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any good brand/place for torque wrench/jack stands to buy?
They are versatile, and low profile means even my Miata can drive up them for oil changes.
You'll need jack stands to do things like rotate tires and work on brakes.
-juice
I happen to find this in Pepboy, check this out.
Link to Pepboy Ad
Check out the first page item.. Torin Big Red 36" Creeper, 2 ton Double locking jack stands (2 of them), and 2 tone trolley jack for 30 bucks? this sounds like a good deal, but I don't know how good this brand is. Also would 2 ton be good enough for Forester?
Thanks for your help.
I notice that Tire Rack lists wheels with varying offsets for the Forester: +52, +45, +50. There are a few +48's in the more expensive range.
What about the difference in sizes: some are listed as 16 x 6.5; others are 16 x 7 and 16 x 7.5.
Will any of these work just as well as stock steelies or alloys? I don't understand all the differences and want to get something to replace the steelies which are rusting and peeling around the lug nuts.
Steve
Jim
BTW, I finally found road test data on the NA engine with stick shift, in an Edmunds comparo test. It verified my seat-of-the-pants impression, that the stick is MUCH faster than the automatic (0-60 in about 9 sec instead of 11.7 sec). All this 10 months after I bought the car, but hey, it's always nice to feel vindicated...
Also BTW, this Legacy L wagon is proving to be the nicest people/bikes/canoe/kayaks transporter I have ever owned. 2 people and 2 bikes ride inside, wheels still on. 2-3 kayaks or one canoe on the Thule roof racks, solid as can be at 65-70 mph.
Great car!
Stanton
Rims - call Tire Rack, work with them. Stock size is 6.5" wide, but I went with a 7" wide rim and they fit.
Tire Rack is conservative, they told me I could not get a 225/60R16 tires on a 16x7" rim to fit. Discount Tire Direct said it would. Tire Rack lost a sale, and they were wrong - my tires have never rubbed, and they have plenty of miles now.
So work with the techs. They basically won't let you buy a rim they don't think will fit. They don't even let you push the size much. Finally, they adjust the offsets to make sure it'll fit.
-juice
In fact, I went and bought that jack package. however, I had to return it today.... It did not go high enough!! the highest the jack can go is just right below the frame of Forester.. I will have to buy something more expensve now...
About the rim, I will take your advise. I heard rims will go on sale pretty soon everywhere. I will get them in a week or two. how much did you pay for your rims and tires?
Bosal Downpipe and custom race pipe to an STi midpipe and the already in place Scooby Sport axleback. I haven't actually driven it on the street yet though. I trailered the car up to Watkins Glen last weekend. Well let's just say it is definitely freed up a bit. Either my stock cats were pretty restrictive or all the stories about the DP and cat really holding up the 2.2L turbo were true.
Anyway at Watkins I ran in the instructor group and with the heavy rain combined with my Faulken Azenis Tires I was able to pass everyone on Saturday. This included 7 vettes, 2 M3s, 2 944s and 2 GT3s, oh and 2 race Vipers. It was a great feeling to have the vette guys and race guys and the GT3 guys come up to me afterward and say "what do you have in there, you were running up my butt like I was standing still" I said "Not much 165hp, 130k miles, 100+ track days, and All Wheel Drive" Sunday whenever they saw my HID driving lights in their mirror they knew to just give me the pointby.
We've decided to actually get rid of the Impreza L racecar and are going to convert over the 94 Legacy Turbo. We should have it ready for the spring race season.
-mike
We now have a GC6 for the new driver in the house. We need to visit Lee in the future for some tint.
-Dennis
What's a pointby?
Steve, Host
-mike
Purchase and Install:
Cage
Sparco EVO 2 Seat
Race Harnesses
Rear Sway Bar
Fire Extinguisher
Whiteline Poly Steering Rack Bushings
Items to Install:
GAB Coilovers or JIC Coilovers (we have both just have to decide which we want to put in)
STi Group N Motor Mounts
Gauges (Oil Pressure, Temp, Boost, EGT)
Hmm I think that's it for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting something though.
-mike
that video made is so clear where you pulled and where you got reeled in
-mike
Did you hear about my new Subaru? If I keep it up like I did the Legacy Turbo over the next ten years, do you want first dibs on it?
Jim
-mike
Jim
http://www.thepearsonhome.com/special_hosting.htm
-mike
They're cast, not forged, nothing too fancy. 16"x7", wider than stock.
-juice
-juice
Jim
2) it is very difficult to damage a vehicle during autocross but it does rarely happen. conversely, totalling a car at a track day is something that you will see not infrequently.
but there's no question you learn a lot more at a track day and have more fun. it's just that the risk and cost rises as well...
~Colin
As for wrecking, it's very in frequent that I've seen a car wreck at an event. I've seen more wrecks at track events than auto-x, yes, but I wouldn't say it's "frequent" Also it's usually a driver over-driving his car that has caused the few wrecks I've seen (overdriving on cold R compounds, overdriving an AWD car beyond the drivers ability)
Anyway Jim, keep me posted maybe I'll fly down for an event sometime
-mike
Thanks to the instructions posted by Pat about a year ago, I took off the backing panel for the drivers seat. You slide it straight up about 0.75", pull it out at the bottom to clear the lower hooks, then slide it down to release the upper hooks. The cloth piece can remain connected at the bottom as there is enough slack to move the panel thru this procedure.
The lumbar support is a white plastic pad that is moved by a quarter inch steel rod. The rod is connected to a cantilever, linked to the handle on the side over the center console. My desire was to add an extension to the existing rod, but positioning (as in upside down relative to the relocation site), and space availability made it impossible.
