gbhrps

I never paid any attention to the part number of the trailer hitch since it was in stock, and that was over a year ago. Sorry. I think I paid about $300 Canadian for the whole setup, ball, receiver, hitch and wiring harness, all as a factory kit. The ball is 2 inches in diameter.

My 02 OBW has the factory trailer hitch and wiring harness. It all came as a kit that I installed. In fact the kit even included the trailer ball as well. I tow an 18 foot boat and haven't overloaded the electrical system in any way. My 97 OBW had the same system and it never failed either. One note! The directions with my kit said that the trailer wiring harness plugged into the tail light wiring harness connector just behind the driver's side rear wheel tub. WRONG! The wiring harness connector was there alright...BUT it was on the passenger side of the car behind the rear wheel tub. Go figure! The installation of the whole affair, trailer hitch, wiring and ball, didn't take more than an hour and a half with regular tools. You don't even have to jack up the car to do it. Pay the dealer for the whole shebang and know that it will fit and work correctly. Give me a shout if you need more info. Good Luck!

I had a similar problem on my 97 OB and it turned out to be the wiring connector to the front pump. Pull it and check to see if there is a lot of green slime, etc. If its corroded, some spray electrical contact cleaner ( Radio Shack, NAPA, Autozone) on the connector and on the plug. It may resurrect trhe ailing pump motor, and save you some money.

Stay with the stock size snow tire, or go narrower! On my 97 OBW I ran the stock size (205/70/15) Bridgestone Blizzaks and stuck to the road like crazy glue. When I traded to an 02 OBW the new stock wheel size changed to 225/60/16. I put on new Blizzaks for the new wheel size for that year, and let me tell you...they definitely do not stick like the narrower 205's. I have learned to adapt to the new size, but they certainly do not have the same secure feeling. They tend to float, almost like aquaplaneing at speeds where the old tires still felt grippy.

My 02 OBW LTD was a dealer demo with the remote start and door lock feature. It has no identifying name as to manufacturer, but is definitely not a Subaru item, as it doesn't use the instrument panel security light, but has a separate one installed in the dash woodgrain. I find that I use the door lock feature all of the time and almost never the remote start. I have a real problem with the cost of fuel just going out the exhaust pipe without any forward motion. What I do find as a problem is that many times I have remotely started the car while the key chain holding the transmitter was in my pocket. Bending over to pet the dog, scrubbing the tires on the car, or leaning on the workbench with the keys in my pocket were the culprits. Coins or the keys folded back onto the remote starter would be all that was necessary to fire up the car. Since I know the unit will work from inside my house, I wonder how many times I've started the car up but wasn't aware that I had done so? (It shuts itself off after 15 minutes, or so I was told by the dealer.)

I'm on my second OB LTD and have enjoyed them both. The 97 OB LTDwas a terrific addition to my stables and did all of the work horse daily driving chores. Some minor teething problems under warranty didn't phase the ownership enjoyment. With ice grip tires and all wheel drive this baby took all of the white-knuckled driving out of winter. Alas, it did get the annoying piston slap problem, which was more of a nuisance than a real problem. My 02 OB LTD is so much more refined than the first and shines in almost every department. This one is a keeper, unless Subaru really pulls out the stops on some future model that puts my drool factor into high gear. Why everyone doesn't drive a Subaru is a puzzle to me, but I kind of like it this way. I like the fact that it doesn't look like every other car on the road (they're rather scarce in my area) and it attracts admiring stares wherever it goes.

If your problem is a rear wheel bearing, you should be able to confirm it using this method. You seem to already know that its coming from one side of the car. What I've done in the past was to find a deserted stretch of road where, at medium speed, I was able to swerve the car from one side of the road to the other. In my case, the one rear wheel had a medium howl while swerving (turning) to the right, a lower howl while swerving left, and no noticeable sounds at all while travelling straight ahead. The mechanic used a stethoscope on the rear wheel and determined for sure that the bearing was gone in that wheel. If your noise is as described under the same conditions, I'll bet on the wheel bearing. If not, then you had better look elsewhere for the problem. Hope this helps!

You hit the nail on the head! A little work and anyone can get just as great results. I did a few things differently that may work for other people out there. I took the wheels off the car, marked the centre of the wheel weights with a grease pencil right on the tire, so I knew where to put them back. I even took some steel wool to the weights and then spray bombed them silver. I used furniture stripper and then a power washer to clean everything off the wheel. Just remember goggles and rubber gloves to avoid burns!!! The stripper WILL NOT hurt your tires. I did the various sand paper routine, but polished the wheel with a three inch round buffing pad on my electric drill with aluminum buffing compound. Rather than leave the wheels untreated, I then clear coated them with a spray bomb, masking the tire off with tape and newspaper. When the wheels were reinstalled, with the wheel weights back on, they looked spectacular, just like from the factory. I did one wheel per night and put them right back on the car, so there was no down time. I got so good at it, that by wheel number three, I was doing each of them in less than 2 hours from removal to back on the car.

My 02 OBW with the 2.5 and automatic gets about 32 mpg on the highway. Those are Canadian gallons, which are larger than the American versions.

Over the last 10 years or so these are my experiences with oil consumption between oil changes. I monitored it carefully as I do my own oil and filter changes. 97 OB (121 000 kms) none 02 OB (42 000 kms) none 97 Lexus ES 300 (127 000 kms) none 94 Toyota Cressida (364 000 kms) none 89 Toyota Cressida (229 000 kms) 1 litre between changes 90 Nissan Pathfinder (122 000 kms) none 90 Nissan 300ZX (67 000 kms) none

The cheapest oil filter wrench in the world is a half sheet of sandpaper that you wrap around the oil filter, grit side on the filter. I guarantee that you will be able to unwind any filter without needing any special tools.

Hocrest, my 97 OB and my 02 OB both had the lower plastic cladding that is painted a contrasting colour than the rest of the body. In fact any OB I've ever seen has been the same way. I've yet to see a 04 OB on the road yet to do a comparison. By the way, how was the trip? And I may still have the tires and wheels available after the middle of September. My buyer finds himself between jobs and may have to pass. I've given him until then before I look for another buyer.

Effgaro, I've learned enough from this forum to know that all of your tires must all be the same size and have almost the same amount of wear (all new or all with 35 000 kms, etc.) or you will ruin part of your running gear. Your very worn spare tire is what may have caused your problem, and must be replced first. I hope someone with more knowledge on the subject can jump in to explain the how's and why's.