yeap..to sum it up basically...the sti needs a new center diff..SOG tried to rip me off by overcharging me on a new one and wanting 4500 to get it and install it..decatur subaru told me its only a 2200 dollar part and that sog was trying to get me on it..so i guess i gotta deal with it but....warranty on diff was voided because of my tires not being exactly the same on the front and back..but it sux spending over 5k on a new diff and new tires when i shouldnt need either..my simple mistake i guess
When I diagnose and quote a repair on a car, I do NOT cut any corners or leave anything out that could possibly be related to the failure. The center diff alone is $2,400 from us, PLUS labor to install it. The active center diff in the STi is NOT cheap. I also have to remove the transmission from the car and disassemble it on the bench in order to replace all the peices, and I also need to do some work on the press to get bearings on/off the shafts. Thats a good 12 hours of work there. I know from experience that if you do not replace all the bearings in the extension housing along with the diff when you have a center diff failure, you will STILL have the noise you have. Most of it is from the diff itself, however, there is significant bearing noise also. FYI: Royal in Decatur does whatever possible to slam us. We have lots of problems with some of our long time customers that once in a while they go to Royal for an oil change and all they hear them talking about is how bad we are and that we didnt do the services that we sold to them....etc etc. I'm actually surprised they actually looked at your car, usually they will not touch a WRX or STi.
He has Fusion HRi's in the front with 2/32nds tread, and Toyo Proxis (somethings?) with 5/32nds in the back. Huge difference.
My WRX has a noisy center diff. I am just going to drive it until it junks, then get a used replacement tranny. About the same price as opening the tranny and replacing the center diff. Something to think about, however used STI 6 speeds command a premium due to all of the modded WRX owners wanting them. I did see one on Ebay a week or so ago for $2200 (tranny only).
Is that 3/32nds difference in outside tire radius with the same size tire but with different makes? If so is that enough to screw a differential up, and what is the allowable tolerance between front and rear outside tire diameters or radii ofr a RX or STI center differential ?
I dont quite understand what you are asking with the 1st question....but... Different makes/brands of tires have a slightly different rolling diameter than another...so even having 4 brand new tires...2 on the front and 2 on the back...is bad. So...with having (note: both 225/45/17 sized tires) a shorter (2/32) tire of brand A on the front (or rear) and a taller (5/32) tire of brand B on the rear (or front) is a rather LARGE different. SOA warranty tolerates 1/32 difference, on ONE tire...not two no matter the location. That 1/32 tolerance is built into the system by the engineers. In general, all AWD SUBARU's have the same tolerance.
im not the one thats really mad about this..my parents are..well mainly my dad..my mom was gonna get a new diff put in yesterday if she could have..but my dad wants to sell my car and get me another one...i told him i wouldnt want anything other than an sti except a supra or skyline so haha...but he said hes had many awd and 4wd vehicles before and he dont think he should buy a car that something like that matters on it..im prolly gonna drive the car until something happens then worry about fixing it..or i was wanting to fix it,or either fix it then sell it,then buy a new one because with the 30k im payin on this one with a really really really high interest rate i could come and get an 07 for 34k with 1 or 2 percent interest and actually save money..and i wouldnt have to pay for an extended warranty or ect. with a new one..i love the sooby and wouldnt want anything besides it..
I would HIGHLY recommend a set if tires NOW...then drive it until some worse happens. At this point, the noise can only get worse. AND so long as you STOP the damage that IS happening...then you can rest more easily that you are not creating more damage the more you drive it.
I dont think everyone really understand the importance of tire care. I check my tires almost everyday to make sure the pressure is correct and that there is no funny wear. I may be a little paranoid about it but you can never be too sure. When I bought my STi the very first thing I was told was to NOT try and turn if I lock the diff. and Not just replace one tire but all of then (depending on tread wear). Are there any good write ups about this??? if so it should be stickyed
We do not have a tire shaver. 99% of our customers understand that they need 4 equal tires, go ahead and shell out the $ for a set of new tires. 95% of the time it due to extreme wear on either the front or rear, or a blowout/sidewall issue. The other 5% are accident related and either insurance takes care of all 4, or they take care of 1 or two and the customer takes care of the rest. The 1% are the people who dont believe or dont care, and only want 1 or two tires. We make the sign a paper, note it on the RO, and install the 1 or two tires. Usually within 10k miles or less, they come back with a destroyed set of transfer clutches (the 'center diff' on auto cars) or a destroyed center diff......and end up paying for that (usually around $1500 to $2000) and getting 4 new tires at the same time. *shrug*
Sooo.... Let me get this straight this is my first AWD car so I bought the rims from used. They are Widetrack 215/40/17 83H (Bridgestone knock-off according to discount auto tire) and Fuzion ZR1 215/40/17 33W. So having different tires on a AWD drive cars are terrible I mean I was looking to get ride of them anyways for there crappy side walls but I at least wanted to get my use out of them first
I use different tire brands all the time, and even tho they are the same size they measure differently. Just make sure they are very close in diameter to eachother.
How do you measure the tread ware on tires? I got the car with new tires but after playing in the mountains split the rears so I got new rear tires since they were all reasonably new. How can I measure the fronts to see if they are much different from the back?
tntsfinest23: You need to look into a set of tires sooner rather than later. However, if your rolling diameters are within 1/4" of each other...you are 'ok' for now. Its the long constant trips that kill, AND big differences. Wes: since you drive like an 'ass' everywhere...as long as they are 'close' they'll be fine. I drive like an 'ass' as well....so i dont worry either, but then again i have a bunch of odd matched RE070s. I just dont do long interstate trips on them, i swap them out for the most even set of whatever else i've got.
I have a tread depth gauge. You can get them as most any auto parts stores, even some gas stations that have a larger selection of quickie buy me now stuff.
Its looks to be about a 1/4" differace between the ffron and back. So any one got som rims and tires for sale? :sx:
Insurance; yeah my ins company replaced all 4 when I wrecked her and then I paid the prorated difference...I got a brand new set of RE 070 for 300 plus my deductable and my ins prem... JUST REPLACE ALL 4 TIRES WITH THE SAME BRAND! and save yourselves the trouble and money in the long run
Is there anyone who can shave a tire? I have an extra RE070 with about 80% tread on it that I want to be able to use later if I run into a road hazzard.
I went to NAPA, Autozone, and Advanced today at lunch and none had a gauge. I have seen several on the internet, but would prefer just to pick one up. Has anyone seen one around?
One more question related to tire diameter. How much does air pressure affect it? Factory specs are 32 Front and 29 rear. I like to run them a bit more than that. Do I always need to keep 3 psi more in the front? If all 4 tires were the same psi, would that make the front diameters effectively smaller and cause a problem?