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legacy strut interchaingability


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I may get the years wrong, but im pretty sure legacy, impreza, forrester struts will interchange across the board from '89-'04. Also throw XT6 struts into that mix, just cuz air suspension rocks (when it works) lol

 

*edit* If you use struts from another vehicle, its best to use them as a full set. ESPECIALLY Forrester struts as they are taller. (poor boy's lift kit)

Edited by crazyhorse001
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i think the earlyest legos (90 - 91 maybe), or maybe imprezas, can't remember, had a different top mount and slightly different bolt hole pattern on the tower.

 

but lots of folks have swapped in outback or forester struts just the same.

you can either modify the bolt holes in the tower, or use the original top hats on the ''new'' struts / springs.

Edited by johnceggleston
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You need a spring compressor to change out top hats. An impact gun is also really handy for spinning the nut off the shaft and back on.

 

First gen leg your best bet is a 96-99 Legacy Outback strut. Use the first gen spring and top hat. You may need to make a spacer washer because the threads on the outback strut don't go down far enough for the nut to clamp the first gen top hat. Find a thick washer that fits the threads, then grind the outside diameter down so it fits down in the well of the top hat. Otherwise you get clunking on bumps.

 

If you use the trailing arm brackets from a 96-99 outback it helps center the rear wheel in the wheel well better. The bracket is held to the body with 3 bolts and one bolt going through the trailing arm bushing. The E-brake cable bolts to it too. The outback brackets stick down farther, so the trailing arm is flatter and the hub moves back.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi everyone,

A guy from offroadsubarus.com recomendet this place, for finding out if what I have in mind would work out:

I have a Liberty (yes, I'm from Australia) Wagon '96 and I wanted to give it a lift by putting raised King Springs in.
Now the problem is, that the product cataloger of King Springs doesn't list raised springs for my model, but for the Outback of the same generation. Has anyone experience with that and knows to which extend the suspension parts are interchangeable for that 2nd generation e.g. would it be possible to fit the raised King Springs for the Outback to the Liberty, or would I need the Outback struts as well?

Edited by ZMaster
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If you are trying to get a lift out of it I would imagine that you would need the struts too. If you put taller springs on the struts you would mayyyybe get a slight taller height - sure, but you would be at the top end of the strut and you would "top out".

 

If the Liberty is anything like the the Legacy, you could probably put outback struts under it.. just replace the "top hats" because they are different where they bolt to the frame of the car. 

 

I put struts from a '99 Outback on my '95 Impreza.. only difference was the top-hats. 

 

 

-Justin

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In the usdm 95-99 legacy/outback model range all of the springs are the same, top hats are also the same.  The difference is the struts, so the King springs will lift your car by whatever they advertise for the outback.  But you will be limited on running much taller tires by the stock struts.  Use a set of outback (usdm 96-99) struts to get the extra tire clearance. 

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Thanks!
Yea, the legacy is just the same as the liberty, just a different name over here...

I'll probably get some outback struts from the wrecker then, sounds like the most practicable idea.

Just in case I don't get the struts: Whats the worst that could happen if I use the taller springs with the short struts in terms of "toping out"?

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well as far as "topping out" There's only so much travel that the shock inside the strut goes. Lets say that with the stock strut and spring with stock weight compressing the strut, it compresses it 4". Thats 4" that the  shock has to travel before it abruptly stops. with a spring that is stiffer/longer, if it only compresses say 2" you lose that 2" and are now 2 more inches closer to the end of the shaft. if that makes any sense.

 

 

 

-Justin

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  • 4 weeks later...

that looks like what you want.  those are outback parts.  you can put the search numbers in google or Amazon to cross reference. 

 

the KYB GR2's (or EXCEL - they changed names recently - same strut) are what most people use on Outbacks.

 

are you wanting a lift?  Scott and others here sell 2" lift kits.  you could get the lift which is simply strut top extensions, without springs, struts due to loosing clearance, and maybe cheaper shipping?

Edited by grossgary
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Thanks for the hint.

Yea, I want to get my Liberty (=Legacy) lifted using Outback struts and raised springs. Referring to earlier posts in this topic the Outback struts should fit in fine, no?

The thing is the struts are not that easy to find in Australia, but on the US eBay there's plenty.

