[Sunrise City Rider]

I just installed my Ver.5 Struts and Ver.6 Springs yesterday with HKS Pillow Ball Adjustable Front Strut Mounts...

Now as you can see the front sits an inch higher than stock!

What the hell did I do wrong?
I did everything correct with the dissassembling and reassembling of each corner's suspension...Used Spring Compressor, used all rubber mounts and stock top hats...

The only thing I can think of is that the Pillow Ball Mounts, do not come up and into the strut towers as the stock rubber mounts do, plus I added a piece of Dynamat Dynaliner in-between the Mounts and the body of the car...

Is this normal? Its a helluva lot stiffer and theres no noticable noise...Nothing seems wrong except for the increase in Front Ride Height...What do you guys think?

As far as the difference, Its a lot stiffer...Reacts to direction changes much quicker, holds the line around corners and when making left turns much easier, and just plain feels more "Go-Kartish"

I have no idea what each line on the HKS mounts represent but I have it set at the 3rd line from 0 on the negative camber side and I still have to get a full alignment to really understand what I'm working with...

Install is no biggie...The rear Strut bolts are on there as if they are welded on...Have someone hold a 19mm Crescent on the Rear side and Crank with a 19mm 1/2" Ratchet on the side facing the front of the car, use a pipe for leverage, make sure you have plenty of Brake Fluid to bleed the brakes when complete, and someone to slip the nuts onto the strut mounts as you hold the Suspension up...Attach the strut mounts first then attach the struts to the hubs...2 people are definitely needed for this job...

I will see if I can figure out why its higher but who knows, Maybe its designed that way because the WRX has extra weight up front due to the Turbo setup and what not, plus I am using the lightweight front bumper beam and a Carbon Fiber Hood...And that added to what I mentioned about the PillowMounts is probably the answer to my dillema...

Zee:checkit:

 

[Sunrise City Rider]

One more shot

Ver.6 Springs and Ver.5 Struts...With HKS Front Pillow Mounts...

Zee:checkit:

 

[Impretzel]

hmmm that looks very odd indeed.... Since you said you had to put dynomat, which you definitely do not need to do, its probably defective pillow mounts? I have no idea why that happened. It seemed that both sides on the front are high... come on peeps lets help him out!

 

[Impretzel]

Oh yeah it COULD be that the front is lighter than that of the STi version, like on the USDM forester with the STi setup, but I've seen people on i-club with setup similar to this (onmahasubaru). Maybe you should ask him... Sorry I couldnt help

 

[Sunrise City Rider]

HKS Mounts...

No, they aren't defective...I only added the dynamat to get rid of any unwanted noise...Only as a precaution...I just drove it all around West Fort Lauderdale and hit some rough roads and some left turn signals and I'm very happy with the feel...Plenty of control and not too much rattling...I think I will get longer Pillow Mount Studs, about a 1/2" longer and mount the Pillow mounts in the engine compartment, sitting on 1/2" spacers...That should pull the strut/Spring up about an inch and still provide the stiff ride with the lower ride height...

Its definitely about an inch and a half higher than stock...No rubbing, no awkward feeling, just higher than stock...

Zee

 

[blitzkrg-RS]

AFAIK, when i had my tein s-tech springs, the front springs and rear springs looked very similar. but after close examination, i found the front springs have less coils than the rears, and the front springs are shorter.
so maybe you have installed the front springs in the rear, and the rear ones to the front?

you should check again.

good luck!

cal

 

[Guest]

Are the springs sitting on the perches correctly?

When I installed my SPT/Eibach springs the rear end looked like it was an inch or three taller than stock, but after driving it around the corner it dropped down. Now the car sits about 1" lower than stock.

I don't think I'd mount the upper mounts inside the car like that. Right now the weight of the car sits on the perimeter of the mount, but if you move them to the upper side of the strut tower, the car will be supported by the head of the studs only. Hit a bump and you could push them through.

I don't think the light-weight bumper beam, CF hood, and lack of turbo are causing the problem. If you sit on the front, does it drop the car down 2"?

 

[jagcars26]

Ive got the stock version 5 setup(springs /struts).When 1st installed the front was higher,,,after a coupla days it evened out.

