I picked up a used 04 WRX front strut bar thinking it should fit,...
Went to install and basically the bar hits the firewall,...ac lines cleared with some persuading,..

Any info which fsb will fit that is under $100 as ebay bar should do ,..I know the bar wont make a drastic change, but every little helps,...

Also, i got the ebay front strut bar for sale for $50 for what i bought it for,...will post ad tomorrow when i got pics,..

 

Side note. Personally strut bars completely changed my cars handling both back when I autox like 5 times and now when I am lifted going around turns.

 

you sure you don't mean sway bars?

 

nope meant exactly what I put. I only have 20mm rear sway on my wagon stock front. Sure that would help but the strut bars def helps with body roll

 

Had the exact same issue with my 05 fxt , so I contacted blazingbuda40 .Here's What he said:

 

oh ok so it wasn't a typo, you just don't understand. got it

to answer the OP question the 04 forester fitment is the same as the 04 wrx/sti but it's tight. you gotta be careful about the A/C line and i've had to lift up the plastic tray under the wipers to get one on before. did you already try unbolting one side of the brace, putting it on, and then putting the bolt back in?

 

Yeah, the bar hits the plastic tray and more worse the Rear firewall where it meets up with the flat part of the windshield wiper tray area,..…theac lines aren't really a problem after unbolting the support bracket. The bar needs to squeeze in between the AC line on the bottom, and the firewall area on top. I think if the bar was a round tube instead of a flat bar, it would fit better. The problem really is that its too close to the firewall....

 

How does the sway bars or strut bar work. Does it help with the balance when turning sharp turns? Also will it fit without modifying the suspension? I have a '13 STi. Thanks

 

How did it change your handling?
Was it better or worse?
Would you not recommend strut tower braces?

 

It made it better. Much better with the combo of the two. When I auto x it took a minute to get used to the rigidity.
Now that I am lifted it give much more confidence when cornering and round about highway onramps.

 

so your basically going to have to remove all the mounting points for the ac line up top and bend it a bit to make it fit. Also from my experience the easiest way to put the strut bar on is to remove both ends put them on then bolt the middle bar piece in. It is going to take some extra muscle, I use a rubber mallet sometimes but it will work.

 

Thanks for the info, but I know how to install a strut bar. There just isn't enough clearance to fit the bar, and if I need to use a mallet to bend any of the chassis body parts to get the bar to fit, it wasn't designed to fit my Fxt.

Anyways with all the debate on which wrx/sti bar will fit correctly and benefits I'll get, I went ahead and ordered the Subtle fender braces instead and will put the wrx strut bar for sale instead..

 

I'm running the GT Spec front strutbar with an APS TMIC...fitment is near perfect...but tight.

It's similar in design to the Cusco...big, oval bar.

I initially ran it with an 08 STI tmic...fit fine...I had to move the AC lines a bit and also for insurance...cut a 1/2" hose lengthwise and placed it on the AC line closest to the intercooler.

I thought I would have to remove the strutbar when I put the APS TMIC on...but, believe it or not...it fit fine.

Initially, the bar would not clear the plastic portion near the firewall as you experienced Kevin...as a whole...I disassembled the two end pieces from the bar...kept them loose, placed the bar under the plastic portion of the firewall and placed the ends into the mounting points...fit like a glove.

The GT spec bar was made for any 02-07 WRX/STI...

 

its not that they are not made for the forester it is that the ac design for the forester is different from all the other subaru models, I know that some of the guys on the forester forum actually swap ac lines because it has a different design. As for using the mallet it is because I am running the cusco strut bar which is not the easiest strut bar to run on a subaru with a larger tmic. But most of the strut bars dont fit perfectly on our cars unfortunately.