Wull

Well **** me sideways.....I absolutely shat myself

I was heading to my friends with the family, a 45 mile drive or so. Within 10 miles or so I was thinking to myself "something ain't right with the steering" but I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not,or just being paranoid.

I kept saying to the missus that something was not quite right, it was a hard one to explain but the steering wasn't as sharp as it usually is, not as direct and as responsive, but there were no knocks,bangs nothing.

Then leaving Callander getting up to speed it finally went and holy mother of **** I shat it, the vibration was ridiculous and the first thought was that the wheel was about to fall off. We pulled off the road, and after inspection it was clear to see.......the lower suspension arm was completely snapped

We got recovered so the car is at my mates garage now.

Where's the best place to get a lower arm? I had a look on eurocarparts and they're £240, I'll get him to price up an arm from the motor factors but if anyone knows of good places let me know, I'm also thinking it's maybe a good time to replace some other parts but TBH I don't want to go daft with the suspension as this car will be her car next year and she won't appreciate a harsher ride.....pun intended

Cheers

JGlanzaV

iTrader: (3)

Is this not part of a recall?

Wull

When I googled for lower suspension arm I noticed something about that but I never looked into it, I'll go have a read.

96sti

What about import car parts

Wull

Is there anything I can do about this and if so, how do I go about it?

I'll have a look through all the paperwork to see if there's anything of the sort and whether the lower arms have been touched before.

Cheers

JGlanzaV

iTrader: (3)

Ring your local dealer in the morning and get it sent there and they will do t FOC

Wull

I'll need to work out where my nearest dealer is I could call Subaru uk as well I suppose.

I just noticed eurocarparts are doing 32% off everything which means they'd be £165 per lower arm.......but that sale ends tonight.

Wull

I found them on import car parts but it says they won't fit the wagons

Recovery Ray

Yea recall notice 15/1/2012, i got a letter from DVLA, stating due to corrosion bottom arm could snap.

Get in touch with Subaru UK stating its done just that whilst driving, and would like it sorted FOC.

Good to know you are all OK.

Wull

I'll phone them tomorrow morning and take it from there. I had a look through all th paperwork,receipts and mot certificates and there's nothing relating to the lower suspension arms at all.

Recovery Ray

Good luck!!, keep us posted on how you get on.

johned

Glad you and your family are ok.

Wull

Update:

I phoned Subaru UK this morning and asked for the customer service or whoever can help me with regards to a recall issue etc, I then proceeded to explain the whole situation. They told me to phone my nearest Subaru dealer and take it from there. They supplied me numbers for 2 dealers, I phoned the one in Falkirk.

They were able to tell me from the chassis number that the recall had been done (there's 1 outstanding though regarding the passenger airbag) on the 28th March 2012 but they couldn't tell me what was exactly done as it was done elsewhere.....they provided where it was done. Walkers in Cupar.

So I phoned Walkers in Cupar and sadly their warranty guy was off (back in 2morro) but the parts guy said he'd look into it. I gave him the reg number and it came back that it was done as above but it never mentioned exactly what's they did, but just the hours that was spent on it. Iirc it was 0.5hrs or similar so he was 100% confident that the arms were tested, cleaned and treated. NOT REPLACED.

So I phoned up Subaru Uk with all this information (I got the same lady again,she was lovely) and she suggested contacting Subaru UK via the website, I can't remember what it was called, but you put in all your details and exactly what's wrong Andy they give you a case number. It's a bit vague when you call Subaru Uk, there's no customer service or anything like that, I think they'd rely upon your local dealer.

I'm not sure what I can do really as it was done, but I think it's a bit dodgy when the preventative measure didn't really work and then failed on me when I had the family in the car at speed, a bit dangerous to say the least.

The lady says I should hear back within 24hrs but if not to phone Walkers again tomorrow and speak to the warranty guy, just to see what he says.

To be continued

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like yet another Subaru UK wriggle to me.

Keep them on the hook.

