Shockies question & advice

[loweart]

Hey Guys,

I was driving home this arvo and as usual, was using the back streets to avoid traffic. As per the norm, many of these side streets have traffic
calming devices installed on the road ( read as BUMPS ) to stop speeding and as per my usual, I slowly drive over them but tonight I started
to hear squeaking noise as the rear suspension went up and over the bump and down again. GREAT me thinks, those shocks must be getting
tired ????? No noise from the front suspension though ( or should I say, not yet ). Now the car has just clicked over the 80,000kms and I'm
the second owner and from what I can tell the suspension on my 3.0R is still the original OEM kit.

Now, when I needed to replace shocks in my cars previous to my Lib, I used to use Boge, but they don't make shocks for Japanese cars.
Not wanting to go Bilstein's or the like as I'm a bit of a softy, but didn't want to fork out $'s for Soobie OEM's either, so what's left ?

Would appreciate people's suggestions/advice ?

Thanks in advance
Lok

[tkboi]

hey mate yea i got this problem on my 2.5i as well it squeeaks when i go over bumps, i been planning to upgrade the suspension for ages but no dosh LOL xD, my car just done 49,000kms but i been getting it around 25,000kms i reckon ? i just left it coz i dont think its much of a problem

[teK--]

Hey Lok,

If you want something basic then you can go for the KYB GTX which are pretty much the same as what is fitted as standard. They probably wouldn't be more than about $150.00 per corner and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same part as if you bought genuine struts from Subaru.

At that mileage unless the car has had hard driving the struts shouldn't be worn out. I'd be checking other areas that could be repaired or adjusted such as swaybar endlinks, crossmember bushes etc. Firstly check INSIDE your boot first it could be something that you are storing in the car that is squeaking!

[loweart]

Hey Jim,

I was thinking the KYB Premium shocks or are these the same as the KYB GR-2's ? Like you've said, these KYB's would be close to the ride compliance of the OEM's if they aren't the one in the same.

I wouldn't think it would/should be end links as I had them checked out a couple of months back when I was getting the whiteline sway bars fitted.

Yep, checked the boot - not carrying any gagged and hog tied Mafia types in there at the mo !

Cheers,
Lok

[teK--]

If you've put Whiteline bars on then I would say it's likely that the bushes are in need of lubricating! Just undo the D-shackle brackets, grease the bush where it wraps around the bar, and rebolt the brackets.

[tkboi]

na im pretty sure it aint the swaybars, coz i got mine fitted 1-2 months ago and the sound was still there when i fitted them, so cant be that

[loweart]

D bushes for the rear sway bar was lubricated when I fitted the whiteline sway bar.

[teK--]

One easy way to work out what it is, is to get someone to stick their head under the car when it's up on drive-on ramps. The second person bounces their weight with their feet on the rear door sill (with the door open). You can usually find most suspension squeaks this way.

If you don't have ramps a ghetto way of doing it is find a tall gutter or similar and back the rear wheels up and onto the gutter.

Looking at KYB.com.au's site, the only application for our cars is the Excel-G model. Specs look like it would be a near exact replacement for what you have.

[loweart]

Ghetto method it is, as I recently sold my old set of ramps as I couldn't get the Lib up onto it due to the angle of the ramp vs ground clearance. Thanks Jim

[smythie]

I'll concur that the squeaking is likely in your rear suspension components than the strut.

[Q]

I'll concur that the squeaking is likely in your rear suspension components than the strut.

Completely agree. I need to lube my sway bar bushes quite regularly to stop them squeaking.

[teK--]

If anyone needs to buy more grease for urethane bushes then the type you need is Teflon high pressure/temp grease which has molybdenum in it. Get it from your auto parts store.

[adhar]

KYB = Subaru OEM shock.

[loweart]

Thanks to everyone for your most helpful advice, arranged to borrow some time on a hoist for a closer inspection.

[loweart]

Found the culprit, it was the D bushes for the rear sway bar that needed to be greased again. Thanks once again for everyone's help.