What have you done to your car today?

[Kevin]

 

[ABFoz]

You're right, @Kevin.

This is before installation and from my Pouto Point tour.

Before installation and parked on the carport:

After installation:

 

[duncanm]

My lights were flickering at idle, charge voltage looked good, but something was a bit suss.

Went down to the pull a part and grabbed another alternator with the same plug, strangely, a 2.0l impreza there had a 100A on it..

Popped it on. Seems good.

 

[daklakfoto]

Got locker installed and has a great weekend trip to test it out. Love it

 

[ratters]

Finally got stuck into my L Series touring wagon parts car ripping out the good bits, ie power windows, power mirrors, central locking, tacho dash. Spent the better part of Saturday just trying to isolate the looms for the doors! And it did also just occur to me that there is a fair chance my good car already has these looms in it because I found Subaru tend to do that, at least when it comes to fog light wiring in Foresters, I added fog lights to both my SF and SG foresters by just plugging them in and adding the switch and solenoid, no wiring required. Guess I will find out soon enough!

 

[scalman]

was driving long time without sub as Amp broke , now got tired of waiting for that amp , bought another amp ond connected all with my custom sub box ...enjoying music with lots lows again...

Got locker installed and has a great weekend trip to test it out. Love it

can we see maybe how that locker worked ?

 

[Kevin]

@scalman be careful that the rust doesn't let the sub fall out of the car!

 

[scalman]

@Kevin yes thats why i straped it extra , now all that rust just dancing there jumping

 

[jf1sf5]

Went to the rego with all the mods except the coilovers and air lift....passed ! Now I'm good for about 3 years.

 

[scalman]

proper tested it

VDC works best with 180kw i think. now this car becomes very capable as VDC doesnt kill engine as it did with 2.5 engine. lots potential just need some lift , and figure those bumpers
as much as i saw even 3.6 outbacks with CVT have problems with VDC killing engine off. so will test later more but as of now its beast.

 

[ABFoz]

Not my car but my brother's BP5 - We replaced the front lower control arm - lower inner front and rear bushes, as well as the sway bar bushes using Energy Suspension components from the US.

There is definitely an increase in NVH but we already knew that before installation. The smooth-riding Legacy now rides like my mother's GG9. When asked about whether or not he would recommend it, he said that he is on the fence about it. He might just recommend sticking to OEM. The handling, of course, has improved significantly.

We don't have the details of the Durometer rating of these but I assume that they are 80A. Cheers.

 

[Kevin]

@ABFoz how difficult was it to replace the control arm bushes?

 

[ABFoz]

For me, the tightness of the working space is the biggest limiting factor for such replacements, especially with cars. There is a huge difference between removing the control arm lying down on one's back and doing it while standing on one's work boots while the vehicle is on a hoist.

Regarding the removal of the bushes themselves, the rear bush can be removed by a ball joint installation screw-type tool but the front ones are too small for the included hardware, so we just decided to get those pressed out at a suspension shop. The rear bush must be installed by the mentioned tool or using a shop press (recommended). The front ones can just be pushed in by hand and since the exposed polyurethane flanges are oversized, they will have to be rubber-malleted to fit to the cross member.

It may actually be much more cost-effective and more efficient to have it done at a decent shop because of the mentioned issues. It took us 5 hours including travel time to the suspension shop. A decent shop can do it in 1.5 to 2 hours max. Cheers.

 

[scalman]

mud flaps in front. have rear ones too.

 

[Lockheed]

For me, the tightness of the working space is the biggest limiting factor for such replacements, especially with cars. There is a huge difference between removing the control arm lying down on one's back and doing it while standing on one's work boots while the vehicle is on a hoist.

Regarding the removal of the bushes themselves, the rear bush can be removed by a ball joint installation screw-type tool but the front ones are too small for the included hardware, so we just decided to get those pressed out at a suspension shop. The rear bush must be installed by the mentioned tool or using a shop press (recommended). The front ones can just be pushed in by hand and since the exposed polyurethane flanges are oversized, they will have to be rubber-malleted to fit to the cross member.

It may actually be much more cost-effective and more efficient to have it done at a decent shop because of the mentioned issues. It took us 5 hours including travel time to the suspension shop. A decent shop can do it in 1.5 to 2 hours max. Cheers.

