SG Forester- Sagging SLS- To Lift or Not?

[Don Logan]

Hi, the SLS on my SG is sagging and in need of replacement. I have a quote for Pedders Easyfit struts at £345 supplied and delivered. How does that sound in terms of value and does anyone have any experience with this replacement?

I read on here also that the KYB rear struts and springs are a good alternative and are cheaper than the Pedders but the post was about six years old so I'm not sure if the pricing was still current. Does anyone know part numbers for these or have a supplier to try?

Also- I wouldn't mind a modest lift, say 10-15mm over standard ride height if possible. There are some greenlanes near me and having owned proper offroaders before, would like perhaps to help the off road ability of the Forester a little if possible. The guy that quoted me for the Pedders said he could supply the stuts with a raised spring that would bring the rear up around 25-30mm, but I guess then I'd have to do the fronts as well.

Is there any issue with lifting an SG a bit in terms of CV joint angles, brake lines being stretched etc.?

I'll probably just go for the standard height at the rear and leave it at that but was just thinking that if I need to change the rears anyway then it wouldn't hurt to go a little higher.

Thanks

 

 

[Mr B]

Go KYB strut and spring.

Cost will be under £200 and it easy DIY job on the SG .

* I will link the parts (motorfactor trader on eBay) bit later as busy working at moment *

Do not lift by adding  longer spring because side efect of that is travel range of strut reduced .

If want raise it use better quality lifting blocks with metal tube inserts found on eBay from russia (they well into foresters over there)

I would do 20mm lift in rear and 10mm in front or max 30mm in rear and 20mm front .

For more ground clearance you be best going up in tyres like 215 70 15 or 205 75 15

20mm rear 10mm front and 215 70 15 tyres give sensible gain and keep road handling as should be

also get a alloy skid plate or make one for front sump and dump the plastic nappy subaru put on from the factory .
The Fozzy is a big boy now and got no use for a nappy ...

[Mr B]

KYB excel G shocks 334344 334345

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shock-Absorber-Single-fits-SUBARU-FORESTER-SG-2-0-Rear-Left-02-to-05-Damper/232563218743

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shock-Absorber-Single-Handed-fits-SUBARU-FORESTER-SG-2-0-Rear-Right-02-to-05/333585256342

 

Springs (use heavy duty springs if load or tow it a lot and standard if just used more family light use road driven SUV)

RC6431 standard duty https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Kayaba-RC6431-Rear-Suspension-Coil-Springs/323873684791

RA6028 heavy duty https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Kayaba-RA6028-Rear-Suspension-Coil-Springs/323874493110

 

Note:
The seller (partsinmotion) who selling the shocks are always in the eBay coupon offers so you can get 20% off those prices if wait for a coupon .
The seller also has the springs but price not as good as what linked above as a pair set .
We use partsinmotion as registered business is near us and their prices on lot of parts far cheaper than best price on trade account factors we use.
We actually stock parts from eBay sources using 20% discounts as that cheap and enables us fit better brand parts at competitive pricing .

If you don't have spring compressor you need buy one but they under £15 .

I would advise the KYB protection kit which includes the bump stops as yours will be pretty bad I expect, most are on ones I done
Protection kit is under £20 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shock-Absorber-Dust-Cover-Kit-fits-SUBARU-IMPREZA-GG9-2-0-Rear-05-to-07-EJ204/333556449826

Lift blocks link below for you look at ...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Front-strut-spacers-20mm-for-Subaru-BRZ-FORESTER-IMPREZA-LEGACY-OUTBACK-Lift-Kit/192541769644

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rear-strut-spacers-30mm-for-Subaru-FORESTER-IMPREZA-LEGACY-Lift-Kit/192541771902

 

Good thread on fitting shocks and finer details to SG forester >

 

 

[Don Logan]

Mr B, that's great. Really helpful- thanks very much.

Ill go for this KYB setup then over the Pedders. Do you know if there's anywhere closer to buy some decent lift blocks, as the Russian ones have a fairly long delivery time and I need to get this all fitted within the next couple of weeks. Are there any issues with CV angles, brake lines, etc. with a 20mm rear/10mm front lift?

