How to Replace Front Strut Spring Assembly 2005-09 Subaru Outback

Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!

In this video, we are replacing front struts in a 2008 Subaru Outback. If you need this part or other parts for your car, click the link in the description and head over to 1AAuto.com.

We're going to pull this left front tire off. I'm going to a use a 19mm socket and a breaker bar. Just crack them free while it's still on the ground. You're going to want to raise and support the front of the vehicle. We're using a lift, but you can do this with jack and jack stands in our driveway. I'm going to loosen up the rest of the lugs. Once I get all the lugs off, pull the tire off. Before we crack any of these bolts or nuts free, I'm going to spray some rust penetrant on here, and then on the threads of these bolts, and then on this bolt. That will give it a chance to soak in a little bit.

We're going to take of this ABS sensor wire. We're going to use a 12 millimeter socket with an extension and ratchet. Break that free. It's loose enough to do it by hand. Pull this out of the way. We're going to put our bolt back in, and do the same over here. This is for our brake line. Get that out, and put our bolt back in there, so we know where it goes. All right, before I pull these nuts and bolts off of this bracket, you're going to want to remember that when you're doing this job it's going to require and alignment afterwards. This bolt on the top does have a cam in it, so it will need to be realigned afterwards. We are going to mark this housing here, so that we can get it close. I'm going to mark the top part of the bolt here, so we know that's where it was when we took it off, and then it will at least be close, but you're still going to want to have an alignment done.

We're going to use a 19 millimeter socket with a ratchet, and have to put a wrench on this side. Then we'll loosen up the nut. That is loose enough to do it by hand. There's a little washer here. Pull this out. As you can see, the bolt has a cam. This is the top bolt. The bottom will not have this. And we're going to take off the bottom nut and bolt. It's a 19mm wrench and a 19mm socket and ratchet. We should be able to do it by hand. This one does not have a washer.

Okay, I'm going to lift up on this slightly, and then the bolts will come out. We can slide this out. As you can see, the bottom bolt does not have this extra cam on it, so that's why we marked it. And that one goes in the top, it goes in the bottom. We're going to pop the hood. The latch is right here. Pull that. The safety is right here. Push it to the side, and the prop rod is right here. It's going to go right in that slot. We're going to use some rust penetrant on these nuts. Let that soak in for a minute.

We're going to use a 12 millimeter socket, and extension, and a ratchet, and take these nuts out. So, we're getting to the last bolt. We're not going to want to take it all the way out. Once we get down a little bit more, you're going to want to support the strut from down below. Grab it with your hand. So pull that out, and then come underneath, while you're holding it, and pull it down. And you're going to tip it out this way and pull it out.

This is our old spring and strut assembly; this is our new spring and strut assembly from 1aauto.com. As you can see, they are identical. They all have the same brackets down here, the same spring set up, and the same upper strut mounts. It comes with new nuts, as you can see. On here there's a warning, telling you to not touch this nut underneath here, because it would be a safety hazard.

Replacing your struts and springs like this is safer than if you were just going to replace the strut alone, and you don't have to deal with compressing it or anything, put the whole thing in. Down here, we'll take our bolts out and transfer them over to the new one. It's the same, same with this one. There, we're good, and get your part at 1aauto.com, and you'll be ready to rock and roll.

So, we're going to pull our nuts off the top first, before we slip it in. We're going to guide this in this way, in between the ABS wire and the brake line. We're going to feed it up top. Once we got it in up top, while you're holding it you put one of the nuts on. You can put the other nuts on. These nuts are a different size, these are actually a 13mm, so we're going to tighten it up with a 13mm extension and a ratchet. Tighten these all up, evenly. We're going to align our knuckle up. We'll grab the bolt. We're going to start with the bolt that doesn't have a cam on it. Stick it in the bottom. You're going to have to wiggle it a little bit. There we go.

Take our nut and start threading the nut on. And so we'll take our cam bolt and slide that in. Remember, we wanted the paint mark at the top, because as you can see it lines up pretty good, right there on the knuckle. Take the washer. Put the washer on and the nut.

Next, we're going to torque these nuts down. They're going to get torqued to a 112 foot-pounds. There we go. Good. One more reminder, remember just because we painted this doesn't mean your alignment is going to be exactly where it should be. You're going to want to go to a shop and at least have the alignment checked, if not have them perform an alignment. It's a good idea so that you don't wear your tires out prematurely.

Next, we're going to install this front ABS wire. Remember, we pulled the bolt out. Get that in, and then tighten it up with a 12 millimeter socket and ratchet. Snug that up. Get that same 12 millimeter bolt out of the brake hose. Use your 12 millimeter socket and ratchet. Snug that up. All right, now I'm installing the lug nuts. You're going to snug them right down, and we'll torque it when we put it down on the ground. We're going to torque the lug nuts in a star pattern. We're torqueing them to 90 foot-pounds. The reason why you want to do a star pattern, it is going to get the wheel flush against the rotor properly, and it won't be warped. It'll prevent vibration.

Thanks for watching. Visit us at 1AAuto.com for quality auto parts, fast and free shipping, and the best customer service in the industry.