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ALK at a lower price
Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:02 am
by THAWA
So we all know how much everyone loves Anti-Lift Kits, whiteline popularized them, and soon after perrin and GTSpec made their own versions. They all cost about 200 bucks or so. Some people don't like the amount of NVH they add though, so what to do? Snag the bushings from a Forester or Outback!
They have the same geometry setup (I personally think Whiteline copied Subaru's design, and added a stiff bushing) but with a much more compliant bushing. I'm sure we've all had the pleasure of riding or driving an outback or forester, and you don't notice huge ALK NVH. It uses the same liquid filled mount as the stock mounts, so you know it's not going to be tough to live with.
The part numbers for forester bushings are 20201FC100 for the right, and 20201FC110 for the left. I'm not sure if Outback bushings are a different part number, but the bushings are essentially the same. List on them is about $80, but you can get both for like $120 through online dealers like subaruparts.com.
The best thing though, would be to just go to a junkyard or ebay or some forums and get used ones for hella cheap. You could even get the whole control arm and use that if it's from a Forester. Outbacks require some modification to use the whole control arm, front bushing is 61mm versus 55mm of the first gen crossmembers. Or you could use just the bushing from the control arms.
Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:05 pm
by jamal
neat. If I'd know this in November I could have spent an extra $40 and bought two Forester control arms instead of one regular one.
Are all Forester control arms the same? For some reason I remember seeing somewhere that newer ones have a wider track.
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 1:17 am
by Legacy777
There is some suspension geometry change in the ALK compared to stock. So I don't really see how putting OEM forestor parts on equals ALK.
Due to the changes in suspension geometry, I opted not to go for the ALK, but rather just stiffer bushings in a stock configuration.
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:06 am
by BAC5.2
Apparently Foresters and Outbacks have more caster.
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:21 am
by THAWA
Compare these:
Stock bushing:
Forester/Outback bushing:
Whiteline bushing:
Comparison:
The "ALK" geometry is all in the placement of the bushing (lowering the rear bushing something like 22mm?), not the stiffness. The only reason Subaru made bushings like this is to keep the suspension geometry in the same place when raising the car for an Outback or Forester.
Of course, if you really wanted to get ghetto with it, you could take some regular height bushings, cut the ends off, and use them as spacers, like this:
Also, going to ALK geometry would be much better than just stiffening the bushing.
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:42 am
by THAWA
jamal wrote:Are all Forester control arms the same? For some reason I remember seeing somewhere that newer ones have a wider track.
Ah yes, I forgot about that, the front track width would be 1495 with SG parts, 1475 with SF parts, 1460 with BE/BH/BT parts, and I'm not sure about BG parts.
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:22 am
by Imprezive
I thought buying the Whiteline ALK or the Perrin one would take the stock anti-lift geometry away? Or is this just a myth?
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:55 am
by THAWA
http://www.whiteline.com.au/articles/Ef ... 0ALK_b.pdf
Read, love, learn.
It's proven to make the car go faster, so what does it matter what it does to the anti geometry?
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:17 am
by BAC5.2
The ghetto way is on your car, isn't it Hardy?
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:29 am
by THAWA
Negative, but I wish that was my car. RSK = hot. I have whiteline because they came with the arms and the whole setup was cheap.
Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 2:28 am
by Legacy777
Interesting.....thanks for the schooling
Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 9:16 pm
by greg donovan
if one were to go the ghetto garage route w/some spacers on the bracket would one also need to get some longer bolts as well.
i also imagine any piece of metal with a hole in it and the right thickness would work just fine.
Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 4:00 am
by greg donovan
my brother was saying something about the hole for the control arm bolt hole in the whiltline ALK being at a slight angle as opposed to going straight through.
what do you know about that?
Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 4:17 am
by THAWA
It's not at an angle, it's offset to the outside of the car. It adds caster being offset.
As far as the bolts I don't believe whiteline supplies you with replacement bolts and so far so good on the stock ones right? You should note that the cars that come standard with this bushing come with longer bolts though.
Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 6:46 am
by greg donovan
THAWA wrote:It's not at an angle, it's offset to the outside of the car. It adds caster being offset.
As far as the bolts I don't believe whiteline supplies you with replacement bolts and so far so good on the stock ones right? You should note that the cars that come standard with this bushing come with longer bolts though.
are the forester ones offset the same was as the whitline ones?
and id you use the ghetto spacer method only on the stock legacy bracket and bushing will you still get the benefit of the added caster?
Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 12:40 am
by THAWA
No, there is no additional caster from lowering the rear pivot point of the arm.
Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 4:46 am
by greg donovan
THAWA wrote:No, there is no additional caster from lowering the rear pivot point of the arm.
what woudl the point be of outting the ghetto spacers on a stock mount then?
do you get the added cater w/the forester ones?