Mr B

tophats fit, wrx struts are shorter than standard forester non sls struts.

I'm doing exactly the same. Photo licence not a great asset as still has a !Removed! paper part & you need that too if visiting police station for doc check. My Dad renewed his recently as expired & they spelt his name wrong on new licence, absolute nightmare correcting that as wanted proof of his name change & obviously in this case he has not had a name change & it a typo on their part. Putting that *****-up right is proving difficult due to complete stupidity & lack of gumption from DVLA office :-S

Tricky one to protest against as bit awkward for first few thousand people who get legal action then if blank that they got a warrant & without full & total majority support it won't work . We have same issue with local council blowing loads of money on new town hall project & excessive salaries & offices running costs in terms of IT equipment contracts etc, pointless road layout changes at ridiculous cost yet basic road surfaces are all a mess due to a decade of p1ss poor cheap option repairs :-/ I don't drive a Forester just because I like them but also as it good option on the pot hole gravel tracks they call roads & they good at driving over speed bumps & protruding curbs that these council clowns keep adding.

Clutches are normally not heavy, could be clutch or even issue with hill hold mechanism that linked to clutch pedal ! Sounds like rear boot release or lock mechanism needs looking at, can be a PITA that ...

You can insure a car that is not taxed. Also as I have trade insurance as soon as I buy a car I can add it to my vehicle list & it insured. This new system would be fine if simply left it like current setup but no display disc & simply verify tax amount/status via DVLA online data when buying used car. Right tw@t about cancelling- issuing new unless they make system simple. A logical step would be a 48hr exclusion of needing car tax on new ownership as long as reason for on road travel is the delivery of the vehicle to new owners address. If messy I will be going back to trailering cars as nothing worse than travelling several hundred miles twice just for inflexible tax & insurance systems, not very CO friendly either really :-/

Hopefully a jigsaw that never gets finished ... Privatising the roads would be a disaster for motorists who rely on the car for daily commute & with no real practical public transport no option but a car for most :-/ I am surprised with modern liability & H&S they got away with tar & chippings for so long, plenty of funds available just not spent wisely :-/

Could be weak key fob so worth trying another, also worth looking at antenna on car & seeing if can be positioned better or extended to improve the range. What alarm is it ? Sigma ! If you don't have a spare fob worth getting one & if Sigma alarm with keypad worth checking you have a working pin code as easy change code & add extra remotes while you have a working remote but not so easy or free without.

Strut top-hats or struts, lower ball joint ! need jack front up & give all joints, bushes good inspection. If nothing can be seen then removing struts for inspection maybe needed.

bit more room for a nice new style SOC sticker :-) I will be doing garage badges that have last service/MOT slip in backs to fill the void

Badly I expect, makes it awkward buying used cars privately & driving them home legally & hassle sorting refunds ! As long as I see deduction in road tax due to reduced costs I would be happy as current costs & emission classes needs an overhaul ...

More options > Pedders kit KYB struts Excel G or Ultra SR with k-flex springs or custom springcoil.co.uk springs BC coilovers can set ride height to your liking but you need be sensible on spring rates & understand that the shorter working range/harshness of coilovers reduces the usage of your forester.

Have a look at this thread for some ideas (page 2+3 relevant to you) http://uk.subaruownersclub.com/forums/topic/8746-coilover-pros-cons/page-3

Ooops, posted in wrong thread :-S

Can see it lower on front after & sitting level. Would assume pedders base their lowered forester kit on shorter stroke impreza shocks. Will be keeping my eye open for a tidy 99/2000 SF Turbo in red or green :-)

Any good discounts on BC through SOC & a retailer ? I would go 5kg/mm front & 4kg/mm rear at most, BC not cheapest but if shop about should get at £660 to £680 easy enough & if have retailer on here hopefully even better than that. The plus with BC is they will supply custom rate springs at no extra charge, also they quite helpful with spare parts & servicing unlike lower cost options. Cheapest & best road use option but not simplest due to needing faff around sorting custom springs is impreza strut swap. Simplest in terms of bolt on & adjustment to requirement is coilovers but without sensible springs & setup it would be a back breaking buckaru :-S

2nd gen saloon coilovers should fit, worth email BC & see if actually list for Forester SF. Best solution is 2nd gen Impreza wrx saloon original struts (even top hats off these fit fine & not as old which plus point when buying used) Impreza shocks are shorter in terms of rod stroke compressed & extended & drop a forester quite a bit. Main issue with this route is you will need test fit & measure on standard springs then get custom springs made to get rear sitting higher as saloon & even wagon rear springs are too soft/short on forester. Custom rear springs would be about £120 a pair so if you find decent set of original shocks complete from someone who swapped to coilovers you may get it done for under £400. You will need quality alignment once done & don't go stupidly low as geometry/handling will be ruined.

