Coming - My New Setup

Kevin

Administrator
Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
7,049
Location
Sydney, Oz
Car Year
MY'03
Car Model
Forester
Transmission
A/T
As mentioned in another thread, my Foz is at Wholesale Suspension Penrith this week for them to figure out a more suitable strut setup (as I bent both new rear KYBs crossing the Simpson Desert).

Here are my requirements:

"As arranged with Matt today, I'm dropping my car off to you this Monday morning for 3 days (longer if necessary) for you to determine what may be best for my needs.

As you know, both the new rear struts bent on the recent Simpson Desert crossing. I suspect the front struts may also have issues as there did not seem to be enough dampening on a series of ruts and this created a "see-saw" effect with one nose dive causing a fairly heavy hit at one stage. We were mainly travelling at 20-30 klm per hour but it was very very rough going at times. The fronts possibly overheated and lost performance.

The rears bent on heavy impact - the right hand side on a series of ruts which produced the see-sawing effect; the left hand side on a faster dune approach (probably 50-60 klm/hr) and hit a concealed rut. Yes, the load was heavy with an extra 60 litres of fuel, 40 litres of water, camping gear, fridge etc etc. Tyres were at 16-18 PSI.

Another issue I've had since the beginning. Initially you installed the raised King springs; +10mm (+30 reset down) in the front and +30mm in the rear. This I thought would make the rear sit up more than the front when unladen - but it doesn't - the rear seems a little lower than the front. In an attempt to rectify this last year I had Wholesale Blacktown install Kings 250 lbs/in +30mm in the rear thinking this would keep the rear up when loaded and also I was told by Blacktown (Mark) that the original raised springs were basically just normal road springs and not meant to be load carrying springs.

What would I like (my wish list I suppose):

- rear to be higher than the front when unladen, say at least 20 mm.
- spring perches to have a bit more clearance to the AT tyres (which are the smallest BFG ATs that fit)
- stronger struts
- reduced "see-sawing" on undulating terrain.
- the addition of a camber bolt in the rear (to compensate for the lift)

Other than the struts issue, the car itself seems to handle the heavy loads quite well."


I spoke with them last night and - they are rebuilding the struts with extra reinforcing/collar at the bottom hub connection (i.e. where they bent); then will use Koni adjustable inserts; and will move the spring perch up to give more tyre clearance for the BFG 21575R15 and also lift the rear a little.

I'll update when I get the car back - but it sounds good so far!
 
^ 120 litres - and just made it to Birdsville - the car spluttered!


The finished product compared to the existing (bent) rear strut
11804a77f803bea5a.jpg

The build:
11804a77f979965bc.jpg

11804a77f97a1f38a.jpg

11804a77f97a585a3.jpg

11804a77f979d6152.jpg

11804a77f97b877c0.jpg

 
^ don't know yet & gotta be cheaper than bending $600 worth of struts on one trip :iconwink:
 
Got the car back tonight - too dark for pics..........and $2,500 poorer. But they reckon there's no way I will break these and the Koni inserts are servicable if there is any issue. The tyre clearance is great; the car on soft setting feels good. I'm looking forward to experimenting with the settings.
The strut base that has been strengthened is a Tokico - i.e. Subie OEM - because it's actually thicker than the KYB after-market (even though the KYB has 15% more dampening).

The car is also higher - I'll get measurements on the weekend.
 
The tyre clearance is great; the car on soft setting feels good. I'm looking forward to experimenting with the settings.

The car is also higher - I'll get measurements on the weekend.
Can't wait to see the pics mate. Will be interesting to see how much extra ground clearance you gained. :)

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
are the shocks lengthened?

No, I don't think so, the spring perch is higher but they do look a little taller in the pics.

PS - later update, rear struts were lengthened 25mm
 
The rears now have a camber bolt as well. At 1000 klm the guys will check the wheel aligment. I've also asked (& meant to in the first place) about an adjustable trailing arm so the rear wheel can be centred in the wheel arch. They think they have one in stock.
 
I did a quick outside measure last night; hub to guard front 480mm rear 490mm.

There are a few strange noises and riding over some very large speed humps last night was very harsh.
 
I did a quick outside measure last night; hub to guard front 480mm rear 490mm.

There are a few strange noises and riding over some very large speed humps last night was very harsh.

Whats your diff clearance now?

Being a harsher stiffer ride has that resulted in less articulation and down travel?
 
Took some measurements today:
Hub to guard: Front 480 Rear 485
Front clearance (under exhaust header) 270
Under rear diff 305
 
Plenty of room between the perch and tyres now!
11804a7d3de277c32.jpg

Here’s how it sits:
11804a7d3de2b8f32.jpg

 
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