The only thing that confuses me is that the rear struts I'm looking at are EXCLUDING air suspension, while the front ones are explicitly air suspension ones, does that matter?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Alrighty, it has been done!

- Outback struts (Gabriel, to suite Outback BG9)

- raised springs (King Springs, to suite Outback BG9)

- ECB Type 8 bullbar (Also originaly made for Outback BG9)

y1wi.jpg

 

Fitting the bullbar wasn't to easy, as the front bumper is slightly different, but with a bit of cutting it's possible.

All in all it got me a lift of 8 cm, which corresponds to a ground clearance of 26 cm (ground to lowest point of frame)!

Now I'm currious how well it will do on the beach,

thanks for the help everybody!

Edited by ZMaster
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Alrighty, it has been done!

- Outback struts (Gabriel, to suite Outback BG9)

- raised springs (King Springs, to suite Outback BG9)

- ECB Type 8 bullbar (Also originaly made for Outback BG9)

y1wi.jpg

 

Fitting the bullbar wasn't to easy, as the front bumper is slightly different, but with a bit of cutting it's possible.

All in all it got me a lift of 8 cm, which corresponds to a ground clearance of 26 cm (ground to lowest point of frame)!

Now I'm currious how well it will do on the beach,

thanks for the help everybody!

your going to need alot more parts to make what you started right! 

you need 

 

front control arm bushings or as subaru puts it transverse link 

rear control arm bracket

rear sway bar with mount brackets

^ those parts will help your travel and wheel articulation it also centers your wheels in the wheel wells.

 

body lift blocks with bolts for front and rear cross members

drive shaft with proper carrier bearing

rear diff protector and brace spacers

transmission cross member

engine dog bone mount

^ these parts are only needed if you want the rest of your lift and depending on who you ask the first set of parts can be used without this set.

 

drivetrain

 

to make a real outback you need 4.11 differentials with different gear ratios soooooo your going to need an outback trans with rear diff plus TCU

 

942241_10152831823310372_713376618_n.jpg   

 

I will take a better picture from dead on side so you can see the difference in where the wheel is compared to the wheel well

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  • 8 years later...

Hey, bringing this back after almost a decade...

Looking at my options for lifting 1990 legacy wagon.

Come down to...

1. Standard struts, standard height king springs (1/4"ish lift) with 1.25" spacers.

OR

2. Outback struts with lifting springs (1.5")

I'm curious what the difference is. First option seems simpler, but will #2 result in better performance?

Can anyone comment on longevity/durability of either setup and it's affect on overall system?

 

 

 

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Outback struts and additional lift springs will probably be too much for that legacy.  That'll be 2" for the struts and 1.5" for the springs = 3.5".  That's usually too much and going to be problematic if you're not installing spacers and blocks.

What he said - most people do outback for large wheel and tire sizes. 

Reliability will be the same. 

Although I have put outback wheels/tires on legacy struts - I think there are some Legacy GT or Impreza...basically the performance cars that have struts with higher clearance.  My current daily driver Legacy can fit Outback 16" stock wheel and tire sizes. 

 

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yup, either stock outback struts & springs, or stock early Forester struts & springs and for a first gen Legacy, you want to use the first gen top hats for simplicity of install on the car.

either one will net around 1.5-2 inches of additional ground clearance and allow for larger wheels/tires

much beyond that, and you could run into problems with axle angles and you do not want to go there.

 

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I installed 04 fozzy struts in my 96 legacy and so far so good. Not sure how much lift it got but it seems like a lot. So far no issues though I'm expecting something to bust at some point. Put over 1k miles on it so far. If I did it again I'd probably go outback struts. I can't imagine needing the clearance I got with the fozzy struts, as a daily driver. Though if you are mainly offroading then you may want it. But I'd suggest replacing ball joints and cv's at the same time. I know I'll be doing it before long now that I see how much lift I got. And if it's just and off road buggy then pull that sway bar. The fozzy struts are stressing the he'll out of it ha

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eh, i drove my 95 Legacy L with Forester struts under it for a couple of years before i passed it on. Never had a problem with suspension or axles
also ran the Forester wheels, with tires close (very slightly larger) in circumference to the stock Lego size so as not to screw too much with the speedo/odo

Edited by heartless
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