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Old 04-25-2022, 10:02 AM   #1
caterpill
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Default '15 STi Suspension into '12 Impreza Sport

Hey all,

Can someone provide any info on 2015 STi suspension fitment on a 2012 Impreza 2.0 Sport?

Did some digging and it seems like the front will lower due to the struts being shorter so maybe a side effect is less droop travel, and no idea about the rears. Will the rears bolt up normally?

Also, because the '15 STi has a 5x114 knuckle, that means the bolt holes on the front struts are wider as well as the knuckle bracket being wider. Can anyone confirm that this is the same thing as trying to fit '05 STi struts onto ~'04 and below? (ie: elongate holes, fab spacer plate/bar)

Thanks,

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Old 04-25-2022, 10:39 AM   #2
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I can't confirm about the rears but yes, you are correct about modifying the struts in order to fit.
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Old 04-25-2022, 12:18 PM   #3
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top hats are pretty much the same...bolt pattern that is, the rears bolt right on and are same height...i swapped my 09s onto a 09 base, and should have thought to just drill out whichever hole didnt match up...the overall length iirc was the same and the front spring rate is much nicer on the sti
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Old 04-26-2022, 02:12 AM   #4
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Hey, thanks for confirming REX_WGN. I dont remember how much of a pain it was, but I converted some '05 STi lower brackets to fit an 04' hub. That was too long ago. heh here we go again

Jedi03, could you elaborate? You installed 2009 STi suspension into your 2009 WRX? So the rears fit ok, how about the height? I would assume the overall length being the same with a higher springrate, hopefully it doesn't raise the rear, lol.

Now that I think of it, it seems a bit tough to find OEM springrate information from 08-Up.


I might as well ask. Anyone have 2012 Impreza OEM Springrate Info?

I'd like to know what i'm working with.

Btw it looks like the '15 STi is..

5.8k F / 5.3k R
324lbs F / 296lbs R

.. Not bad for stock. That's like.. stiffer than GD RCE Yellows. mmm. welcome to 2015 I guess

I guess i'll have to replace the topmounts as the suspension of this vintage seemed to be very problematic ("popping noises")

Thanks fellas

Last edited by caterpill; 04-26-2022 at 02:39 AM.
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Old 04-26-2022, 08:05 AM   #5
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Are you set on installing sti struts?

Here's what I did with Koni's and 2011 sti springs.
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2935870

Information I compiled when choosing springs is below. I'm assuming stock spring rates are in the 08 WRX range, soft. 2010 STI SE springs aren't in the chart but are supposed to be 250 lbs/in frt and rear. The STI SE rear is supposed to be slightly longer than the 11+ STI rear spring. Some people were reporting the 11+ STI rear spring wasn't captured at full droop. I haven't experienced any issues with it, it's pretty much captured on my car.

The 15+ WRX spring lengths came from an ebay seller. I thought about trying out 15+ WRX/STI front springs for the rate increase over the 11+ setup. There's a set of springs on ebay that have been tempting me. I'm unsure about ride heights and if the springs would be captured at full droop.

Code:
Car	Spring rate (lbs/in)	Spring rate (kg/mm)
Stock WRX ('08) Frt	150	2.68
Stock WRX ('08) Rear	136	2.43
Stock WRX ('09+) Frt	217	3.88
Stock WRX ('09+) Rear	194	3.46
Stock STI ('08-'10) Frt	217	3.88
Stock STI ('08-'10) Rear194	3.46
Stock Impreza (15) Frt	?	?
Stock Impreza (15) Rear	?	?
Stock STI ('11+) Frt	250	4.46
Stock STI ('11+) Rear	297	5.30
STI Pinks Frt	        280	5.00
STI Pinks Rear	        224	4.00
Stock STI (15+) Frt	325	5.80
Stock STI (15+) Rear	297	5.30
Stock WRX (15+) Frt	325	5.80
Stock WRX (15+) Rear	291	5.20
Code:
Car	            length(mm)	length (in)
Stock WRX ('08) Frt		
Stock WRX ('08) Rear		
Stock WRX ('09+) Frt		
Stock WRX ('09+) Rear	290	11.42
Stock STI ('08-'10) Frt		
Stock STI ('08-'10) Rear		
Stock Impreza (15) Frt	285.75	11.25
Stock Impreza (15) Rear	273	10.75
Stock STI ('11+) Frt	238	9.37
Stock STI ('11+) Rear	260	10.24
STI Pinks Frt		
STI Pinks Rear		
Stock STI (15+) Frt		
Stock STI (15+) Rear		
Stock WRX (15+) Frt	225	8.86
Stock WRX (15+) Rear	245	9.65
Threads of prior knowledge:
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2172354
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2453203
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2428168


