesailor]

Looks like fun. Going slower through the water is a good idea. Also keep in mind that your diffs are not sealed so any water or puddle play over axle height it would be wise to change diff fluid sooner than later to avoid contaminated diff gear oil damaging expensive parts.

Those some what innocent looking puddles in the road can be a bit of an eye opener. Last summer I was headed to a fishing spot in Nor cal in my landcruiser with 34inch tires on it. Crossed a puddle that looked nearly identical to the one in your video mid road - road was in good shape puddle ended up being 2ft deep for about 9ft with a very hard 1 foot or so ledge at the far end. Caught me off guard and I was lucky to be in the old Land Crusher and not in the subaru it could have been a bad deal for the new Outback.

[Scooby]

The first vid is just flat out dangerous to your car...!

I always get out chk for submerged logs, stumps, rocks...etc..
Find a good long stick and probe the depths for deeper sections....especially drop offs and mud hole tracks....

Going slow is the only way to go...keep the bow wave in front of you..

You risked alot going in at that speed with no skid plate and snorkle..
The intake is right behind the grille..I saw alot of water going over it.

If you do suck water in the intake shut engine off...pull plugs and crank till the water is out..reinstall plugs and hope ya didn't damage anything..

[subiesailor]

LOL - old HS stupid car stunts. Buddy thought his 4runner was unstoppable very common looking puddle in the middle of a dirt road turned out to be 4ft deep with rocky edges. Needless to say he rode home in someone elses car that day. The tow truck fee was very expensive! LOL

The rest of us were laughing so hard we were all sore the next day. Always check puddles and streams if your not familiar with the area. Especially if your solo and have nothing but your tennis shoes to walk out on.

[reddoak]

I think anyone who has been off roading a few times has a puddle story...

I was in a Toyota Tacoma 4x4, stock. Drove into a "puddle" that looked 6 inches deep, within 5 feet, the hood was under water. I didn't suck water into the intake, but wasn't going in any further... and couldn't back out. No traction in the FL mud. Fortunately, there was guy in a bigger pickup who came by and saw we were stuck, and had a tow rope to pull us out.

As far as you vids go, looks neat! Wish I had more areas like that around here. Mostly, it's just swampy terrain. With rocks like that... yeah, skidplate. They aren't that expensive, but towing a car out of where you were after losing the oil because of a punctured oilpan might be!