88 XT6 air suspension what are my options

[Rob Russell]

Hello,

 

I just recently purchased an 88 XT6 that has bad air struts.

 

Would like to keep the original air struts but have not had much luck finding used ones yet.

 

Is there a conversion I could do for this model year to other years with coil over struts that will work, and fit properly?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

RR

[idosubaru]

FWD XT6 struts are a direct bolt on. they are the only option up front that doesn't require some modification. the front of the car will sit lower than the rear due to the weight difference between AWD and FWD. trim a coil and a half off the rears to equal it out and it'll ride level and lower than stock.

 

on the front, impreza/legacy struts can work but require the flange to be spread out or the hub of the XT6 to be ground down to fit. the impreza front struts have larger holes that accept the adjustable camber bolts. you'll either have to use the smaller XT6 bolts and torque them down snug in the larger impreza strut holes, or drill out the holes in the XT6 hub to accept the larger impreza bolts. in which case you'd have adjustable camber if you did it that way.

 

for the rears you can use any EA series rear struts...that's the late model subaru's. no newer EJ stuff even comes close to fitting...completely different set up. i hear 4WD rear struts are better as they mount lower and therefore help the car set lower in the back (which helps alleviate the slanting affect of converting).

 

huck has an excellent write up on constructing your own set of new coil over struts for the XT6 on http://www.xt6.net, you'd be well served to check that write-up out.

remember - EJ struts (impreza/legacy) ONLY FOR THE FRONT. EJ stuff in the rear is completely different and won't even come close to fitting.