Amazing. One of the best and most thorough conversions I've ever seen. Everything is thought over carefully, and very well made. Many years ago I bought an UAZ469, and it helped me to make the kids childhood as adventurous and memorable as a kid can dream of. I can say you are on the good track. The trips with this beauty will be remembered forever.
A UAZ would be sooo cool! (I’ve driven one in a video game 😂🤣😅) I grew up on adventures with my parents and am loving passing that experience on to my kids now. ❤️
I really love what you have done with your car without being an expert every change you have done! its like an inspiration, thanks for sharing and for all the time you have used to make all of this!!
Outback Wilderness is probably the most perfectly balance Subaru: space, performance, etc. A lot of cool options for building that thing out. My dad went with an Outback exclusively because it was long enough to comfortably car camp inside of. Crosstrek and Forester aren't as easy for us tall people. 😂
I recently bought my first ever Subaru, it's a 2024 Forester Wilderness in autumn green and I'm slowly setting it up to do some soft over landing. It's also being equipped for my ham radio hobby.
Autumn green is straight up the best paint color for the wilderness models. That's going to be an epic ride to build out. My father in-law, retired navy, is radio genius. He was telling me about some pretty sweet mobile setups people were building out of pelican cases.
Great job!! You cracked me up with some of your comments, but I really appreciate your effort in doing this. We are opposites as I"m a former Jeep owner and off-road enthusiast. I know all the details about winches, tires, etc., but filming, editing, drones...I need to learn all that if I want to start making videos. Great job, keep the vids coming.
That’s what I love about TH-cam. Some of my favorite channels are people with zero camera skills. It’s often inherently interesting to see people share a passion of theirs regardless of what it is recorded on. This goes for many of my favorite camping channels which sometimes have comically bad footage, but somehow the content is still so interesting/engaging to watch.
Great looking rig! Im in the process of building out my Subaru Outback for my family adventures! Best part of your video though us your humor! Keep it up!
@@tobin100 Awesome! There are 4 Outbacks among our immediate family. 2 of them up in Alaska. It’s literally the perfect adventure vehicle. Have fun with your family!
Love my 23 Premium 6MT. First Subaru I had, and before it a 97 Nissan pickup 5MT. So pretty big upgrade. That's a lot of stuff you got going there. It's nice to see some Crosstrek overland builds out there amongst all the Tacomas, 4Runner, Jeeps, Broncos and all other big rigs out there. Love those STi wheels too! Wish I had those added on when I had to have the car ordered. Really enjoyed the beach shots. Nice one!
Very nice video. I just recently installed a locker in my Subaru (I’m more geared for capability versus overlanding but still do some overlanding here and there) and I will say the locker is a seriously great upgrade. It’s definitely a more challenging modification but it’s worth it imo if you plan to do all the crazy stuff that I’ve done.
@@slt_trek Awesome! It definitely looked more involved than anything I’ve ever done. Glad to hear it’s a big improvement, even on a newer Crosstrek (your build looks like a blast to drive). I wasn’t sure if we’re just adding a diff locker on models prior to 2018 when they added Xmode, or newer ones too.
Great video. I have an Outback Wilderness and experiencing a squeaking noise coming from the roof area after a trip with my RTT. Thanks to your video I think it’s the bolts holding the roof rack to the roof. Now I have to figure out how to remove the headliner to access the bolts. Thanks. Learned a lot.
Thank you! Your Ascent is epic! I feel like that's where we'll inevitably end up in our Subaru Life. For now, we can't imagine running anything other than our Crosstrek. But someday we'll outgrow it.
@@SubaruAmbassadorRobert We're not in Off Road Roos. Is that a group on FB? I haven't been around the scene much. Had a job that was pretty taxing on my time the last few years, but I only have about 2 weeks left and then we'll be hitting the road exclusively living and creating content out of our Xtrek. Would love to help out the community where we can. I probably missed most of the Expos this year, but I'm sure we'll cross paths in the near future. You guys are more than welcome to do anything with the media we create.
