Strut mounts on 90-99 Subarus

[ThosL]

I was talking to a long term Subaru dealer from northern Vermont today who said the strut mounts on the 90-99 Subarus was a major defect, I guess corrected in 00.  Is this a major problem, I hadn't heard this before.

[Fairtax4me]

Never heard of it. My 95 is still riding on original front strut mounts at 256,000 miles. 

Rears were replaced with the struts about 30k ago. The mounts weren't bad, just wasn't sure they'd last another 100k due to rust. 

[Rooster2]

I have both a 98 and 99 outbacks. I swapped in new struts on both cars last year. The 98 had 160K miles on the odo, the 99 had 183K miles on the spedo. The struts and mounts were the originals on both cars. I never had an issue with the mounts, or heard of anyone with complaints I question what the dealer told you. .

[gravitate]

My 90 had 333k on it when I sold it and it had originals with no issues at all.

[moosens]

Originals at 25 years old are better than the Chinese crap I was a sucker for after not even a year they are cracked up looking horrible.

 

The dealer is probably talking about the seam atop the rear wheel aprons that hold dirt , turn to rust , create a hole for water to pass through going inside to the corners and wheel arch that we typically see rot in.

 

If he is talking about strut mounts I don't see it like the other guys who chimed in.

[AdventureSubaru]

front struts were still the same through at least 2004.

 

Rears changed but I've driven plenty of both and seen more rear sag in 2000+ than in the 90s cars.

[mikaleda]

I've got a neighbor with a 94 legacy with 450k miles on it and its had a few sets of struts in its lifetime, but never new strut mounts. My moms old 90 went 330k miles on two sets of struts never changed the strut mounts. I have 230k on my 90, new struts original mounts. Same with my grammas 97 outback with 250k. Same with my moms new car 97 impreza 230k. Same with my step dads 97 brighton 240k. I would call B.S. on that statement.

Edited March 2, 2016 by mikaleda

[mikaleda]

Almost forgot the 91 we bought a few years ago with 240k we replaced struts, original mounts and I sold it with 275k and i still see it every once and a while still going good.

Edited March 2, 2016 by mikaleda

[ThosL]

I wasn't sure why the northern Vermont dealer mentioned it, but he said it could be hard to catch, but obviously much more of a problem in tough winter areas.

 

He said he was no longer in the business of selling used Subarus; he used to sell them for around $2500 with 3-6 month warranties.  

[mikaleda]

I wasn't sure why the northern Vermont dealer mentioned it, but he said it could be hard to catch, but obviously much more of a problem in tough winter areas.

 

 

I live in north idaho, on a dirt road 16 miles from town. I think he is full of it

[idosubaru]

 he used to sell them for around $2500 with 3-6 month warranties.  

 

that explains it.  

 

if you're dealing in $2,000 range Subaru's in the northeast you're almost always dealing with rust.  so yes old, cheap, poor condition SUbaru's around here often have rust issues.  this includes rear strut mounts and a litany of other issues. 

it's not a defect, though you may consider it a weak spot on severely rusted cars.  

i've seen the rear strut mounts rust right through too - on cars that have had exhaust replaced multiple times, rear quarter panel rot in the typical places, and rusty oil pans. 

this hardly counts as a "defect"

[Fairtax4me]

He may have been talking about the strut tower, which is the structural area of the chassis where the strut attaches to the car.

Those are known to rust, especially so in arears where rust is common. But there are plenty of other more important things to worry about than the strut towers rusting out. Even in the heavy salt areas these cars still run 250-300k miles before the rest of the car is so rusty it's not worth fixing anymore, and the strut towers are still just fine structurally.

I have seen some pictures of rusted out strut towers that did break, but by looking at the rest of the car you could tell it was a rust bucket anyway.

[carfreak85]

I've been doing a lot of suspension work on my WRX lately and have gone over a few sets of strut mounts.  From what I've seen, 90% of the mount is bulletproof.  What ends up going bad is the bearing in the front mounts.  These need to be able to spin freely, to allow the strut shaft to rotate, allowing the front wheels to turn.

 

If you stick your finger in the front upper bearing and it has any resistance, or feels "grumbly," it needs to be replaced.  At 120k miles on my WRX, the fronts needed to be replaced, along with the ball joints.

[idosubaru]

With bad bearings, if they're not trashed you can also use a grease gun needle fitting and add more grease. I think there's also special grease that can be sprayed in which coagulates over time, would work here but the needle fitting is so easy I've never bothered.

 

Every front bearing I've ever seen has responded well to that. If they're sealed or no access then you may not be able to but I haven't seen those be problematic yet.