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Best suspension setup for gravel/dirt roads for cheap


Maximilian
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Im looking to buy a subaru for my DD and camping and cruising down all the backroads and what not. I really like the older boxy wagons, and have been looking at some of the loyales (91-94). But im a bit worried about the travel on the suspension. Is there any common lift (2-3) inches that keeps a smooth ride? Can I just swap in forestor or outback struts?

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Best setup for gravel or dirt- stock,whatever came under the car from the factory.Unless gravel roads means WFO in 3rd/4th/5th gear, then its WRX coilovers.

 

unless you lift the car with stiffer springs the suspension will be the same stiffness as before you lifted it,possibly softer due the the bigger tires that help absorb bumps.

 

EDIT as far as the travel goes the struts are good for about 6" of travel, about 7-8" at the tire, so your covered as far as travel goes, these arn't street cars with 1-2" inches of travel.

Edited by Uberoo
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Sweet. well i guess ill just not get ahead of myself. First ill find a subie to buy, and then ill take it out and see how it does. But i tend to go fast down those roads, where i live they are not maintaned very well, so theres some nasty potholes. How hard would a wrx coilover swap be? would i just be swaping out the coils and keeping stock struts?

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Get an early Impreza or Legacy and swap 99 Legacy Outback struts onto it and get some 215/70/15 tires

 

Done.

 

Don't mess with an older gen Loyale/GL car unless you are gonna fully 4 wheel it.  If you wanna go fast on gravel the Impreza/Legacy chassis is WAAAY better.

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Get an early Impreza or Legacy and swap 99 Legacy Outback struts onto it and get some 215/70/15 tires

 

Done.

 

Don't mess with an older gen Loyale/GL car unless you are gonna fully 4 wheel it.  If you wanna go fast on gravel the Impreza/Legacy chassis is WAAAY better.

hey I liked rallying the piss out of my 81 monster hatch,Granted between the horrid alignment and mash up of old worn parts made it interesting at times...but the combination of no weight,short wheel base and ample power to the rear end was very fun.It was actually easier to keep the car sideways in a turn than it was to keep it straight.

 

More to the point of the story I liked all of my EA series stuff for rallying around even lifted with normalish drivetrains (no T case), In my view they felt more stable than my legacy.The legacy was a twitchy son of a thing, get going 50-60 MPH on gravel and the rear end would start swaying and required constant attention.The legacy/imp stuff may be stronger but it also has more parts/links so it has more parts that can be worn out and cause weird handling.

 

I guess it really depends on HOW fast you want to go on those gravel/dirt roads.50-60 is probally about the max with an EA series vehicle, 70+ with an EJ series vehicle with new suspension parts.. this coming from a guy who spent most of his life messing around on dirt roads.My personal best was 85 MPH with an 82 nissan 200SX(RWD), and 75 with a 94 Dodge ram 4x4 diesel pickup,And no those arn't speeds that I saw while sliding through a corner.However,my cruising speed on gravel tends to be about 50-65 depending on where I am going.

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I just happen to have one for sale.  91 Legacy LS wagon with Outback struts and a dual range. I even have a set of BFG Mud Terrain KM2's in 215/75/15 available for it.

I saw that on craiglist the other day haha, I had a feeling that the owner would belong to this site. I dont have the money yet, im just saving up and waiting to sell my current DD or tacoma.

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