[Turninconcepts.com]

Kartboy Rear Subframe Bushings

Install and impressions

The rear subframe bushings are the latest and greatest product from Kartboy specifically designed for the 08 Impreza chasis. These bushings are added to the lower portion of the four rear subframe mounts and are designed to help hold the subframe in place during acceleration or turning. The bushings are sandwiched between the lower metal flange/washer holding the subframe and bushings that isolate the subframe from the frame.
Install
The install is quite easy and should take no longer than 30 minutes to perform. It involves removing the large bolts and metal flange/washers one at a time from the subframe followed by inserting the new bushings and tightening down the large bolts. There are four bushings in total that need to be installed with the kit.
This first picture shows the location of the left rearward mount. You can see the large (19mm) bolt head that I am pointing to and the metal flange/washer above the bolt head. This large bolt needs to be removed. It is only torque to about 60 ftlbs and should be removed easily.


This is the large bolt and flange/washer removed from the car.

This shows the approximate location of the bushing on the large flange/washer.

You can see that the flange/washer and bolt have been removed in this picture. The bushing will go into the void area seen between the metal sleeve and outside ring of the stock bushing.


Here you can see the proper installation of the bushing in relation to the stock bushing and large flange/washer.

After installing the bushing, make sure you tighten the bolts back to around 60 ftlbs. That’s it for the first mount. The other three follow similarly. The fronts have a larger flange/washer that is also a chasis bracket. The front mounts have two 14mm headed bolts holding the front of the bracket along with the 19mm headed long bolt in the rear of the bracket.
This is the front portion of the mounts in the front.

And a picture of the mount removed from the car.





Tony

[phowie50]

I put these bushing inserts on today. 30 minutes may even be overstating the amount of time install takes-- super easy. If you use ramps, like I do, every bolt you have to remove matters, so I suggest not completely removing the 14mm bolts on the front of the front rear subframe bracket as done in the 9th photo of this tutorial. I just loosened the 14mm bolts 5 turns or so, removed the rear 19mm bolt and flange washer completely, and had enough slack to pinch the bushing insert into the void under the 19mm rear bolt/flange washer (as shown).

I'll post street driving impressions next week some time (added NVH), but won't be hitting the autocross again til next month. By then I'll also have the harman front/rear sways & endlinks on, so any impression of performance enhancement caused by these bushings will probably be clouded all to hell.