legacycentral bbs

well i picked up a set of KYB AGX struts with intrax springs from a guy localy who had them on a 2000rs for my 92 turbo.
i have the fronts on and went for a drive and i think im bottoming out on the drivers side.
when ever i go over a bump i hear/feal this knock/thunk. are the springs to soft?
i have the struts on 4 which is the hardist and its still doing this

You're sure all the fasteners are tight? This sort of thing can happen if, say, the strut top nut (a nylon locknut that's technically not supposed to be reused) is not tight.

here is the information on those springs. i have the impreza ones. is it too much of a drop?


Make.......Model.........................Year........Part Number.........Type.........Chassis.................Front.......Rear.......Lbs...........List

Subaru....Impreza RS 2.5...........98-03.....72.1.010...............SLS...........GC6-GD6-GM6.......1.8"........1.5".........................309
Subaru....Legacy Turbo AWD.....91-99......72.1.005...............SLS...........BC6-BD4/6-BE6.....1.5"........1.5"........28.............309

vrg3 wrote:You're sure all the fasteners are tight? This sort of thing can happen if, say, the strut top nut (a nylon locknut that's technically not supposed to be reused) is not tight.

ya i made sure every thing was tight.
i did not have to put the springs in the strut since i bought them together.
but the top three 12mm nuts are tight and the bottom two 19mm nuts/bolts are tight

my guess is that you dont have the topnut (the one between the 3 topmount bolts)non tight enough.

use vicegrips to hold the side of a socket and put an allen key through the socket wrench hole to tighten.

okay guys time to go home nothing to see here
you were all right, the top center nut was lose. i never thought to tighten it because i thought the guy who i bought them off of would not have losened it

thanks for all the help agian

If you don't have power tools to tighten that nut, then just tighten it as much as you can before you install the strut, install it, put the car on the ground, and then try tightening it some more with the weight of the car on it.

Good thing it wasn't a strut mount! I had one come apart in the back after I put my GR2's on. It must have come apart in the process.

scottzg wrote:
use vicegrips to hold the side of a socket and put an allen key through the socket wrench hole to tighten.

If you don't have power tools to tighten that nut, then just tighten it as much as you can before you install the strut, install it, put the car on the ground, and then try tightening it some more with the weight of the car on it.

my method for tightening these things works much better than subyluvr's. I've tried both.

Impact gun works pretty well

Yeah, I've gotten away with an impact wrench too, but a better way is with a tool called an O-Ratchet. It's a ratchet wrench with matching sockets that have holes in the middle.

The official Subaru tool for this purpose is a socket that has flats on it for a wrench to grip, kind of the non-ghetto version of scottzg's suggestion.

That O-Ratchet sounds pretty handy. These nuts are bitches.

vrg3 wrote:...but a better way is with a tool called an O-Ratchet. It's a ratchet wrench with matching sockets that have holes in the middle...

Also called a "go-through" or "pass through."

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=93150

And a hex key wrench with a long shaft and T handle is helpful also. A standard L shaped hex key doesn't quite cut it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=92527

I took a crappy socket and ground the sides flat to put a wrench on it. Worked pretty slick.

93forestpearl wrote:I took a crappy socket and ground the sides flat to put a wrench on it. Worked pretty slick.

Ha... great idea. Another reason to have a bench grinder.