Rear Suspension Suggestions....
 

Hi all,


2007 STi with standard all round suspension, 52k miles.


Well, the usual rear knocking has got a lot worse recently, and there is now a few mm play on the NSR strut. Time to change them.


First question, can I change just the rear struts / springs? (as the fronts are fine)


Secondly, what set up to go for? Road car only. I already have front and rear Whiteline ARB's, and Prodrive geo settings.


I hear very mixed opinions ref BC coilies.


I'm after something good quality and long lasting, not too crashy or too harsh. Bilsteins perhaps? I'd like to spend a max of around £800 inc fitting / VAT.




Thanks in advance....

£100 off this kyb inverted rear pair:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Imp...item56772dc5fb

Or change to twin-tube rear dampers, but you'll need a bump stop kit as well:

kyb 910046 rear bump stop/dust boot kit
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KYB-Rear-D...item462fc1e1f0

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KYB-Rear-R...item28045d7584

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-KYB-UL...item5b1376f68b

I echo this.

OP, I Had the rear knocking on my hawk sti, no doubt the same as yours. Bought a set of the inverted KYB's, from that same company. They arrived within 2 days, well packaged too. They're being fitted next week :-)

I have this exact same problem. Despite having RCM "fix" the problem at considerable cost it can back twice in four months and I'd done about 2,000 miles so whatever you do don't get them regreased.
I went onto the RB320 owners club website and managed to get a second hand set of the Prodrive dampers which are at Bilstein now getting the third bearing rework. Paired these with some brand new Prodrive springs and ARB from eBay and I'll have a full RB320 setup.
There were two sets of dampers for sale when I bought mine. There might still be a pair of you're lucky.
I wouldn't get BC. I can't see how they can be better than most "proper" companies.

Have you still got an old front strut you don't want?
I'd like to do a koni insert conversion, with pics, so others might feel more confident to go that route.

At the moment they're still on the car as the replacements are at Bilstein.
If I'm honest I was hoping to sell all four together or at least in pairs. If you were to take the front pair then that would be OK. They'll be off at the end of October if that helps you.
Strangely the rears haven't knocked in over three months now. I don't know if the new grease has worked itself into place now.

Would these replacement KYB front and rear shocks be ok with TEIN lowering springs?

My 2005 is knocking quite bad to looking to replace but tempted to lower slightly whilst I'm at it.

There's only one STI spring set worth investigating:
PCA dynamics
http://pcadynamics.com/
Based on the prodrive rb320 front spring
And the prodrive S05/D5/001 rear spring

Assuming your not wide-track? Then:

Inverted struts:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KYB-Front-...item234d3374db

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KYB-Front-...item567220cbf6

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Imp...item56772dc5fb

If you want to change to twin-tube design? Because of the knocking associated with inverted dampers, then use:
kyb 324030
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KYB-Rear-R...item28045d7584
kyb 324031
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-KYB-UL...item5b1376f68b
kyb 324032
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KYB-Front-...item56703756a5
kyb 324033
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KYB-Front-...item43d667a2f8

Bump stops for the twin-tubes would be:

front - febi 27848
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FEBI-27848...item43d0985a8e
OR
front - optimal f8-7662
http://www.spring-loaded.co.uk/prodd...ngle~-~F8-7662

Use dome side up, with existing dust boots
If you need new front dust boots:
http://febest.eu/FRONT_SHOCK_ABSORBER_BOOT/SBSHB-B10F

rear - kyb 910046 - bump stops and dust boots.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rear-Prote...item5424e83277

Very detailed thank you, I have spoken with the guy from PCA but they were costly and everyone else says TEIN are just as good.

Widetrack is with DCCD isnt it? My PCD is 114.3 if that makes a difference?

Fitting TEIN lowering Springs will have the car squashing the front bumpstops.
If you want a slightly lower ride height and improved road holding get the pca Spring and bumpstop package.
If not keep the original springs.

Once fitted your enjoy the Bilstein's, I've been running them for a fair few months now and they have been fantastic. Just make sure you get a good geo done for them to perform at there best.
Did you get the Prodrive/ebaich springs with them?

Heed these words!

I'm no expert, but I believe widetracks were available without DCCD.
I think DCCD was optional in some EU markets - Malta?

If you've got a widetrack? Then the front struts are only available via Subaru.
However, you can put Koni damper inserts into the widetrack strut housings.

Koni 8610-1351s

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/perfor...justable-front

OP, take a look at my project thread.....

https://www.scoobynet.com/projects-4...l#post11747130

Had the shocks fitted today. Perfect fitment, knocking has stopped.

Very nice indeed Peedee. Any noticeable difference in the ride, like softer or more comfortable....or exactly the same?

It feels exactly the same in all honesty mate. I'm no expert in such matters, but to me it feels no different......minus the annoying clunks :luxhello:

Glad you like them. I got some brand new RB320 springs earlier in the year which are currently fitted. So when I get the RB320 shocks back I'm fitting them with the RB320 ARB I managed to find. Going to get the Prodrive geo done.
Got to say that Bilstein have been far more easy to deal with and honest than RCM. And cheaper. Far far cheaper.

Same set up as me then, Prodrive Geo will be fine but there's room for improvement. I spent a bit of time with Peter Cambridge who helped develop the Bilstein/Prodrive suspenstion on the rb320.

Prodrive setting are
Front camber 1.15
Front toe 0.03 total 0.06
Rear camber 1.30
Rear toe 0.03 total 0.06

He put a more driver focused set up on the car, this really helps neutralise the car making the rear more adjustable and reducing understeer even further.

Basically he increased front camber, reduced the rear and we then added the rear bar.

The setting were
Front camber 1.30
Front toe 0.03 total 0.06
Rear camber 0.59
Rear toe 0.03 total 0.06

The Prodrive Bilstein's and the above geo with the Rear bar set to the softer road setting really is a well sorted fast road set up,

With the rear bar on the stiffer track setting, the car is firmer over bumps on the road, The front end feels more direct and eager to turn.

Not sure if you have already but one thing that also helped improve the steering feel was adding extra caster.
Plenty of ways of doing this but I used the anti lift kit.

Another thing I was told by Peter was if your using the 17'' widetrack wheels make sure you use a tyre with a stiff sidewall, this was evident to me when I moved from Goodyear f1 assy2 to Ad08r, massive improvement in feel responsiveness and stability in corners.

Haven't had anything done yet. Booked in next week but the rear passenger toe bolt is seized so I need a new one. I've got 18 inch OZ ultralagerras on mine with the same tyres as you.
Think I'll go with the standard settings as I don't want too much camber and wear the tyres out.
Do you usually run the arb in road or track setup?

My tyres are getting changed tomorrow. And the wear is completely even across the width of the tyre,
1.30 is not a big camber angle, the stock rear setting is 1.30.
And the rear camber on my set up has been reduced by half a degree.
I run the roll bar on the softer road setting, it's a nice improvement over the standard bar helping turn in without being harsh. Like I mentioned above the stiffer setting does make the ride slightly firmer over bump and potholes. But you do get a even more sharper steering response.