I've got a few spare moments so I'll update this thread one last time... pretty hard to believe I'm 38 now and life is just getting too busy to devote to recreational online activity anymore.
So I was starting to have a rather serious clunk whenever I would let off the throttle in gear, and while I initially thought it to a bad transmission mount, once I saw what my rear diff mounts in the subframe looked like, I no longer thought that
So, nothing I could do but drop the rear subframe and press in new mounts. So, last summer, I got to work.
Subframe out completely:
The rear diff mounts are NOT the same as the USDM mounts... and since my contact in Japan is apparently no longer shipping parts to the USA due to COVID, I had to order them from Austria, of all places, if you can believe it.
There were several supersessions on the part numbers, and what I think Subaru did was realize having the rubber supports go straight across was a bad idea (as it means they are constantly bent down from the weight of the differential) so they redesigned them to curve down slightly so the rubber can bear the weight better while also preventing lateral movement.
Either way, in they went...
... and since I had access to a press, I figured... what the hell? I'll just do ALL the suspension bushings!
With the exception of the subframe bushing/mount inserts themselves (which are not available separately from the subframe itself, and appeared to be in good shape still anyway), every bushing you can see in the above picture was replaced (the lateral links are only sold as assemblies so I just bought new ones, as well as a new mustache bar for the differential.
I replaced all the hardware as well (nuts and bolts). First, I figured it may not be a bad idea since the car went through a bunch of salt on the winter road trip in February 2019, and second, I see this as a one-and-done project. I don't think I will ever do this to this car again, and I definitely hope I don't have to.
All put back together...
So the clunk is gone, and the car feels absolutely AMAZING now
It feels like I'm now driving a brand-new 22-year-old car!
It's nigh on impossible to believe I will have had the car for 12 years one week from today, but it's true. The car has now been with me longer in the States than it was in Japan
It's got a pretty nasty stumble right now that I think I can trace down to the vacuum reservoir in the front left (passenger) space behind the bumper, so I haven't been driving it much. There's a solenoid there that I think might be the culprit. It seems to be acting only on the primary turbo, and one of the hoses from that reservoir goes through that solenoid and directly to the primary turbo. But we will see. (
EDIT 12-26-22: after replacing the vacuum reservoir, that aforementioned solenoid, the ignition coils, then after inaccurate diagnosis at a dealer who told me it was the throttle position sensor, and replacing said throttle position sensor, the stumble FINALLY turned out to be the O2 sensor. The car had me very frustrated for several months but it's finally running absolutely tremendously now with over $1000 of parts it didn't need and $250 of O2 sensor it did need
)
EDIT: aw, what the hell? Might as well add a couple recent (i.e. post-op/after the above work was done) photos:
Anyway, for the very few members who are still active on this board... hope life is going well for you all. If you want, follow my social media outlets in my sig. I'm not even active there as much as I used to be, but it's where all my time on the Internet is spent these days, like everyone else.