Quote:
Originally Posted by Code Monkey
Both front guides needed replacement which is not a abnormal wear item on the BRZ chassis. The strut is relatively short on this chassis and the angle is fairly steep so it tends to wear the guide.
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So, story time. Last year, I picked up a set of Accu-lign hub stands from Mittler Bros.
https://www.mittlerbros.com/accu-lign.html (TL;DR: Don't buy these for an 86)
First I had to send back the wheel adapters to have the lug seats deepened so they'd work with stock wheel studs. Then I had brake caliper clearance issues in the front, so I got some amazon 35mm spacers. Then I finally got them on the car, and..... the front end wouldn't settle to ride height no matter how much I bounced on it.
I made sure my grease plates weren't binding due to the point loading of the bearings.
I disconnected the front swaybar to make sure those tight bushings weren't binding it.
I put normal wheels and tires back on, and although I had to jostle it with my body weight on the tow hook it
did settle.
I took off the caliper and spacers and went back to the hub stands, and it still wouldn't settle.
The only remaining cause I could think of was that because the loading point with the hub stands is so far outboard, it puts a huge inward side load into the strut that completely binds it up. Side forces would normally be outward from a cambered wheel and tire just sitting, or outboard wheel cornering forces. I gave up and haven't tried again since then, but your statement above does lend weight to the theory.
(The rear had no issues settling, probably because it's a multi-link and doesn't break a sweat with side loads.)