Great video! You have covered so many upgrades. Some, I hadn’t even considered before but, am looking into them. Out of curiosity, what’s your career background? I’m guessing engineering… Awesome content! Keep em coming!!!!!
I went down the same rabbit hole with my rav4 and was all geared out, but had my car broken into twice and had to strip it down some to avoid sticking out like a sore thumb. Also overloaded my roof with weight and never had any issues driving/handling.
I'm actually really curious, because that happened to us (break in) recently. But it also happened to us with our old stock car too, both times when we were in shadier bad cities in WA state (Seattle & Tacoma). You're the first with a geared rig I've seen say that. Was it out in the parks/wilderness or were you in urban areas/hometown when it happened?
@@TylerandHannah happened in Houston near downtown both times, it could just be totally unrelated, but I'd rather not go through it again so trying to make myself blend in more
@@andrewnguyen8496 Absolutely, if I was going to continue daily driving around town/commuting for work in this Xtrek I'd be nerfing this build for the same reason. I don't even want to detail how much $ I lost in this recent break in. It was a truly insane experience.
Hey friend, free design: Create your own 3 panel fold out solar panel design by putting the same kind of weather proof metal strut channel that you have your current solar panel mounted on 2 more panels, lining them with some sort of rubber/silicone something soft to cushion the glass so its not slamming on each other and attach the 3 panels with some rugged hinges installed on the 3 panels on opposite sides in opposing directions and orient it such that it folds out onto your dash to expand your capacity and still have a panel facing up when folded. Enjoy
I love the Subaru reliability but I cannot wrap my head around a family of 4 fitting comfortably in it. You have it outfitted nicely. I think I’d feel too claustrophobic personally. Sweet rig you got. The versatility is awesome. Miss you guys ❤
Just broke in 10k miles in my 24 Crosstrek. I just finished putting a Nash Fab co rack system to better mount my clamshell RTT. Was curious on what your highway and city MPG is now with all with extra weight and wind resistance added onto the build. I'm getting around 20 with just my RTT, and that seems a bit low. New follower, loving your rig videos =)
Pretty sure we’re getting around 14-15mpg fully loaded down for camping. It’s a big drop from stock, but on the flip side, that’s where most trucks start out, so I’m totally fine with the mpg drop to have the capabilities of essentially a camper van.
DJI Air 3 Very solid drone: Capable of flying fast enough to keep up with a vehicle at decent speeds (a little over 40mph) and dual cameras for a lot of flexibility on the fly. Although I had a DJI Mini 3 Pro and LOVED that drone too. :)
I traded an overland built Toyota Tacoma for a 24 Subaru forester wilderness. After spending quite a bit of money on the build we realized that for us(in our 60’s) we weren’t going to be doing many overland adventures and did our camping in state parks. It seemed silly to be using this camping rig as a daily driver. The Subaru is a better option and I might do some very minor mods in the future
@@robertharold2503 Subarus are sooo practical as an everything vehicle. Comfortable and efficient around town and still plenty capable off road for adventures. Even completely stock they are surprisingly good out in the wilderness. Hope you guys enjoy yours! Ours is now probably getting the same mileage as what your Tacoma got 😂😭
DJI Air 3 Very solid drone: Capable of flying fast enough to keep up with a vehicle at decent speeds (a little over 40mph) and dual cameras for a lot of flexibility on the fly. Although I had a DJI Mini 3 Pro and LOVED that drone too. :)
I have a question for you did you like this rooftop any issues with it and installing it is it hard to put it on your crosstrek and price point is reasonable? How u like the tent?
