I got a little bit of work done on our '03 Subie Forester last weekend and I
thought I would just post up a few pics and details. This Foz has 206K on
it, auto, good service history and is generally in pretty good order.
The work program for the morning was:
- New rear shocks (struts), KYB part 334345(L) and 334344(R)
- New rear shock tower mounts, Monroe part 905950
- New bump stops, KYB part BSK001
- New rear camber bolt, left side, Subaru OEM part
- New front link pins, Protex brand
- New front door window gussets, Subaru OEM factory items
The Subie up on the hoist
New front link pins fitted, each end of the swaybar
New rear strut assembled. Note that the spring seat is carefully removed
from the old strut and re-used. The original plastic casing over the bump
stop and shaft is re-used, as the casings in the new bump stop kit are not
suitable... refer notes below.
Note that KYB do not have a bump stop listing for the '03 Forester.
Whilst at the parts shop, we just opened a few boxes to find something
suitable, and the KYB BSK001 was a good fit. This was actually mounted
on the strut upside-down as the base was a nice snug fit into the tower
mount. These KYB bump stops priced up at about $22 each, rather than
the $58 each that Subaru wanted for OEM items.
New rear strut back in place.
Door lining off for the new gusset install. We did have some difficulty, as we
couldn't get the door handle out and remove the lining completely. We
managed to work around that though.
The new window gussets have now made the interior quiet again and free
from that signature Subie wind noise due to aged and cracked gussets.
All parts were selected after a fair bit of research and price checking. As
most Subie owners know, their factory parts are pretty pricey so a bit of
hunting around can net some significant savings, often around 50%.
The new rear shocks and mounts have firmed up the rear end of the car very
nicely and the random knocks and bumps are gone. The front link pins have
got rid of the knocking up front and as mentioned, the new gussets make for
a nice quiet interior. The new camber bolt was required as the old one had
been rounded off at some stage and could not be adjusted for wheel
alignment.
Many thanks to my mate Macca the mechanic for all the good work, as usual.
I just buy all the parts, hand him the tools and sweep up after!
For some more info on the window gusset work, here is a link to a vid that
further describes how it is done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0PaDXyhXFE
