Discover

Hi
I've only just bought this car, travelled a good few hundred miles to get it. The drive home was fine, didn't notice any rattles or knocking etc and now the car is home, I'm getting a terrible "knocking" sound from the suspension. Can't tell if its front or back but sounds like its coming from the back.
Had the car on the ramp for an exhaust change (first mod) and whilst on ramp I noticed there is quiet a bit of rust underneath (nothing too bad or rotten etc) but the worst part of the rust is actually on the suspension itself, both front and rears.
I would like to change the whole suspension but on a very tight budget.
I'm wanting to stick on some 18's so would like car to sit an inch or so lower compared to OEM height on the 17's.
what do you guys recommend and can this be solved for under £300?

Russwrxsl

I had prodrive springs on my hawk wrx & they dropped it just enough to suit 18's. I guess you could look for some second hand parts to replace yours with, but it could turn out to be a false economy. I'd save a little longer & get something new personally.

Russell38

Can't see you doing it for 300 pound. Front and rear kyb excel g shocks with some tein springs can be done for under 500 pound

Discover

Thanks.
where can I get the KYB shocks and springs for under 500?
I've seen them.on scoobyworld but they're about 450 for both front and rear shocks? Price of springs on top plus labour?

Russell38

get the part numbers of kyb website and search ebay they seem to be the cheapest place also autodoc sell them,

hackisfun

you wont do it for your budget. you looking £150-250 in labour depending on how easily the suspension comes apart and mechanic dependant. Also once replaced you would have the alignment and camber set which would add a further £50-£100. Then some consumables might need replaced like mounts/droplinks etc.

Scrap your 18 wheel idea until your happy with the suspension then change the wheels when your budget allows.

realistically your looking at about £1000 as a safe budget to do it well.

ST-X

If you're capable of doing things yourself then you could do something worthwhile for £500. But if you're paying to have it done then you just won't. You'd be better off sourcing the knock and fixing that (probably a bush or droplink), and then leave the rest until you can afford to do it properly. Surface rust on the struts really isn't anything to be concerned over.

Discover

Thanks this is great advice.Hope I’m not opening a can of worms here lol but how reliable are kwik fit? Theres one around the corner from me and I noticed they are offering a “free suspension check” so took it down today and they got it up on the ramp.The lad had what a crow bar looking object and started to check for play and surprisingly he said everything seems good. Balljoints etc all seem good, however on front passenger side there was a tear in the CV boot. He advised me to have it replaced asap. Would that tear in the cv boot cause like a grinding/rubbing noise when steering right? I noticed this recently but only happens when steering right. Almost sounds like brake pads or discs rubbing against something. Checked the mudflaps bracket and they are fine, definitely not touching anywhere.
with that said, its probably the rear shocks??

Russell38

It will be the rear inverted shocks they are well known to fail and cause knocking that's why I said about the kyb excel g they are a twin tubed design

Discover

Can I get just the rears and leave the fronts as they are (oem) ?
also car is lowered slightly on apex springs.

Russell38

you can but if it was me I would rather do all 4 as it could have an affect on handling if the rears are new and the fronts past there best

hackisfun

if your hawkeye is widetrack 5*114.4 then there is no direct replacement front struts. replacement OEM will cost u £400+ per corner.

You can fit koni inserts in them but its quite a bit of work and the inserts alone are around £300. Apex springs are pretty low end and crap wouldn't have them near any car. Tein, H&R and eiback are highly rated springs. 2Pot can supply very good custom springs but those alone and bump stops are your £300 budget alone.

id honestly just put up with the knocking until your budget allows a proper fix. You could also look at 2nd had struts that aren't knocking, but then again you could get 500miles or 10000miles before the same issue reoccurs

Discover

Yup agreed.
Mines a standard wrx so pcd is 5x100.
I wish I was in a position to buy both fronts and rears but unfortunately not. Might just have to live with the knocking as mentioned.
Any more info on this grinding/rubbing noise? could it be the torn cv boot?? strange that only happens when steering right.

hackisfun

I've had that issue on previous cars, the most commonly overlooked issue in the brake disk dust guards.they are very thin mild steel and fall apart over time .