We'll definitely need to go bigger in the near future and probably should have gone with an Outback. Price, availability and needs at the time put us in Crosstrek. Initially I just needed a fuel efficient commuter, but now I'm happy to take the hit in efficiency to have a fun (and unique) overlanding rig. :)
No, I opted against stick on solar panels because all those black surfaces on top of the car get so hot and solar loses efficiency at high temps. I wanted to have some separation and airflow around our panel. That said, those flexible panels are so common now they probably work just fine. I’ll have to try that. I have seen people mount starlink inside their car against the roof and still get connection. I’m betting a thin panel over the roofbox would be just fine, but not positive on that.
@@TylerandHannah Thanks for the reply. I have a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk ( the little Cherokee) . Right now I have enough solar generator size to last a few days. Adding a solar panel on my cargo box and storing starlink like yours is tempting.
@@punktexas yeah, if you manage offset the dish mount just a little inside the box so that at least part of it could peek out from one side of the solar panel, unobstructed, I bet that would work great.
Great setup. How's the mpg impact with this rig and tires? I dig the idea of having hitch carrier to have extra storage and a separate mount for spare tire.
@@bhavyanshuparasher1292 It is pretty rough. I think this last trip we averaged 15mpg, nearly half of what we were getting stock. The other built out Crosstrek we came across in our latest video said they were getting about the same. Same size tires as us, 235/75/r15. and a big load on the roof. Although both of us were happy with the mpg considering how loaded down we were. A lot of trucks out there are getting this same mileage unloaded. As far as the mounts, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I didn’t have a shop so any work on this other than wheel alignment. My dad did the lift kit and I did everything else: the hitch/hitch baskets, roof rack, panels etc. I have very little mechanical skills with tools but was able to slowly figure it all out through trial and error. Happy to be more specific if there’s something more you’re curious about.
@TylerandHannah I'm just concerned with how you're using that vehicle. I had a Crosstrek and the transmission which is a CVT had problems. And yes I went on tons of similar adventures like you guys are doing
Recording this video was the hardest thing I've ever done and it's not even close.
Product links in description. Back to adventures soon!
this is like 3 years of youtube content in 1 video lol...Super cool overview though! Looks like you're fully kitted out!
Amazing. One of the best and most thorough conversions I've ever seen. Everything is thought over carefully, and very well made.
Many years ago I bought an UAZ469, and it helped me to make the kids childhood as adventurous and memorable as a kid can dream of. I can say you are on the good track. The trips with this beauty will be remembered forever.
A UAZ would be sooo cool! (I’ve driven one in a video game 😂🤣😅) I grew up on adventures with my parents and am loving passing that experience on to my kids now. ❤️
@@TylerandHannah Yeah, but my wife and I do it with a Crosstrek now 😀. Trust me, Subi is way better choice.
a build without an instagram page? insane. I love it haha, awesome looking crosstrek, I'm looking forward to videos of the trips!! 🇨🇦🖐
👋🏻 😊
dude! you are an inspiration! my wife and i love watching your videos! be safe out there and keep creating!
This set-up makes sense for your adventures...Awesome!
Absolutely love the straight forward nature of your information! ma kinda guy. Enjoy the car brother.
I really love what you have done with your car without being an expert every change you have done! its like an inspiration, thanks for sharing and for all the time you have used to make all of this!!
I have an Outback Wilderness and I'm incredibly jealous of your ride. Well done!
Outback Wilderness is probably the most perfectly balance Subaru: space, performance, etc. A lot of cool options for building that thing out. My dad went with an Outback exclusively because it was long enough to comfortably car camp inside of. Crosstrek and Forester aren't as easy for us tall people. 😂
@@TylerandHannah yeah im only 5’8” and I still got extra space when I lay in the Outback lol
I recently bought my first ever Subaru, it's a 2024 Forester Wilderness in autumn green and I'm slowly setting it up to do some soft over landing. It's also being equipped for my ham radio hobby.
Autumn green is straight up the best paint color for the wilderness models. That's going to be an epic ride to build out. My father in-law, retired navy, is radio genius. He was telling me about some pretty sweet mobile setups people were building out of pelican cases.
