All Wheel Drive Auto - Seattle Area Independent Expert Subaru Repair & Service » Performance http://allwheeldriveauto.com All Wheel Drive Auto is a unique independent Seattle area Expert Subaru service & repair facility. We combine years of dealer experience with a local neighborhood shop atmosphere. We use high quality Subaru parts & test equipment and have the expert knowledge to fix it right the first time. Call us at 425-828-3600 to get a quote or find out more. Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:47:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 en Seattle Subaru Expert Strut Replacement http://allwheeldriveauto.com/seattle-subaru-expert-strut-replacement/ http://allwheeldriveauto.com/seattle-subaru-expert-strut-replacement/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:51:04 +0000 Justin Stobb http://allwheeldriveauto.com/?p=261 So Your Subaru is getting up there in age, maybe as a result you have started getting motion sickness whenever you make a lane change at freeway speeds, or there is a noise going over bumps. All of these symptoms…

]]> So Your Subaru is getting up there in age, maybe as a result you have started getting motion sickness whenever you make a lane change at freeway speeds, or there is a noise going over bumps. All of these symptoms can make your Subaru feel much older than it really is.

This is a very correctable situation that will greatly enhance the driving performance of your Subaru. Doing the job right and complete will make all the difference in the world and will make the project much more worthwhile.

Maybe you like your Subaru, but are not so happy with how it handles any more or the noise it makes is embarrassing when there are passengers, or just plain driving you nuts when there aren’t. Maybe your Subaru needs some other repairs or service but because the car feels old you are not so sure it’s worth it.

The truth is that the car Manufactures don’t really want the car to feel good forever or you would never have any reason to buy a new one, or sell you replacement parts for the one you already have. Struts used to be a common thing to think about replacing after your car hit the 60,000 mile mark, but the cost of replacing all 4 struts can add up and somehow there has been a disconnect between the cost of replacing the struts versus the value of improving the safety of your Subaru.

The problem, as the O.E. hydraulic struts in your Subaru age they start to slowly leak out hydraulic fluid or even in struts that haven’t leaked fluid will have lost their “charge” over time. At the top of the strut is a tower or mount that includes a bearing and over time the mount and bearing will age and develop play. The aged components will slowly over time weaken and also weaken the ability of the struts and mounts to dampen how the road feels to you in the car, and how well the Car handles the road. Replacing the struts in your Subaru with a good quality gas charged set of struts, replacing the mounts and performing an alignment afterwards will drastically improve how your Subaru handles Seattle’s rough roads.

Weak or worn struts can have an effect on how the car handles, how harsh the bumps in the road can feel and how well weight is transferred under braking, especially panic stops. A lot of times the last two or three inches of stopping distance is the difference between having an accident and not having one.

Having a Subaru or any other car for that matter come into a shop especially at higher miles and needing brakes, and some other repairs and service makes it difficult for most shops to want to recommend new struts to you. Most in the industry will shy away from even recommending struts given the potential costs to the customer. Add to that there are the tire stores of the world using young kids as labor and lower quality parts when replacing struts and as a result it has created very hard to match prices, even though the repairs can be as different as apples and oranges. Replacing suspension components is really not a job for an 18 year old at a tire store regardless of their claims of training, and there are really only one or two strut types that should be put in your Subaru.

Strut replacement should start out with an inspection of the rest of the suspension system to make sure it is sound. It is possible that some of the other suspension components have suffered as a result of one leg of the system (the struts) becoming weak. This will ensure your satisfaction with the money spent on enhancing the Subaru’s performance on the road.

Doing Struts right, complete and by a Subaru expert is really the best way to go when making repairs on your Subaru.

Subaru Strut Blown rear strut Out With The Old New Strut and Mount Subaru Struts Strut Mount Leaking Strut Strut upgrade

]]> http://allwheeldriveauto.com/seattle-subaru-expert-strut-replacement/feed/ Subaru Legacy Gt Project http://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-legacy-gt-project/ http://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-legacy-gt-project/#comments Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:20:49 +0000 Justin Stobb http://allwheeldriveauto.com/?p=165 This Subaru had gone through a rough spell that included a timing belt coming off that resulted in the need for a valve job.
Rather than spend money merely to repair the car back to stock this customer opted to try…

]]> This Subaru had gone through a rough spell that included a timing belt coming off that resulted in the need for a valve job.
Rather than spend money merely to repair the car back to stock this customer opted to try and enhance the performance of this very nice looking older Subaru Legacy GT.
Before the WRX craze hit, there really wasn’t much in the way of performance parts for the Subaru and even now that the market place is overflowing with performance parts for the WRX, STI and newer GT there really are not a lot of options for the Older Subies.
Here is what we did to this fine example of an Older Legacy Gt.
Delta Cams regrind of the camshafts to change the camshaft profile.
We also replaced the Header pipe with one from Borla. Because of a serious lack of desirable cat back exhaust systems we opted to let an exhaust shop that can still build an exhaust system take a crack at changing the tone of the GT.
The changes made a noticeable difference in the midrange of the GT, but the idle quality did suffer a little as will happen when the camshaft profile is changed. Well worth the couple of hundred extra the whole thing cost on top of just a normal Valve job. A good way to turn a bad car day, into a worthwhile repair and performance upgrade.

Subaru Gt Header Pipe

Subaru Gt Header Pipe Subaru Engine

Subaru Engine

Subaru Engine

]]> http://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-legacy-gt-project/feed/ Welcome to the All Wheel Drive Auto Blog! http://allwheeldriveauto.com/welcome-to-the-all-wheel-drive-auto-blog/ http://allwheeldriveauto.com/welcome-to-the-all-wheel-drive-auto-blog/#comments Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:43:02 +0000 Justin Stobb http://launchpad-yellow.com/welcome-to-the-all-wheel-drive-auto-blog/ Welcome to the All-Wheel Drive Auto Blog!

Who is All Wheel Drive Auto?

All Wheel Drive Auto is an independent Subaru service & repair facility based out of Kirkland Washington. We combine years of dealer experience with a friendly neighborhood shop atmosphere.…

]]> Welcome to the All-Wheel Drive Auto Blog!

Who is All Wheel Drive Auto?

All Wheel Drive Auto is an independent Subaru service & repair facility based out of Kirkland Washington. We combine years of dealer experience with a friendly neighborhood shop atmosphere. As an Independent Subaru Specialist, we can save you up to 25% over the dealer service department for the service and repair of your Subaru without sacrificing to quality or your warranty.

Join our auto community!

Start a conversation with everyone from other Suburu enthusiasts to people looking for Suburu information and advice. Expectsome great articles on Subaru maintenance and repair, as well as general auto care tips. Our goal is to create an interactive community of Subaru lovers and owners sharing information and advice. Got something to say? Tips to share? Go ahead and subscribe to our feed to stay updated on new articles and community news or leave us a comment and we’ll happily respond.

]]> http://allwheeldriveauto.com/welcome-to-the-all-wheel-drive-auto-blog/feed/