Reloadit

Got all 4 replaced, used the king overload springs on front and back with the KYB struts. Just like the rears, the front struts were shot. Now my car rides just like my wifes 2014 Outback. Before it rode like a Cadillac, now I can feel the road. The struts might have been shot when I got the car with 104K miles unless they were the reason for the sag. I reused all the top hats and boots to save a couple hundred dollars. I hope the old ones hold up well. They seem fine so far. Thank you guys for all the help. I know it might not be a great idea to have overload springs in the front but as I mentioned above I will be driving a lot potentially rough roads in the near future once I am off the grid entire in God's country.

OK fellas, I did the rear struts on my car, I reused my top hats and boots. I bought new boots but they were the KYB boots and apparently only work with KYB top hats. I didn't do the fronts because the rear struts were completely shot, no hydraulics at all so I assume the fronts might be just as bad and the springs will be pretty abused so I ordered a set of the Kings overload springs for the front too. With the new struts and overload springs, I gained a little over an inch and half in height. I decided to stick with overload springs because I will be driving on a lot of dirt roads in the near future when I get to living off the grid. I removed my brake lines instead of cutting the brackets. Scratched my head a lot but got the two rears done, brakes bled and test drove in about 6 hours. All seemed right. Now I just got my new Milwaukee Cordless Impact wrench so I expect to get the fronts done in 3 hours. Am I asking for any problems putting the Kings overload springs on the front? They mention they are good if you do a lot of dirt road driving. I expect the ride to be a little stiffer but if all my struts are bad, I can't imagine it being any worse. Funny how stuff can fail slowly and you not even notice it.

Well I ordered bump stops and covers because they were inexpensive. The top hats are pricey as are the rubber cushions for the bottom of the springs. It will be another 250 greenbacks to replace them all if I use KYB, is there another manufacture that is reliable and less expensive you might suggest? Thanks again and no hurry. I decided to spring for an electric impact wrench before tackling this project and it won't be here until the 26th at the earliest.

OK, got my KYB struts in and my King springs and they are bare struts, can I reuse my old parts without drama or should I order all the parts so I can preassemble my coil and struts fully before tackling this job?

LOL, maybe someday when I have a full on shop with a solid slab. I squirm a bit using my jack stands on my cheesy patio slab now days, but boy and I looking forward to some beefy springs. I've been thinking of all the weight I have hauled in this suby and it's no wonder my rear is sagging. Packing elk out with it, filling it with camping gear and massive cooler during salmon fishing season and of course loading it down with livestock feed or heating pellets. I have a 3/4 ton chevy truck with a 454 and it cost two dollars just to start it up.

Thank you again, I ordered all four struts and the rear King Overload springs thinking I will reuse my front springs. I sure wish I had a lift to raise my own cars!

I sure appreciate your time and help. I'm on Primitive's site and and I think the right KYB struts for me are the EXCEL-G 1999 **ONLY** Outback and not the ones for 1995-1999 Legacy. I don't really need the front struts but not terribly opposed to changing them too if they don't sell them by the pair. Your thoughts?

I'm just under 140K miles and I am considering changing the struts too, is the foolish? I throw in 400lbs of heating pellets throughout the winter months and sometimes they sit in my car for 12-24 hrs before I off load them. If I were to get struts with the king overload springs, which ones would you recommend?

Did you have some sag and notice a difference? How long have you been using them? Thanks by the way.

Hmmm, I only have about 130K on my car. So you think just the rear springs? I can do that. I keep about 100 lbs of gear right at my hatch this time of the year. I do it every year about this time, it's shooting season so I keep a heavy bench, lead sled and shooting bags. This year I noticed the sag is a bit more pronounced then previous years but the struts seem good when bouncing up and down on my trailer stinger. As always thanks for your help. You personally have done a lot for me over years on this forum.

So you replaced everything all the way around. I guess I will look into doing the same. It looks like spacers can be a little risky with longevity. Thanks Chaz.

I'm starting to suspect I am dealing with some sagging in my rear end and after researching I see it is not uncommon with some Subarus, don't know if my year is known for it, but I have read that folks tend to change the struts and use some spacers to bring it back to normal or better and often they claim it feels much better when driving even if you haven't noticed a change over time. Anyone else here address this issue with great success and if so, what struts and spacers did you use?

My shields rattle like crazy in the hottest months, almost nothing in the winter. I have quieted them down lately by stuffing wood stove gasket fiber here and there, but I'm wondering if I squeezed a bunch of high heat gasket pookie doo in the right areas, if it might give me a little better peace and quiet? Looking for some opinions on this. I don't know if the rattle is the shields hitting the exhaust or just the shields hitting shields. Before I go making a mess, thought I would get some opinions here. Obviously they expand when hot so I can't expect the goo to remain adhered on two surfaces but maybe it would still maintain a buffer from metal hitting metal? Thoughts?

It is a daily driver and she drives it through the mountains quite a bit too, during the winters as well. I think I will just get the OEM from NAPA.