In the end, I added a 17" threaded quarter inch rod across the seat frame, anchored high up on the lumbar cantilever hardware, and placed the plastic pad on this new cross piece. The upside is that the lumbar support is now 2+" above the original site, the downside is that it is now fixed in place. So far, I like the applied pressure, but may add a bend or two to the rod to decrease the pressure slightly.
Steve
Factory steelies are 16 x 6.5, I believe, with an offset of 48.
Which would you purchase:
OEM alloys from 1st Subaru Parts at $527 a set which would be 16 x 6.5 and 48, exactly matching the original specifications
or
Tire Rack wheels at $300-$476 a set which would be 16 x 7 and offset of +50
Kazera KZ-U or Sport Edition D4, D5, F2, F7
or
Tire Rack wheels
TR Motorsport RB5 which would be 16 x 6.5 and +50
Half of the wheel width will go on each side, so a 1/2" wider wheel will already be 1/4" closer to the spring base. Plus another 2mm, that's pretty close. Tire Rack is conservative, though, so I doubt they'd sell it to you if they thought it would not fit.
My offset went in the other direction. I got 40mm offset, putting the wheel center farther from the spring perch, and allowing for enough clearance for my wider wheels (also 7" wide) and wider tires to boot (225mm). I have no rubbing whatsoever.
I'm pretty sure a smaller offset would be better. 40-45mm or so.
Having said that, my guess is it would fit.
Where's lark6, paging lark6. He had a set of rims that did rub, let's ask him about what offsets he had.
-juice
Hello, somebody call me? :confuse:
On my first Forester ('00 S, SF body) I wanted to run a plus-one wheel/tire setup from late spring to late fall. I went through some trial and error with the folks at Tire Rack, who at the time hadn't encountered someone who wanted to do that. I first tried 225/55-17 tires on a 52mm offset wheel and found they rubbed front and rear. Ditto for 225/50-17 tires on the 52mm wheels. I then had some fruitful e-mail exchanges with the folks from Prodrive in the UK, who had been fitting plus-one setups to the SF Forester turbos as part of their WRSport package. They recommended using the 225/50-17 tires with a 48mm offset wheel. Their wheel of choice was a Speedline model which was at the time not available in the US or, in the alternative, the OZ Superleggera. Long story short, I bought a set of Superleggeras, mounted the 225/50-17s on them and had no rubbing issues.
After I sold the '00 I kept the plus-one wheels and tires and transferred them to my '05 XT (SG body), again with no rubbing problems. The Speedline wheels are now available as accessories from Subaru dealers in the UK. IIRC bluesubie used some UK connections to source a set for his XT.
Times have changed; there are a lot of people who are running a wider variety of tire sizes and wheel offsets - plus-ones, plus-twos and more - with varying success. Many are apparently using takeoff WRX STi wheels with no problems, for example. There's an online forum dedicated solely to Foresters (I won't name it here but it's an obvious name.com) that can give you even more info than I.
Hope this helps,
Ed
Did you see that Prodrive's Forester muffler is now available in the U.S.? The U.S. PPP will be out soon as well.
-Dennis
Ed
-juice
It is confusing because the 16" wheels listed on Tire Rack for the Forester vary: +42, +50, +52, +53. There is an ASA JS1, 16 x 7, at +42, so I guess that would be better.
However, I'm beginning to think that I should go with the OEM alloys for peace of mind. I don't want to get something that will rub or put too much stress on the bearings.
Thanks for the info.
in other words, I've been out of the Subaru game a while but I do think that +42mm on a 7" rim is way wrong. that would rub on the outer fender lip a lot.
~Colin
Foresters have a lot more fender clearance than Imprezas do.
My rim is 16"x7" wide and offset is 40mm, so according to your math my tire would have shredded off by now. :P
And remember - my tires are 10mm wider than stock, and also 6mm taller, and they *still* don't rub.
As far as I can tell, what comes closest to touching is actually the front mud flap. With the steering turned slightly to the side, the tire comes pretty close to the mud flap, another 10mm and it would rub.
Basically the Forester gives you a little more freedom in that regard. Ed's rubbed because his was in too far, too close to the spring perch, I believe.
The pic below gives you an idea of how much more fender clearance you have. This is with flares, wider rims, and bigger tires.
-juice
however I still suspect that +42 is really low.
~c
Tire Rack has 16 x 7 wheels for the Forester ranging from +42-53. Quite a range. :confuse:
Shame on me. The OZs are 17x7, offset +48mm.
Ed
Or the width of the contact patch is closer to the section width because of the way the tire is designed (i.e. more squared off)?
Or the fender liner on yours was slightly different than on mine? The intake did change a bit. I think they re-tuned the rear suspension for less dive that year. Small changes, but you never know.
Mine have never rubbed, and you guys know I've put tons of payload on that puppy. Roof rack, towing, you name it.
-juice
I had a 22mm Perrin Rear Sway Bar and Whiteline endlinks installed on my '04 WRX sedan back in May. Handling noticeably improved w/ the upgrade, but the ride became noisy when going over speed bumps or road imperfections. Lately it's become even noisier w/ a lot of squeaky sounds even when I turn into my driveway or going over bumps at 5mph.
I've never had aftermarket sway bars prior to this, so I was wondering if this is normal. Or is this something I need to get checked. Anybody had any similar experience w/ aftermarket sway bars?
Thanks!
James B.
most swaybars come with new bushings and grease of some variety. I would recommend lithium grease.
~Colin
James B.
either that, or the stock ones were well coated in grease and the aftermarket ones not quite so well coated.
~c
-mike
-Dennis
but yes, please only post in one place
~Colin
-juice