Bimmer

This doesn't make any sense to me. It DOES make sense that wheel speed sensors would automatically adjust for changes in gearing, as in your case. It does NOT make sense that wheel speed sensors know the circumference of the tire, if it's not OEM. They only know how fast the wheel/tire are spinning, not how big they are (or how far or how fast they're traveling). Changing the wheel/tire WILL change speedometer and odometer readings.

Go back and read the beginning of the first post...

rB5, you installed the GR-2s for the 2005-09 Outback, right? There are a couple guys over on outback.org who have had good results using the GR-2s for the 2000-04 Outback in '05-09 models. Of course, there are also a bunch of owners of 2000-2004 Outbacks with GR-2s who are satisfied... Apparently the rear struts for the two models are basically interchangeable, but the GR-2s for the earlier model are stiffer. Bimmer

Actually, I'd be interested in lowering it a bit less — maybe halfway between OEM OB and LGT. In any case, I'm not as interested in changing the ride height as I am in getting some more damping... Bimmer

Thanks, Duffman, and thanks for the measurements in the other thread. I think you're right about it being worth it, even if one needed to source new parts — I could use my Subaru Bucks and get everything for free (kind of). Meanwhile, Impatient and I are and a couple others are still trying to figure out how good KYB's GR-2s and RalliTek's rear springs are... I won't be home until August, and my finances are going to be a mess 'til October, but I just must do something. Bimmer

I want to hear how this turns out, but it is off-topic from this thread. Do us a favor, really, and start a new thread once you've figured this out... Bimmer

It's not $2,000. It's $2,090, plus $207 shipping, so it's really almost $2,300... Of course, if there were 10 of us, then we could do it for $1,678 each, plus shipping (so, still less than $1,900). I'm on the fence again... Everytime I think about fixing the suspension, I get excited. Then, every time I think of putting something like $2Gs into a rapidly aging car (instead of putting it towards a down payment on something else), I reconsider again. Bimmer

I'm definitely still interested in this, but not soon (I'm leaving the country for several months, starting next month), and I'm also very price sensitive (broke)... I'm interested in fixing my OBXT's suspension for $500 or even $1,000, but $2,000+ is simply too much for me. Looking at this link, wouldn't the first suspension option "for Turbo" be for the XT, or is that only for the Legacy wagon? Of course, it costs about $2,700, which is way too rich for my blood... Bimmer

I'm late to the game, but I'm VERY interested. Money is a big issue, so I'm price sensitive, but the crappy suspension is really intolerable. Bimmer

Yeah, me too, that's why it's all "hidden" under the dash, where I can't see it... Bimmer

It's the same. I've got an '08, and after a year and a half and 10,000 miles, it works fine... Bimmer

My experience in Europe has been that the system there is far stricter and better enforced than here. I have no ambitions of towing an Airstream with a VW Golf, but if it's allowed in Germany, then I've got to believe that it's safe. Of course German driver training is also far better, and a load like that is limited to 55 or 60mph (even on the Autobahn). Ben

I agree, and if I already had a full-size van or pick-up, then I would use it to tow, instead of my Impreza. I don't doubt that trucks are better at towing, I just doubt that it's worth spending tens of thousands of dollars for the extra capability on the off chance that I might want to tow something heavy — like the OP asked about. Of course if I had to haul heavy loads on a daily basis, then I would buy a big truck. I'm amused at Americans who think that they "need" a full-size truck to ever tow anything. Ben

No offense intended, but this is typical American thinking regarding towing... "I need a big pick-up or a big SUV." Once you've been to Europe and seen 90hp VW Golfs towing Airstream campers, then towing really loses its mystique. It's only Americans who think that they need 300hp to tow anything... And for the guy who warped the rotors on his SUV after towing just a couple times: This is clearly operator error. You simply cannot drive with a trailer like you would without a trailer. If you drive 10-20mph more slowly and maintain big following distances, then you're effectively negating the extra weight of the trailer in terms of stopping distances (and burden on the brakes). Ben

This isn't a problem with the tow vehicle, it's a problem with the load on the trailer. If the trailer's load is centered too far back (behind the trailer's axle), then the trailer will sway. Having a heavier vehicle with a longer wheelbase helps manage this, but the solution is proper loading. I've towed big U-Haul trailers with my Impreza, and it's been non-issue. I didn't have to launch up a boat ramp, obviously, but I don't know how there would be any extra wear on the clutch, as long as you shift gears as gingerly as ever (which I did). Once you're in gear with the clutch engaged, what's the difference? I don't have a transmission cooler or gauge, but my Impreza's oil temp wasn't any hotter at 80mph with a trailer than at 90mph without. Ben