I need to replace my wife's pads and have never worked on her 2014, just all my more vintage subarus. I went with ceramics on my 99 last time and they seem to be working great. Looking for best prices on the proper pads. Thanks fellas. I did try a search, but it became a daunting task without any obvious topic on the pads you fellas use.

Fellas, been meaning to update everyone but life has been busy. The dealer did the head gasket job for $2500 which also included a new radiator because one of the nipples broke off the old one. They failed to put the OEM thermostat in, leaving the 140 degree thermostat I had put in a month earlier. FYI, I didn't notice any change in fuel mileage with the 140. All is well with their work and my overflow coolant stays steady without any overheating. As for the vibration we believed might be due to the new aftermarket axles, I went ahead and bought the trakmotive and installed them myself. It took care of the vibration. The driver side roll pin from the dealer job was a short pin and had no chance at reaching the outside drive sleeve so that might have been the source of the vibration and not a defected Napa axle. The used car dealer I bought the car from who put the short roll pin in gave me a new set of axles only. All is well now. I did put in new window guides in my driver door because the window was lose. It is still lose. I plan on retightening it assuming the felt as packed a little but am concerned that there is something else in the raising mechanism that might be lose. I've been taking some trips with it and if I put 150-200 highway miles I am getting almost 24 miles to the gallon where when I am in town driving only it does close to 22.5 MPG. I sure appreciate all the help you fellas offer. Thanks again for everything.

I just ordered some. So far so good with the new gasket overhaul.

Well dang, they are no longer carrying automotive CV axels. Say they can't compete with China.

I'm reading that they do seem to cause a lot of vibration, especially while in gear and stopped witch I do have some added vibration in that situation but I don't see a lot of talk about vibration at certain speeds. I suspect I need to pursue this so does anyone have a some suggestions on where to purchase some OEM CVs that are not $400 each?

Still in the shop, should be done today or tomorrow. Getting a new radiator now because a nipple snapped off. $150 installed. Already agreed to new hoses. The bill is stacking up, just hope it equates to peace of mind in the long run. If I can just get the vibration from 20mph-30mph solved it would be golden. Here is what I know. It didn't have it before the shop put in the new CV axles in which case they installed wrong ones first before getting the right ones in. I have no excess play in the steering wheel, the tires have been balanced over and over and the alignment has been checked and double checked. Any idea of what could be damaged by putting the wrong axels in and test driving? Could the autozone axles be defected in such a way they create a vibration like that? I could have paid $155 to get the Subaru dealership to try to diagnose it. The other dealer who did the work on the cv's couldn't find the problem.

Oh yeah, they called and told me the heads were not warped but had indentions from the original gaskets so I'm paying another $500 to have them machined. They are using their new improved MLS gasket kit. I appreciate your input. Thanks DC and Silverton.

Correction, I have it in the SHOP and trying to work out the gaskets. As far as I can tell they have MLS gasket kits with all the gaskets right down to the oil pan for $440 which I am thinking of using but I have ordered some Fel-Pro Head Gasket set from Autozone that doesn't come with all the other gaskets. Boy this is stressful. The dealership is trying to work with me to keep the cost down and the quality high. $2500 is the quote provided they don't have to machine anything.

I got it in the shot getting that done as we speak. I'm trying to figure out which gasket manufacture to use. Do you or DC have the brand that is known to last longer?

Well, this morning I took it in to get the oil changed and I looked in the overflow and it was half full with bubbles coming up still. I will check it again once it cools completely down and see if it sucks it back into the radiator. I guess I better use the Napa gas in the coolant test to see if there it comes back positive. I can't think of anything else to do. Correct me if I am wrong, but it should not be dumping into the overflow this often especially when it is so cool/cold outside?

Dang, I missed my notice of reply. Well it overheated again on me Thursday going to my favorite desert shooting site. I stopped by the dealership and they priced changing all the gaskets, not just the head gaskets at $2500 with a 12 month or 12,000 mile mechanical guarantee. We talked about it and I decided to try another thermostat because the service man believes the gas escaping into the coolant is pretty rare compared to coolant escaping into the block being pretty common. Here is what I did and need some opinions. I put a Napa 140 degree thermostat in and have been using it for two days now. Last night was are last forecasted below freezing temps but that could change. Watching the temp gauge is a new experience. It spends a lot of time at the 1/4 mark and then gets to the just shy of 1/2 mark where it stayed with the factory thermostat. I'm guessing when it is at the 1/4 mark the thermostat is open and when it is at it 1/2 mark the thermostat is closed maybe??? It hasn't displaced any coolant into the overflow since I put the new 140 thermostat in. I haven't had the chance to really drive it, just to and from work. Well test it tomorrow with a run the shooting ground. Are there any problems with using a 140 degree thermostat? I know $2500 is a lot of money but if they do it right and put in the improved gaskets which they said they could, maybe it's worth it. I can look around and if I can find someone who might seem legit and do it for half I would maybe give them a shot. It's more than I can handle myself.