Jip's 2003 Subaru Liberty Wagon

[JiP]

Well i've finally done something about the hight of the wagon!!

 

Firstly I increased the hight by changing the tire profile, cost me heaps but happy with the end result. Then last week I changed the suspension over to the Subaru Outback suspension before my easter road trip..

 

Front... +73mm

Rear... +80mm

 

So I've gained roughly around 100mm - 120mm in total from the suspension and tire upgrades!! :D

 

So here is the comparison of the struts.

The fronts...

The rears...

We had difficulties fitting these as the "upper link" was at full range and was hitting the underbody. So we ended up using the shocks from the Outback, with the thinner springs from the Liberty as they were easier to compress...

 

 

Here is the end result :P

 

The clearance underneath the car. (more clearance than my mates Challenger!!)

[towe001]

Looks sexy now.

 

How'd it go on the trip to Moree ?

[JiP]

Yeah good, I got to drive it off road a couple times too :P

There is a squeak/rattle in the rear passenger tire area tho. So am thinking of getting that checked out.

[towe001]

I'd jack the back of the car up and go around all the bolts making sure their tight before sending it out to a mechanic.

 

Before too long your going to be wanting a bigger 4wd

[JiP]

Yeah I know lOl

I'm thinking i might let the mechanic handle it since they were the last to touch it. I had to send it to the mechanic anyway before the trip last week cause of the leaky strut,

[nerfbat]

is that Trev's hands i can see?

:-)

[flyinwall]

yep dems my sexy hands

[madKE35coupe]

I will hopefully be joining in the liberty club soon too :) except mine will me making whoosh sounds when revs applied ;)

[JiP]

Sweet as mate!! Wagon or sedan?

 

Might as well post an update. Took it back to the mechanic and had them sort some issues. Almost got close to sending it back to original specs.

Firstly there was a rattle out back that the mechanic said was a loose strut. He also said one of the front struts was loose too. I had a few concerns, one of which was a tangy smell I was smelling mainly when I was backing into my garage. Turned out when I had booked the car in before my Easter trip they didn't replace the CV boot I had asked them to, plus the other boots weren't on tight enough. So there was grease spilling out onto my exhaust. My biggest concern was a clunking sound I was hearing while driving on the highway, or taking off from stationary. It sounded very much like it was coming from the LHF CV. They had taken it for test runs and the car wouldn't make the sound, so jacked the car up and invited me under to discuss some concerns. They showed me all the grease under the car, so we were going to replace all the CV boots with new ones, but they thought the angle of the CVs were a bit extreme and weren't sure that they were right for the car. In the end it turned out that my LHF CV was missing a circlip and that was the clunking sound I was hearing. So sadly that cost me a whole new CV joint :(

So at the moment it seems to be running fine, tho that smell is still lingering :( Might pop underneath to have a look or take it back next week if its still leaking grease :S

[nerfbat]

they thought the angle of the CVs were a bit extreme and weren't sure that they were right for the car.

 

is that due to the way the height was raised mate?

 

if so, to eliminate that sharp angle on the CV, you can get raiser blocks for the crossmember/s, which were standard on the earlier models and foresters

when lowering my forester, i removed the blocks.

a sugggestion?

yours may have been removed by the previous owner, to get more low?

will try find a pic for ya

 

from a '99 but you get the idea

 

 

try to get under the car and see if these are missing mate

the rusty looking spacer between the crossmember and sub frame

Edited May 11, 2013 by nerfbat

[towe001]

You still have that stuff floating around your place Zowie ? Didn't know about the front spacers but those back ones (diff and sub-frame) are what JiP's missing

[nerfbat]

hi mate

pretty sure they either went with the subies or got thrown out.

but will double check the shed, in daylight, for sure