finally got my struts in (sorry no pics at the moment) i had to end up using my old mounts and bearings. rock auto customer service is great after the parts they sent me failed in every way imaginable, and even after i did a little welding on them they are still going to refund me the money for them and are sending me return instructions today . now all i have to do is put my ball joint in and i can test out my new struts:D

pics! not much just thought i would put up some pics of my new kybs

 

 

 

next time i am going to spend the money to have a shop switch the springs. i was using a cheap spring compressor and they didn't work very good after a few hours of cussing i got the assembly's back together and in my car i can hardly wait to try them out.

So those KYB's were direct replacements then. That is good news. I am gonna have to snag a set for my Brat now, lol.

 

Thanks for sharing all the info for us.

yep they fit perfect but just so you know when i ordered the mounting kits from rock auto they were in worse shape than my old mounts were and they didn't fit anyway so be careful if you are buying new mounts and bearings.

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Edited July 30, 201213 yr by mikaleda

yep they fit perfect but just so you know when i ordered the mounting kits from rock auto they were in worse shape than my old mounts were and they didn't fit anyway so be careful if you are buying new mounts and bearings.

 

Thinking of just reusing the old ones. I didn't even consider replacements as far as mounts and bearings go.

 

hmmmm.

i used my old mounts and they worked just fine.

So I took a gamble with the Monroe's and that part number is wrong for a 1980 brat. Needs the shaft mount and not the ears type. Dang it all anyway. Just tout I would roll the dice.

 

FYI to anyone else on the Monroe 4915 and gen 1 brats.

according to rockauto.com they should be right, all the small pick-ups i have worked on have this style shock. in fact i have never seen any 80's subarus with anything other than this style shock either.

Edited August 5, 201213 yr by mikaleda

Do your front struts look like this with these bolts?

 

 

 

Did that portion get moved over to the new KYB struts you bought?

OCD, those are the spring perch adjustment bolts (Adjustable ride hight)

 

If you were to buy new struts for an EA81 car, you will be getting ones that are not adjustable but are pre adjusted to sit at the factory max hight.

 

So no, KYBs will not have those bolts.

 

This is what they look like before and after adjustment.

 

Edited August 16, 201213 yr by TheLoyale

thanks TheLoyale now i know how to adjust the sespension so my peugeots wont rub:clap:

Ah, bless PB Blaster, lol.

 

Thanks for the info TheLoyale. I should have looked more intently.

 

Seems like the KYB's will work then.

 

So really if one wanted to lower their front with the KYB's they could lower the spring bucket... hmmmmmm

The spring perch is welded obviously, so thats really not an option unless you want to cut and weld (Which may boil the damper fluid)

 

You might be able to retro fit different model Subaru struts in there to lower the front, I want to say 2WD struts might lower it (Don't quote me on that)

 

The rear torsion tube is also adjustable, there is one large bolt (17mm) on top of the center of the tube.

 

PB Blaster is your friend!

Ok so now that I have completely pirated this thread,......lol

 

Looks like the KYB's in this thread are not going to work for the gen 1 brat as they are to dis-similar. The spring perch is too wide for the gen 1 Brat spring and apparently that nut on the top of the strut shaft is the wrong dimension for them.

 

But Mikelada, on your wagon it worked.

whew after an exhausting week in washington, i now managed to crumple the right front end of my car with a red honda . but i was able to fix the damage well will get some pics up in a while sorry no before fix pics just after but i can tell you i hit hard enough to shove my fender into my tire.

pics after wreck

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/mikaleda/DSCI0006.jpg

 

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/mikaleda/DSCI0005.jpg

 

Edited August 18, 201213 yr by mikaleda

patched the hole in my floor board with mini tech screws and some galvie tin.

 

 

 

 

sealed it with old school roofing tar that stays flexible

oh ya almost forgot i found the problem with my cyclops light. when i pulled the bumper i noticed the limiter switch is corroded, bad. it looks like i will need a new one if i want to fix it

decided to quit working on this car for a while and start working on my legacy, so no new updates for a little while.

I am sorry to say this is the end of this thread I can't afford this car to many things are going wrong my legacy finally showed me definitive proof that it has a blown head gasket. This thing just has to many things wrong with it to use for a daily driver so I am going to sell it and put the money into my legacy I should be able to get enough out of it to put head gaskets timing belt and a nice set of tires on my legacy. ::horse:

Find something else to sell. You will regret losing this car!!!

If I can find a way to get it going good enough to go down the road I might just keep it. I was just looking in a old shop Manuel for imports of that year and it told me how to fix the front end. I also noticed when I was looking at the suspension section That you can change the ride height in the back.

Find something else to sell. You will regret losing this car!!!

 

Ditto that. What a neat car! Don't sell it. You'll pull thru.

i like this wagon too but it might be scary to find all of the places that have rusted through considering parts of the rockers are gone and the doors are starting so think of the wheel wells and under carriage, so it might be best to sell but i was looking forward to seeing the rust go away and the wagon get finished:(also this one is somewhat rare from the third eye and i think the orange dash lights are rarer than some other odometers and this one is one of the first ea81 body style cars around but the rust and body damage will make its value go down but the new suspension parts will make it worth something