WARNING TO ALL NEWAGE OWNERS. Front subframe removal
 

After reading many threads on here about removing the front lower subframe (the U shaped bit) due to corrosion etc and it being ok to go through MOT...

well, mine just failed on on not having it fitted!

luckily i have not thrown it away so going to drop it of to the garage tomoz to see if they can weld it back up and refit it for retest on tuesday!

Mine passed today without it. Though the old tester wanted to fail the car for the noisy exhaust.

really! i did say that i didnt think it was a failure but the guy who mot'd it said he is an ex subaru tech!

so i guess he knows it should be there!

next question, will standard 4-pot brake hoses fit the sti brembo calliper?

Like all things Subaru there are 50% of those in the Scoob world who say it should be there and 50% who say it doesn't have to be.

Scoobyclinic removed mine and they told me at the time they do it on most of the cars that are having a diet. A few tuners working on Billy have looked aghast when they've gone under the car. 1 Scoob specialist in particular was extremely worried.

fair enough if you can get away with it then. unfortunately i cant lol

i think it should be an easy repair so ill refit it.

was supposed to be selling it saturday too! fooking typical!

Weld it? It's bolted on. Secondly 4 pot brake lines will fit brembo 4 pots off the sti :thumb:

well, its not bolted on at the mo. ill drop it off there tomoz and see if they can repair it etc.

thanks for the news on the brakes hoses, saves me manically trying to buy some more!

Removing subframe !!!!!!

That sounds very dodgy to me, Subaru don't spend money on bits of steel that are not needed.

Must affect stiffness.

It's not the actual subframe it's a brace to improve front crash ratings marginally, weighs nearly 15kgs and the lightweight jdm spec c didn't have one from the factory ( dependent on year I believe )

spec c doesnt have one but its part of the crash structure but many remove it with no issues

I still don't know the purpose of the large metal boot bracket in the WRX boot that the boot-light was attached to.

My mechanic told me that mine was looking very rusty and should consider removing it (like his) rather that fail an mot. However as his assistant mentioned that it can't be seen when all the plastics are fitted I just left it and it passed. Will probably need removed next time though.

I assume it's worth mentioning to insurance company if removed ?

Tell him I said he's a cnut, and you don't need it all its for is noise/vibration reduction in the cabin.

It's not crash protection although it should offer a little in the event of a crash.

As mentioned by the fat bloke that's not actually fat, the spec c does not have one.:thumb:

I don't know, Impreza's and Fudgey really don't mix do they! :D

As stated there are many threads about this
For those who don't know it's main purpose & what it was designed for is to be vibration ( shock ) cradle to dampen engine to chassis vibration ..

MOT engineers say it has to be replaced, if it has been welded they will fail it.
I tried cropping off the bad bit on mine and it was failed again, spent 40 quid on a cleaned and painted unmarked replacement instead.

Good old MOT testers eh!

No spare wheel in the boot = Pass

flat/worn out spare in the boot = Fail :wonder:

Bugger I just took mine off..

Mine has passed fine for the past few years without it fitted. It must have been a special MOT tester to have picked up on that:eek:

Yeah , how the hell did he even know ? Was it the empty bolt holes ? If so I think I'll remove the part but put the bolts back in !:D

Just take it somewhere else.
Preferably somewhere where a so called ex Subaru tech aint testing it.

Where did u get the replacement ?

And thats not even part of the test. All is required of the spare is that if its fitted under the car it needs to be secure. Nothing more.

Mine always passes wirhout the u frame.
This tester is just being a nob.

The mot rules are rubbish anyway.
For instance
If you have the tinyest pin hole from corrosion within 30cm of say a seat belt anchor. Thats a fail.
If its a man made hole. i.e. I drill a hole say 15mm. Than thats ok. It passes.
Little tip there if you have a tiny hole. Dril it out and stick a rubber gromet in it.

Its off being welded right now so i can refit it later and try and get a pass tomorrow!

If it comes to it, where can you get replacement ones?

What exactly does the failure sheet say?

Im interested coz im a tester

if he was subaru tech then he would know that the spec c comes from factory without it and passes an mot.
Its not structural to the chassis, if its not there it cant fall off because of corrosion and cant be classed as dangerous bodywork.

The man is a mug, take it somwhere else.

Wouldn't it come under the same rules as the cat , if it was fitted to the car at manufacture it has to be there for the test (if u get my drift) ?

Just saying its not on a different model of Subaru doesn't sound that great TBF.

No nothing like that in the mot book. Im going to check on the vsi tommorow to see if its shown as structual

if it had no cat it would fail emissions test so not really

Ive not long finished putting it back on all welded lol, had a beer a shower and now in bed...

It said something along the lines of "missing ! Front subframe" and summut else, they also printed off a paragraph about removing/modifing the suspension?!?
Ill type it up tomoz in full when i have the sheet infront of me.

It also failed on 3 of the indicator bulbs not being orange enough as the paint had started to come off. The new ones i have now fitted are a lot orangier tho lol