If the popping is in the front, it's probably the front endlinks.
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Old 04-26-2022, 12:01 PM   #6
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If you are set on modifying STI front struts, here's the link to my journal showing how I did it. If you want a few pieces of the 3/16" steel, I can cut them off of my stock bar. Just message me.

cueball89, that's interesting that your rear STI springs worked. Did you use WRX or STI rear shocks to gut?

for what it's worth, here's some spring rate data I gathered from NASIOC and the internet when I first started looking into it for my Forester:

Swifts 4F908: 213 / 202
Pedders PED-804015: 252 / 207
King FR52/RR53: 265 / 238
RCE Regular guy STI springs: 320 / 320 (do not lower the car for later-GR dampers)
2011 STI: 250 / 297
09+WRX/08-10 STI: 217 / 194
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Old 04-26-2022, 03:26 PM   #7
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in regards to modifying STI struts to fit non-STI knuckles: what are folks' thoughts on modifying the camber bolt holes versus the lower holes? Any negative issues with this idea? My thought process it that you wouldn't have to trim anything else off of the strut to fit the 5x100 knuckles (small plus) but you would also gain some room for negative camber adjustability (big plus) since the lower spring perch is higher away from the tire.
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Old 04-26-2022, 06:26 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REX_WGN View Post
cueball89, that's interesting that your rear STI springs worked. Did you use WRX or STI rear shocks to gut?

for what it's worth, here's some spring rate data I gathered from NASIOC and the internet when I first started looking into it for my Forester:

Swifts 4F908: 213 / 202
Pedders PED-804015: 252 / 207
King FR52/RR53: 265 / 238
RCE Regular guy STI springs: 320 / 320 (do not lower the car for later-GR dampers)
2011 STI: 250 / 297
09+WRX/08-10 STI: 217 / 194
Didn't have to gut the rears, it's a strut. Koni 8010-1055. I think Koni approved fitments are 08-12 wrx and 08-11 impreza's.


Thanks for the spring rates!
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Old 04-26-2022, 11:27 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REX_WGN View Post
If you are set on modifying STI front struts, here's the link to my journal showing how I did it.
Yoooo,

Thanks for the link. Nice build man, i'm glad that it came together nicely, and not to mention that Florence came back to you.. Also - your picture-taking skills are on point. I'm sure everyone appreciates that!

To be clear, i'm not quite set on "modifying" something to work when there are many other options, however my reasoning would be that I got the 15' suspension free from someone that was throwing it away. I can't turn down STi inverted struts. Dude mentioned some popping when turning so I guess that means that I shouldn't trust the current top-mounts.

I should be fine with the bar stock - ahem, when I get around to doing all of this grinding and such, i'm sure home depot will come through.... I sincerely appreciate the offer, regardless.

I don't mind the STi springrates too much, I know the .75 motion ratio on the rear of the newer chassis makes things a bit more mushy so I would be inclined to think that overdamped / choppy setup which the STi's are known for, is probably welcomed. I have not researched OEM valving / shock dyno charts for this setup, but that would be mostly for another topic.

cueball89: Thank You for the springrate tables and links, it's appreciated. Is it just me, or has 08+ information become a diluted or hard to find? lol


... good thread though. It does condense a bit of information. You guys rock!

Last edited by caterpill; 04-26-2022 at 11:34 PM.
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Old 04-27-2022, 10:53 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cueball89 View Post
Didn't have to gut the rears, it's a strut. Koni 8010-1055. I think Koni approved fitments are 08-12 wrx and 08-11 impreza's.