 

[jagcars26]

Ive got the stock version 5 setup(springs /struts).When 1st installed the front was higher,,,but not higher then stock,,,,,after a coupla days it evened out.Im thinken ya did somethin wrong maybe.

 

[Sunrise City Rider]

Switched back to stock Mounts...

Well, I pulled the front suspension this afternoon and replaced the HKS mounts with the stock rubber mounts...The car sits an inch lower, but I guess as jagcars stated, it may take a few days to really settle...

The front still looks a bit higher than I expected it to...

It seems that the HKS mounts are not meant for a Strut/Spring Combo, but rather a True Coilover setup...

So, if any of you guys are looking for Camber Adjustable Mounts, Make sure that its meant for a Simple Strut/Spring Combo...

I'll take some pictures tommorrow when its daylight...

Oh and this suspension is such a huge improvement over the RS setup...

Brake Dive has decreased and so has lift...It really feels like I'm accelerating a lot faster and gear changes are surprisingly smoother than ever...

Still have to get alignment done...

What specs do you suggest I get? I am limited to whatever the stock RS can reach, but I am thinking I'll max out the Negative Camber in the front, no more than 1.25 if its possible...And try to reach 0.00 Camber in the Rear...

Zee

:checkit:

 

[Guest]

Man that sucks.

I got the STi group N top mounts when I put my strut/springs on, and now my car feels bouncy. But it's not the car going bouncy bouncy, I'm almost positive that my SEAT bottom is going bouncy bouncy. ARGH. Looks like one of these days I'll have to get some decent street seats.

 

[ImprezaMan]

Maybe your top mounts are not installed properly (i.e. springs aren't compressed enough)or maybe it can be that your springs are reversed like someone already said. I wouldn't say that it is because the front is lighter than JDM because I've seen another RS with the same setup and his fit fine.

 

[Sunrise City Rider]

I'm happy now...

It was definitely the Pillow Mounts...They aren' t meant to work with anything but a Coilover setup...Its hard to mix up the front and rear springs as the fronts are much shorter than the rears...I wouldn't make that mistake because I took my time when installing this suspension...I switched back to stock mounts and its still hasnt' settled but it does sit an inch lower than it did with the HKS Mounts...

Zee

 

[blitzkrg-RS]

right on, Zee.

we all learn something new everyday.

 

[McDade]

also those springs drop the car evenly front and rear, so there will be a little bit more wheel gap in the front then rear, just because the arch is a bit larger.

i have the version 5 struts and springs also and my wheel gap in the front is more than the rear. Its normal.

i wouldnt leave those stock top mounts in too long, I think I destroyed mine with the very stiff suspension, I have to take them out and check, good thing I just picked up a completely assembled with sti top mount prodrive p1 suspension to swap in while I play with the ver 5 setup :devil:

 

[Miracle Worker]

strange. I have the AGX shocks and tried 2 springs. APEX and GroundControl. Both have the front higher than the back about an inch. with the GC i have the front turned down almost half way while the rears are all the way up.

 

[TaiChih]

I've got the answer

The reason why your car looks like it is launching all the time is because you are missing a turbo......No joke. I have the full ver V suspension in my RS and it did the same thing, but as soon as I put my turbo kit in, it levelled out. Keep in mind that the version V struts and springs were designed to have that additional 40 pounds or so in the front and it makes a big difference. Good luck.

 

[10th Warrior]

Re: I've got the answer

The reason why your car looks like it is launching all the time is because you are missing a turbo......No joke. I have the full ver V suspension in my RS and it did the same thing, but as soon as I put my turbo kit in, it levelled out. Keep in mind that the version V struts and springs were designed to have that additional 40 pounds or so in the front and it makes a big difference. Good luck.

except we already have a larger engine...

 

[TaiChih]

yeah, but the weight of the larger engine would be negligible compared to a ful turbo system with TMIC and averything else. The 2.5 would probably only be an extra 5-10 pounds heavier, but every bit helps

 

[OKsubaru]

I have version 5 suspension and my car does not look like that. The front is a little higher than the back but not like that I can fit one finger in the wheel well in the rear and two in the front. Maybe it'll settle in :run: