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tnx, looked at that link. I think mine is more like the left picture, I think the spring could be broke. as I can't understand why mine isn't in place and can lift up.. off, if there were no wires holding it there.
may just buy another and rob it of the parts i need.
The MeisterR Zeta-CRD Coilovers are finally fitted to the car! woo hoo!
Had a week off work last week to get some jobs done around the house and managed to steel a few hours here and there to get these fitted to the car (following lots of measuring and planning).
I've had them at their upper most setting to trial height, suspension clearances etc and they were fine and I'm currently running them as low as I dare go to get a feel for them at their lowest point. No issues at all so far I'm very pleased to report. Ride quality is excellent, I'm very impressed indeed.
Once they settle this week I'll adjust the height up a little again and get the geo set up correctly. I have my own camber gauge so they are pretty good now from my tinkerings and certainly driveable, but they will be professionally dialled in next week to complete the job.
I'll do a full install write up with lots of pics, measurements and info once all collated and ready.
definitely slammed! ok so now im thinking this meet needs to happen as i would love to see how this rides with all the go faster bits! around at the weekend?
This weekend I have another 3 year old's birthday party to go to. Lol. My life revolves around things my 2 kids are doing now.
To be honest, there is no point this weekend until I've had all the 4 wheel alignment/geometry set up again properly once the suspension is settled. Then you're more than welcome! Although you might also want to wait until it's mapped. My Impreza is running 334bhp and 381lb/ft and it's MUCH faster than the Forester. I'm hoping I can get this car to go like the Impreza too.
My Impreza is running 334bhp and 381lb/ft and it's MUCH faster than the Forester. I'm hoping I can get this car to go like the Impreza too.
No reason why not - other than the Litchfield Performance Pack, mine is standard and was putting out about 323bhp and 372lb/ft when on a rolling road a few years ago
No reason why not - other than the Litchfield Performance Pack, mine is standard and was putting out about 323bhp and 372lb/ft when on a rolling road a few years ago
Ooh, I didn't realise yours was a Litchfield you posh sod!
Yeh I'm hoping to get similar results on mine to be honest, no reason it shouldn't.
No kids for me but my friend's kids social lives are way more impressive than mine! Keep the meet in mind for when you are free. In the interests of science(more so my wallet) i will keep my car standard for as long as possible so we can compare!
Does the suspension changes make any difference to the road noise?
No kids for me but my friend's kids social lives are way more impressive than mine! Keep the meet in mind for when you are free. In the interests of science(more so my wallet) i will keep my car standard for as long as possible so we can compare!
Does the suspension changes make any difference to the road noise?
Ever so slightly yes. This is due to the front adjustable solid top mounts. They transfer more road noise than the standard rubber type strut mounts as they are just solid aluminium mounted directly onto the shock tower. The difference is quite small though and it's certainly not that bad. I'm very critical of my cars, so I notice small things. I can certainly live with this.
Otherwise riding bumps and general road noise and ride quality is the same as my previous shock setup.
You're always welcome and we'll have to arrange a proper get together soon. Besides, I want a go in Simons FSTI now I know it's a Litchfield car!
You're always welcome and we'll have to arrange a proper get together soon. Besides, I want a go in Simon's FSTI now I know it's a Litchfield car!
I'm not sure if common people are allowed to travel in a Litchfield vehicle - you probably need to be put into quarantine for a week or so before being given permission to enter such hallowed turf
We will have to arrange a meet - good photo opportunity as well
4 wheel alignment was done yesterday on the Forester. The suspension upgrades and now 100% complete on this car and I have to say I'm very pleased indeed. Has made a big difference and feels great to drive now. I'll do a full review on the MeisterR coilovers when I get some better weather to take decent pics in.
The Old pedders struts are off to their new home tomorrow!
Also had the HEL braided brake lines fitted to the car at the same time. Another good upgrade.
I've actually raised it a little since those pics were taken. I set it at max height to do some measurements, suspension & ride checks, then set it as low as I think it should ever have gone to do the same. Everything was fine in both settings, no knocks, bangs, clearance issues at all.
I have now raised it just a little and had it set up properly.
I can certainly recommend them. Driven the car every day for 2 weeks now and I genuinely very pleased with the results of the suspension change. No where near as rough or harsh as some coilovers I've had on other cars in the past.
Teins always typically have very hard spring rates and are not always suited to road cars. You'll definitely notice a big difference/improvement changing to MeisterR units.
