Need some help: Suspension issue

Fuze911

Fuze911

Forum Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2010
Messages
214
Location
Owings Mills, MD, USA
Car Year
2007
Car Model
Impreza Wagon 2.5L
Transmission
4EAT
Hey guys i would love somekind of help on this before i spend money taking the car into a shop that most likely has no idea whats going on.

I have a 2001 forester (below)
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and in a recent snow storm i managed to slide (about 5mph) into a small pot hole with the passenger side rear wheel. Got out, great! my wheel is ever so gently bent inward. Right after i got my alignment done too! :madred:

Took the car to a shop to get it on a lift and turns out i bent my strut. Long story short, i installed two new rear struts last weekend. Everything went smooth and the car drove great. My stock suspension was at 151,000 miles, so the new struts felt nice and stiff. Gaps were good everywhere.

Was on the way to a restaurant the other day and had 4 people in the car and while making left turns we all heard a horrible sound. (rubbing)

here is what i found...
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Thats the drivers side and how both sides looked day of install..

and here is the "rubbing" side.

5445443332_76dd6ae03c_b.jpg


The tires are geolander 215/65/16 and ive had them for about 6 months. Never had any issues.

I took the wheel off, removed the camber bolt and second bolt, moved everything around, reinstalled thinking something was loose but its still in the same spot!

What could have caused this? I didnt hit anything and it was perfect for a week. The gap was the same on both sides until i guess i had the people in the car.

ANY help would be amazing. Thanks guys!
 
Last edited:
AlpineRaven said:
Check something - compare with old struts and check if they're same length?
It does happen - they might've given you wrong struts?
Cheers
AP
Click to expand...

That was my first initial thought but the thing is that when i fist installed, they were perfect. Then after a week + 4 passengers + weight in trunk this happened. I took the wheel off and everything looks perfect. I ordered new camber bolts and will be taking the strut off entirely to see what it could be.

I just hate not knowing what is going on! im sure you understand how frustrating that can be.
 
How odd! My initial reaction to something like that is - the strut is bent, again. It doesn't need to be bent very much to move the perch closer to the tyre. I hope I'm wrong! Could the trailing arm have moved by chance?
 
I hope its not bent! i didnt hit anything or done anything though :(. Would the trailing arm cause the wheel to move upward some how?
 
I'm thinking if the trailing arm has "somehow" moved it could allow the strut to lean a little more and bring the perch closer to the tyre. Does the strut seem to be at an identical angle to the good side?
 
I will have to investigate! Is the trailing arm adjustable? I thought it was solid. Thanks thought! thats another thing to look into. Its my daily so i gotta figure something out.
 
No, it's fixed (there are adjustable after-market versions though). You could temporarily adjust the camber even further to move the tyre away from the perch by using an undersize high tensile bolt in the non-camber hole. (I crossed the second half the Simpson Desert and all the way back to Sydney with both rear struts bent by applying this temporary fix)
 
Check the lateral arms
 
Ordered new camber bolts and spoke to the seller of the suspension and he sent me a new strut!! :) so once that gets here, i will throw in new camber bolts and a new strut and see what happens. Will report back just incase anyone ever sees this issue in the future.
 
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Ok so my strut came in and the camber bolt as well. Took off work today to tackle the job. Got it all installed in a couple hours.

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This was the only visual difference between the two, but something just doesnt look right on the old one.

5457453712_0ec6337d17_b.jpg


So took a little spin around and everything seems back to normal!
Awesome. Thanks for all your help.
 
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