Pgh_Scoob Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 so I just picked up a 96 4eat 2.2l legacy sw.... With some killer 14"s!!!! I have a complete set of struts and springs in my garage from my old 97 outback sport. The rears are practically brand new maybe 3k miles on them but went with the forester suspension lift and now I am wondering if I would gain any lift with doing the OBS struts springs and then probably something like 1" strut spacer... depending if I will get any lift. If not then I would probably just go with the 2" spacer for now and keep an eye out for some forester struts and springs. Also for my tires.. the car sat for a good bit before I got it so all 4 have some flat spots and a good bit of wobble while driving. I have been ding research and looked through the lift tire size combo thread but didnt see any good A/T 14"s, at least none that are still available. So should I try and go with 15" or are there options for the 14"? Thanks Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 the obs struts are the same as the lego L struts. i don't know about 14'' tires. but the 15'' equivalent is 195/60/15 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pgh_Scoob Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 ok thanks.... I was thinking they were the same but figured I would ask. do you know if the springs are the same also? I have heard something about the FWD springs being a little longer but didnt know about the OBS. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 The big reason for putting outback or forester struts on the car besides the height, is being able to clear taller tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pgh_Scoob Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 yeah the hub to spring perch shaft is longer... correct I just wasnt sure if there was a potential for any type of lift with OBS suspension. So would it be best to hold off and just pick up some cheap tires? Then get the forester suspension and think about larger tires? Would it be best to just get 15" wheels then? Thanks Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) it all depends on what you are trying to do. if you love your 14'' wheels, then you have to live with 14'' tire selection. but if you do not care about the wheels you have i would go with 15". i think they are more common and there is a greater tire selection, but i do not really know. the lego L will handle slightly larger tires with out swapping the struts. the GT has the same struts and it runs 205/55/16 as stock. (24.88'' dia.) lego L stock is 185/70/14 (24.2'' dia.) but the outbck or forester struts will allow you to go up 205/70/15, (26.3'' dia.) about 2 inches larger than what you now have. Edited July 8, 2014 by johnceggleston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pgh_Scoob Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Ok great thanks! I dont really care about the wheels.. I was just joking about that... I will most likely run plain steelies because they are cheap!!! and since I have been looking around today I did find a few A/T 195/75/14 which Im not sure will fit or not. Another size I came across were 27x8.5x14 which Im sure are too big for not but with the longer struts could they be a possibility. All of the other sizes Ive seen have all been all season tires.. and I dont know anything about their capabilities. One set I was looking at were the kelly charger.. anyone have any input on those?? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ioku Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 If you get outback or forester stuts you can fit a 215 75 15 tire, id recommend some general grabbers in that size a friend of mine has them on his outback and they fit fine and work great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I've got 205/75r15s grabber at2s on my forester, 27.1" and they look small. They looked much bigger on my legacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pgh_Scoob Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 OK cool thanks for the input... I was looking into tire and possibilities and do have a General Tire distributor that delivers to my shop so I will definitely look into those sizes... only downside is that then I do have to look for new wheels.... So be it. Oh and what setup are you guys running??? I did the forester struts and spring with rear OBS mounting plates and legacy outback trailing arms and brackets and no sway bars at first but eventually bent "snugged/massaged" into place. I have been reading about people running the Outback struts and forester spring and even one person running SVX front springs I believe.. so what gains are there for the different setups... I probably got at least 2.5" with the forester struts and springs but alignment was way off and the cv axles are pretty stretched. So if I were to maybe run the outback springs with forester struts do I still need to get the trailing arm bracket? or will it be significantly less? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 If you run outback springs and forester struts you'll have some horrible butt sag, outback struts with forester springs is what my legacy had, forester (1st gen anyway) had a lower rear spring perch than outback which also equates to less tire clearance. I ran outback trailing arm brackets, outback struts and forester springs and upper perches and mounts. Strut and spring alone gave me 3.5" and the tires being 3" taller than stock put it at 5" of lift total. I ran this setup for about 10k miles. I could have benefited from the crossmember spacers from an outback, but my car still has the same axles in it as it did when I bought it 25k ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 i thought the 98 forester and outback both came with 205/70/15 tires??? are you saying the forester spring perch caused it to have a smaller tire, or did it limit how much larger you could go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 This is the rear clearance with the same 205/75r15s grabber on my forester. It's all stock suspension at the moment. When I had these tires on with outback struts I could get my hand between there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 My forester is a 98 btw, second gen has more clearance on its struts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pgh_Scoob Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Hah... I just saw the picture and was thinking what year fozzy you had. But I had no idea that the outbacks would give you that much more clearance and lift. I was under the impression that everyone was using the 03+ forester struts/springs and never even considered another option. And 86bratman you said you were running the forester mounting plate??? Instead of the outback.. did you drill the one hole for the plate and run a spacer??? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 No didn't have to, all 98-08 foresters have the same top had bolt pattern as the 95-99 legacy. Thing about this 98-03 rear top hats is they have about an inch of lift built into them over outback ones. I'll try to post a couple pics in a day or two so you can see what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pgh_Scoob Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Ok great thanks!!!! Yeah because for my outback sport I had to swap over plates due to the holes not aligning and thought that the imprezas and legacies shared the same bolt pattern.... So then I could just do a complete swap of 03+ forester strut assemblies and outback trailing arms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I didn't get to snap any pics last night, but I'll work on it. The 90-94 legacy and 93-01 Impreza share the same mount pattern. 95-99 legacy, 02-07 impreza, and 98-08 forester have the same pattern. You'll want the tracking arm brackets, the arms themselves are identical to what you already have. If it were me I'd look for struts and springs from a forester xt, they got stiffer springs and better dampening struts. The 98-02 springs I ran on my car were fairly mushy compared to one I road in with XT suspension. Also be prepared to run a spacer in the rear, due to chassis differences the rear will sag compared to the front with your wagon. There are some pics on the web you can search and see what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pgh_Scoob Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 Ok cool thanks. Yeah when I did my impreza the struts were from an L forester I believe but were completely shot... When I went to swap mounting plates the shaft just fell into the chamber of the strut. So I definitely had a mushy ride and with doing it again I want decent/better ride comfort. For the brackets I know the arms are the same lengthy but here in PA good luck finding ones where the bolt isn't seized to the inner sleeve of the bushing. So best bet is getting the whole assembly. Just sucks because it costs more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.