2005 Forester XT rear SLS unit leaking

[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

Thanks stanton.

 

 

You are right, it does feel more satisfying if you can do certain jobs yourself but I don't think that I would have attempted this job without a little help and encouragement from our SOC forum members though.

[Mr B]

Good job, 2hrs is not too bad & bolts at rear can be more troublesome & doesn't get touched very often.

With price on the KYB struts with 2yr warranty you got to be mad to buy Peddars kit. When SLS full collapsed it is aprox 50mm of droop so sounds rebuilt height about right, would expect it to settle  few mm perhaps in a few days to a month.

Really isn't a hard job & at least now you got experience in dealing with your suspension so any future work won't be an issue plus you save about £100 in parts cost & actually got better quality :-)

If you marked camber bolts & refitted to very close positions your camber should be close & generally within tolerance.

Enjoy the ride at the weekend ...

[Mr B]

Worth noting the prices on the KYB shocks are going up. was few pence less than £50 when first linked, went up to £51.21 which was still super cheap. Current price is £59.92 which not bad so anyone wanting this done would best get struts before stock drops & prices are at £80ish a shock.

Pair of Shocks, springs & rubber boots/bump-stops still comes in at less than £200 (£195aprox) with 2yr warranty & very good quality product & solution for dead sls suspension.

[GaryJ]

Hello All,

This tread has been most informative, I'm facing the dreaded replacement of a leaking SLS rear shock on my 2006 Forester 2.5 XT.

Having read though the thread and being excited to find all the info needed on parts, I called car factors to order the parts and was told by the helpful chap on the phone that the 2006 forester did not match the KYB 334344 part and unfortunately he couldn't advice on a replacement part. The spring RA6028 I'm told but no listing for the KYB shock absorber.

Please if anyone can help with a suitable part reference number, it would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Gary

[Mr B]

^ You will be told no shock as they have no replacement match the standard sls so it not listed.

You use the shocks as listed KYB 334345, KYB 334344 & use the springs from springcoil.co.uk (same as silver forester done) as they are a better quality & spec match for the 2.5XT.

Your parts guys won't know anything other than what the computer is telling them so they not too helpful on the conversion trick.

Nothing to dread or fear if follow this thread advise.

Job is easy & very cost effective .

[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

^ You will be told no shock as they have no replacement match the standard sls so it not listed.

You use the shocks as listed KYB 334345, KYB 334344 & use the springs from springcoil.co.uk (same as silver forester done) as they are a better quality & spec match for the 2.5XT.

Your parts guys won't know anything other than what the computer is telling them so they not too helpful on the conversion trick.

Nothing to dread or fear if follow this thread advise.

Job is easy & very cost effective .

 

 

Agreed 100%.

 

 

 

I remember having difficulty in sourcing the parts for my Forester 2.5 XT due to the reasons mentioned by Mr. B above.

 

 

Good Luck and let us know how you get on please?.

[GaryJ]

Thanks Mr B and Silver Forester. I will order the parts Monday morning.

Kind Regars

Gary

[GaryJ]

Good afternoon gents,

Thanks again Mr B and Silver Forester.

I got the job done today along with some other bits.

The KYB 334344/5 together with the coils supplied by springcoil did the job.

Had a bit of a delay with car factory supplying the parts as they insisted on cross checking my part number, and KYB told them that the parts where not listed for the 2006 XT.

Neil of car factory was very helpful and sent the parts out to me with an agreement that I could return them if they didn't fit. Luckily no need for that.

I have a ride height of 780mm now on 215/55/17 tyres

I gained 10mm on the side that had not leaked.

So all in all I'm happy and this combo fits the 2006 2.5XT SG9 Forester.

Best Regards

Gary

[Silver Forester 2.5 XT]

That's great news Gary.

 

 

 

Good show to Neil of Car Factory too for offering you that option.

[Mr B]

Yeh that was good.

Glad job jobbed :-)

Ride height sounds about right, ideally want little over standard sls height as 1: it old & 2: without sls it would sag to much with some loading if not bit of ride height gain to start with. springcoil springs are top quality & those excel G struts are very decent (2yr KYB warranty) & a bl00dy bargain really.

[Mr B]

On 5/28/2015 at 4:15 PM, GaryJ said:

Hello All,

the spring RA6028 I'm told but no listing for the KYB shock absorber.

Please if anyone can help with a suitable part reference number, it would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Gary

Just for anyone who references this,

the RA6028 is KYB heavy duty springs for the forester SG, not a specific set for the XT model.

