moosens Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 We have two old Legacys needing new struts. Both wagons. One FWD and one AWD. The FWD I need all Four for sure. Definitely need fresh mounts up front , probably all around. I was considering the average guy Excel-G series , does that sound fair enough for mostly smooth road , city and highway ? The AWD I might go for the next higher grade. But could easily settle for the same Excel-G's again. This car I might be able to just use the donor car fronts for some time going forward because it's a low mileage donor car. But I'm certainly buying new for the rear and require those fairly soon. Do you guys go thrifty and get the strut boots ( gaters) and bump stops and bits from different sources and different mfg's ? I see items like Monroe has a less expensive boot and seat rubbers etc. Are they decent enough or spend the money on bits with KYB ? I will unquestionably be buying all struts and top mounts KYB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Yep you got it. OEM/KYB for struts and springs Anything else for ancillary stuff disclaimer I replace the ancillary stuff less often in lieu of used or reuse old stuff/ignore it on older rusted stuff - so my sample size for those is anecdotal. I've often wondered about fitment issues with boots and bump stops - another brand on non OEM struts but never had an issue yet. FWD rear KYB struts were really cheap somewhere online (Amazon or eBay or rockauto...) a year ago. Bunch of folks said it wasn't possible to run them on but I tried it and worked great. Couldn't tell a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 just got struts for my WRX. got 'em from amazon - $66 each. upgraded my mounts (one's rubber was cracked severely) to group-n from an ebay seller. just moved bump stop and boots over as they seemed OK. good time to reboot any split inner joint boots on the axle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wondercow2 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Be careful about the boots and bump stops. I bought Moog boots, and whatever the local big box parts store had for bump stops. The stops did NOT fit, but I was frustrated enough to ream out the holes so that they would fit. The Moog boots were also disappointing - they were OK in the front by the backs did not attach very neatly. If I were doing it again I'd reuse the boots, and pay for OEM or comparable bump stops. I would also keep the strut mounts - I replaced with KYB, but the old ones were OK after nearly 20 years and 180k miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted July 7, 2017 Author Share Posted July 7, 2017 Thanks for the input ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 Best deal is KYB struts you find in the yard that someone else paid for. When I see them I grab them complete for $30 each and they are ready to bolt in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted July 8, 2017 Author Share Posted July 8, 2017 Sounds great but I'm not going to yards these days here in CT. For one thing there aren't many old Subarus left up here. And I'm asking about new. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that. Good idea for many other parts of the USA Here , people replace cars quickly and the yards don't waste time on older cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 8, 2017 Share Posted July 8, 2017 That's awesome you can score those out there. I need to look for that in the future every one I come across (which isn't many). Do you look at like 20 or 50 before finding new ones? pull a parts are sporadic out here, only in some areas. Are they everywhere out west or do most people/yards tend to be around urban areas? Or maybe they have tons of Subarus so they're worth going to? Seems like Idaho, Oregon, WA, and CO folks don't have much problem finding them? I always wondered if there's fewer out here, or what, and why? Rust certainly doesn't help. 2000-2004 stuff is already becoming obsolete. They aren't all loaded with Subarus. The one I frequently travel close to (still 3 hours) only has 1-3 Subarus at any time unfortunately. Some- local places ask $75 for used stunts....good grief who pays that for unknown used?! The only one I know of in my entire state and certainly only one close to me is unfortunately rife with issues but has a fair number of Subarus and is close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted July 8, 2017 Author Share Posted July 8, 2017 All very nice , but I'd appreciate it if I could check on MY post and see actual info pertaining to my request. Have a great day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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