SuBrat84 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 So.. I'm thinking I gotta get this 6 going man.. At this point it is really the suspension keeping me from getting this car road worthy. I would like some input about rebuilding the air struts. Is it hard? Are the parts I need hard to find? Is it expensive? .. The compressor I have works.. and it's blowing air through the lines.. but the struts will not air up and of course don't hold air. I guess.. everything rubber would have to be replaced? Right now the rears are off.. and I have some near-new KYB GR2s on there from an '88 GL. The fronts I haven't taken off.. because I can at least move the car around.. even though it wont air up. My other options consist of getting some front suspension off an Impreza or Legacy from '91-'94. Which I don't really like the idea of, due to "drilling" and whatnot being required. Or to get them off of a FWD xt6 (PREFERABLY) which no one has. I really would like: A. Front strut/spring assemblies from a FWD XT6. B. Rebuild all Four of my air struts. As soon as I get this suspension issue tackled.. I am going to get a MAF, clutch kit, axles, etc and ROMP this AWESOME car. Man I love the Alcyones. Thanks everyone!! -Eli- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beataru Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 try http://www.1stsubaruparts.com i dont know if they have the rebuild kits... but im too sleepy to check sorry... going to bet now gnight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 okay, i googled alcyone... friggin awesome man... the pleiades has been my favorite constellation since way before i knew what anything other than the big dipper was.. i used to think it might be the little dipper, but eventually heard what they were called and got some of the mythology behind it... my dad bough an 89 AWD 5spd xt6 brand new, and ive had a soft spot in my heart for subarus ever since... but only about six months ago discovered that subaru == pleiades.... this is the first ive heard the term alcyone in reference to the XT6. I will state it black and white to save you the googling, yes, its the japanese name for the XT/XT6. "alcyone" means "the kindfisher," and its the brightest star in the constellation. freakin awesome... philosophers in the engineering and marketing departments... theres proof that Fuji Heavy Industries, Limited, Japan is one helluva company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I had a pair of Leg struts on the front of my 6 before I got the FWD ones. Theres no drilling involved. You need to spred the bottom mount some to get the strut to fit in there and maybe massage the 3 bolts on top to fit in the holes but thats it. I tried to get my air susp working when I first got it, it had leaks every where. I bypassed the computer, tank, everything by hooking up a shraeder valve to the existing lines. It would have worked but the 2 front valves kept leaking. I finally gave up and swapped to standard struts. When the system works right, the ride is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 as the owner of over 15 of these things, i highly recommend converting to coil over suspension. as reliable as these cars can be, it's silly to keep the air suspension unless you really like it. i choose to keep it but i'm fairly proficient with it and have extra parts everywhere. otherwise i'd convert immediately. the car drives horrendous and is very unsafe when they don't air up, not worth it if you have to wait around for parts and can't trouble shoot it easily. let's assume you convert (best choice for most people). the rear is done. for the fronts you don't need to do any drilling unless you want to use the impreza bolts, they are larger and you can even use the adjustable camber bolts if you'd like to adjust camber. probably not necessary unless you want to race. so...instead just reuse your existing XT6 bottom strut bolts and you don't need to do anything. you'll only have to pry the bottom strut flange out enough to fit on the XT6 hub, it's very straight forward and only requires a long tool...pry bar, crow bar, digging bar, even a long wrench will do. any large item will be enough to spread them out until they fit. two struts and you're done, that's the best option. now if you want to keep the air suspension....... you can leave the rear coil overs and get the front to air up via the system. if you just disconnected the rears and the air lines and wires are hanging there, that's probably why the system isn't working correctly. you can not remove the rear air struts and expect the system to work properly without a little trickery. depending how you disconnected the rears, the fronts may not be airing up because the rears are disconnected. you have to "trick" the computer into thinking the rear is okay before proceeding. yo'ud have to make sure the air lines aren't open...otherwise all your pressure just vents to atmosphere. and there are two wires you'll need to cross i believe to make the computer think those air struts are in place and at the correct height. these systems can be very troublesome to work on...air bags, height sensors, solenoids, o-rings galore, broken connectors, electronics, computer, air tank, drier, compressor, pressure sensor...lots of stuff to go wrong. first - are you sure the front struts are bad? a bad compressor can feel like it's moving air but isn't really putting out nearly enough pressure to air the car up. there's a big difference between just moving air (feeling it) and actually raising something that weighs a couple thousand pounds. so i wouldn't rule the air compressor good just yet..until i saw it airing up a strut. also - if the car sets for awhile, even if the system is good sometimes the front struts just don't want to air up. they get "stuck". jacking the car up while letting it try to air up and prying them down manually to get them going can alleviate this problem. there are many possible causes to why your fronts aren't airing up...i would not bother replacing them or thinking they are the problem until you rule out some things or give us some more details (like how the rears were installed and how you left the air lines/solenoids?). the struts are not rebuildable. either recondition yours, or a used set. unless you want to buy new for $250 - $400 each which i don't recommend. good luck and have fun! sitting for awhile in general is bad for the air suspension. corrossion and time generally don't do good things to the compressor and air tank pressure sensor, or the struts. i have a thread over at http://www.xt6.net on how to recondition a set of non-failed struts. i have never had to replace any of mine yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted October 22, 2006 Author Share Posted October 22, 2006 When I first got this car.. I heard the air compressor come on one time for about 5 seconds and then never again. Even hard wired. I bought a "new" compressor from a board member. It tried to air up a couple struts with the car jacked up (when the rear were still on it.) But they just all completely deflated with any weight on them. Not holding air? I picked up a parts 88 GL with the KYBs on it and went ahead and swap them out just for the practice. I left the air lines open in the rear and plugged in "normal." They blow pretty good pressure... obviously the fronts will not fill up with the rears just open.. but I know they don't hold air. That's why I was asking... the actual air bags them selves are cracked.. this car sat for like 7 years. It only has 101k I think I will hit the junkyard soon and get the Legacy fronts until I can find a pair of XT6 FWD struts P.S. Alcyone applies to SVXi as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted October 22, 2006 Author Share Posted October 22, 2006 okay, i googled alcyone... friggin awesome man... the pleiades has been my favorite constellation since way before i knew what anything other than the big dipper was.. i used to think it might be the little dipper, but eventually heard what they were called and got some of the mythology behind it... my dad bough an 89 AWD 5spd xt6 brand new, and ive had a soft spot in my heart for subarus ever since... but only about six months ago discovered that subaru == pleiades.... this is the first ive heard the term alcyone in reference to the XT6. I will state it black and white to save you the googling, yes, its the japanese name for the XT/XT6. "alcyone" means "the kindfisher," and its the brightest star in the constellation. freakin awesome... philosophers in the engineering and marketing departments... theres proof that Fuji Heavy Industries, Limited, Japan is one helluva company. This is completely OT but.. I was reading this book "The Pleadian..." something or other.. I can't remember exactly.. but they were talking about how there is intelligent life there and basically have evolved to a state of awareness that they are like what we would consider "angels" etc... it was pretty weird. So I was like .. "Well.. that explains why Subarus ROCK!!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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