Subaru B9 Tribeca (B9X)

subienewbie2 · January 2006

Do the wheels accept the TPMS units?

If yes were you able to use all the parts: nuts, seals etc. or did you have purchase new ones?

b9bingo · January 2006

Funny How So Many B9 Owners Have Posted A Review VS All Other SUV's. 81 Reviews to average 9.1 for the B9. Makes me wonder what type of person buys a Subaru B9. One who likes to post on forums, and give reviews for sure. Maybe even a person who does a lot of reserch. I was just wondering why there are so few reviews for other vehicle, when it's not the case for the subaru b9. I myself have never owned a Subaru, Untill the Best Bang For The Buck B9. I wouldn't be shocked if a large percentage of B9 owners were first time Subaru buyers, But this vehicle may attract a certain type of person, with all the reviews for the B9 vs other vehicles.

brianpilon · January 2006

you can play a dvd on front screen. i have the 7 seat with no dvd and i did hook it up to the front screen. the audio button toggles it from radio and back to dvd. it actually works very good. my advice is to bypass the e-brake then you can watch the dvd while driving- or should say front passenger can. Only problem is there is NO audio hook up so you need fm modulator- which isnt that bad

robotb9 · January 2006

I'm trying to find a way to use the back window as a rear projection screen so drivers behind me (or their passengers) can watch DVDs.

tidester · January 2006

81 Reviews to average 9.1 for the B9.

I don't know where you got your stats but I think it's best to focus on the vehicle rather than the people.

tidester, host

umybuddy · January 2006

Have anyone tried to change the headlight bulb to HID/Xenon for the Tribeca yet?.
I just bought mine this week and tried to change it but it seems the bulb is not the plug and play type like other vehicles. It seems that the factory bulb has 2 separate connector to it( assume 1 for daytime running light and the other for regular headlight). If anyone have suggestion or already got this done on their Tribeca, please send instruction or image of how it supposed to look like.

Thanks

x5killer · January 2006

cluelesspa
you mentioned in a post awhile back you had some squeaking that was finally fixed. I have some creaking coming from the front left tire area. It happens when I brake and when I release the brake both at slow speed mostly like for a stop sign. But also when I just go over a small bump like garage or driveway lip.

seems to be a brake/shocks/suspension problem but probably minor but very annoying. had it checked once & they just lubricated something & thougt they fixed it but didn't. having it looked at again tomorrow & hope they figure it out so if you or anyone else has an idea of what it may be let me kno so I can clue them in.
body shop is who looked before & thought they fixed it wth lubrication. I thought would know what it might be as they did the work in that same area of the car & it never made the creaking before the fwnder bender. so hopefully subaru dealership can figure out what's making the squeaking/creaking.

this was btw before changing wheels/tires so its not that & still does it after the change. Also, yes oe tire sensors work with new 20" wheels & tires.

subienewbie2 · January 2006

Also, yes oe tire sensors work with new 20" wheels & tires.

Did you use all the original mounting parts or did it require some be new, like seals and nuts etc.

cluelesspa · January 2006

doesn't sound like the same squeek. mine happens only over bumps. it was the hood hinges needed re-alligned and tightened.

megreyhair · January 2006

A day or 2 depending on the weather. 1.5 hours, thats long.
It took my guy about 30 mins. Instead of using precut, he used a roll and use a xacto knife to cut the extra after install.

x5killer · January 2006

Ok yeah, The Subaru dealership was able to see what was causing the creaking. It is a rear bushing for the left front wheel area and something having to do with the steering column. It was somehow overlooked by the body shop when they did the repair and even when i took it back for them to figure out what it was and fix it. They just lubricated something and though they fixed it but it still creaked, so it may have jsut been something they weren't able to see as well at the time if it wasn't as bad and/or dont know the vehicle as well to know what to look for as subaru dealership.

It has been a minor annoyance but I look forward to having it remedied now that it was assessed what it was. Subaru dealership already had the part just have to wait for the insurance co. who of course wants to see it for themself.
they are a pain and just found out today that the body shop had to spend like $300 out of pocket that the insurance co refused or something so I'm not as mad at them for not seeing that the bushing needed replaced.

It will be fixed and done for good soon and wasn't that bad or happen all the time in the meantime.

But good to know what caused your squeaking for others if they have the same problem in the future. (was the hood hinges needed re-alligned and tightened).

Also, my dealership ordred and got the new rear hatch struts. I told them Subaru should know of the problem so it should be like a recalled , replaced part and no additional charge but we'll see if they charge me as they haven't said anything. They also claimed that they hadn't heard anything about it and that noone other tribeca owners that come to them had the problem.

