Expensive OEM pars blah blah blah...
 

So I called up Subaru over here to ask the price of the hood and trunk struts and got quoted as 98.56 each for the front, and 58.27 each for the rear.


Thats about 300 just for gas shocks to keep my hood and trunk supported up.


Then I said "I work for Toyota (same town), can you work with me on a price?"


He said yes, but to my surprise he offered 20% off:eek:

I think I'll save this for my wheel bearings or axles when I need them.


Or maybe, MAYBE when I'm ready we could do a small group buy of smal odds and ends we need and I'll buy in bulk for all of us.

Keep in mind this is a huge maybe cause we will have to figure the cost of things we want to buy at the normal discount being offered as well as a bulk buy discount if applicable, as well as shipping to your location.

I'll keep you all informed in the future.


the end

I too need my struts replaced and got a quote from Subaru at $250 installed. Not worth it to me when a FG hood costs $350...

Two options to think about in the meantime:

1) Canadian Tire/local hardware/auto shop struts can work. Post here about Probe struts that work ($30 a piece). I think our extended length is 18.5", compressed around 10.5".

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...dian+tire+hood

2) Rob (LetitSnow) has in his sig a link to SPD hardware that sells gas struts for $15 a piece. He also mentioned that he may be fabricating a kit for the group.

http://www.spdhardware.com/catalog/l...-C52741324413}

Hope this helps.

I'm looking around for a local shop that will put together some brackets for teh cheap. If I can come up with one, I can release a fully functional, aesthetically pleasing, complete package that will allow the replacement of the struts with common shelf struts. I know it's been a long time that I've had this on the shelf, but I'm digging in now. I'll letcha know.

I ordered some from McMaster for around 18 bucks a pop not that long ago. There is a how to that gives you details on doing your struts, along w/ some part numbers.

I'll get the camera out later. It's cleaner, and plug-n-play, the way I did it.

Subaruparts.com has these for $72.81/44.79, better than 20% off what you were quoted.

But then there's the matter of shipping...

dcb

I am curious to see what plug and play looks like.

svxcuseme did a write-up on his replacement struts he bought from Autozone or some place like that, I'll search for the thread.

Hood strut redo How-To

Hood strut redo part 2

That write up is what I was referring to in the how-to comment. I went in to Napa, AZ and Advanced with the how-to printed up as a reference and was unable to cross reference the part numbers with anything those stores sold. Of course I have also met employees at these stores that could not spell simple parts like head light or solenoid...

I have more pictures from in-process, but here's the result...

The original writeup suggests removing the ball from the top of the factory strut. I found this to be more trouble
than it's worth; I replaced them with a standard pair of ball studs. No muss, no fuss.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...s_hood/top.jpg

The original writeup and John's technique both involve keeping the hinged bit that was originally attached to the
strut. The way I did it, there are no cut or altered pieces retained, and you can go ahead and paint the whole
thing without working around a pivot if you choose. It also eliminates what I see as a somewhat clumsy
connection, between the bracket and the hinged piece at the end of the strut.

I simply removed all of the strut that wasn't bolted to the fender! The hole was too large for the ball stud that I
had intended to use, so I placed a washer inside it. The overlap from the nut and the ball stud hex covered it
with room to spare to hold them in place. I've got some acorn nuts that I'm going to replace the current ones
with, just for aesthetics.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ood/bottom.jpg

The crowd cries foul! That's not plug 'n' play! Well, in this method, no. You wind up cutting the one joint out.
The alternate would be to replace the lower brackets with something custom, which wouldn't have any of the
funky bends required by the stock setup. That's probably more than most people would want to go through,
unless they were into the custom bits... anodized this and that, but that's what it would take.

All told, this plan eliminates all bladework, save for one cut which doesn't physically influence anything left on
the car. Wha'cha think?

Awesome! Plug-and-play is good! Heaven knows my trunk struts really need replacing...:rolleyes:

This is the cleanest and simplest method by far!! :D

I'm not sure if the trunk ones came out as well. They make a difference to me, but I'm told that they should probably work better than they do. Again, we come back to the "mechanical disadvantage" of the hingework... I've got to do some homework on how that thing all goes. I've got access to Unigraphics, which lets me do some neat things, so I might be able to work something out that has better performance than the current (installed in my car) design.

My modification was very similar to LetItSnow's. The NAPA gas-charged struts are 11" long (closed) with about a 6" stroke. They are rated at 90lbs. of force. Your NAPA parts guy can look up the P/N for you with just these specs.

After propping the hood open with a piece of wooden dowel or a broomstick,take off the old hood struts by unscrewing the two bolts where the bottom bracket attaches to the fender. Then unscrew the ball stud from the hood and take out the entire bracket/strut assembly.

Using a hacksaw or a Dremel, cut the shaft of the strut from the original bracket at the point where the two connect.




As with LetItSnow's procedure, I also purchased a ball stud from NAPA (I believe it was 8mm) to use at the hood mounting point. I added a washer and a rubber washer as well to prevent metal-to-metal contact. If you pry back the black metal clip on the strut mount, the ball stud will slide in and then release the clip to lock it.

[CENTER]http://www.subaru-svx.net/photopost/..._STRUT_TOP.jpg



This is where we differ in our approach to the bottom bracket.
In the How-To document, the strut shaft is cut off at the base of the bracket and ground flat. In step 4, a 7/32" hole the size of the threaded shaft is drilled in the bottom bracket, the threaded shaft is inserted through the hole in the bracket and held in place by a nut.

I found that a much better way is to drill a slightly smaller hole in the bracket and thread it 1/4" x 28 pitch (the same threads as in the strut shaft).

After you unscrew the black cap on the bottom of the new struts, you can then thread the bottom of the strut shaft into the bracket until it stops. This makes it much stronger and gets rid of any free play. You can then further secure it with a nut on the other side (not shown)




The easiest way to install them is:
...1) attach the new ball stud into the hood.
...2) Attach the modified bottom bracket back onto the fender.
...3) Screw the bottom of the strut shaft completely into the threaded bottom bracket and secure with a nut.
...4. Adjust the top mounting point of the strut by turning the threaded cap as necessary to line up with the ball stud on the hood.

What I like about this approach to the bottom bracket modification is that it allows for the hood to open to the same height as stock.

In LetItSnow's, the bottom attaching point is lower and the hood doesn't open quite as much.

.

Ouch! I'll plead my case:

* No drillin'.
* No tappin'.
* No hinge means access to 100% of the surface area of the bracket for paintin'.
* The replacement strut I use is about an inch longer than spec. I'll see you at stock height. ;)