Forester Rear Suspension Shagged?

Corax · Post by **Corax** » Thu Dec 16, 2010 10:46 pm

Hey Suba-Dudes,

My recently purchased 99GT has a bit of a 'saggy bum' thing happening. Found the specs for the ride height of the GT and while the front is the correct height, the back is 35-40mm lower than it should be. Now I think my forester has the fabled 'self leveling rear shocks' (the green ones?) and I was wondering if they are adjustable? ie has the previous owner wound them down or are they just worn out? If they are worn out why do the front ones appear to be ok? And if it is a case of replacing them what would y'all recommend? (nothing to expensive please as I am a lowly gov employee pleb tying to pay off a house:))Thanks for your advice/thoughts in advance.

Cheers,
Corax.

spike · Post by **spike** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 7:51 am

sorry i cant help that much but there are a couple of things i can offer.
The self leveling shocks are weird, my dads failed one at a time, left first, took it to subaru and they just changed the one that faild, dodge much.
I dont think they are adjustable but could be wrong
If your looking for a quick fix you can get spacers that fit under the shocks and lift the rear, cheaper than a new set of shocks.

longy99gt · Post by **longy99gt** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:46 am

i have the same problem, in my 99GT,
my arse is low, i have lifted it all around with 2" blocks, and 2" bigger tyres, not that it helped the arse, i still think its the original suspension, and considering it just gone 10 yrs old, probly needs replacing, coz cornering is pretty avg in my car now, even with upgraded sway bar, so, im getting new springs, and new shocks, really the only proper way to fix it,
but blocks on the rear will be a cheap fix,
the suspension performs worse under load now that they are worn out, and virtually sits bottomed out.i've heard normally that self levellers are ment to have a seperate reservior, which ours dont have, but im pretty sure they are self levelling anyway?

what were those original ride heights out of iinterest?

shuffbag · Post by **shuffbag** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 11:55 am

ha my forester had the same stance, i fitted raised kings and now its leveled

but my struts are hammered now. time for new struts all round

spike · Post by **spike** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 1:37 pm

with new struts you need to get new springs as well

Corax · Post by **Corax** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 1:34 am

Longy,

The standard chassie height from the centre of wheel should be 422mm front and 425mm rear to the rim of the wheel arch. Found these specs on ozfoz in the suspension section. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Corax.

Corax · Post by **Corax** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 1:38 am

Ok, thinking of getting some std shockies and putting some ironman springs on them to them to lift her bum up a bit and make her the right shape to push her down onto the road when going over 140. (not that I would ever do that officer you must have me confused with someone else!!!:mrgreen:)

longy99gt · Post by **longy99gt** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:11 am

cheers corax

d_generate · Post by **d_generate** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 4:09 am

I just bought Dobinsons, must be twice as thick as the standard ones.....$360 for all 4 in Malaga.

Corax · Post by **Corax** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 6:08 pm

Thanks for the input guys, now one more question...A bloke on another site has got the standard springs and self leveling shocks off his MY04 XT forester for sale. Only done 60k on them so they should be ok. Will they bolt straight on or would there be a world of mucking around involved?

shuffbag · Post by **shuffbag** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:29 pm

nah spike new springs are not required, less than a year old. new springs should be put in with new struts. not the other way around.

spike · Post by **spike** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:02 pm

ummm isnt that what i said?

with the self leveling struts the springs are apparently really soft and rebound is from the struts not the springs
hence changing the struts means new springs

shuffbag · Post by **shuffbag** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:40 pm

wait i got it confused in that last bit.
you should not put new springs in old struts, because the struts are use to the movment of the spring already there. which is what happened with my forester when i put raised in on stock struts... they flogged out

with new struts it doesnt matter what springs go in.

spike · Post by **spike** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:32 pm

but the self levellers actually lift the car and act like a spring, the original spring in foresester with self levellers arent strong enough, you need to put new springs in with replacment self levelers.

shuffbag · Post by **shuffbag** » Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:51 am

yeah maybe with self leveling struts, but i wouldnt replace them with new self leveling struts. i would go normal simple struts

spike · Post by **spike** » Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:51 am

yes and you must put new springs in it at the same time.
With normal struts and facotry springs it runs to low