The Rumblesoft Rear Differential protector is designed to protect your rear differential from rocks and logs. It is a copy of the Subaru Accessory Differential Protector, except that it is made of out rustproof aluminum. It installs exactly the same as the Subaru one, so these directions will work for those of you with the Subaru one. It is applicable to all Impreza models, Forester models, and some Legacy models as well. Questions or comments may be directed to me here.
To start off, you will need to loosen the two large (17mm) rear-facing bolts holding the rear differential to the rear differential carrier. These are long bolts and need to be backed out quite a bit, but not removed entirely.
Next, there are four 14mm bolts (2 down each side of the differential) that need to be removed entirely. These are the two on the driver side:
And these are the two on the passenger side (one is hidden by the body in this photo).
Now for the tricky part. The differential protector fits between the differential and the bushing that holds it in place. These bushings are stiff rubber, so you have to more or less pry the differential towards the engine and away from the bushings or pry the bushing away from the differential. I chose to pry the bushing away with a small flat-headed screwdriver, one bushing at a time. Pry away and slide the differential protector into the gap left, and it should stay there on its own due to friction.
Your hardware kit should have come with four bolts, four spacers, and four washers. You need to put the long bolts and spacers on the driver side of the differential and the short bolts and spacers on the passenger side. Place a washer over a bolt, put the bolt/washer through the differential protector, and then place the spacer on and loosely start the bolt by hand. The bolts are fine-threaded, and you do not want to strip the bolt or the captive nut it attaches to. With all four bolts started, adjust the differential protector so that it does not directly contact the differential (you want a bit of "give" room to allow the protector to do it's job) and tighten all four bolts down. Next, retighten the two 17mm rear-facing bolts. Torque all bolts to 50 foot pounds and you are done.
Standard Disclaimer: Modification of your car involves risks and may void your warranty. I can not be held responsible for the modifications you consciously decide to undertake nor for the results of doing so.
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