Thanks for the spring rates!
I am a bit lazy right now to search but someone (was it you, cueball89?) made some sort of collar for the Konis so the STI springs would work? That's sticking in my mind that I saw a thread like that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by caterpill View Post
Yoooo,

Thanks for the link. Nice build man, i'm glad that it came together nicely, and not to mention that Florence came back to you.. Also - your picture-taking skills are on point. I'm sure everyone appreciates that!

To be clear, i'm not quite set on "modifying" something to work when there are many other options, however my reasoning would be that I got the 15' suspension free from someone that was throwing it away. I can't turn down STi inverted struts. Dude mentioned some popping when turning so I guess that means that I shouldn't trust the current top-mounts.

I should be fine with the bar stock - ahem, when I get around to doing all of this grinding and such, i'm sure home depot will come through.... I sincerely appreciate the offer, regardless.

I don't mind the STi springrates too much, I know the .75 motion ratio on the rear of the newer chassis makes things a bit more mushy so I would be inclined to think that overdamped / choppy setup which the STi's are known for, is probably welcomed. I have not researched OEM valving / shock dyno charts for this setup, but that would be mostly for another topic.

cueball89: Thank You for the springrate tables and links, it's appreciated. Is it just me, or has 08+ information become a diluted or hard to find? lol


... good thread though. It does condense a bit of information. You guys rock!
You're welcome for the link. Appreciate the comments. I've learned from the past that it's best to make a journal to not only document the progress, but to help me remember what my plans and mods are. Secondary effect of that is cringe realizing how much money I've spent on it lol.

And no kidding about the lack of info on anything 08+. And to add more to the confusion, I recently sourced a set of Racecomp STI springs and dampers in a trade where I gave up my new Racecomp WRX dampers. In my inquiry to break down the differences, here's what RaceComp told me about their 08+ springs:

How would these dampers [RCE WRX] pair with the 2013 STI springs? Would it be better if I matched them with your black springs instead?

No clue as the WRX to STI full droop numbers are different hence why we had different springs for each car.

You've only ever had one set of 08-14 black springs correct?

Well we had a 08-14 STI BLACK Spring and a 08-14 WRX Black spring. Each was very different. The 08-14 STI BLK springs had no drop and a rate of 330/330 while the 08-14 WRX BlK springs were a 25mm drop and softer 275/250 spring rates.

These on your site? I'm reading conflicting info on NASIOC about how much "black springs" lower the car but I think a lot of it has to do with folks using these regular guy springs on their WRXs and early-GR (GE?) STI and there's varying heights based on the lower spring perches of these models.

Its conflicting because we screwed up and made WRX BLACKS( GH) AFTER the Yellows and it lowered MORE than the Yellows. Something we have never done prior or after that. So the design philosophy of the Black springs lowering less and the Yellows lowering more was BLOWN. Then it became confusing. Sprinkle in basic misinformation and became a nice SS and fast! ( lol)

Maybe it's worth it to make a separate thread with the above info?
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Old 04-27-2022, 07:40 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REX_WGN View Post
I am a bit lazy right now to search but someone (was it you, cueball89?) made some sort of collar for the Konis so the STI springs would work? That's sticking in my mind that I saw a thread like that.
That was Isotope(sp?). I didn't need to use any collar. Everything bolted up just fine.
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Old 05-16-2022, 01:57 AM   #12
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Ok, so pics or it didn't happen, eh?

I don't know why I put myself through this... but I guess it worked out huh.



15' STi Front Strut (Top) vs 12' Impreza Sport Wagon Front Strut (Bottom)






Top Hole Drilled





Top / Bottom Holes both drilled. Top Hole Elongated to Match existing Camber Bolt elongated hole. Note: the little "Notch" at the bottom. I don't think this is necessary, but it made be feel better to have it notched a little to avoid any problems with the bracket interfering with the hub. Also, while i'm grinding my life away, I might as well make sure I don't have to worry about that later.