@@TylerandHannah Is he a ham radio operator?
Great video!
❤️
You packed a lot in to this video...and in to your awesome rig! Looking forward to the adventures!
Solid video. I really enjoyed seeing your build. Thanks for breaking down the roof rack specs.
Appreciate that! Roof has been holding up solid, no issues whatsoever. Very happy with that part of the build. 😎
Great job!! You cracked me up with some of your comments, but I really appreciate your effort in doing this. We are opposites as I"m a former Jeep owner and off-road enthusiast. I know all the details about winches, tires, etc., but filming, editing, drones...I need to learn all that if I want to start making videos. Great job, keep the vids coming.
That’s what I love about TH-cam. Some of my favorite channels are people with zero camera skills. It’s often inherently interesting to see people share a passion of theirs regardless of what it is recorded on. This goes for many of my favorite camping channels which sometimes have comically bad footage, but somehow the content is still so interesting/engaging to watch.
Great looking rig! Im in the process of building out my Subaru Outback for my family adventures! Best part of your video though us your humor! Keep it up!
@@tobin100 Awesome! There are 4 Outbacks among our immediate family. 2 of them up in Alaska. It’s literally the perfect adventure vehicle. Have fun with your family!
Following you because of this Video. Keep it up man, you’re doing it. Thanks for the video. It’s informative. Thumbs up👍. Rock on🤘.
🤘🏻
You say other content is more professional... but i like this content better than the other channels. Just MHO. CHEERS.
You need to treat yourself to a 2025Crosstrek Wilderness! You’ll be glad you did! New subscriber!👍✌️
Agreed! 😂 😭
opening drone shots are beautiful!
Thank you! 🙏
Nice down to earth video. Keep making them.
Love my 23 Premium 6MT. First Subaru I had, and before it a 97 Nissan pickup 5MT. So pretty big upgrade. That's a lot of stuff you got going there. It's nice to see some Crosstrek overland builds out there amongst all the Tacomas, 4Runner, Jeeps, Broncos and all other big rigs out there. Love those STi wheels too! Wish I had those added on when I had to have the car ordered. Really enjoyed the beach shots. Nice one!
Just had some of your vids recommended and love your storytelling and such. Cheers.
Very nice video. I just recently installed a locker in my Subaru (I’m more geared for capability versus overlanding but still do some overlanding here and there) and I will say the locker is a seriously great upgrade. It’s definitely a more challenging modification but it’s worth it imo if you plan to do all the crazy stuff that I’ve done.
@@slt_trek Awesome! It definitely looked more involved than anything I’ve ever done. Glad to hear it’s a big improvement, even on a newer Crosstrek (your build looks like a blast to drive). I wasn’t sure if we’re just adding a diff locker on models prior to 2018 when they added Xmode, or newer ones too.
Like the Starlink idea and the solar system.
Great video. I have an Outback Wilderness and experiencing a squeaking noise coming from the roof area after a trip with my RTT. Thanks to your video I think it’s the bolts holding the roof rack to the roof. Now I have to figure out how to remove the headliner to access the bolts. Thanks. Learned a lot.
Definitely worth tightening those bolts up. Everything has been rock solid for us ever since, absolutely zero squeaking. 👌🏻
Loving your vids!!!
Thank you! Your Ascent is epic! I feel like that's where we'll inevitably end up in our Subaru Life. For now, we can't imagine running anything other than our Crosstrek. But someday we'll outgrow it.
@@TylerandHannah Thanks!!! Have you joined us in Off Road Roos yet? And would you like to be one of the blog contributors for our upcoming site?
@@SubaruAmbassadorRobert We're not in Off Road Roos. Is that a group on FB? I haven't been around the scene much. Had a job that was pretty taxing on my time the last few years, but I only have about 2 weeks left and then we'll be hitting the road exclusively living and creating content out of our Xtrek. Would love to help out the community where we can. I probably missed most of the Expos this year, but I'm sure we'll cross paths in the near future. You guys are more than welcome to do anything with the media we create.
