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Halfway Through A Suspension Lift, Need Help ASAP!


ThatSubaruKid
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So my buddys and I are halfway through a suspension lift using Legacy Outback Struts on my 1990 Legacy. The front is done, the rear however is giving us some trouble. It appears the Legacy Outback Struts for the rear are too long. We cant get them into position because the hub is getting in the way no matter how much we try. And the top hats look a little too big. I think I read something about drilling another hole? Any Help is appreciated!  

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The trailing arm mount from an outback will be needed to get full travel out of the suspension.  But you should be able to get the struts installed without swapping that mount.  Just good to get for the future.

 

No need to disconnect the axle from the hub, but you could pop the pin from the inner end to prevent overextending the inner joint.

 

I would swap your tophats and springs from your car and put them onto the Outback struts.

 

Drilling holes sounds easier than it is.  The outback hole triangle is not simply bigger, it's offest to the outside.  It's really hard to do this right and end up with the strut actually centered in the hole, which will affect camber if not right. And when you done, you've got a weekened area back there with less metal around the attachmenrt points.

 

Buy, borrow or rent a set of spring compressors and it's an easy job less than an hour.

Edited by Gloyale
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ive installed hundreds of these lifts, and i know gloyale has also, it takes 30 seconds to drop em

It takes 30 seconds to drop them with air tools and air tools.

It can however turn into the worst thing you did because you don't have a full shops dispoal, or 20 yrs of wrenching experience.

Something to think about.

cheers

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I did this lift to my Impreza in a driveway with hand tools. I redrilled for the tophats. Wasn't really that hard. I used a piece of card stock paper to make a stencil of the bolts of the tophat so I could mark where to drill. I wouldn't worry about structural integrity for one little hole back there.

 

As for the hub getting in the way, I think we put the tophat through the top, then jammed a scissor jack and a chunk of wood into the wheel well and added enough pressure to the control arm to push the hub down at the right level. (Just make sure it can't kick out at you when it gets tightened.) But yes, make sure your swaybar is disconnected. And if you're going to swap your trailing arm brackets, disconnect those as well.

Edited by AdventureSubaru
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I did this lift to my Impreza in a driveway with hand tools. I redrilled for the tophats. Wasn't really that hard. I used a piece of card stock paper to make a stencil of the bolts of the tophat so I could mark where to drill. I wouldn't worry about structural integrity for one little hole back there.

 

As for the hub getting in the way, I think we put the tophat through the top, then jammed a scissor jack and a chunk of wood into the wheel well and added enough pressure to the control arm to push the hub down at the right level. (Just make sure it can't kick out at you when it gets tightened.) But yes, make sure your swaybar is disconnected. And if you're going to swap your trailing arm brackets, disconnect those as well.

now we're loggin....... lol

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I did this lift to my Impreza in a driveway with hand tools. I redrilled for the tophats. Wasn't really that hard. I used a piece of card stock paper to make a stencil of the bolts of the tophat so I could mark where to drill. I wouldn't worry about structural integrity for one little hole back there.

 

ll.

If you only drilled one hole, you did not get the strt centered to the large hole in the middle.

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When i did mine long time ago the strut was longer than the spring, and i was able to mount the tophats without a compressing tool.

 

However, overall, the strut was a tight fit. What i did was cram it in enough to get the bottom bolt in, and then placed a jack under the hub to lad the spring enough to get the top bolt in. You may have to persuade it thru with a hammer until you can get the nut on. Good luck.

 

My application was 98 forester struts in a 95 legacy using the original trailing links and top hats.

 

For your 90 legacy, yes you will have to drill out for the strut tops, or see if you can mount the 90 legacy strut tops onto the new strut.

 

I didnt have this problem being the forester and the 95 legacy hats were the same.

 

BUT, i did put fwd rear struts from a 95 legacy into a 93 legacy, drilling out the holes. I had to replace the struts because for one they came from a junk car for free, and 2, the 93 had failed strut hats where the rubber tore away.

Edited by MilesFox
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If you only drilled one hole, you did not get the strt centered to the large hole in the middle.

 

No. It's off center for sure. I used 3/8 HDPE spacers so it wasn't an issue. Barely squeezes in there, but it works. Been over 30,000 miles since the lift with no problems. If you don't use the spacers, it won't work and you'd be better off swapping tophats.

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