,
 |
| This tool is used to press the bushings out of the steering rack. This is handy because it would be a pain in the ass to pull the rack out and put it on a press. |
 |
| Here are the bushings in place. |
 |
| Here is the large circular bushing on the other side of the rack. |
 |
| Next we installed the front roll center/bumpsteer kit. When a Subaru is lowered, the roll center drops faster than the car’s center of gravity. This makes the front roll couple or the lever arm that centrifugal force uses to roll the car over under cornering load larger. Even though the car’s overall CG is lower, it will still have a greater propensity to roll due to the larger roll couple. |
 |
| The roll center kit uses a ball joint with a longer body and shank which effectively lowers the outer pivot point and raises the roll center. |
 |
| Here is the Whiteline part vs the the stock Subaru ball joint. The Whiteline part drops the pivot about an inch. |
2 comments
I have a 2004 STi. Can the hubs and steering rack be just direct replaced with an 05 sti?
I was looking into following your project fairly closely with my car but wanted to make sure I address any issues native to the 04 to make the path easier.
Are the engine management quirks mostly addressed once the car is tuned with something like a COBB accessport?
The hubs can be but the rack cannot. However, Whiteline makes rack bushings that work well for these cars. The Access port has been pretty dialed back but is fine for OTS tunes and for strictly following Cobbs Green Initiative upgrade paths. For maintaining smog legality this is really the best way to go. For more advanced stuff ECUtek is the way to go.