Get wheel off and have a look pop a big Philips screwdriver in between it and roto to free up space.

ST-X

If your boot's gone on the driveshaft then it could well be the joint that's dried out, particularly if it's been like that for a while.

Discover

thanks again for the support, much appreciated
Yeah the guard behind the brake discs look very corroded pretty bad, can these be replaced or even taken off?
I'll get them to check that whilst I'm having the cv boot done tomorrow.

hackisfun

I can't say from a Subaru side of things, they can be replaced but can be hard to source. I tried to source one on my old 2l Hyundai coupe and was the guts of 100 quid.

rip it off if it's causing the Issue u might just notice more brake pad dust settling on the wheels.

Discover

Hope I'm not opening a can of worms here but what's wrong with the cheap coilovers on ebay?
I've seen a set with adjustable height and dampening with pillowball topmounts for only £179? This would replace my entire suspension, would it not be worth a punt at 179?
I'm not using my car on a track, its just for daily use. Anyone had any luck with these? At work so won't let me post the ebay link, though i'll post it later when I'm at home.
Can't help but think, even if they are noway near as the premium stuff around £750+, even if they last 8 months to a year surely for the price you can't go wrong?

hackisfun

Made from cheap materials and pretty much zero quality checks.hit one pot hole and they can fall apart. More labour costs and more parts bills

If u went to a dealer for replacement front and rear with springs then fitting your talking easily 2k.

under £1000 is budget. U can get coilovers costing 5k+

under £500 = cheap coilovers
under £1000 = budget
under £2000 = good
under £5000 = excellent
over £5000 = rally and full track focus.

Just remember your considering buying a set of coilovers that cost less than the majority of lowering springs. H&r , eibach, tein.

Discover

thanks, yeah I did wonder the quality may be questionable but its just the price that's really tempting. I can't afford much at the mo that's why trying to do it on the cheap if possible.
my suspension is knocking like crazy and just taking the fun out of driving the car really.

ST-X

Basically, at that price you'll find (but not limited to):
- No corrosion resistance
- Cheap bearings in the topmounts which will transfer all vibration to the cabin and quickly become noisy and clunky.
- Cheap materials throughout, including springs that quickly fail and/or rust etc
- No damping control so that you get less traction and control

There's a reason that these are cheaper than a single KYB monotube strut, or less than a pair of OEM front top mounts. What you have on the car is better than anything you're going to get sub £500, if not £1000. I did have BC BR's on mine and even they were awful as they just don't have the damping control or travel. All the sub £500 coilovers are good for is sitting in the local McDonald's car park.

If I were you I'd try to find the source of the clunk because it could be ARB bushes, end links, top mounts or the struts. If it's the struts then the cheapest way to sort the clunk is to find a set of struts from another car. Sure, it's not the best way to do it but if it's the rears then it's a 1hr a side job, max, seeing as you're doing it in a wagon (the saloon needs the rear interior out to get at the strut tops). But you should be able to pick up a pair for fifty quid and would be my preference if I couldn't afford to replace all the struts with new.

Discover

Hi thanks for the support.
Problem I've got is, only a few small independent garages near me who will charge me around £50 or more just to have a look at the car. I've been to one already who had a look and could not not find the fault he said "with things like this its hard to tell exactly, it's an old car so could be anything" lol
don't have money to burn as I know the next garage I take it to, will more than likely say the exact same thing. On that note, is there any specialist/mechanics around the west Yorkshire area closer to Leeds/Huddersfield/Bradford area where I can take it to who will find the fault?

stockcar

Richard Henry's in Bradford (i think) always seem to get good reviews.............

Discover

Cool thanks, I'll give them a bell and find out how much they'll charge to diagnose

Discover

Just thought I would update this thread for anyone reading, may be useful for someone else in the future.

