Hi all my rear struts are knocking really bad and rather than replace oe i was thinking of some thing else any suggestions. the car is an 04 sti. I dont really need anything to fancy and dont want to upset the passanger comfort to much !!! thanks

stew

 

anyone.

 

I have an 04 plate sti and have suffered the same problem, there are ways on here to regrease the struts, this involves taking them off, and apart and regrease, refit and hope for the best, some people say it lasts and others will disagree. I decided in the end to have them replaced at a local garage at the cost of about £300. I didn't fancie going to the trouble of taking them all apart for them to start knocking again.

i hope this helps you a little bit

 

Same happened to me with my 05 sti! I have replaced with tein monoflex coilovers two weeks ago which are too hard even on the softest setting for me!

 

There are links on here somewhere about how its a warranty issue. A lot of newage cars suffered with it and a few people got them replaced free.
Hammer the search function and see what you can find. Or call around a few dealers and ask them about it, Some denied it being a problem and some didnt but as a last resort google might be able to guide you.
Worth looking into before you pay out.
This might help for a start
04 STI rear struts?!? - ClubWRX Forum - Subaru Impreza WRX and STi Community and Forums

 

Long term problem on 03 - 06 cars I am afraid. Mine were replaced under warranty twice and the third time the car was out of warranty so I put some third party ones on.

Search on here as there are loads of threads on the subject.

Frankly Subaru should be ashamed of themselves for the fact that the problem persisted for so many years. Mind you comapred to the other trouble I had with my 03 car that was the least of my problems.

Back in a reliable classic now.

 

Not just 03-06, Bugeyes too.

My 02 STi had knocking shocks too, 6 or 7 all day visits to the main dealer and they still knocked, I was forced to sell the car in the end.

Learn from this, in future if you must buy a Subaru then get an import as the UK warranty aint worth the paper it's written on.

Don't waste money on OEM, they'll go exactly the same way.

 

Bug eyes and blob eyes suffered this fate.... it has something to do with the Hub not sitting directly below the top mount so the suspension has to work on an Arc as apposed to just going straight up and down, this causes more stress on the shock and eventually kills them.

it doesn't matter what shocks you replace them with it will happen again and again !

I have AST coilovers on mine and they last 15000 miles before they had to be rebuilt.

AST coilvers are very good if you are going to be replacing your OE ones, also there isa group buy on here for BC coilovers, I have have read good things about them on the likes of NAIOC