Coilovers balljoints and cammed toe bolts

[blackobxt]

Looking for opinions. I’m currently looking at bc racing or fortune auto 500. Want it low and tight but not looking for a kidney shot every time I hit a bump and am curious on what you guys would recommend.

also what’s the preference on balljoints, oem?

only bushings that aren’t whiteline in the rear are the ones with the cammed toe bolts since I’m sure I’m going to have to cut them and even if they come out nice I’m just going to replace them. Is 901700122 the correct part number?

thanks in advance

my 05 outback xt, currently on lgt struts with king springs in rear And whiteline rsb. Will be getting all the parts for the subframe spacers removal at the end of July when I go to Wyoming for vacation.

Edited April 12, 2023 by blackobxt

[KZJonny]

If you think you'll need to cut out the toe adjusting bolts, which if you have *any* rust is likely, do yourself a giant favour and get a carbide tipped blade for your recip, if that is the weapon of choice. I wasted a bunch of time dulling normal metal blades until I caved and spend the ~$15 on a single good blade that went through the hardened steel easily. I replaced those bolts with the MOOG version as they have a zerk fitting on the bolts head and send grease into the void left by the cam shape, which the reason those bolts seize so hard in the first place. I personally do not think the 1/16" grease passage down the bolt will affect it's strength. Opinions may vary.

Top choices for ball joints seem to be OEM or "555" brand. Ima try the latter when mine go. I figure if they survive an actual rally race, then they'll probably serve on my car for a while.

Curious to see what info comes up on coilovers tho. I'm happy with my struts and springs, but when the supply of cheap JDM takeoffs dries up, it might be time to consider some streetable coilovers.

[m sprank]

Neither are worth any money.  Not if you enjoy reproducing, having working kidneys, etc.  RCE Tarmacs, KW V2's, or more money.

[Febreze Mee]

TL;DR - Fortune Autos

If you cannot find a great strut/spring combo that would make up for all you're looking to the coilovers to do, then I would suggest FA500s. Technology may have changed in the last 4yrs since I've looked at them. There are already numerous threads a ross Nasioc and all other automotive forums explaining why FA are a top contender, and a good choice —so I'm not going to copy paste. I'll put out some questions, and then share my anecdotal experience.
 

Does your Outback have a dedicated function, such as a specific motorsport discipline? Show car? If yes, I would take a closer look at the options Mike mentioned above. As a matter of fact, I still would —it's good to evaluate all of your options. However, I'm also assuming you've done that bc you've asked about inquired about two specific manufacturers that have products with comparable, and competitive ratings.

If your answer is anything along the lines of "it's my daily driver, and I just want to enjoy the car a little more around town, with an occasional recreational HPDE..." then I would suggest the FAs. Not the first time I've said it, but this is the function my car serves, and I personally have BCs with custom swift springs. The spring rates I have (7K front/8K rear) are for street use. I don't have enough seat time on any other coilover, let alone on our chassis to give any sort of a review. I have zero HPDE time on my BCs, and have put 70K miles of street usage on them. Between the damping adjustability, I find great comfort. Full-hard truly hasn't been as uncomfortable as I imagined either. Certainly not characterized as back-breaking or bone-jarring, by myself and the multitude of passengers I have polled for their opinion. For more of a painted picture, I'm 25 (with a carpenters body). And my passengers have been as old as 50yrs of age, both men and women. No complaints.

The two choices you have laid out were my two contenders as well for coilovers. It's been awhile since I've been in the market for some, but I will be soon enough. I will start my search with the FAs and what they feature compared to some of the options Mike has listed out. Ultimately, I didn't want to pay $2000+ for coilovers I wasn't using competitively. The BCs have outperformed my expectations and have made for a wonderful ownership experience. Whatever you decide, I would recommend Swift Springs!

