suspension & other upgrades for Indian Forester

coldkannon

Forum Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Messages
7
Hey all!

Sorry if this isn't in the right forum, but this is about a few things and I'm a newbie :)

So I'm one of those rare Fozzie owners in India - a '03 model 2.0X (SG5). Chevrolet (GM) sold re-badged Foresters for a few years, before pulling it out because most people down here had no clue what a Fozzie was and could do!!

So my problem is this: Basically, Subaru is not present in India. So I have to import all the parts, which is a huge hassle.

Right now, I need to get my suspension and clutch fixed up. The SLS dampers at the back are leaking and need to be replaced, and the cost of importing the originals is really high.

Indian roads suck, and I'm a climber and photog, with a lot of gear, and do lots of long drives into the backcountry. So my garage expert suggested I go another route - getting competition-level dampers from a company he regularly sources from, Black Art Designs in the UK.

The price is nearly the same as getting the regular spares from Subaru, and I do have a longer term hopes of dropping an STi engine in her one day, and doing a few rally / raids.

The BAD custom dampers with Eibach springs won't be SLS, but they should be fixable in the long run (so I won't have to go through the same thing all over again in the next 80K klicks).

Any opinions, people?

Apart from this, I also need to get a clutch replacement. Possibly brakes as well, including rotors. Any affordable suggestions for those? Something moderately heavy-duty for long mountain drives and off-road work would be great.

Thanks!!

- AP
 
G'day coldkannon & :welcome: to ORS.

Sorry that I can't help re the best places to source/import parts for you're Forry. I'm sure someone on here will pop in & be able to help out though.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
It will come down to how much do you want to pay? There are some good suspension people in Australia- Murray Coote, Heasemans really know their stuff. But they won't be cheap. there are lots of coil overs on the market which are rubbish. Good stuff costs big$$$ and so then you may want to consider normal struts with better springs? Which brings us back to how much do you want to spend?
 
Howdy and :welcome:coldkannon!!!

Look up Greentreefrog here on the forum, he is a supporting vendor and should be able to help you out with any OEM parts.:ebiggrin:
 
Wow! Thanks y'all for the warm welcome!

@d_generate: Thanks for the links! I'll just check them out. Have you ordered from japanparts.com? And yes, I am (North) Indian, though I've spent some years outside :)

@Rally: Well, I'm not sure to be honest. Right now it's looking like I'm going to have to spend at least US$2000 - $3000 to start off, on the dampers, suspension bushes and bearings, and clutch replacement.

I checked with Subaru dealers in nearby countries (Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand..) and prices are for those SLS dampers are ridiculously high. I do want reasonable, high quality replacements. So what do you think I should do?

@carljwnc: Thanks! I'll indeed look him up.

I guess I'll spend what I have to, but take it slow over a little time. Like I said, my end goal is to have an awesome mountain road trip machine, which could also do local rallies. I love this car and don't think there's anything better for what I do, on Indian roads!

Eventually, I'd love to get an affordable, complete STi motor, wiring harness, ECU and tranny, to replace this lame 2.0 non-aspirated engine :) :)
 
G'Day & Welcome

Here's an idea - the shop that works on the suspension for my & other cars from here made up custom struts for me that have Koni inserts (damper adjustable). This means if a shock absorber fails, just the Koni insert needs to be replaced instead of the whole strut body. I believe they used the struts from a '99 liberty / legacy as they have thicker walls. This is done in conjunction with raised King springs.

The shop is https://www.wholesalesuspension.com.au/

There is a thread here:https://www.offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?t=953
 
I wouldn't worry about your replacements being sls. They were original equipment on my 05 Outback and I had to replace them with non-sls when fitting 1" longer Kingsprings. The new ones are fine. Yep 'original' replacements are are a ridiculous price!
 
The problem with struts is that they probably cause freight issues and thus add to the cost. The cost of labour will take up a fair bit of your budget as well. We probably have everything that you need here- trouble is the price and the dramas getting it to you
 
coldcannon, no I have not personally bought from Japan Parts but a lot of guys on the WRX forum I'm on do and they are very reliable and have a great name.
 
Hey guys,

So, these are the adjustable, custom-made dampers which are one option for me:
https://www.blackartdesigns.com/

Being custom-made, with the whole set up being repairable rather than replaced, I'm guessing it's similar to the shop you're talking about, Kevin. But I'll check again with the guy here. I'm just wondering how B.A.D's inserts compare to Koni...

Yeah Rally, with freight, customs etc. adding to the total cost, and the real headache of running around to get the parts shipped here, going with the available option here is sounding good. The garage here (Performance Auto) obviously has a regular line to this shop in the UK, so it saves me the trouble of doing it myself. And if SLS to non-SLS is no big deal, this sounds like a good route (except for the overall expense, which is pretty high).

By the way, any suggestions on aftermarket clutches, or is the stock one the best at its price point? (about US$ 400 for me here, I think)
 
I've never heard of B.A.D. As always, it comes back to the $$$ situation. With high spec competition stuff you'd expect to see adjustment for low and high speed in both bump and rebound. Totally unnecessary for the street, of course but having some adjustment for the street- or the ability to adjust between street and competition use- is ok but it will always be a compromise. Getting ri of the SLS is no bad thing.
 
So, another chat with the garage, and more new things to learn / ask you guys about! What exactly are coilovers? Are they good for offroading? If I understood right, he was offering B.A.D coilovers with Eibach springs, for about $2500 (all four).
 
Thanks Kevin. I'd read the wikipedia link; but what I still don't get is - what makes coilovers better than regular struts?

Regarding these - from what I understood, these were going to be at least stock height, maybe adjustable to being higher. I'm going to confirm that tomorrow.
 
G'day ColdKannon,

Sounds like you're on to a good thing with your re-badged foz!

Are you just wanting to repair your foz back to a usable condition without having to do it all again in 18 months time? Are you after some lift to help you get to more remote places or is the stock height suspension adequate for what you're after?

I only ask as there wasn't a lot of detail as to what you want to do with your foz. There are lift kits available here in Australia, but that's an add-on if you want it and can be done after you've sorted out the initial maintenance of your suspension components. It also allows you to do some research into it and to save in the mean time as well.

I'm pretty sure the usual thing that the fellas do with their foresters is replace the self levelling system with a set of non sls by means of a heavy duty spring and new KYB strut. Look into the different struts that can be used so that the spring base's hat on the strut is as high as "off the shelf" possible so that you can run a larger diametre tyre ;) The boys on here will be able to tell you more about it.

I've not got a foz, I'm still in the 80's with my little L series :D

Cheers

Bennie
 
Hey Bennie,
Well, I want to get it in better-than-usable condition, without having to go through the whole damn process again in no time. Everyday driving here is a PITA, and I can easily put in anywhere from 1000+ to 2000 km a month more with road trips.

And next year, I want to drive up to go snowboarding in Kashmir, and go exploring in Ladakh. So stock height would be fine, but a little more definitely wouldn't hurt. Also, I like to drive fast :)

I've heard that the KYBs aren't great, and also, the chatter on the forums is that King Springs get softer over time? Again, I really want a good-ish long term solution. And if there's a hassle involved of importing parts to India, then I really want to only have to do it once, without having to go through another painful process a year or two later, because I decided to skimp on cash the first time around...
 
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