I had some 16 gauge laying around. I think the original blue/white wire is smaller, maybe 18 gauge. The purple wires all over under the dash are much smaller, maybe 22 gauge. You could probably use something as small as the purple wire (22 gauge?) and be fine. Ben

[quote name= I weep for the future of history.[/quote] Yeah, me too. It's pretty grim... At least I usually make less mess in my courses than I did in the passenger airbag on/off light! Ben

I'm a historian. I educate America's youth to be the leaders of tomorrow... These idiot lights piss me off, and I feel a great deal of satisfaction in breaking crap like this. Twisting the G-ddamned chime off the circuit board in a new car so that it NEVER chimes at me again is a kind of catharsis. Anyway, I only thought of just covering the LEDs once the other airbag light came on... perhaps I was a bit rash. Anyway, blobs of solder across the LED pins fixed it. Merry merry merry, Ben PS: Wait until you see how I'm going to hack into the rear wiring harness of my Outback to install the Tribeca back up sensor system that my wife wants...

In my 2008, at least, the passenger air bag on/off lights are high up, in with the sunroof controls and the map lights. I found them distracting, especially at night. Unplugging them seemed turn on the airbag idiot light in the gauge cluster, so I twisted the LEDs off the circuit board (this is how I killed the door chime: twisting the chime off the circuit board). Now I've got the idiot light on, anyways... I'm fairly certain that the airbags are all working, anyway. The idiot light is seems set to come on if there's anything weird in any of the airbag wiring anywhere (my Outback has at least six airbags). I'll figure this out... Ben

I've got it figured out now. The purple wires under the dash are all illumination of the dash. You can tap into ANY purple wire and this will work (it makes the fog light relay work when the dash lights are on). Connecting the red/white wire to the black wire under the steering column basically jumps the fog light switch (red-white) straight to a ground (black) without letting anything (like a diode connected to the high beams) get in the way. This didn't work for me because I somehow blew fuse #16 (interior lighting). Once I figured that out and replaced the fuse, it worked as it should. Now, if I could only get the G-ddamned airbag light to go off now that I've killed the passenger airbag warning light... Ben

FWIW, this didn't work on my '08. I followed the directions to the letter, but it's no good... No independent fog lights, and no fogs with hi-beams. Worse, with both this mod and the white DRL plug disconnected, I had NO fog lights at all. I'd rather have no DRLs than independent fogs, so I undid it. If anybody can figure out how to do this on an '08 (and a better DRL disable than yanking the white plug), then I'd love to hear it. Ben

OK, I've done some more checking (I should have been an electrician), and I can't figure out how this works. There's no violet wire ANYwhere in the 2005 wiring diagram for the headlight or foglight system... How did you guys decide to tap in to the purple wire?! I can see that there's a purple in the 2008 wiring diagram, but the wiring has changed enough from year to year that I doubt that it's the same purple wire you guys discovered. I don't doubt that your mod worked on your cars, I just want it to work on my car, too. If you can tell me how you selected the purple wire, then I'll know what I'm looking for... Ben

Has anybody done this on an '08? The wiring for the lights is different for '08s (the common DRL defeats don't work propery now). So I'm looking at the wiring diagrams and trying to make sense of it all before I crawl under the dash. Forgive my impertinence, but uust to make REALLY sure, Deerkiller: 1. I want to cut the blue/white wire coming out of B225 (Relay Block), running to B96 (DRL module). 2. I want to splice the same aforementioned blue/white wire with the violet wire coming out of i84 ("Body Integrated Unit," which you call the "mirror control/wiper heater assembly"), so that the Relay Block is directly connected to the Body Integrated Unit. 3. I want to connect the black and red/white wires running into B71 (Combination Switch, aka "left stalk switch"). BTW, black wires in Subarus are invariably ground wires. If I understand what you're doing, then you could connect the last red/white wire to ANY black wire anywhere in the car and it would work. Thanks in advance for the help, Ben

On 2008s, unplugging the white plug knocks out the DRLs and keeps all the other lights working. The only problem seems to be that it disables the hi-beam indicator on the dash. Do a search... I think we're close to fixing this. Ben

OK, I figured it out. The LGT rotors are not just bigger in diameter but also thicker, so my OB XT calipers won't work. Good to know... Ben