Those beach shots though...😮
I'm digging the DRLs. Nice.
I love that it's a Premium and not a Wilderness trim.
I'm pleasantly surprised with the performance of the 2.0L premium. It has to be one of the most budget friendly, off-road capable vehicles.
Great video! You have covered so many upgrades. Some, I hadn’t even considered before but, am looking into them.
Out of curiosity, what’s your career background? I’m guessing engineering… Awesome content! Keep em coming!!!!!
Nice motion and idea
I went down the same rabbit hole with my rav4 and was all geared out, but had my car broken into twice and had to strip it down some to avoid sticking out like a sore thumb. Also overloaded my roof with weight and never had any issues driving/handling.
I'm actually really curious, because that happened to us (break in) recently. But it also happened to us with our old stock car too, both times when we were in shadier bad cities in WA state (Seattle & Tacoma). You're the first with a geared rig I've seen say that. Was it out in the parks/wilderness or were you in urban areas/hometown when it happened?
@@TylerandHannah happened in Houston near downtown both times, it could just be totally unrelated, but I'd rather not go through it again so trying to make myself blend in more
@@andrewnguyen8496 Absolutely, if I was going to continue daily driving around town/commuting for work in this Xtrek I'd be nerfing this build for the same reason. I don't even want to detail how much $ I lost in this recent break in. It was a truly insane experience.
Stuck Tyler = Best Tyler 😂
Hey friend, free design:
Create your own 3 panel fold out solar panel design by putting the same kind of weather proof metal strut channel that you have your current solar panel mounted on 2 more panels, lining them with some sort of rubber/silicone something soft to cushion the glass so its not slamming on each other and attach the 3 panels with some rugged hinges installed on the 3 panels on opposite sides in opposing directions and orient it such that it folds out onto your dash to expand your capacity and still have a panel facing up when folded. Enjoy
I love the Subaru reliability but I cannot wrap my head around a family of 4 fitting comfortably in it. You have it outfitted nicely. I think I’d feel too claustrophobic personally. Sweet rig you got. The versatility is awesome. Miss you guys ❤
It's a tight squeeze, but the pros outweigh the cons! 😃
Just bought a 2021 Crosstrek sport and I'm in Washington also
Probably one of the best states for year-round adventuring in a Subaru. Have fun out there!
As a professional travel writer and automotive journalist, this is an excellent video. #Subie
Means a lot! Thank you! 😊🙏🏻
me encanta ese subaru!! saludos desde México!!
Thank you! :)
Just broke in 10k miles in my 24 Crosstrek. I just finished putting a Nash Fab co rack system to better mount my clamshell RTT. Was curious on what your highway and city MPG is now with all with extra weight and wind resistance added onto the build.
I'm getting around 20 with just my RTT, and that seems a bit low.
New follower, loving your rig videos =)
Pretty sure we’re getting around 14-15mpg fully loaded down for camping.
It’s a big drop from stock, but on the flip side, that’s where most trucks start out, so I’m totally fine with the mpg drop to have the capabilities of essentially a camper van.
What drone and camera did you use?
DJI Air 3
Very solid drone: Capable of flying fast enough to keep up with a vehicle at decent speeds (a little over 40mph) and dual cameras for a lot of flexibility on the fly. Although I had a DJI Mini 3 Pro and LOVED that drone too. :)
I traded an overland built Toyota Tacoma for a 24 Subaru forester wilderness. After spending quite a bit of money on the build we realized that for us(in our 60’s) we weren’t going to be doing many overland adventures and did our camping in state parks. It seemed silly to be using this camping rig as a daily driver. The Subaru is a better option and I might do some very minor mods in the future
@@robertharold2503 Subarus are sooo practical as an everything vehicle. Comfortable and efficient around town and still plenty capable off road for adventures. Even completely stock they are surprisingly good out in the wilderness. Hope you guys enjoy yours! Ours is now probably getting the same mileage as what your Tacoma got 😂😭
Thanks
WHAT DRONE DID YOU USE TO GET THE INTRO SHOTS? amazing video !