But almost everyone here had/has the problem with the rear hatch struts not holding up the rear hatch properly right?

I mean mine wasn't so bad, it mostly fell if you didn't have it up all the way but i thin it has gotten weaker and is worse in the cold and sometimes even with it up all the way, the slight bump of the car loading something in cargo area will make it fall (on your head or back no less)though not hard or fast but still, its mostly annoying to have to keep lifting it or hold it up.

Bad enough it doesn't have an automatic rear hatch door like the RX and other mid size suvs but to have weak struts is worse. Its fine and an acceptable 1st year minor flaw but they should not charge me for stronger replacment struts. again we'll see.

x5killer · January 2006

"Have anyone tried to change the headlight bulb to HID/Xenon for the Tribeca yet?.
I just bought mine this week and tried to change it but it seems the bulb is not the plug and play type like other vehicles. It seems that the factory bulb has 2 separate connector to it( assume 1 for daytime running light and the other for regular headlight). If anyone have suggestion or already got this done on their Tribeca, please send instruction or image of how it supposed to look like.

Thanks"

not sure what you mean by Hid/Xenon as true xenons from what i know would be a total xenon conversion kit and a more expensive complicated process.

As far as changing the bulbs to more brighter whiter HId like bulbs, myself and i think a few others did do this. Most of used Sylvania silver star bulbs i think for the low beam and fogs and then there were a few choices for the high beam.

You can search the thread to find links to the high beam bulb choices and for posts about changing the bulbs. I can find the url for the co. i got the high beams from and the low and fog i got from pep boys.

I didn't install them myself and i think it is a little difficult and tight. I had subaru dealership do it.
hope this helps.

x5killer · January 2006

"Also, yes oe tire sensors work with new 20" wheels & tires.

Did you use all the original mounting parts or did it require some be new, like seals and nuts etc."

not sure what you mean exactly but the new wheels came with their own bolts and wheel lock etc. They did not come with hub centric rings that the installer said i needed and charged me for and advised me to get reimbursed for it from teh co. i got the wheels from as it should have been included. Not sure if there was already hub rings for the factory 18's or not and then why they coudlnt' use those.

My 20" wheels came with valve stems which they just ripped out and are then unusable, they were only rubber though. They put in the oe valve stems with tire sensor and then I put the chrome valve stem caps on them. The tpms works fine with teh new wheels/tires.

I did not want to have to purchase new sensors as my wheels will hold up in winter (not chrome) adn the tires are all season. I saved the oe subie wheels and the 3 remaining good goodyear oe 18" tires (one was useless after flat)

If I get a 4th goodyear eagle Ls-2 and put those back on with factory wheels when I sell it I will put the valve stems with sensors back on with original grey plastic cap.

subienewbie2 · January 2006

Also, my dealership ordered and got the new rear hatch struts. I told them Subaru should know of the problem so it should be like a recalled , replaced part and no additional charge but we'll see if they charge me as they haven't said anything.

The defective struts are covered under the bumper to bumper warranty. There should not any charge if they failed - unless there obvious damage from mis-use or an collision.

aka1 · January 2006

I have not had any issues with the rear struts supporting its weight... My B9 was MFG'd 08/05, could be that the first shipment from the supplier had a bad seal/gasket or it could be the weather in the Carolina's have been in the upper 50's all winter long.

Don't remember if I posted, I was at the OBX over Christmas and had a chance to go off roading at the beach- the vehicle did very very well. I did however have to leave the transmission in 1st gear though and turned off the VSC- it kept wanting to shift to second, which would cause it to lose momentum- I had plenty of clearance and was able cruise right past a Nissan Murano that was stuck half way through the entrance at the deepest spot. I later went by and the guy driving it and said the AWD over heated! I've read on other posts that I would have to air the tires down, I did not- since not too many people drive on the beach during the off tourist season there were no tire tracks to follow- just fresh sand.

AKA1

rsholland · January 2006

http://www.swrt.com/news/viewarticle.html?id=743

buddhabman · January 2006

Are there any mods excluding tires & wheels for the B9? I am curious about suspension bits(Stiffer Anti-Sway Bars, Dampers & Springs).

A few questions. How does the 9" DVD screen affect the rear view. Is there a rear view camera or parking assist sonar sensors?

cptplt · January 2006

mine seem to get stuck half way up and needs some force to move it beyond this point going up or down, will have them check it out at next service

tyyeh0 · January 2006

I wish Subaru would offer the metallic blue on the Tribeca. I asked about this when I went to see the B9 the first time, and the sales person thought I was joking

Looks nice on that photo....

cluelesspa · January 2006

They did not come with hub centric rings that the installer said i needed and charged me for and advised me to get reimbursed for it from the co. i got the wheels from as it should have been included. Not sure if there was already hub rings for the factory 18's or not and then why they couldn't use those.

