L series front end improvements

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 5:04 pm

Some new goodies for the front end upgrade

Post by **TOONGA** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 5:25 pm

Very nice ... approximate cost on new parts?

Should stop nicely now as well.

TOONGA

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 6:20 pm

$133 - Front DBA rotors pr.
$480 - Kmac adjustable strut tops.
$250 - Full set front & rear HD King springs.

But wait there is more to follow.

J.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 11:17 pm

Going the LCA adjust route as well with Kmac ?

All looking real good, should stop real good too...any time sooner than xmas 20,16?

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 12:09 am

Going the LCA adjust route as well with Kmac ?

All looking real good, should stop real good too...any time sooner than xmas 20,16?

Haha, yes and yes Jonno.

New genuine front pads and overhauled calipers to go with cool looking rotors!

J.

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 9:12 pm

Front calipers had holes in the seals and pitted pistons. So since it was a tear down on these I had them powder coated. That was the affordable part. New pistons modified and new seal kit was the costly part of the excercise.

NOS genuine front pad kit to compliment the excercise

J.

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 9:18 pm

Also a overhauled Lib Mast/Cyl with a small mod.

And the Kmac strut tops in place

J.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 9:21 pm

Bugger me mate!

Looks awesome! New hub and knuckle or powder coated?

Cheers

Bennie

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 9:25 pm

Bugger me mate!

Looks awesome! New hub and knuckle or powder coated?

Thanks Bennie, its taken me months to bring all this together.

If its not brand new, its been powder coated or zincplated. So no not new hubs or backing plates just spruced up.

Im chasing nico-leone from a long distance

J.

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 10:56 pm

Since I have a backlog of pics and info

This was the last alignment I had around 2 yrs ago, before any of the front or rear end suspension was altered

This was the results of the alignment 2 days ago with all the changes to the front and rear within the last few months!

I was invited by the mechanic to come back and show him want I was wanting. He also didnt know the L series had rear camber and toe adjustment until I showed him.
I will keep an eye on tyre wear in the few weeks and report back to that wheel aligner mechanic. He certainly was enthusiastic about what I wanted and the attention to details I have applied to this car.

In all I have finally had the rear wheel alignment adjusted after years of driving around with the RH rear having + camber and the LH having - camber like some sort of NASCAR.
Also the front end is taughter than ever, and sharper on turn in. That said I need a lot more drive time and some wet familiar roads to learn more

So far though it has been worth it.

I should also mention for any who dont know. Using a Gen1 Lib master cylinder (Non ABS of course) gives a distinctly different brake pedal feel and experience to using the standard L series M/C - all other things being more or less equal.

J.

outback · Post by **outback** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 10:51 am

Looks to tidy to drive on wet dirt roads lol..
Very nice job you have done there..

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:44 am

What kind of bushes did you use in the control arms and what is your opinion of them?

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:01 pm

What kind of bushes did you use in the control arms and what is your opinion of them?

SuperPro - I had them in the original control arms as well for five yrs (Approx 60000kms) and have had no issues. I'm happy with them, they work well.

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:53 pm

did you use the 'cartridge type' or the '2 halves' type?

are you going to use the super pro Castor Rod bushes as well?

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 2:06 pm

did you use the 'cartridge type' or the '2 halves' type?

are you going to use the super pro Castor Rod bushes as well?

Honestly cant recall it was months ago I put together the whole crossmember ASSY together. Would have to look up invoices.

Yes the s/p radius rod bushes are in.

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:45 pm

How do the castor rod bushes fit? They look like they are flat instead of domed like the OE ones?

(Sorry to be a pain BTW, just trying to do my research)

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:15 pm

pedders ep1025/26 are flat, and poowar, after being closed up in a lunch box for a coupla years ...smells like off old home made play dough

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:21 pm

When I had Ellie the RX Turbo I went to a lot of trouble to reverse Subarus ideas of positive camber and negative caster .
Generally people look for lots of negative camber because they think its the racer setup .
Neutral or a smidge of positive camber and a swag of positive caster is what works best because both front wheels lean away from the apex of the corner giving better grip and turn in .
Using more static negative camber with neutral or negative caster improves grip on the outside wheel but reduces it on the apex or inside one because the negative camber leans the wheel in the wrong direction in relation to body roll . This shows up as inside tyre wear .
L series also fight you because the holes in the strut tops aren't big enough to allow you to move the strut tops inwards / backwards enough . Even if you could the springs would hit the tower wells so need smaller diameter springs and seats .
As you know you have to do something at the control arm and our answer was to cut and shut two pairs of arms to make one longer pair .
It gets involved because then the sway bar arm mounts move further out which over stresses the link plates .

Without expensive body mods you can make an L better but probably not ideal .
A std worn L is diabolical but reducing the body roll and doing what you can up front makes a significant difference .
Lowering makes the handling worse because of the geometry changes at lower ride heights .

A .

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Sat Jan 07, 2017 3:17 pm

What kind of camber adjustment bolts are they in the front crossmember? Have they been removed from the rear of a Impreza or Liberty, or is it a kit you can purchase?