Also: Note the lower hole. This can be drilled at your discretion, but while I was doing all this crap, I remembered for the GD Chassis at least, the Wagon and Sedan Struts were different. If you were to put Sedan Struts on your Wagon, you won't be able to get enough negative camber. I would hate to be stuck with suspension with positive camber, yuck. Remembering this, I opted to drill the holes as close to the edge of the bracket as possible, while leaving just enough metal to match the thickness of the strut bolt's flanged head. Thanks to some guidance from someone's other how-to, a 9/16" Drill Bit worked well.







Picture of the bracket before welding / modifying. Profile seems to be slightly "off-center" as well.





Bolted Up - This is the LH / Driver's side. You can kind of see the area of concern where I chose to notch the lower area of the bracket. Yes - I was whacking the hub a lot initially because the bracket was too narrow. *bang*bang*bang*





12' Impreza Sport Wagon Rear Shock (Left), 15' STi Shock (Right)




Might be getting to old for this stuff (i'm lazy) but the rears were bolt on, YAY.

Fronts, on the other hand, required some modification, as you can see. Pretty much the same as trying to fit anything 05' STi-ish into prior years. I would recommend utmost accuracy when drilling your holes. It's thick metal, and honestly, you want to try your best to ensure that the lower bolt holes are not too large; if there is play, if course there would be risk for things shifting around - ideally all the camber should be controlled by the top eccentric, right..

I have yet to measure the camber, but it would be near the stock specs, according to my eyeball (ha ha)

Fun though, I do enjoy the choppy, bouncy ride..... that is..... "STi" .. heh heh. Realistically, the ride is firm, but not absurdly so. It does depend on your tolerance. In my situation, I think it makes the car much more enjoyable.

From a quick google search,
Curb Weight - 15' STi = 3400lbs vs 12' Impreza = ~3000lbs - I would be inclined to say that if the numbers are correct, the suspension would bottom out less (apparently the VA chassis has a lack of bump travel) and effective springrate a touch more because ... lighter. It does seem that way, at least.

Edit: I put GVWR initially, meant Curb weight - corrected. Curb weights are approximate - they're all over the place.

I would like to say that I used two, 1/8" Steel Plates for the strut - as someone else did in their journey, I think there were about 2-3 such "05' STi Strut Modifying Guides" total that i've seen. (Thank You REX_WGN - your how-to was helpful as well!) - it was just a touch too thick.. I had to shave the bar plate down. I would recommend measuring when you decide to do this mod, just for the heck of it. A lot of work. You could also go with the custom spacer(s) or find some metal that is just the right thickness.
Edit: I also used two prybars to "massage" the strut bracket wider a little in the end, and that helped a lot.

One funny side effect. This GP Chassis has a pretty poorly designed Sun Visors. So inevitably, the increased NVH from the stiffer springs / dampers, so my Sun Visors randomly fall down during a drive. Quite startling, but funny in hindsight I must say.

So, does any of this babbling mean anything? Probably not! Do what you like, but safely. ha ha

Last edited by caterpill; 05-20-2022 at 03:16 AM. Reason: Updates, typos.
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Old 05-16-2022, 08:04 AM   #13
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I can't see the pictures on my computers browser but I can on my mobile browser which is odd.

Anyway, nice pictures. How's the ride height? Do you have any pictures of before and after?

How did you drill the holes so perfectly?

I'm curious as to why the gap difference between your STI strut mount flanges and the ones I had. I used a thicker shim than you at 3/16" and it was still slightly loose. Oh well I guess. Best for everyone to measure first.
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Old 05-20-2022, 02:34 AM   #14
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Hey REX-WGN,

I didn't initially intend to document everything - because really, who wastes their time with this kind of idiocy? but I took *some* pictures, at least. Long live Nasioc. I kind of impulsively decided to slap all of this together in one weekend (besides the welding).

So I did kind-of-sort-of remember to get some ride-height measurements after bolting one modified side on, and you know what, there was barely any difference. I reckon the ride height was lower by about 1/4" or so. The rear ride height did not change. Re-measuring everything after all corners showed no real difference in ride height. Again, I would say if anything the front was 1/4" or so lower. Anyhow, I wasn't after a lowered vehicle anyway, I think the ride height is perfect.