Closet for XT in KYB is RC6431, only difference is 10mm ride height roughly .

The heavy duty ideal for those towing or loading heavy

[Cable]

On 10/16/2018 at 9:35 PM, Mr B said:

Just for anyone who references this,

the RA6028 is KYB heavy duty springs for the forester SG, not a specific set for the XT model.

Closet for XT in KYB is RC6431, only difference is 10mm ride height roughly .

The heavy duty ideal for those towing or loading heavy

Hi, sorry to drag this thread up again, one of my rear dampers has just decided to let go...

Mr B, could you clarify this for me? Of the two types of KYB springs you've listed (RA6028 and RC6431), you say the RC6431 is a closer match to the XT and there is 10mm ride height difference. Is that that 10mm higher or lower than the RA6028? Would you say that the RA6028 is a little firmer?

Many thanks for any help you can give.

Cheers

Neil

[Mr B]

rc6431 will sit about 10mm higher than standard XT range but not bad thing as looks right and allows some loading before below standard height.

ra6028 is heavy duty springs more suited if doing towing or carrying lot of rear weight .

the kyb excel g struts and rc6431 springs tend be huge improvement on rear body roll.

if want more sporty road spring then springcoil.co.uk people speak to, they do custom springs for any scenario and as done lot for forester sg model they can pretty much select spec with no/minimal technical input from you .

[Cable]

12 hours ago, Mr B said:

rc6431 will sit about 10mm higher than standard XT range but not bad thing as looks right and allows some loading before below standard height.

ra6028 is heavy duty springs more suited if doing towing or carrying lot of rear weight .

the kyb excel g struts and rc6431 springs tend be huge improvement on rear body roll.

if want more sporty road spring then springcoil.co.uk people speak to, they do custom springs for any scenario and as done lot for forester sg model they can pretty much select spec with no/minimal technical input from you .

That's great, thanks for your help Mr B 👍

Neil

[Cable]

Hmmm... my current ride height is about Front: 735mm, Rear: 715mm from the ground to the arches, so significantly lower than the 780mm that GaryJ has got. Mine is a PPP car, so I'm not sure if they had a lower height from the factory?

I should add that mine has 225/50 17 tyres, so there's an extra 5mm difference in ride height, but there's still a 60mm difference.

Neil

[Mr B]

PPP never touched springs or struts, they did contemplate springs but realised with sls rear struts they have replace struts too making the package too expensive ...

failed sls struts can loose good 50mm rear height .

this is correct details for measurement, follow that and see where you stand ...

[Cable]

1 hour ago, Mr B said:

PPP never touched springs or struts, they did contemplate springs but realised with sls rear struts they have replace struts too making the package too expensive ...

failed sls struts can loose good 50mm rear height .

this is correct details for measurement, follow that and see where you stand ...

Righto, thanks for that.

I measured Front: 432mm , Rear: 404mm

So I gather from the above that I will see a 40mm increase in rear height if I were to use the RC6431

I may discuss with springcoil.co.uk to see what they can offer

It's typically bad timing as I'm looking to sell it, once I've found a replacement car.

Again, thanks Mr B

[Mr B]

roughly they come out around 445-450 on kyb

new springs do settle a fraction in time and exact measure vary on things as simple as fuel tank level and if checked before or after test drive/settling time .

Parts are pretty cheap, buy online (eBay) and get garage do it if you can't, I can do them in an hour without need rush and no problems. the SG is easier than earlier models and generally no bother besides perhaps rear drop links stuffed and need doing but that also small money .

[Cable]

Okay, I finally got round to changing the springs and dampers the other day. Pretty straight forward, without issues. Though there's still a slight rattle from the rear, a tired droplink I suspect, as they are both tightened up.

Ride height is now approx 425mm, which is lower than I expected but actually what I wanted. My driveway woefully needs replacing, so finding good flat spot to measure isn't viable. Pics attached of before and after.

Thanks a lot for the advice Mr B

Cheers

Neil

 

 

 

 

[Mr B]

yeh would expect see another 20mm on kyb springs and struts paired but you can loose 5 to 10mm pending how take measure and fuel tank level and any boot load will all vary it .

Is very straight forward job, good access, even turret top nuts easy quick access via lifting just top trim .

assume you knock will be drop links, very common, they cheap and easy, about 25 to£35 a pair for something decent like meyle hd 555 japan or mapco hps range
may need cut them off and if you got a 115mm grinder and decent cutting disc it quicker than messing around with messy nut, slice down into nut just over 1/4 diameter and tap nut off with chisel .