Wull

Another update:

I phoned Walkers garage back up and got the fella who deals with this sort of stuff and he's going to contact Subaru UK direct and see what they say and whether they'll ok it for the work to be done. I'd need to get the car trailered to them so I'm not sure if I'll need to pay for that but TBH that would be much cheaper than paying for 2 x bottom arms + labour to fit them.

But.......he reckons they'll more than likely say that because the recall was carried out and it's been at least 4 1/2 yrs since then it should've been picked up on during an MOT. Which is fair comment I suppose, plenty opportunity to spot the issue and rectify it.

It's just a shame that it wasn't spotted and someone like myself,who had no clue about the recall had to find out the hard way. I would have swapped them out ASAP if I had known about it.

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

might be worth picking some 2nd hand alloy arms up if Subaru dont cough up tbh.

Wull

Problem is getting alloy arms that fit the wagon, the saloon arms are different I believe, different arb mounts I think.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Only the external body work is different on the wagon but some of the suspension does differ eg the Bugeye STi Wagon as an example.

Cambs_Stuart

iTrader: (3)

Gutted for you, but glad you're OK, that could have been a lot worse.
Here's hoping Subaru cough up.
From what I've learnt is that for the recall in 2012 all they needed to do was inspect the arms. Only those that were knackered got replaced.
In terms of replacing them, I've been looking into swapping out the steel arms on my wagon, and from what I can work out the saloons are slightly wider than the wagons, so the newage alloy arms will only fit the wagon you also replace the ARB and drop links. I think that classic STI alloy arms are a closer fit but do need some spacers.
Like I say, I've not done the work, so I'm not 100% sure. Good luck either way.

TECHNOPUG

iTrader: (1)

Do these not fit?

http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/part...y=&searchPart=

Or is there a difference between Bug and Blob?

Cambs_Stuart

iTrader: (3)

I'm pretty sure they'll fit. Good price too.

Wull

I seen them last night and wondered the same, what confuses me is......if they do fit the blobeye why are they not listed in the blobeye section as well??

Can anyone confirm that these will fit my 2005 blob wagon? Cheers

Wull

Just off the phone to them and they'd don't fit.

Well.....they do fit, but they foul the subframe so it's a no go.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

You need the classic STI alloy arms and drop links, which are the metal ones which look like this 0--0 two knuckles welded to a bar.

Wull

It's a fookin joke, I've just had a look on eurocarparts and even though I've put in my reg the only arms they stock are the arms that fit the bugeye wagon.

So you're saying all I need to fit STI arms is the arms and drop links? What about the arb???

Cambs_Stuart

iTrader: (3)

The arms from a classic sti will fit, but I belive a spacer is needed near the rear bush. It might be a good time to replace the bushes anyway if they're the original 11 year old versions.
Where are you based? If you're in East anglia I'd recommend you speak to Tim Farmer, or Zen in Earith and get the opinion of an expert of what is the best thing to do.

Wull

I thought they were supplied with bushes? The ones I've looked at seem to have them. **** knows.

Wull

I forgot to say the fella phoned me back up from Walkers and it's a definite no go.

They said pretty much what he said.

It's been 4 1/2 years since it was treated and they'd have expected it to be picked up during one of the MOT tests.

Ah well, I can understand that TBH. It's just a pity that I knew **** all about it, it's something I would have personally swapped out if I owned the car then, it could have been dodgy, I'm glad it failed whilst going in a straight line, if it had happened on a corner then who knows.

Khandaris

To be honest.. even if it was or wasn't picked up in an MOT the result would still be the same:

Excessive corrosion, change the arm. Does it matter if it happened 1 year after or 4 years after?

If they only inspected it for the 0.5 hours they claim, why did they not rust proof it as prescribed on the government website? - I am sure there would be evidence if they did do this? - Underseal or some such?

ScottyPPP

They didn't rust proof mine when they inspected mine earlier this year. Just had a look, used some tool on them that's like a punch to check the steel is solid and that was that.