No exterior pics, sorry.

The holes are not perfect, however I guess I got lucky, sort of. Top hole, I just eyeballed the center and used a center punch - Drilled that first. (you only have to drill through the bar stock and you have the existing hole to reference) For the bottom hole,I used a sheet of paper with a ball peen hammer on the stock 12' strut bolt holes, and carefully hammered a template (piece of paper with two holes) and transferred that to the other strut, carefully put the top camber bolt in to index said sheet. After I was happy with the position of the lower hole (moving it back and forth to position as close as possible to the edge) then center punched it. After that, it was a pilot hole of like 9/32" or so, and slapped the whole thing in a vise, and worked it medium/slow with the 9/16" bit. I opted to use lube while drilling, although the drill bit was new, just for this.

I read your guide again, and dude, I feel your pain with the dremel. I used to use a Dremel and it does still serve it's duty well, for sure. (Back in the day, I dremeled out the gigantic hole for the GD WRX D_REX spacers. That took all night. ) I had an air die grinder I was able to use this time that helped with the deburring / enlarging.

To elongate/ovalize the top hole for the camber bolt, I used a deburring bit with a die grinder to enlarge and also clean everything up.

Not sure about the actual fitment of the hubs. Referencing the other guide I read, that person used two 1/8" pieces of bar stock, and mentioned that it "fit like a glove" - I think that person may have had a SF Forester. Maybe it was just my hubs. I didn't measure, but really it was just a touch off, it has to be less than 3/32". *shrug*

When I bolted everything up, I shifted the tophats to the most negative position possible before tightening them. Also.. I *THINK* the OEM camber bolts were roughly 75%-85% maxed out, and after all this, netted about -0.4 degrees according to my ghetto angle gauge. It would be awesome if I could get like, 0.7-1.5 degrees but that would just be dreaming. hehe

Decent amount of camber but most importantly, not like 0.1 or positive. Big whoop!

Last edited by caterpill; 05-20-2022 at 03:04 AM.
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Old 05-20-2022, 11:57 AM   #15
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very nice, sorry i dont know how i did not see this post renew after my comment...was putting my sti struts/shocks onto another persons base model impreza...ended up just doing the rears as i did not know how comfortable she would be with me drilling out suspension components for her car...maintained same ride height, i had thought i checked the overall height of the all of them and they looked the same, pic above shows a decent difference when unloaded
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Old 05-20-2022, 12:02 PM   #16
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Very nice work.

I'm quite surprised your ride height did not change at all. Hanging out in the FB groups, it seems the consensus is that the ride would be lowered at least 1/4" or more if you put 15+ suspension on the 08-14 chassis. The fact that your model already comes with a taller ride height compared to the same MY STI says even more. Maybe it's all on the higher spring rates of the VA takeoffs that keep your car at the same right height. Either way, this is great info for those that want to do this swap since the VA takeoffs should have less mileage compared to the GR.

Good work on the shims and drilling the struts. In hindsight, now I'm wondering why I didn't just go with aluminum bar stock instead of steel. Would've saved me a lot of time drilling out those holes. I probably figured I wanted the strength. But since the clamping force is spread out across the mounting surfaces of the knuckle and strut flanges, it probably doesn't matter as much.

I'm running 04 STI wheels and with 12mm spacers, I am around -.5 camber in the front. And that's the max before I have inner clearance issues. I can slip a piece of cardboard between the tire and the lower spring perch of the STI struts. I'm waiting on a set of 15mm spacers to arrive to see if that can help some. I may also install the WL tophats to get me some more negative camber. I'd like to get to -1.5 as well.

