Front Strut Mount / Part # SNAFU
Just finished the front struts (and brakes, rotors, and CV shafts - and oh yes, that left steering knuckle I cracked!) and found that a number of parts dealers have the wrong part number / spec for the front strut upper mount on the 2007 Outback Wagon 2.5i that I've got. When did I find out? Yup - once I had everything in pieces, of course. Ran to the dealer / shop nearby (I'm in MA - near Danvers, which has a great parts counter at Ira) and bought a pair of factory original ones, only a few bucks more than the MOOG ones that were too small.
I went back and looked on 6 different online parts dealers catalog and found the same, incorrect part # for this car! I figure there'll start to be more folks doing this job themselves, as these cars age a bit that someone will have to fix that.
I'd note that the front springs were a bit tricky with nice 'clamshell' spring compressor I've got. There are so few 'coils' that I had to really wedge the top hook under the 'top hat', and the opposite side lower hook between the bottom of the coil and the strut base plate / try. Once clamped down, it felt a lot safer than the double threaded rod type's I've used a number of times...
...and yes, the left side ball joint was so frozen / stuck - and my 'wedge' to pop it was not big enough, so I tried to GENTLY pry the knuckle open, and crack went the fitting. Ah well... $150 later and I was back in business. I was pulling it to get the new CV shaft in - obviously no need to mess with it for struts.
Lot's of great info. on this site - finally joined so I could post progress reports / things I find along the way. Over the years as my cars have gotten older (out of warranty) I tend to more and more work. From the old '65 Corvair to the '84 Full Sized Jeep, to the little Cherokee that could, to the now family grocery-getter Outback Wagon. Love the car, but it takes more maintenance than I'd have thought - but it did drive pretty well for having totally wasted struts! 130k miles was 2X longer than those should have been on there... maybe 3x longer!
I'll get the rears done later on, then take her in for an alignment.
Next? Clutch job!