I agree lying on your back on your drive way getting crap in your eyes , ears and other orifices is no fun and there limits to what you can do at home unless of course you have all the kit .
Yes most of us can do the job...…. eventually but it pays me to work in my job and to pay a specialist do theirs in half the time.
And then say" aww I wouldn't have done it like that"

 

[ABFoz]

I say that, as well, sometimes, haha. Usually suspension shops use standard/general torque settings for the components to keep cars rolling in and out of their shop. The good thing about DIY is that, with the service manual, the torque settings can be as factory as possible like what we did with the BP5.

Still, the shops can do the servicing of the suspension components much more quickly and efficiently (hopefully) and I would recommend a good shop over DIY due to health and safety and concerns regarding contingencies if, something gets stuck. Cheers.

 

[El_Freddo]

With DIY ohs issues are first and foremost! I don’t want to injure myself or anyone else!

I find that DIY is very satisfying, even if frustrating at times. Plus my time doesn’t have a price on it like tradies have, and I know what’s been done and how.

With my sister’s Gen3 Liberty, dad and I did all suspension bushes and new front struts in about a day and a half. We did one rear side first, then the second in half the time! Front was easy in comparison.

Recently with the same Liberty I completed:
- new valve stem seals
- valve lapping
- new HGs (MLS)
- new oil seals all round
- cam belt kit
- new spigot bearing
- replacement gearbox*
- new steering boots
- CV shaft boot replaced**
- new front bearings (DIY’d - press IS A MUST!)

This took me much longer than I’d hoped, namely due to family commitments and personal sickness/illness, and add on chasing new issues!

* the replacement gearbox was pulled out and stripped down due to a dead centre diff and a wobble in the front left. I though it might be a diff bearing. So centre diff was swapped with the dead gearbox as we knew it was good. Diff bearings replaced and the gearbox copped new seals except for the low range lever and input shaft seal. Gearbox works a treat but still had that wobble.

** CV boot was replaced. This was the RHs shaft, it was swapped to LHS to help find the wobble under load issue. No change. The new wheel bearing helped, oddly enough. Still not the issue. Once I “interrogated” the drive shafts further, the one that I replaced the boot on displayed loads of play.
I got a second hand shaft and wanted to replace the inner boot, same one I replaced. I didn’t want to buy a new boot so went to pull the new boot off the old shaft. I found one of the rings that sits on those tri-ball things in the end of the CV cup, not where it should be. I put this back on, sealed the boot with a steel cable tie from Jaycar (the bomb!) and no more vibration! Yay!

I also got a mad Genome STi muffler, coupled with a stock exhaust centre, it not only sounds WRX like (or better) but it also bolted straight on! Stoked!

Now it’s gone back to my sister, who I think has fallen in love with her car again. I’m going to miss that note until I hear her roll into the driveway with Basil again.

Now to do some work on Ruby Scoo, then begin work for a RWC on a new to us SG forester.

Cheers

Bennie

 

[ABFoz]

Yup, there is that sweet-sweet feeling of victory with a completed DIY service. One is sure that the tasks are by-the-book and not half-baked. In fact, I think that is the most appealing part of DIY. Our garage, though, is rather tight so any servicing must be done ASAP to free up space.

I, too, take care of the car of my baby sister, as well as my mother's. My sister's partner is a car guy with an Impreza GT but he is not into DIY. I think she even knows how to wrench more than her partner!

 

[El_Freddo]

Yup, there is that sweet-sweet feeling of victory with a completed DIY service. One is sure that the tasks are by-the-book and not half-baked. In fact, I think that is the most appealing part of DIY. Our garage, though, is rather tight so any servicing must be done ASAP to free up space.

I did have space to fit my brumby in for a windscreen replacement (pro job since school was paying for it), I managed a dashboard conversion. Room to open doors was super tight and it wasn’t fun!

Now all I have is room to put an engine on a stand, a small space to move around in and a relatively small work bench to use. I need time to clean up the gearbox pieces and organise my shed since moving into this house back over Easter... I’ll get there. I can’t complain, at least I have a space to do some work in.

But as always, I would like a bigger shed to store my cars in and save them from the weather!

Cheers

Bennie

 

[ratters]

Ain't that the truth @El_Freddo !

I just suffered through 2 years of only having a poky and cluttered car port. This year I got my 6x8m shed up and it's the best space I've had in my life but I still wish I negotiated a bit harder with the missus on a bigger one!