Had the car booked in at subaru specialist for diagnostics. I was told the entire suspension and bushes etc are all fine and there is no play which is great news I guess, so I asked why I can hear knocking sounds. Apparently the front OS brake pads were not installed correctly by my local joe bloggs mechanic and these are rattling/loose in the caliper but still work and brake fine but squeak quiet a lot when braking. (These pads were bought brand new from scoobyworld only a few weeks ago)
I asked how to stop the squeaking and was told to replace the pads?? Just to be clear, these front pads have done less than 250 miles!!! I asked if he cant just take them out and regrease them etc but was told the squeaking and knocking may come back.

Also, in the meantime I stuck on some 18" XXR 527 Wheels 8.75J on a 225 40 18 and my rear end is rubbing. I was told the tyre is rubbing on the arch but when looking at the car, there is a gap of at least 2 inches between top of tyre and the wheel arch, could it be that the tyre is rubbing against the suspension strut?
is there any way around this apart from rolling arches as I don't want to do that, what about set of coilovers?
it's on stock suspension but apex lowered springs.
What would I need for camber adjustment to tuck the rear wheels in, I'm hoping that may cure it.
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
cheers

Markyscoob

Basically , you're trying to modify your car with no experience and on a really small budget. Never the best idea I'm afraid. However, we've all been there, and at least you've picked a Scooby rather than a bloody golf or Audi to pimp so we'd better help....

Ok. Your car as a Hawkeye WRX does have inverted struts. From about 30,000 miles the rear cvan begin to knock. Fundementally the fault with the O.E. shocks is that as the shock body rather than the damping rod is moving in the lower strut, the diameter is smaller than ideal, meaning less oil and more heat issues. Where the knocking is is in the bush set into the top of the lower strut body. You can't replicate it on a ramp, but it's really annoying. Fixes, the sneeaky cheating way mean jacking up the car, removing the wheel. From here you can kind of cheat if you want. Properly, remove the back seat squab and the seat back. The cheat is not to remove the top half.... If you do this, then unbolt the strut from the hub supporting the hub with a stand or another jack. To split, first use spring compressors (several large zip ties while it's partially compressed also works- it's not THAT stiff) then unbolt the damper rod with the nut under the strut. That allows the lower body and spring to come off. Once it's off, clean everything and regrease.

If you do it properly, unbolt the three top bolts and pull the strut out completely, then compress springs and unbolt the bottom. A quality suspension grease like ZX1 is advised. A good greasing, clean and re-assembly can get you another 30,000 miles from the struts. Usually the damping itself is fine.

If it's your pads, then replace. such is life.

Now. Rear brake backplates. Your car has a drum brake for the handbrake that lives inside the disc. The backplate and disc interlock with a groove in the disc to keep crud out of the workings. The tolerance is very tight and corrosion built up on the backplate can cause a grinding sound usually when turning and if you haven't used the car for a while. The cure is a wire brush and lift the disc off and give the rust a good brushing off!

Good luck. The STI brakes are far worse for this last problem. A set of STi discs will blow your budget two-fold!

Discover

What a fantastic reply, many thanks mate.
I'll be showing this post to the specialist see if he would be willing to give this a go

Also, what exactly do I need to adjust the camber at the back?

Markyscoob

Rear camber is only adjustable in so much as the slots for the bolts are slightly oval. Onew vertically and one horizontally. your technician, loosens them then shoves as hard as he can one way and tightens..... Not very scientific. You can buy camber bolts though. These make it more precise. They're not as beefy as the O.E. Camber bolts on the front. Why Subaru never put them on the rear I'll never know.

2pot

iTrader: (3)

ZX1 grease...really? Chlorinated additives?
You could re-grease, Fuchs urethyn xhd2, but the top bearing is still worn.
Inverted struts are good at dissipating heat.
The issue is a lack of bearing surface (20+10+10mm) in the rear of KYB inverted struts and the arc of rear damper operation. Subaru had a recall to install an additional 20mm bearing to the top of the Bilstein rb320 rear strut housing ("rework 3 bearing" sticker applied).

Discover

When you say top bearing, is that the same as top mounts? Would you advise getting those replaced as well as the shocks?