DJI Air 3
Very solid drone: Capable of flying fast enough to keep up with a vehicle at decent speeds (a little over 40mph) and dual cameras for a lot of flexibility on the fly. Although I had a DJI Mini 3 Pro and LOVED that drone too. :)
Hi, nice work, love your style, Question, do you happen to have the link from Amazon where you ordered the folding table for the rear wheel mount?
This is the table I purchased. Hopefully the link is still good. 🫡
amzn.to/3MIGXYV
I have a question for you did you like this rooftop any issues with it and installing it is it hard to put it on your crosstrek and price point is reasonable? How u like the tent?
Hello my name is Marcelo , i dont speak english. I have a Forester 2018 and we like camping too
Why not go with a outback?
We'll definitely need to go bigger in the near future and probably should have gone with an Outback. Price, availability and needs at the time put us in Crosstrek. Initially I just needed a fuel efficient commuter, but now I'm happy to take the hit in efficiency to have a fun (and unique) overlanding rig. :)
Did you try laying a flexible solar panel over the Starlink to see if it works?
No, I opted against stick on solar panels because all those black surfaces on top of the car get so hot and solar loses efficiency at high temps. I wanted to have some separation and airflow around our panel. That said, those flexible panels are so common now they probably work just fine. I’ll have to try that. I have seen people mount starlink inside their car against the roof and still get connection. I’m betting a thin panel over the roofbox would be just fine, but not positive on that.
@@TylerandHannah Thanks for the reply. I have a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk ( the little Cherokee) . Right now I have enough solar generator size to last a few days. Adding a solar panel on my cargo box and storing starlink like yours is tempting.
@@punktexas yeah, if you manage offset the dish mount just a little inside the box so that at least part of it could peek out from one side of the solar panel, unobstructed, I bet that would work great.
Great setup. How's the mpg impact with this rig and tires? I dig the idea of having hitch carrier to have extra storage and a separate mount for spare tire.
Also, did you do the rear mounts yourself? I don't have that skillset and would like a custom shop to mount these for me.
@@bhavyanshuparasher1292 It is pretty rough. I think this last trip we averaged 15mpg, nearly half of what we were getting stock. The other built out Crosstrek we came across in our latest video said they were getting about the same. Same size tires as us, 235/75/r15. and a big load on the roof. Although both of us were happy with the mpg considering how loaded down we were. A lot of trucks out there are getting this same mileage unloaded.
As far as the mounts, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I didn’t have a shop so any work on this other than wheel alignment. My dad did the lift kit and I did everything else: the hitch/hitch baskets, roof rack, panels etc. I have very little mechanical skills with tools but was able to slowly figure it all out through trial and error. Happy to be more specific if there’s something more you’re curious about.
We leave IN Paulinia São Paulo Brazil
just get a truck!
Everyone else has already done that. 🤪 but you’re right.
@TylerandHannah I'm just concerned with how you're using that vehicle. I had a Crosstrek and the transmission which is a CVT had problems. And yes I went on tons of similar adventures like you guys are doing
lol wtf 😂
12x 8mm? bolts through a 1mm? roof tin holding 175+1 lb of dynamic load on gravel roads = Not a great deal of risk analysis happening
You in Australia by chance?
Rig....😂😂😂
What is the mpg you get with all that extra weight? @TylerandHannah
@@szymon_og 15mpg loaded down on a good day with. 😂
Way to much bullshit on that weak car
too*
Lol😂😂
You need to treat yourself to a 2025Crosstrek Wilderness! You’ll be glad you did! New subscriber!👍✌️
@@frankfrankenstein5933 Agreed! 😂😭