subaru factory tools : I've called a company located out in Wisconsin to get some info fromthem. They sell various Subaru engines for homebuilders. They produceall types and make PSRU's for them as well. I asked if they had aversion that produced 150 hp and they said yes and that they could geta lot more than that if I was interested. This is the Legacy engine, a2.3 liter four cylinder. They recam it to produce max hp at 4,000rpms. The engines aren't simply picked up from wrecks and cleaned up,they are put through a standard rebuild or blue printed and balancedand ported and recammed, depending on what the customer wants.Since I used to work on Subaru's regularly and have had the enginesapart often and still have all my old mechanics tools, I asked the guyif they'd consider selling me only the parts I needed allowing me to dothe procurement of the block and the rebuild. Much to my joy, he saidhe had no problem with that.This engine, he said easily cranked out 150 hp in it's pretty basicform and can put out 190 without increasing the compression ratio (theysell two versions of the same engine, standard and high output). Iasked him how that might be possible and he said they basically "hotrod" (my words, not his) the heads, porting them and balancing thecombustion chambers and flow testing them so that compression was asequal as they could make it for each cylinder. This makes for enviablysmooth running engines. The rest of the horsepower gain came from usingtheir own intake manifold which put a premium on flow as opposed toemissions. This was their premium engine and cost in excess of $5,000with the PSRU, dual ignition and intake manifold.
subaru factory tools : He claimed the engines were not overstressed and they had a TBO of 1600hours. He chuckled and told me that most of the factory tools they hadpicked up came from various local dealerships who sold them to hiscompany because "they never had to tear any engines apart so theydidn't need them". Must be something about the New England weather, weoften had to work inside the Subaru engines.I asked him to send me his information brochure and catalog and willpost more when it comes. The company is called Aircraft Systems Inc.By the way, the PSRU's they designed and use are the belted type andthey are very pleased with them. I asked them how they got aroundusing Gates belts and he laughed and said "they know we're using them,and what we're using them for". It seems all that bad mouthing aboutusing them in aircraft was just to satisfy their lawyers and once thatwas done, they have no problem selling them. But "ask me no questions,I'll tell you no lies", the company never buys them saying exactlywhat they are being used for.
subaru factory tools : I just drove home my new '99 Subaru Forester tonight (:-)I'm an avid cyclist, so am already looking around for a highquality bike carrier, with a strong preference to a trailer hitchsolution (I hate hefting stuff up onto the roof).Does anybody have any recommendations as to what (and whose)trailer hitch and bike carrier solution works out best for a SubaruForester?Chuck, I purchased the Subaru bike/hitch attachment for my new Forester.It slips right into the trailer hitch, and has an easy lift handle so thatyou don't have to hold the bikes very high to mount them on the rack. Ihaven't actually had time to try it out yet, but it looks great.BTW, I ordered mine from <> at a savings of about $100from the dealer price. They had them in stock as of a couple of weeks ago,and I got it in just a couple of days.1) I get the impression the Forester hitch has a removable drawbar, where the Bike/hitch attachment slides into the hitch's drawbar slot instead.If so, is there a way to insert a locking pin to prevent somebody from walking away with both the bikes and the rack?
subaru factory tools : 2) I've seen racks from Thule, OSI and Just Rite that fold down so you can open the rear hatch of the vehicle. Does the Subaru Bike/hitch attachment let you do the same?3) I wonder if Subaru actually makes their own trailer hitch and Bike/hitch attachment, or if they just OEM somebody elses? Are there any hints (stampings, etc.) on either the hitch or the bike attachment?Hi. Yes, the hitch comes with a locking pin.************************************ *Yes, it does fold down out of the way.*******************************3) I wonder if Subaru actually makes their own trailer hitchand Bike/hitchNo, it is made for them. Don't know by who, but surely a'major' manufacturerBye, Joe Spitz*****************************I bought both the Forester hitch and bike carrier from and installed the hitch myself.A few observations:The Subaru factory hitch is a standard 1.25" receiver hitch. I'm fine withthat, but I'm amazed that no web page I visited shared or showed that info.The hitch was not a challenge to install, but I'm pretty handy and had allof the required/recommended tools to do the job (1/2" drive metric socketset, torque wrench, etc.). The following things about having the factoryhitch were nice:* All of the holes line up, no drilling or welding needed* Wiring harness is plug-and-play -- cut/sized correctly (looks clean likeit belongs there)In general, I think the hitch is "beefy" and I'm happy overall.
subaru factory tools : The bike hitch attachment has some silly aspects. Although it's built for a1.25" receiver hitch, the 1.25" square channel has a much smaller hole in itthan the standard hole size that's in the hitch draw bar, and they give youa skinny allen head bolt and an allen wrench. There's a couple dumb thingsabout this:1) I don't want to leave the bike hitch attachment on the car all of thetime. Instead, I want to be able to insert it only for the day that I'mgoing biking. Messing around with torqeing down an allen bolt doesn't cutit.2) In addition to being clumsy, and allen bolt less secure. It would bevery easy to just remove the bolt and then walk off with both bikes and thecarrier all at once. I'd rather install one of those pins with integrallocks.So I'm going to re-drill the holes in the square channel to a standard sizeand get a locking receiver hitch pin. I haven't a clue what they werethinking with the tiny hole & allen head bolt biz -- wierd...
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