The Pedders lowering is 50mm I believe which is a very practical balance on lowering. difference between 15-20 year old shocks & springs & new is night & day. even non leaking shocks will have worn/broken valves. At least you happy with the result & no hassle with fitting. I would of thought if you want much lower than this you looking at impreza struts/custom springs or likes of BC coilovers & custom spring rates (5kg/mmFront 4kg/mmRear perhaps or little less) A lot of practicality will be lost with coil overs but if wise on spring rates & use it as road car only with no dirt track use it may work well for you.

Job jobbed then Mt Stanton !? at 18 odd years old tophats done well, find fronts worse than rears generally, had a few rears that been just too clean & solid to warrant new but front normally bit sloppy even when look half decent.

Not that expensive if compared to price of original set of struts & springs . KYB Ultra SR & 4 custom springcoil springs come to about £500 KyB Excel G can shave about £100 off that if you lucky sourcing them & using KYB standard spec k-flex springs is about £80 cheaper than custom from springcoil. Most of the cheap coilovers are junk & will squirting oil & clonking like the monkey metal they are in 12 to 24 months. BC coilovers are better than a lot & can be serviced at sensible cost, main issue is choosing spring rates wisely as 10F-6R kg/mm spring rates would be fecking dangerous on average uk roads & weather. For a vehicle like the forester & road use it hard recommend coil overs even if set up well with sensible spring rates. For bang-2-buck SF fozzy road performance Ultra SR & some custom slightly stiffer & perhaps lowered springs (40mm max probably on standard struts) from springcoil would perform & last well. Front tophats are same on SF & SG, rear are not as changed top of spring to pigtail . Indeed you can use early impreza struts but ideally want custom springs to make most of it & get fozzy sit right so cost is never as good as first assume plus you got gamble of old shocks & any fitting hassle.

Inspect for heat damage, cracking & if passes that can be skimmed if not deeply scored to give new flat surface for the new clutch to bed to. decent skimming is around £20 to £40. Clutch on the Subarus is quite an easy job so doesn't need the most experienced Subaru specialists but indeed best go with Garage who competent with Subarus.

KYB, Sachs, Monroe & Pedders do struts. Can be sourced from eBay & local autofactors. Dropping too low on standard struts will cause strut bottom out to easily so shortened struts should be used if dropping height a lot. Quality custom sprigs can be had from springcoil.co.uk.

springcoil.co.uk will do custom springs for the SF, whether you want lower - higher - specific spring ratings etc. Main issue is if going too low you need shocks matched as such or you risk hitting the bump stop too easily & also having minimal preload on spring which not ideal. Pedders is easy choice & with a UK supplier quick & not too expensive kit. The KYB shocks are getting low on stock so prices can go up to £80 if needs ordering (fronts more so than rear) about 6months ago it was as easy get SF as the SG KYBs for £55 & at that price was absolute bargain for quality. SG struts do bolt in the SF but sets the camber in different range & do have legal concerns with insurance & warranty. End result should be good improvement over your current old setup & that the main goal.

Indeed, your original concentric bolts will be fine for your camber needs. What struts springs you go for in end & how it work out on price ? Am thinking about buying another SF forester as just such a great buy/solid truck, thinking of a Turbo one :-) out of interest what sort of MPG do you get for general town & B-road driving ? from what seen can be close to non turbo if sensible but as you seem had yours for a while your comments would be valuable.

'never ever gonna give you up' That should be SOC anthem ... Must admit USB or SD card slot is perfect in car & makes CD's as useless as those cassette tapes are :-)

Connect black to black only to read fault codes, then green as well for function test mode & resetting ecu.