Do you know if the heavy duty springs would be too firm when not loaded up? The car will be used for a fair bit of camping (family of four) with loaded roof box, etc. so conversley, would the standard springs be too soft once all loaded up? 90% of the car's use will be dropping kids off to school so won't be loaded up apart from camping trips. Dont want a harsh ride if the softer springs would still suffice when loaded up...

There were a couple of instances on that post you linked where they were saying that these parts wouldn't fit an XT, was that just the 2.5? I take it the above parts for the 2.0 XT SG fine?

Also, I have 16 inch rims. I noticed your post suggested 215/70/15. Which tyres would be worth going up to considering this? Is it just 215/70/16, or does it not work like that?

Thanks again

 

[Mr B]

The parts listed will fit all Forester SG models X XT XE , it mainly parts data that gives confusion of it not fitting .

Some tyre options for subaru 16^ rim could be 215 65 16 , 225 60 16 or 215 70 16
 

*** Change of tyre size and lift block will need be declared to your insurer ***
Don't laugh it off as they love refusing a claim based on this and in any major incident you will truly be in deep !Removed! .
Insurers not as soft on this as was decade or 2 ago so educate yourself on it and speak to your insurers before doing it to see if they still cover you and if want a supplement charge to do so .

My advise would be do the rear struts and see how it sits then review what height you actually like gain and cost of doing it legally with insurers.
YOU can be penniless quite quickly these days in an accident and insurance invalidated .

I would say go with the HD springs mainly as they best compensate for fact you no longer have SLS thus ride height goes quite low on rear heavy loaded or heavy tongue weight trailer .

Ride comfort is marginally better with standards but not much in it and what people consider decent will vary anyway .

What I will say is you will notice a massive improvement over the current failing SLS.

People don't realise how much of a safety issue it is but cornering, sudden swerve and braking will be far more controlled on new excel G struts and either spring option .

[Don Logan]

Great, thanks for that. I checked with my insurer today and they said that the suspension mod and going up a tyre size wouldn't affect the cost of the policy.

Mr. B- I need to order these spacers- do you know of anywhere more local than Russia that does decent ones? I ask as I'm going away in the car from the middle of next month and the ones you suggested apparently take up to three weeks to arrive in the post. No worries if not, I'll just take a chance and if they don't arrive in time then will just leave the height as standard for now.

Thanks again

 

 

[Mr B]

Is one in Europe but don't think they have them on shelf to ship and make to order .

Will try dig up details as they do nice sump guards .

You may find someone UK/Europe who stocks one of the US kits but it be pricey .

Plus with Russian ones is good height choices and cost pretty low .

 

[Don Logan]

Ok, nice one. Any reason not to go 20mm both front and rear as opposed to 20mm rear/10mm front? I'm not that fussed on it if it means replacing other parts too, or if cv angles are adversely affected, etc. so happy to stick to 20R/10F if so.

Thanks

[Mr B]

generally it just a case of the extra 10mm to the rear helps Ballance no SLS and gives car good stance .

You could try 20mm all round as if using the HD springs it sits a little higher on rear any way and handles some load better .

Best way is fit first, do measuring and see ride heights front and rear and compare to original ride heights then choose your spacers to get close to desired height from measured heights.
I realize your time constraint on parts so a gamble on 20mm spacers all round could be good choice based on new kyb rear shocks with kyb HD springs .

You can go up to 30mm without much hassle and no major effect on driveshafts but they will wear quicker due to angles if used off road a lot .

You may also find you want trailing arm front mount spacer to centre wheel in rear arch at the 30mm+ lift

 

[Don Logan]

Ok, well I dived straight in and went for the 20mm spacers front and rear. I don't reckon they'll turn up from Russia prior to me leaving for the continent next week, so will likely just fit the new rear struts and springs end of next week if they haven't turned up by then and just fit the spacers when I get back.

 

Just wondering- could I get away with going up a tyre size before fitting the lift? I could do with new rear tyres prior to going away and I didn't want to have to fork out for two standard tyres temporarily just to change them for the next size up once the 20mm spacers are fitted. I'd imagine though that this might cause issues with rubbing on the fronts at least. If this is the case, then mental as it sounds- would it be feasible to fit the larger tyres to the back, leaving the front ones standard until the lift's fitted? I don't know whether the AWD system would like the differing diameters- I know this would be the case across an axle, but am unsure whether or not the front and back are linked to allow this or not.

