Numbchux

Ancient picture (I think I sold the car in 2006 or so....) of my Blue '88.

I don't know for sure, I've done a lot of digging to try to find factory spring rates for these, my old notes show stock (00-04 OBW) rear springs at 190lb/in, Rallitek is 355 lb/in, and King stiffer still. If anything, I would assume the opposite. They have identical rear suspension, but the '05-'09s are heavier. Subiefish makes a lift kit that utilizes Tacoma front struts/springs in the rear of the Outback, but they want pretty good money for it. I have some stock takeoffs from a '13 Tacoma offroad (factory Bilsteins) that I plan to experiment with. Standard Tacomas have 495 lb/in springs, and Offroad with 595, so that's probably too much, but gives me something to experiment with.

Yea, I was assuming you weren't putting 2000 lbs in it....it should be able to handle 450ish. I think there are still ride height measurements in the FSMs. Might be worth seeing if it's officially sagging before you go buying springs.

I don't know the exact years, but the valve bodies changed a couple times between '99-'06, and obviously the axle gear ratios have to be identical. Then again, those parts interchanges tend to be pretty specific. They're looking for the identical transmission, when maybe one gear ratio changed, but it would still work.

Well, if the rear is sagging, the camber will go more negative on the both multilink designs. Older Imprezas are all modified-Macpherson rear, which has much more consistent camber through the travel. Do you regularly drive it loaded? If so, overload springs (I'm not sure if that's even a thing on a Tribeca...) might be worth looking into.

Nope, not the greatest picture, but maybe it makes sense. I'm just cutting out a chunk out of the end that's barely the width of the hose, this leaves all the surface on either side for the clip to rest against.

I prefer to make 2 cuts so the hose can be removed without bending.

Fix this. Any other diagnosis/repair is a waste of time and money.

AT shift cables, all the time. Although they usually break. We probably stocked 3 different part numbers, and sold one once a week or so.

Yea, it certainly could be something like that. I looked once with the shifter at each end of the travel, and didn't notice anything shifting like that, so I got to thinking if I should suspect something internal. Once I get the title for sure, I'll start tearing it apart and look for parts binding (or if I run out of things to do, I'll tear some stuff off the parts car for some experimentation). We sold a lot of cables when I was at the dealership, so maybe it's just that simple.

That was my first thought, but after playing with it for awhile the other day, I think electrically it's reading correctly, as you can pull the shifter all the way down to "1" and it will barely engage Drive, so I'm thinking more on the linkage side of it. That's a good point, and that could cause an issue at both ends of the travel like I'm seeing. This car has higher mileage (210k or something) and has been sitting for the last year or so...

My concerns are diameter and length. Upper spring perch is usually integrated into the original top mount, so you frequently have to add the stock EA82 mount, or redesign a mount/spring perch. Adding the second mount, from SuberDave's build: Or replace it. Like Nico did, these crazy custom anodized aluminum pillowball mounts for his Ohlin's Not saying you shouldn't do it. Just brainstorming some challenges that will depend on the specific coilover design and what you've got in mind.

On my most recent purchase, my '01 VDC, I got some assurance that there will be a title, so I'm beginning a plan to fix it. One of the issues is related to the shifter. What it feels like is that something in the linkage (cable, etc.) is binding/bending. I have to mess with it to get it to "engage" park (electronically, the prawl engages, but the light on the dash won't always come on, which of course prevents the car from starting). And when I pull it down towards the gears, I have to pull it all the way to "1" to get it to engage "D". Having to jiggle the shifter to get it to start made me first think it was the range/neutral switch on the transmission, but since it doesn't work the other way, I'm tempted to think it's something else. This kind of reminds me of an SVX I had briefly. The story when I bought it was that the shift cable had broken, and they put a new one in it, and it still didn't work correctly so it needed some internal repair. We found that the brand-new OE cable would kink when "pushing". So we could start it, and one guy hold the brakes, while the other guy reaches down with a pliers from under the hood and pull on the shifter to put it in gear. Then you could drive it, and the cable would "pull" just fine back into Park. Now, we test drove it, and the transmission was also slipping REALLY badly, so we parted out the car, so we never attempted to fix it. The difference is that it would go into Park just fine. I put this Outback up on ramps, and took a look in a few positions, and I didn't see the cable obviously doing anything like that, or shifting in the mounts (or mounts deforming). So, long story short. Anyone seen anything internal in the transmission binding causing cable issues? Or should I focus my diagnostic on external parts?

Yes, I think the first gen Legacy/Liberty is the only exception. I don't know about '93-'94, but certainly by '95, even the Impreza had it in the rear.

Codes?