Mr B

Hard to be real helpful without hearing it in person really. from your info it would deffo seem like transmission or running gear. Gearboxes whine & wheel bearings whine plus rear diffs, & those 3 are the common ones on high mileage/towing fozzies. Only ever done one prop that I recall but indeed it should be looked at as possible area of concern. If noise is more of a whuring on/off drone it more likely wheel bearing or prop. I would suggest another test drive & rock the fozzy left to right via short abrupt steering movement (do so on dry & clear straight road safely) if noise goes away when rocking it could indicate wheel bearing. I have seen loads of bad diagnosis & expense turn into a wheel bearing so don't rule it out. Personally I would also run it on ramp in gear & use stethoscope to help trace noises. If believed was gearbox & considered to be minimal concern would probably try a quality oil as first option, whiny gearbox can go on for thousands of miles but first need better diagnosis on source of noise. Good luck ...

Indeed, that alloy frame feeds from under bumper & through grill. would be possible make a frame with mounting bar using number plate points for lower frame & through grill for top, would be solid & lights look & work good at that level. Don't actually need any lights myself but tempted buy some just for sake of some fabrication :-P plus a meaner looking SG :-P

Your best bet would be some custom made brackets to feed through bottom of grill. Anything under numberplate is going be easily knocked etc ... If particularly heavy or large lighting you could look at the light bars but they not cheap for what they are. Custom brackets should be cheap option & worse scenario is a bit of cutting on the plastic grill,& that easily replaced if ever wanted reverse the surgery.

does it do it if in neutral & stationary ! if yes then not the prop. Could be input shaft bearings, could even be clutch release bearing perhaps ! If you drive along at about 50mph & press clutch down put in neutral & keep clutch down does it still do it & does it seem match vehicle speed, does light blip on throttle make any change ! Heard a few Foresters with whiny boxes, sometimes a change of oil, using a recommended quality oil (thread on here about it or the oilman can be very helpful here) can help dramatically.

@ Silver Forester 2.5 XT . You can download PDF HERE with some images & brief report. If not interested no bother, if interested pm me ... thanks . ... SOLD ...

Change your gearbox oil too if not been done for a while or unsure of quality oil used.

I would be inclined keep your current one bit longer, at 110K it still got loads of life in it & the older ones are far better cars in my opinion.

Will do, won't be till mid week at earliest.

@ Ganbit Any rules on selling on here ! Don't really deal with selling via forums so not up to speed on it, just want make sure following the rules/guidelines roughly :-)

One I have is 2003 to 2008 forester model range, light grey, fully working & as far as I recall close to new condition really. Would have to get it out & look to report accurately plus do some photos. I'm pretty busy too at moment so doubt I will be able organise that till middle of week. I would want £90 inc of P&P, shipping not cheapest due to length being too much for super cheap deals. ... SOLD ...

If he sent that standard 1st class I would of probably claimed never received & get my money back via PayPal. Indeed not technically correct but at least you get money back & can do something with the free tat you got. Personally eBay are at fault as the amount of fake & unlicensed goods listed is unbelievable & they need monitor the worst offenders. As Gambit said if you know you buying fake & price fair then all well & good but in cases like this the fookers need sorting & best way is making sure they don't keep your money thus they are loosing money :-) If they start loosing too much they go under or clean up.

Looks menacing that . I had a Mk3 7MGTE for a while, bought it with high speed kerbing damage. Needed suspension, subframe, steering rack, bumper, wing. Also had to do a head gasket to HKS metal layer & fit better turbo. Was quick & bit of fun but lowsy performance & handling in reality :-S Always loved the GT4 but never got one of those :-/ that funny thing with me, many cars I really like I never have owned ! I love a few special impreza turbo models but never owned one :-/ Mmm time for some car shopping :-D

I have a grey one from a 2003 SG AWP. PM me if interested, would need shipping as i'm down in the south west.

Miltek do one . You could also look at a custom system from powerflow or tweaking an impreza performance system to suit your forester.

change struts to standard non SLS. If SLS faulty & got saggy rear then worth mucking with but if in good order I would leave alone & spend money on checking all suspension bushes are in good order & buying quality tyres/wheels perhaps Lowered foresters tend to be a worthless job unless done well. We done a 2.5XT & rather than lowering we used KYB struts to replace worn SLS & fitted custom rated standard height springs all round to give firmer ride & little less body roll. Problem with impreza suspension swap is you need do some homework so use a good donor option plus you need buy good used 100% standard rather than half dead & fitted with unknown non standard springs, buying suspension used is a risky game.

Be careful lowering foresters as if on SLS rear struts you will need change them as well. Most people swap to impreza struts-springs as cheap used part option so find what works with you forester version & go hunting. Is a few specialist breakers but they are never the cheapest & subaru used parts hold good value due to demand & low number of subaru vehicles in the dismantling networks.

Sounds good & worth a little effort sort the niggles. I would get a good check of complete front suspension/hub/wheel & obviously let them test drive if fault easy to induce prior to alignment. Bumpers would be quite easy to take off & refinish, not super cheap for decent job but would make a clean car look almost new if done ... Good luck with it .

Are you sure it the tyre squealing & not the power steering pump pulley belt squealing on that particular lock at low speed. Any sign on tread wear suggesting alignment issue. Are the tyres new all round (important all tyres are evenly matched) Would assume MOT would of picked up on any fault with suspension but could be wise give it a good visual as perhaps something could be slightly bent from likes of curbing at speed !

Would be wise give suspension a good check over. Also clutches can be issue for some people so if got any concerns best chase it up. Only other issue can be diesel injectors noisy so once again if any concerns in this area with noise or less than perfect running get it looked into.

No iridium has better longevity in terms of electrode tip. High boost cars can benefit with more durable electrode tip but not a necessity. I use standard NGK R in both my NA foresters & also use them in my gtir as get too many problems running them with occasional misfires/plug breakdowns. Subarus are ok with the iridium plugs though. Up to you really on your cars set-up/use & your budget.

Standard NGK R are £2 each NGK Iridium are probably around £9 each Standard are good plugs & sometimes less problems plus at the low cost you can replace them more punctual.

Yes they do look nice, much prefer the SF to SG really. TSW & BBS have/had very very similar wheels to that spoke design.

Spacers ideally as even if clear of SG strut I'm not a fon of reducing the vehicle track. If you happen stumble on really nice used wheels at cheap money then worth doing but you may find buying a new set with suitable ET not much more expensive than used wheels & spacers. Also think about the spare as if drift from standard radius your current spare won't be much use.

Basically ET is the offset of the mounting face of the wheel to the centre line of the wheel Standard Fozzy is 48mm , if used ET55 55mm then wheel sit inwards (closer to strut) an additional 7mm which is not the best thing. Could fix this with spacers but then adding to cost. Going 16" is the best all round compromise, Foresters as a rule look awful with low profiles plus road handling/ride on 17" 18" 19" is awful.

Tesco Momentum is good plus easy get. I use it in 2 of my own turbo cars, one being a GTiR with stock pistons but boost at 1.3bar, used momentum when it was mapped without complaints & seems fine on it. Most street pump fuels are quite equal but Tesco fuel don't sound so good so not talked about so much as shell .