 

Cheers for the help!

 

 

 

[Mr B]

On the AWD system you want keep all 4 tyres as close same wear level (good tyre rotation a must on awd vehicles) and never different size and never different models either .

you'll ruin transmission pretty quick with different sizes and even just size from wear difference front/rear as cooks the centre viscous diff due to axle speed differences .

you can go up a tyre size without lift blocks no real problem so might be good idea get a full set (spare needs be same size too)

[Don Logan]

Ok, great thanks for that, I'll get some new shoes for it then. Any recommendations for a particular tyre, good for on and off road? I've had all terrains and mud tyres on 4wds in the past but didn't know whether there was a downside to fitting A/Ts on a Forester that spends most of its life on the tarmac.

I did see these, which at £248 for four Toyos looked very reasonable:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-x-Toyo-Open-Country-A-T-Plus-Road-Off-Road-Tyres-215-65-16-215-65-16-98H-/312893056783

 

 

 

[Mr B]

They a reasonably good balance between road and bit of light off road and pretty sensibly priced for Toyo Japan tyres .

Never really is perfect tyre for both and having spare set of rims for road tyres can be good way go if do a lot of road miles between the off roading .

Main downside with A/T is drop in mpg and possibly noise .

Is hard one balance and only you going know your exact aimed usage and road conditions

Other issue you have is not many choices in tyre size and speed rating you ideally want .

[Petenotbogged]

On 6/24/2020 at 8:05 PM, Mr B said:

The parts listed will fit all Forester SG models X XT XE , it mainly parts data that gives confusion of it not fitting .

Some tyre options for subaru 16^ rim could be 215 65 16 , 225 60 16 or 215 70 16
 

*** Change of tyre size and lift block will need be declared to your insurer ***
Don't laugh it off as they love refusing a claim based on this and in any major incident you will truly be in deep !Removed! .
Insurers not as soft on this as was decade or 2 ago so educate yourself on it and speak to your insurers before doing it to see if they still cover you and if want a supplement charge to do so .

My advise would be do the rear struts and see how it sits then review what height you actually like gain and cost of doing it legally with insurers.
YOU can be penniless quite quickly these days in an accident and Insurance invalidated .

I would say go with the HD springs mainly as they best compensate for fact you no longer have SLS thus ride height goes quite low on rear heavy loaded or heavy tongue weight trailer .

Ride comfort is marginally better with standards but not much in it and what people consider decent will vary anyway .

What I will say is you will notice a massive improvement over the current failing SLS.

People don't realise how much of a safety issue it is but cornering, sudden swerve and braking will be far more controlled on new excel G struts and either spring option .

Don't forget a change in tyre Diameter will alter the circumference and alter your speedo readings. 

[Mr B]

minimal for those sizes, 3 to 5% difference in readings ....

Is worth do a speedo comparison to gps data get idea how it falls, Most Jap cars we dealt with tend fall little short from factory on speed reading which helps balance gain to some extent.

with large tyre diameter increase it concern that needs be addressed  but you got quite few areas to engineer if going for big tyre size diameters .

[Don Logan]

Thanks for the advice. I fitted the KYB struts and heavy duty springs, along with the 215/65 a/t tyres. The 20mm strut spacers turned up but I haven't fitted them yet due to the fact that I think I'll need trailing arm spacers as the rear wheels are already sitting a lot further forwards in the arches, with the tyres not far from the fronts of the arches. I think another 20mm lift by fitting the strut spacers would make this a lot worse, with the likelihood of rubbing on a big flex. Any idea what size trailing arm spacers I'd need in order to return the axle to its original (or at least better) position if lifting by 20mm?

[Mr B]

generally trailing arm spacer equal to lift spacer, although going bit more can be needed if already biased to front of arch a lot .
20 to 30mm likely range that work.

from standard the always biased to front .

What height gain did you get with new kyb fitted (measured from centre of hub cab to arch rubber trim fold)