What are your thoughts about adapting the top hole versus the bottom hole of STI struts to work on 5x100 hubs? 2 main reasons I am interested in doing this is. (1) It should give me more clearance for negative camber and (2) I can get more ride height without using tophat spacers. And to be clear, I'm thinking of doing this to a new set of front struts and not my existing set which already has the bottom hole modified. Do you see any negative effects on modifying the top hole? Granted it is the camber bolt but I don't think adjustments will be effected by this.
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Old 06-01-2022, 11:09 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REX_WGN View Post

What are your thoughts about adapting the top hole versus the bottom hole of STI struts to work on 5x100 hubs? 2 main reasons I am interested in doing this is. (1) It should give me more clearance for negative camber and (2) I can get more ride height without using tophat spacers. And to be clear, I'm thinking of doing this to a new set of front struts and not my existing set which already has the bottom hole modified. Do you see any negative effects on modifying the top hole? Granted it is the camber bolt but I don't think adjustments will be effected by this.
I don't think there are really any negatives, however if i'm thinking correctly, the ride height would increase just a touch. Also, to utilize the camber bolts effectively, the new holes would have to be enlongated / "ovalized" as close as possible to the correct profile as the old holes or course. I think if you wanted to, you could also offset the top holes a little inboard for more negative camber.

All of this is a lot of work, but it does depend on the individual. Call me weird, but I do appreciate the higher springrates and on an otherwise stock-height car. The roads around here are pretty rough and having enough bump travel is important.
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Old 06-07-2022, 09:14 AM   #18
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don't want to digress any further but just wanted to clarify one other thing. When I max out the negative camber on my camber bolt, it causes the top of the inner wall of tire to hit the lower spring perch of the strut. So I actually have to dial it more positive and I know I have more adjustment available with the oem camber bolt. I'll update further in some other thread if I do decide to go this route.

Good stuff. I'm considering 15+ after it worked for you and a few others are starting to mention the same thing.
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Old 06-10-2022, 01:18 AM   #19
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Not to worry, more info about different setups are always good.

I would like to say that logically, you would seem to have a taller tire just because "Forester" that may have an impact on tire-to-strut clearance because I would assume the overall diameter of your setup is a little larger than a normal , say stock STi setup.

It does get a little tricky though with all this, and the next step if you really wanted to keep the same tires, would simply to find an aftermarket tophat / camber plate. That would allow you to get more camber without the tire contacting the spring perch. Otherwise, to remedy that tire clearance issue, you would most likely have to either get a lower profile tire, use a spacer, or add an aftermarket tophat.

It's in everyone's best interest to keep the speedometer accurate, so I would assume that you strive to keep the same overall circumference when plus sizing wheels, but it would be a lot easier if we could change / reprogram our ODO for different sizes easily :P
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Old 06-10-2022, 01:18 AM   #20
caterpill
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Member#: 27136
Join Date: Oct 2002
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Not to worry, more info about different setups are always good.

I would like to say that logically, you would seem to have a taller tire just because "Forester" that may have an impact on tire-to-strut clearance because I would assume the overall diameter of your setup is a little larger than a normal , say stock STi setup.

It does get a little tricky though with all this, and the next step if you really wanted to keep the same tires, would simply to find an aftermarket tophat / camber plate. That would allow you to get more camber without the tire contacting the spring perch. Otherwise, to remedy that tire clearance issue, you would most likely have to either get a lower profile tire, use a spacer, or add an aftermarket tophat.

It's in everyone's best interest to keep the speedometer accurate, so I would assume that you strive to keep the same overall circumference when plus sizing wheels, but it would be a lot easier if we could change / reprogram our ODO for different sizes easily :P
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Old 06-10-2022, 10:21 AM   #21
REX_WGN
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Member#: 107618
Join Date: Feb 2006
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: NY
Vehicle:
06 GG WRX / 09 FXT
@florencedestinedfxt

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Yes, all ideas I'm pondering. I already have the WL offset tophats ready and also considering +3mm thicker spacers as I'm currently at 12mm. I think this should do it for me. Modifying the upper hole will just give me more room to play with.

Speaking of ovalling the upper hole, I'm starting to think it's not that good of an idea unless I can find a welder to plug up the '5x114 side' of the hole. This is because there would be even less metal for the camber bolt and nut to clamp down on the strut ears as the hole is already ovalled laterally. Guess I'll need to find a welder lol.
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