I've had an issue with the drivers wing mirror not folding ever since I've owned the car. The previous owner said it had never worked and it was something that I wanted to get working again. Turns out this was a complete headache to resolve. The mirror unit was floppy and no amount of reset procedures would fix it or get it folding in electrically. All the mirror adjustments worked on both sides and the passenger side folded just fine.
So after LOTS of searching to try find another mirror assembly for a JDM Forester STI 2004 I was left with only a coupe of options. A complete set including wiring loom from Australia for over £200 or find another way to do it. Eventually I sourced a JDM 2004 Impreza folding mirror assembly in the same WRB colour from a UK breaker for £60. All tested and working. The mounting base is totally different on the Forester so the intention was to strip the main assembly off the base and put it onto the Forester base. Seemed simple, but not in practice. 1 of the bolts that held the assembly to the car was seized and needed drilling out and replacing, as were 2 of the bolts holding the main mirror to the mounting base.
Once the Forester mirror was removed I also realised that there were some differences in the way the 2 assemblies were wired and the looms & terminating connectors. They would not simply plug and play like I was hoping. So it turned into a FULL strip down to every last component to use the new motor, my known working angle adjustment motor, my housing, my wiring loom soldered to the new motor, my mounting base etc. I was left with a totally rebuilt mirror assembly that should simply plug into my loom and work.
Pics in progress:
Following this I bolted the new assembly to the door, plugged it in, crossed all my fingers and watched as it did nothing at all. This was traced to a blown fuse which was replaced only to find that the new mirror also didn't fold. The car had developed a 2nd fault now and neither drivers or passenger mirror would adjust down or out. Up and in were fine, but simply no down or out. Coupled with the fact that if the side to side rocker switch was in the wrong position it now blew the same fuse if I pressed the fold button.
The original assembly was tested to find that there was nothing at all wrong with the motor, which now worked perfectly folding and un-folding. grrr. I also bench tested the new mirror assembly to find everything perfect. More grr. After much hunting for wiring diagrams I could not find a relay that could be to blame for causing this or blowing fuses. The only other component could have been the switch itself. So I ordered one of these from flippin Australia at £32 which still hasn't been delivered yet.
This weekend I removed the old switch and found a couple of dry solder joints, some circuit corrosion (only minor) and a few other minor issues when that too was stripped down to it's bare components and rebuilt. The old switch is now like new again so I plugged this into the car which showed absolutely no improvements at all. Very annoying.
Last night I had an opportunity to start fault finding the wiring loom in the drivers door. I am very pleased to say I have now located the issue. A complete and massive failure of the wiring loom assembly on the drivers door. At some point it had been disturbed by a previous owner and then become caught on the door stay (open limiter) mechanism. This had torn the insulation further, ripped wires, crushed other wires and had caused a total mess. Wires were shorting in a ball of molten metal wire with insulation removed all over the place.
I had to remove the complete drivers door and most of it's internals to free the wiring loom from the car. I even found a bodge just to one side of the main door connector with wires twisted together. Once the loom was out I had to put the door & car back together again so I could use the car this morning to take the kids to nursery!
Pics of the damage.
Nearly 2 hours of soldering, reconstructing and sleeving it all it's now looking like new again thankfully ready for installing back into the car.
Doubt I'll get a chance to get this back into the car before next week, but fingers crossed this sorts everything out once and for all. I'm £92 down on parts I didn't need but still very pleased now.
thats the only downside to having an sti, sourcing some oem replacement parts can be tricky and/or expensive. 20quid on ebay for a spare mirror for my octavia runabout! Top work though, fingers crossed it all works!
Yes, the exhaust is a specific forester exhaust as the hangers and some subtle things are different. Some parts are interchangeable though as I'm just about to fit an Impreza Prodrive sports cat downpipe to the Forester, but not sure yet if I need to fit an Impreza centre pip or retain my H&S Forester centre pipe. Will find out soon.
And I'm thankful that he didn't just pop round and nick mine instead...
The thought had crossed my mind!
My new wing mirror switch finally arrived from it's round the world trip today. I've just plugged it in and I'm really pleased to say that everything now works as the Subaru Gods had intended. Both mirrors adjust again and both fold perfectly!
Huge job in the end but really pleased it's all fixed and working fine.
Now I have to get my auto-folding mirror box of tricks wired in and working so the mirrors auto fold when the car is locked.
So today I have booked the Forester in to have the Prodrive sports cat downpipe including 2nd decat pipe fitted at Pole Position. I've also booked it in at the same time to have a full remap with Andrew Carr whilst it's there! Finally!
Only need to fit my new Walbro fuel pump and 3 port now before the end of August.
14 June 2016, 07:27 AM
