Haven't seen this one before. I managed to rip the rubber bushing on the front strut top (EA82) apart today on a trail. Anyone encountered this before?

 

Edited July 14, 201213 yr by Speedwagon

Haven't seen it on an EA82, but I have seen a few on the EA81's.

I've had them come apart due to rust breaking the bond between the rubber and the metal, but not had the rubber tear before.

It was most definitely the rubber in this case. Added a picture.

yep....twice....

yep....twice....

 

When you say twice... did you break any that were new? Or just old ones?

Holy wow, impressive. I could see it getting weak if it's worn and rusty, and you quickly lift that wheel up in the air enough to get the spring kicking it down pretty hard.

 

Luckily, they don't seem too pricey to replace. Looks like about $55 from the local parts stores, and this guy on ebay has it for $25 shipped!

Edited July 26, 201213 yr by Cyfun

Holy wow, impressive. I could see it getting weak if it's worn and rusty, and you quickly lift that wheel up in the air enough to get the spring kicking it down pretty hard.

 

Luckily, they don't seem too pricey to replace. Looks like about $55 from the local parts stores, and this guy on ebay has it for $25 shipped!

 

Yeah, I'm searching around a bit before I buy new. I got a used one from the JY for $10, so it's fixed until I replace them both.

 

But, it was the metal seperating from the rubber. The rubber is what broke. The bearing is still surrounded by rubber. And this is Colorado, so not much rust in the first place.

Yep, had it happen to me on the trail. My fender kept the entire strut assembly from going out any further. Hi-Lift jack got it back in place and tie down to keep it from separating again. Limped off the trail.

 

There are a couple of things that cause this. One is removal of the front sway bar which allows the suspension to act more independently and the other is worn or wearing strut dampers. There is not enough rebound valving left to control the energy of the spring, so when you lift a wheel the springs energy pushes down the suspension faster than it should and over time this wears on the top mount rubber. This coupled with removal of the front sway bar make the wear of the rubber happen faster. Easy fix is limit straps. These will take the load of the suspension instead of the rubber top mount. There are a ton of people running "lift" springs these days with stock struts on Imprezas and this problem is occuring more and more.

Had both my fronts break on mine, luckily they jammed into my fenders and held together long enough to drive 2 mph to the shop. soon as we lifted the car up off the ground with the overhead lift, both struts popped out. 22 year old car, I guess I got my $$$ worth out of those.