Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

well i bought 2 front oem struts from a place in Washington state i believe something like 6-10 months ago i finally got to put them on :D last month along with some mounts that i bought from Nate like a year ago (they are working great so far Nate one has turned a funny color though :confused: idk why) ...i didnt see a date stamped on them but then again i wasn't looking...

they have been on for almost 2 months and probably between 2000-3000 miles put on them but no signs of failing...they have just shown me that there is more wrong! :lol: now i need lower control arm bushings :o

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

I have an update on this...sort of. Subaru got back to me and basically said that their warehouse is too busy to investigate this at this time. So, until someone buys a new strut and posts whatever numbers/dates are on it, we are still flying blind. I wouldn't assume either case that the struts are a recent run nor that they are all 15 years old. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. We just don't know how hold the struts currently in inventory are.

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

With apologies, ...
Common sense is not common.

If I was in the money burning department at Subaru, one of the last things I'd do if I was rabid enough to produce a run of parts for a dying car (count the partouts in the last two years) that had a very limited production run which was sold at a loss as it was would be to not publicize the hell out of that fresh set of parts.

Is it possible? Sure... It's possible that a meteor will squash me this afternoon, too. There's no denying, though, that no bit of this recent run pipe dream makes sense.

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

Has everything you have observed in life made sense? I agree that the probability of a fresh run of struts is unlikely but why not verify this instead of assuming it?

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

And, keep in mind, that it's not Subaru that makes these parts, but KYB or Tokico or the like. They have the existing tooling and doing a "run" for a specific part is what they do everyday. It's what they are set up to do.

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

Hey, no, but in 15 years of manufacturing, this is an unequaled, violent defiance of sense. All I can do is leave it at that.

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

For what it is worth, the 2 struts I purchased from SubaruPartsforYou.com (Milford, CT) in the Spring of 2011 both failed in 30 days. They have since been chopped down to accept the Koni inserts. If there was a new production run, hope it happened after that.
Gene

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

You wouldn't happen to know if they got them from SOA or if they had them in stock at their site, would you?

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

Were you running the OEM springs/factory ride height with them?

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

Unfortunately, I don't know. I believe they are a Subaru dealer and still offer the OEM struts.

Yes

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

Finally found someone with new struts that have the date codes on them. What is interesting is that each strut had two date codes on it. One on the strut and one on the bag. These were dates printed on the labels, not dates added after the fact. The dates were as follows:

Strut 1 = 070531
Bag 1 = 070911
Strut 2 = 070910
Bag 2 = 071003

In Japan they use the YYMMDD format for dates. So, to me, it looks like the struts were made in 2007 and were packaged and placed into inventory 1-3 months after they were made. Even if these were not oriented properly while being stored, I don't think 5 years is a long time to be sitting on the shelf. What we don't know is what the last run was before this and when those struts were depleted in Subaru's inventory. And some people could have purchased struts that were in a dealer's inventory for god knows how long, assuming they had some sitting there instead of ordering from Subaru on demand.

On a related question, what other parts should be replaced when changing the struts:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/atta...5&d=1348071592

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

Can someone please suggest which other parts should be replaced with the struts?

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

probably wheel bearings:rolleyes:

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

Come on...REALLY?!?!?! I was hoping for some actual advice from one of the masters.

Re: Who has purchased strut replacements from Subaru recently?
 

Well, I'm not a master, but have done these as a DIY on all 3 of our SVXi...I replaced the top mounts, and snubbers. The bellows cover and rubber spacers were easy to clean up, I reused the locknut with blue loctite.
Be careful to note or photograph the position of the graduated eccentric bolt.