[Peroni]

Great job Silver XT. Loads of great info in this thread. Makes me more confident about buying an older Forester, knowing there are parts and expertise available. 

[Hungarian Fozzy Guy]

On 7/5/2019 at 11:28 PM, Mr B said:

rc6431 will sit about 10mm higher than standard XT range but not bad thing as looks right and allows some loading before below standard height.

ra6028 is heavy duty springs more suited if doing towing or carrying lot of rear weight .

the kyb excel g struts and rc6431 springs tend be huge improvement on rear body roll.

if want more sporty road spring then springcoil.co.uk people speak to, they do custom springs for any scenario and as done lot for forester sg model they can pretty much select spec with no/minimal technical input from you .

Hi Mr B!

Your informations are really really awesome! I've got a 2003 SG5 XT with the SLS. Mines are not leaking, but they are saggy and one of my front springs is broken, so I'll have to replace all the 4 shock absorbers.

I want to buy the Kayaba/KYB struts and springs, and top hats too just to be sure, but I really don't know which spring should i buy to the rear. I don't tow often, only 4-5 times a year when I go fishing. I've got a small trailer (210cm x 115 cm) and the total weight when its loaded, and with my rubber boat on the top is around 350-400 kilos (incl. the weight of the trailer). Would you recommend the heavy duty RA6028 even if I wouldn't get the "benefits of it" many times?

Thank you very much for your answer!

Balázs from Hungary

[Mr B]

My preference is the RA6028 mainly as the little extra height and stiffness tends be a good match to what the SLS managed when working correct.
The RC6431 soon give you that slight sagging look with light load and seems you going new on front the better final balance front to rear on heights likely come from using RA6028 springs .
Only real reasons to use RC6431 is if have preference to softer spring or desire lower side of subaru spec ride height .

If using KYB shocks on front then using the KYB top mounts will be good as the KYB shock has a longer threaded shaft with flats for a wrench rather than broached allen/hex key and this difference stops the original plastic cap being refitted which a problem as the koyo bearing in the top mount only has integral seal bottom side so it soon collect dirt and water without the plastic cap. KYB top mount has integral seal both side of the bearing .
What I will say though is the oem subaru top bearings are superb quality as koyo bearings are some of best made in the world and none of aftermarket will last as well .
You could cut 1/4" off the top KYB shaft and put a slot in shaft if want reuse original subaru front top mounts and have plastic cover fit .
Bit of silliness from KYB on design and purely a penny pinching one for simpler manufacture procedure .

Is part availability and pricing good in Hungary ?
That looks a great fishing location 🙂
 

[Hungarian Fozzy Guy]

20 hours ago, Mr B said:

My preference is the RA6028 mainly as the little extra height and stiffness tends be a good match to what the SLS managed when working correct.
The RC6431 soon give you that slight sagging look with light load and seems you going new on front the better final balance front to rear on heights likely come from using RA6028 springs .
Only real reasons to use RC6431 is if have preference to softer spring or desire lower side of subaru spec ride height .

If using KYB shocks on front then using the KYB top mounts will be good as the KYB shock has a longer threaded shaft with flats for a wrench rather than broached allen/hex key and this difference stops the original plastic cap being refitted which a problem as the koyo bearing in the top mount only has integral seal bottom side so it soon collect dirt and water without the plastic cap. KYB top mount has integral seal both side of the bearing .
What I will say though is the oem subaru top bearings are superb quality as koyo bearings are some of best made in the world and none of aftermarket will last as well .
You could cut 1/4" off the top KYB shaft and put a slot in shaft if want reuse original subaru front top mounts and have plastic cover fit .
Bit of silliness from KYB on design and purely a penny pinching one for simpler manufacture procedure .

Is part availability and pricing good in Hungary ?
That looks a great fishing location 🙂
 

Thanks a lot for your quick reply! Yeah, fortunately the prices are fairly good, espacially compared to the OEM SLS struts😅 Those would be 394 EUR/each... However, in the meantime I found a site (4turbo) where I could buy the OEM SLS struts for just 229 EUR/each (excl. VAT, but I have EU VAT number, so I don't need to pay VAT fee). So right now I'm really thinking about sticking with the OEM parts. I know it's still more pricy, but I'd like to keep this car for a long long time and all the parts I've already replaced were OEM ones or better aftermarket/tuning parts (like turbo inlet, IC hoses etc.)

[Mr B]

Yes can make sense and oem quality on struts is big jump even over the japan made KYB .