I would recommend OEM ball joints. I have Whitelines, and have read of issues with them in HPD applications, and of a user or two on here with mostly street driving. I have personally not had any issues with mine in the last 45K miles. WL has great customer service and has replaced these in the past for customers who complained of the issues. I've never heard of 555s ball joints until now, so that's another option you have to evaluate that I didn't. 

[m sprank]

I have less experience with FA, but I would not buy them. 

BC...  if you gave them to me I would throw them in the trash for you.  BC does ZERO engineering.  Its laughable.  For instance, when you have a body go bad and you either request a warranty replacement or purchase a replacement they may send you an entirely different part number than what is listed for your car/application.  If you inquire they may tell you that they use a "universal" strut.  Dont worry about the fact that the part number they supplied you for your LGT cross references to a Hyundai in their own catalog. 

[blackobxt]

I’m appreciating the opinions both good and bad here.

the car is a daily driver that will never see any auto x or will go down any drag strip but will see the occasional spirited romp and I would like to lean into it a bit on the occasional corner. I just want to be able to enjoy the car a bit more and enjoy the appearance but not have it feel like total garbage. Admittedly what’s on the car now is the most I’ve modified on any of my cars suspension wise. I usually keep the stock suspension maintained and occasionally do some lowering springs and pour the power to them. Most of my notable cars have all been fairly unexciting suspension wise (several mustang gt’s, an 04 cobra, the 10+ z31’s and z32’s, 05 gto) but I really enjoyed how my stock 05 Sti felt driving around.

[m sprank]

Konis and swift springs. Drop the car about 2 inches but ride better than coils. Maybe some RSR springs if not Swift. Epic, Eibach, etc are out of production. 

 

 

[shralp]

Out of the two coil overs you’ve listed I’d definitely lean towards the Fortune’s. While still a bare minimum choice in my book, they have upped their game in recent years and are producing an acceptable kit now. Still not on par with KW, Ohlins, etc but priced accordingly to reflect that. Based on what your doing with the car, I’m in the “nice struts with springs” camp as well. Are you sure you really need coil overs?
 

would not suggest Whiteline for ball joints. I went thru two sets and shockingly trashed each in just a few days at the track. Thought it was an anomaly but after the second set went, (WL did replace them for free), I threw up my hands and went back to OEM. No problems since. Why a part supposedly designed for “motorsports applications” can’t make it through a few track days is beyond me

Edited April 13, 2023 by shralp

[m sprank]

Whiteline has not been "Whiteline" since around 2016/2017.  The factory burned down (the story I was told) and when they began producing again nothing was the same.

[blackobxt]

Thank y’all for being the voice of reason. Going to do some more research but I think I’m going to try a Koni swift combo. 
 

I’ve had issues with whiteline but their customer service has saved it for me. One bushing was missing a crush sleeve, another one had a wrong size bushing and  some void filling inserts showed up as a mustang trans mount insert. They sent me new stuff no questions asked and even threw me some free stuff. But I will likely go oem with the ball joint

Edited April 13, 2023 by blackobxt

[GearJamr]

20 hours ago, m sprank said:

Konis and swift springs. Drop the car about 2 inches but ride better than coils. Maybe some RSR springs if not Swift. Epic, Eibach, etc are out of production. 

 

 

This is what I have.  With the Konis set to near full soft, it is a reasonable ride, and still has plenty of performance ability for those spirited driving moments.  I found that putting on larger stabilizers made more of a difference on my LGT.

[blackobxt]

Konis and Swift springs ordered. Going to be torture waiting till august to put them on.

I have the whiteline rsb with braces and was extremely impressed with how much of a difference it made, and that was with used worn lgt suspension.

Edited April 13, 2023 by blackobxt

[Febreze Mee]

Glad to hear you found a strut spring combo. Please come back to this thread or update yours with your feedback after you put some miles on them. And pictures for reference of how the car sits. 

[blackobxt]

Will do! The listing of things I wanted to do to this car is steadily getting smaller and smaller  and the remaining things are pretty expensive. 

[Febreze Mee]

That makes two of us! I'll be looking at suspension, myself, sooner than later.