What are they talking about? did you see this hub centric ring? I took the factory wheels off and put the new wheels with tires mounted on... used the new lug nuts that came with the wheel ... thats it. so curious what this hub centric thing was... :confuse:

robr2 · January 2006

I wish Subaru would offer the metallic blue on the Tribeca. I asked about this when I went to see the B9 the first time, and the sales person thought I was joking

Looks nice on that photo....

I disagree - that blue looks awful on the Tribeca.

But we're all entitled to our opinion.

rsholland · January 2006

I'm not fond of Subaru's racing colors either. They do look better in person though, as the yellow is sort of a florescent yellow.

Bob

cluelesspa · January 2006

where are the pictures of the B9 that they used for the support vehicle. I see the article but no pics.

c_hunter · January 2006

Hub-centric rings are only needed for aftermarket wheels, not the factory wheels (which have the proper bore machined into the wheel).

Almost all aftermarket wheels have an overly-large bore that accepts rings to fit the hubs of different vehicles. The ring looks like a large thick washer and is held in with a spring clip.

If you don't use rings, then you are relying on the lugs to center the wheels. This can cause balance problems, as lug-centric mounting does not guarantee hub-centric rotation.

If in doubt, you can measure the center bore of the factory wheels and the aftermarket wheels; ideally they should match (directly, or with a ring).

Craig

cluelesspa · January 2006

thanks! do you have any location on the internet that I could read up on this?

so this is not the lug nut bolt pattern then.. this is something different.

My aftermarket wheels were tapered holes so the acorn tapered lug nuts when tightened centered the wheel in relation to the bolts.

cluelesspa · January 2006

never mind the pic is coming up now. looks like the server got hammered when you first posted the link and the picture was not being sent.

bummer all they did was paint the B9... they didnt even change the wheels or screen the fog lights...

ateixeira · January 2006

A darker blue would look better. Here's the pic for the lazy:

They gotta ditch the chrome in that grille. A black honeycomb grille would look sooooo much better, even with that blue. The chrome really clashes with the rally colors.

Then again, I've always hated chrome!

-juice

ateixeira · January 2006

I've got one:

B9 Caribe T

T as in Turbo! Caribe is how we say Carribean in Latin America.

-juice

subienewbie2 · January 2006

B9 Caribe T

Your post seeems out of context. What is a B9 Caribe T?

subienewbie2 · January 2006

Your post seeems out of context. What is a B9 Caribe T?

Never Mind - I get it.

I also like it - cool name - would look really good on the hybrid roadster

ateixeira · January 2006

I had a busy week or two and was catching up. The Anagram discussion came and went, but I still had to share.

-juice

c_hunter · January 2006

TireRack may discuss it on their site, but you can search for lug-centric and hub-centric on google. I became aware of it when researching/buying wheels for my WRX. A lot of Impreza/WRX owners ran into balance problems with lug-centric wheels. You may also want to visit the wheel/tire forums of some of the Impreza websites, like the one we nickname "nabisco" around here. I'd post a direct link, but it's not allowed here.

Craig

rsholland · January 2006

2 days in a row I saw Tribecas on the road!

Bob

robr2 · January 2006

Heck, I saw one tonight at the Hertz Local Edition here in town.

subienewbie2 · January 2006

I've had mine since july 1 and just saw my 4th here in Chicago

tyyeh0 · January 2006

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/NCAP/Cars/3797.html

At first glance, I thought the static stability factor is lower than what I expected. But it's measured by the track width and the center of mass height. The tribeca is pretty narrow compare to something like the mdx...

jeffmc · January 2006

Thanks for posting this! I'd been wondering when the rollover tests would finally be done. I think they did pretty darn good - only 1% greater rollover chance than Outback.

Here's a link to the entire '06 SUV comparison chart: http://www.safercar.gov/Index2.cfm

Let's see how we did against the main competition:
Tribeca beat XC90, Highlander, ML, X5 and RX. The most recent X5 and RX series tested were '03 models. Tribeca tied Pilot.
Tribeca lost narrowly to Murano, which in turn lost narrowly to MDX. Most other SUVs weren't close, aren't really competitors IMHO, or haven't been tested (Touareg).

Overall, probably a B+ or A- performance. Competition at the top of the list is tight, but the rollover risk for the gamut of what NHTSA considers "SUVs" ranges from 14% to somewhere around 48%. Tribeca and Pilot were at 16% and Murano and MDX at 15%, all at the extreme top of the scale.

