Outback/Forester rear top hats in 90-94 Legacy ???

[SubaruFred]

I just installed 2000 Forester struts on the rear of my 93 Legacy AWD wagon. I used the Forester/OB mounts and slotted the mounting holes just enough to keep the strut mount centered.

My questions are for those of you who've also done this with OB or Forester struts. Did you notice that the steel dome on the OB/Forester mounts is larger in diameter than the center opening in the chassis? If you noticed, what if anything did you do to correct this? I stacked two 7/8" dia. washers on each mounting stud so that there would be more contact than just the mount dome to the edge of the center chassis hole. I'm worried that there may not be enough contact area and need advice. Do I need spacers or will the washers be enough? TIA.

[Legacy777]

Do you have anything between the mount and the chassis to fill up the gap? I'm asking from a water tight stand point. I think you would want some form of spacer to fill the gap and keep things sealed up.

[SubaruFred]

Hmmm... I hadn't thought of that. Good idea. The gaps are very small but I could seal it up from inside with some RTV.

However my main concern is structural integrity. I'd hate to cause metal fatigue in the chassis strut mount area due to insufficient contact area between the mount and chassis. As it stands now I have some contact between the mount's dome and the chassis and 3 x 7/8" contact at the washers. I'd estimate 3 sq. inches of conact. A full spacer would provide more like 9 sq inches. I suppose I'd feel better with spacers even though there are others running around with these same mounts just slapped in there.

Are Paranoid Fab's saggy butt spacers the way to go? Are there others?

[Legacy777]

If there's something already out there, I'd probably go with them. I haven't heard of paranoid fab's spacer.

Those bolts are primarily there to hold the strut to the chassis. They get most of their loading in the vertical direction. They should not get much side to side loading. The main difference between the washers and spacer is that with the washers you're concentrating all the loading at three points. This could cause the metal to fatigue over an extended period of time. I don't know what Subaru designed that mount point to support vs. concentrating the load in a 7/8" diameter. Like I mentioned above, if it were me, I'd probably want the spacer.

[SubaruFred]

http://www.paranoidfabrications.com/

We're defintitely on the same page here. After some test miles and some thought on the subject I think the washers will be okay for short term use under normal conditions but not a safe long term solution. What if I bottom out hard one day and the relatively thin strut tower sheetmetal gives way? Even daily flexing could eventually cause metal fatigue. That strut tower sheetmetal is pretty thin.

I'm either going to buy those spacers from Paranoid or make my own. I have a 3/8" HDPE cutting board here and the tools to make them. I'm just not sure yet if it's worth my time. Paranoid isn't asking that much for theirs. Thanks again for your help.

[Legacy777]

Yeah those are pretty reasonably priced.

[SubaruFred]

So is my used cutting board.

[Legacy777]

Lol

[bry]

cutting boards are an awesome source for low buck uhmw polyethylene. you can get black cutting boards from target. i used one to make saddle bag reinforcements for my cycle. worked great and doesn't rust.

[SubaruFred]

I love making things or making them better with commonly available stuff. What a sense of satisfaction. Here is a link to pics of my modified oil catch can for my custom turbo Scion XB. I could have bought one that works as well for $125 but I wanted polished aluminum to match my IC pipes and I also saved almost $100.

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193244

Cutting boards for saddle bags is a great idea! Kudos.