Jump to content
LegacyGT.com

FYI Suspension mods/ changes for dummi


VdubaRoo

Recommended Posts

I wanted to post my personal experience with modification 2009 Subaru 3.0r. Subaru designates it non sport, wheel size 17" factory rims.

I invested a lot of time reading other people's takes on their changes and what they perceived as the results. I chose to look for a better dynamics without sacrificing daily driver comfort.

Factory stock settings are engineered to function together with full understanding of function properly with the entire car. i.e. suspension, brakes, engine.

Bottom line, you pay what you get for. Quality costs money, period. I could afford a strut spring design, mild drop, progressive spring. And no they aren't Koni yellow. There have been lots of threads about them, and why waste your time reading another one.

I gutted the entire front, each side works independently and experience the largest dynamics under function.

It is more mechanically sound to substitute suspension designs from other Subaru configurations. They are tried and tested and play well if you consider the entire design.

As a general rule of thumb aftermarket parts that are look alike to OEM are almost never better. A CEO for Denso at a Michigan plant was questioned about making Tier 1 OE aftermarket parts and his comment was direct fit, try to market a broader application, they aren't quality control tested to meet the same extremely low failure of OEM, and it possibly could be acceptable to achieve 90% (this number was just a example of broader tolerances). They are the Japanese version of Bosch. Lots of aftermarket try to reverse engineer, so choose your manufacturer wisely. That's probably the biggest reason reading Subaru boards.

Installation...I shouldn't probably say anything but maybe it will help someone...

I had a chance encounter with a gentleman and made a comment on his Ford f350. Looking at my Legacy, as proud as I am it's a two year run, I'm financially invested in parts, that it's now a secret between me and God. Referred me to a local mechanic he used for his truck amicable to customer supplied parts and amount for his service.

Well... For the work he performed, it was a deal. But sometimes, again, you get what you pay for. It was a hole in the wall...but I think the gifted independent specialty mechanic might have died by the hands of Google.

Got a box full of unopened OEM back, with complete control arm assembly that supposed to look like JDM spec b...strut/ top hats, tires tie rods...done with correct parts.

And, oh, BTW, you need to get it aligned... Huh, another problem. Not sure why, but you got a spring making noise...

More concerned that I was plowing the tires off I never looked at the work.

Alignment guy avoided me after the alignment. I would too. Sorry but your caster is . 5 degree across, and your numbers just got worse pulling it in. I guess he took the pic of the snapped sway bar link for me to figure it out.

I opened the hood later and WTF? No need to look further, there's no spherical washer on one side.

For those who care. You are creating a torsional force between the piston rod of your strut without any bearing it meets to pivot. No need to inspect bearing, the mount rubber pushed past what it is meant to handle. Those piston rods don't spin around in the strut assembly BTW. You will figure that part out later when they prematurely fail. Hope this helps someone. Good luck.

 

 

 

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use