Highlander is the real loser. Scored worse despite being 2" wider than Tribeca and having 1" less ground clearance.

kmartin · January 2006

I had mine replaced recently. Took a while for them to get the parts. My dealer said Subaru is looking into a possible recall on these, but for now they are still trying to locate stronger ones. My new ones are the same as the original ones, I believe, and they are working fine now...except now the hatch is hard to close! But I'll take that over whacking my head any day :-)

-Karen in AZ-

b9chef · January 2006

Could you or anyone else briefly explain how to add an unswitched 12V outlet? I know I'll have to get the parts. I'm mainly concerned with how to hardwire it. Do I wire it into the fusebox in the passenger compartment?

And for those of you that have done it, have you run into any dead battery problems?

Thanks.

cluelesspa · January 2006

maybe you were looking at the Toyota Rav.

the highlander 2006 got 17% only 1 % more then the Tribeca. http://www.safercar.gov/NCAP/Cars/3584.html

ateixeira · January 2006

Pretty good rollover score.

Saw a white pearl Tribeca this morning, in the rain. It stands out with a good visibility factor.

You can hard wire it to the existing adaptors, but don't overload the circuit or you'll just blow fuses.

-juice

jeffmc · January 2006

Nope - I was talking about Highlander. Less ground clearance combined with more width really should've put it ahead, not behind. If Tribeca's near the top now, imagine how much more stable it would be with those same 2" added to its width, and ground clearance lowered an inch!
I didn't look at the RAV as a competitor.

cluelesspa · January 2006

if you go direct to the battery you will need a fused line is my suggestion. but the fact you are asking this, I would suggest you have stereo shop or place like that put it in for you.

newtosubie · January 2006

I rarely seem them, then today on my lunch hour I saw 2 - one blue, one silver. They're getting out there! :shades:

bman33 · January 2006

Just wanted to add to Craig's comments on hub-centricity vs. lug-centricity. You don't need a hub ring. Since most aftermarket wheels are not "hub-centric", you need to find a tire shop that has a Hunter GSP9700 road force balancer. The GSP9700 is the latest technology in terms of eliminating high harmonic imbalance from a tire/wheel assemby and uses the bolt circle, as opposed to the hub bore, when measuring the harmonics.

Most tire shops still use antiquated conical tire balancers that are very dependent on the wheel being "hub-centric".

Do a search for Hunter Engineering, and then use their locator to find the nearest tire shop that has a GSP9700.

I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, but I work for a racing wheel manufacturer and have dealt with this issue for over 10 years.

mayberryguy · January 2006

My wife is a proud owner of a Tribeca, finally. She loves it so much that I have barely got to drive it. It is a

5 Pass LTD.
Titanium Silver
Slate Gray
Puddle Lights Front & Rear bumper guards
Hood Protector

The lease deals with our VIP discount were too good to pass up. 1500 trouble free miles after almost a month. I am still impressed every time I get in this car. The ride and road feel are top notch and fit and finish are perfect.

Before we bought the Tribeca, we went to the Indianapolis Auto Show and sat in nearly every SUV and Subaru had one of the very best looking interior layouts. Love it or hate it, the exterior will not be confused with anything else, which I really like. A couple of days after the Auto Show we went to drive the BMW X3 and X5. Both were 6 speed manuals with the sport package and they are superb handling machines. If price were no object we would have a 2nd BMW in the driveway, but when you look at the value for the dollar, I couldn't justify the extra money.

I would say that the Tribeca handles about as well as a non sport package X5 for less money and you aren't sacrificing all that much. I wish Subaru would offer the Telescoping wheel and 6 speed manual, though. I plan on adding the Driver Side memory function from the '07 model when parts are available.

I am fairly impressed with the MPG thus far, especially knowing that Subaru's aren't really broken in until around 10,000 miles. So far we have averaged around 22mpg highway.

This is really a great vehicle and I like it more every time I ride in it. I'll keep you posted on MPG as it gets a few more miles on it.

rsholland · January 2006

Congrats on the new ride! You and your wife made a great (and smart) choice.

Bob

mayberryguy · January 2006

Thanks, Bob. She really loves it and I have to admit, I'm more than a little smitten with it myself.

jeffmc · January 2006

memory function :surprise:

jandj94 · January 2006

I've been using Mobil 1 and adding Tuffoil to all my cars since 1985. (3 Subies, 1 Acura, 1 Saturn) My usual result is up to 10% better mileage and never an engine wear related problem. I just did my first Tribeca oil change (OEM filter) with M1 and Tuffoil and will let you know in 5000 miles if it made a difference. The biggest diference in the winter time is NEVER hearing the engine start up slowly [like it's cranking peanut butter instead of oil]! That has to be better for the engine.

Subaru B9 Tribeca (B9X)

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