slowurroll Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Hey guys. I am curious about something. While visiting Tire Rack the other day looking at wheels and suspension, I noticed they had a bunch of different suspension parts including the H&R lowering springs I want. Here is my question: can I buy the following parts and build the shocks/struts ahead of time to make swapping them in easier? I have never lowered a car but I lifted my '05 Grand Cherokee and had to build the front strut towers with the stock spring isolators and top mounts. Made the job a bit longer and is a major PITA in my opinion. I could take it to a shop but I can't justify spending the money for them to swap everything out for me when I can do it myself. Just trying to make my life easier since I already know Struts/shocks (front and rear) Strut boots Strut and shock mounts Are there any other parts missing to complete this up front? I haven't seen a diagram and am not familiar enough with this car's suspension to know what, if anything, I am missing. I realize going with KYB isn't the best quality option and a lot of people like Koni yellows but overall cost would be a a bit higher than what I want to spend at the moment unless I decide to piece everything together more slowly. Any help would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt166 Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 That looks like all you need, plus the springs of course, you might want to get new lower bolts as you may screw them up getting them off, I did. You have a spring compression tool right? I reused boots and top mounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowurroll Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 I don't own a spring compression tool but I can rent one from my local auto parts store for $50 that gets reimbursed when I bring the tool back. So that I'm not worried about. Any idea where I can find a part number on the lower bolts? Might as well replace them anyway while I've got it all apart even if they don't break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 I believe you will need more than the struts, springs, and top mounts to pre-assemble the struts. For the front struts, you will also need (from top down) the conical washer, upper spring perch/seat, strut dust boot, and the strut bump stops. http://parts.subaru.com is where I go to look up part numbers, they have good parts diagrams as well. Not sure about the 2005's, but on my 2009 the front strut mounts have a bearing inside them. So after 155k, I decided to replace my front (and rear, but rear do not have bearings) strut mounts. It was painful to do since the front strut mounts basically cost just as much as the struts themselves for my car, but I figured why not while I have everything apart. On my car, the three nuts at the top of the strut mounts are locking nuts, so I replaced all 6 of those. Probably not necessary to replace those, but I did it anyways. Even though my two lower strut bolts were perfectly fine, I replaced those too. I also replaced the two lock nuts for the bottom bolts as well. There's a washer next to the lock nut on the top adjusting bolt, so don't forget about that either. On the bottom of the strut, the top bolt adjusts the camber, so if you have a paint pen or something it's a good idea to mark its position before you remove it. If you replace the top adjusting bolt, try to put the new bolt in exactly how the old one was removed, using the markings stamped on the bolt head to help guide you. In the first image attached below, #18 is a conical washer. You'll want to install that the same way it was removed, otherwise you'll have problems. I accidentally installed it upside down on my passenger side and it caused the spring to bind up when I turned the wheel. The link below has some pictures of the conical washer, but I can't say if everything they say there stands true for the legacy, since that's an impreza forum. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1757339 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 One more thing.. I don't know anything about jeep suspensions, but you'll need something like a pass through socket wrench to tighten down the top strut nuts. I attached a picture of mine in the link below. http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/tool-torque-shock-top-nuti-243098.html?t=243098 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowurroll Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 I believe you will need more than the struts, springs, and top mounts to pre-assemble the struts. For the front struts, you will also need (from top down) the conical washer, upper spring perch/seat, strut dust boot, and the strut bump stops. http://parts.subaru.com is where I go to look up part numbers, they have good parts diagrams as well. Not sure about the 2005's, but on my 2009 the front strut mounts have a bearing inside them. So after 155k, I decided to replace my front (and rear, but rear do not have bearings) strut mounts. It was painful to do since the front strut mounts basically cost just as much as the struts themselves for my car, but I figured why not while I have everything apart. On my car, the three nuts at the top of the strut mounts are locking nuts, so I replaced all 6 of those. Probably not necessary to replace those, but I did it anyways. Even though my two lower strut bolts were perfectly fine, I replaced those too. I also replaced the two lock nuts for the bottom bolts as well. There's a washer next to the lock nut on the top adjusting bolt, so don't forget about that either. On the bottom of the strut, the top bolt adjusts the camber, so if you have a paint pen or something it's a good idea to mark its position before you remove it. If you replace the top adjusting bolt, try to put the new bolt in exactly how the old one was removed, using the markings stamped on the bolt head to help guide you. In the first image attached below, #18 is a conical washer. You'll want to install that the same way it was removed, otherwise you'll have problems. I accidentally installed it upside down on my passenger side and it caused the spring to bind up when I turned the wheel. The link below has some pictures of the conical washer, but I can't say if everything they say there stands true for the legacy, since that's an impreza forum. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1757339 Oh wow. Thanks for all that info! And for the diagrams too. I'll have to give them a look over more in depth and decide if it's worth going that route still. I was more thinking of time savings so if I can get all the parts I need and build the shocks/struts prior to the install that equals less time with an out of commission car. Are you referring to the mount as the triangular shaped top mount? If so I would be buying those new mounts anyway though I am not aware of the bearing being necessary or not considering those mounts aren't nearly as costly as the struts. I will probably replace the top nuts as well. The car is just above 93k but will have a bit more when I do this. Might as well do it while I have everything apart anyway. One more thing.. I don't know anything about jeep suspensions, but you'll need something like a pass through socket wrench to tighten down the top strut nuts. I attached a picture of mine in the link below. http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/tool-torque-shock-top-nuti-243098.html?t=243098 A pass through socket and wrench was necessary on my Jeep as well. At least for the front. The rear is a piece of cake to install since the rear springs and shocks aren't mounted together. Took a lot less time to install those. Thanks for all that info man. That will come in handy greatly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 No problem. When I say mounts, I was referring to the triangular shaped top mount for the front struts. When I was looking at parts, I saw moog, monroe, and oem subaru front strut mounts. I decided to go with oem subaru front strut mounts for around $65 each. I installed kyb excel-g struts which were also around $65 each (+/-$5). I decided to do a little research just now, because I couldn't find kyb front strut mounts for my car. If I had seen kyb front strut mounts, I probably would have gone with those to save a little money. It looks like the kyb in your link only fit 2005-2006, so I feel a little better now, knowing I couldn't have used those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowurroll Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Ok cool. I will probably go with what I linked and figure out the rest of the parts from those diagrams to get these built before I put them in the car. It will definitely make the swap less time consuming and will get my car back on the road quicker. Thanks for the info again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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