sifu

show some pics budd. let's see how it turned out

I've seen some great deals on ebay for new struts, just not for my make. I'd suggest anyone looking to check out there, and have a little patience. As for an update on the quality of the ride- Took my 2 brothers across town for thanksgiving. Back tires seemed to be making a dull creak noise on just about any bump. Can't be sure if it's the tires hitting the sruts tops or just that the back struts and/or silencing cork needs to be replaced. Painting car this weekend. Will have updated pictures with new paint soon.

I've been dreaming of a lift on my 97 obs.. at work.at the gym. in bed with the missus. Yeah, that bad. Short of relocating, What would it take for you guys to part with that gen 2? Ordering up the decal, painting the car this weekend and next. It's gonna be badass.

I'm actually a bit more curious to hear how it's holding up on the road? How many road miles do you have on it after lift?

figures youre a cat person haha I'm wanting to build my own strut spacers too. I see yours look pretty home made. Mine will look way worse. (Who cares if it works?) Just want to know if your are worried about any extra rattling etc etc? If not, any idea where I can get my hands on some strut spacer specs?

Hey..off topic, but I think since you guys are cool enough to offer this to someone, I'd really be happy to put a cool USMB banner across my windshield when I finish with my subaru. I've notice a few people do it with dirty impreza.com. Any place where I can get the template or order something?

man, seems like I'm getting to the good stuff last. This car is badass. Nice work...and I now have a new model to work towards!

I put on a 98 FORESTER spring and strut set onto my 97 OBS with 215 70 15. You can see the pictures I've posted. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127203 I got 3 inches or so. I've also read that 2nd gen Forester gives bigger lift. If you'd like more lift I'd be sure to consider the following before starting the work so you can save time and money: 1 Add top hat spacers 2 Add some of the body lift components from outback or buy a body lift kit from a place like SJR. Because SJR is too expensive for me, there is info in the FAQ and a post I recently started about fabbing your own: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127730 Note that any type of strut swap alone won't mess the geometry up enough to worry, but with that and more lift (like from top hat spacers) you should consider correcting the geometry with step 2. Plus you get more lift along the way. This is my next undertaking. Still looking for details on how to. I don't know, but from what I've read, if the forester struts you are looking to swap are any less than good condition, don't bother putting them on. Go straight for the Forester spring/new outback strut. I wish I would've done this, because I'd like more lift, and now it means going back to pull/replace the struts and add top hat spacers. From my understanding, these things should give a really good lift, and maintain manageable geometry.

When you say rears, do you mean spring and strut? If possible, I'd rather just buy the strut to save money. I see some gabriel struts on ebay. Are they any good?

yeah, I can. I've got to say that I haven't had any problems with rubbing on strut, but like I mentioned, sharper turns are an issue. So far I'm about 1000 miles in. No issues. I'm planning on swapping the mentioned body components found on this link: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104193&highlight=legacy+lift (REALLY WISH I HAD READ THIS POST FIRST INSTEAD OF LAST, and recommend anyone planning the lift to refer to this post) and putting on fresh outback struts plus top hat spacers to boot...it will be interesting to see how much more lift I can get. For the time/money invested so far, I might as well finish the job. I demand satisfaction! (Would really appreciate some insight on possible geometry problems or other unforeseen issues) Can anyone verify that I can put on outback struts on forester springs? (Just want to double check) Also- will there be any major issues with keeping used forester struts in front and new outback struts on back?

This thing is insanely cool. The paint is pretty ballsy... The camo stands out in the parking lot.

This is great. Thanks.And I really have done a lot of reading, I guess just in the wrong places. the FAQ is good.

cool. thanks. Thats a start! Will look up details about those. Have any links by chance?

So cool. I'm very impressed. :-p What did the paint cost?

That is really cool of you to do. I'd be a perfect canidate if I wasn't in Arizona. Like it was said- too bad I'm not closer. Still looking to get the body lift to go along with the struts and turn my mom mobile into a super sube.

bump? Want to lift more without destroying geometry!

Yeah, Already got the forester struts and springs...Got my 3 inch lift. Any more lift (from what I read) will probably damage the axls and CV joints. I understand a body lift will keep the angles the same, so will alleviate joint stress. Would like to get another 2" inches. A body lift like the one offered by SJR would be cool, but it costs hundreds for a couple pounds of metal. I think I can do better.

Would like to get started on one...Or find something more affordable. Anyone ever try this? It seems hard to justify 500+ being charged. What parts are used for a body lift on 97 outback sports, and anyone have the specs? Thanks

If it helps you can check out my build to see 99 forester swap into 97 obs. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127203 The more I read, the more I'm thinking that a lift much higher than what I have would hurt the car. Can anyone confirm this? And by the way, It's been mentioned that "blocks" will lower the car and help with axl wear. Is this an anti-lift kit? Does it make much difference? What about Camber bolts?

The Update: Trailing arm brackets My guy Terry and I spent an afternoon replacing the rear arm trailing brackets. More info here- http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=126884&page=2 Even with an air compressor we had to take it down to Midas to get the bolts loose. Talk about frustrating. But.. It would have been more frustrating to walk away for the day with nothing done. When finished I thought it would push the rear tire back. Not so. Not at all. But it did seem to give the subaru a bit more lift in the back, so I guess the work was worth it. (50 labor, 20 for the parts). In retrospect, I probably wouldn't have opted to do this independently. It just didn't seem to do much. If you're planning on your lift, it would be worthwhile to plan this into the same day strut swap to save time and money. Tires Much more recently I ordered up some 215 70 15 Yokohama Geolanders from Fletchers Auto. Did a ton of searching for the best price on an A/T that will fit this lift, and settled on a price of around $470 out the door with 2 oil changes, an alignment and the road hazard protection. The Pictures: I had discount tire test fit (for free) the 205 & 215 75 15s. It was not even close to fitting. As it was I had to spend $30 for the guys at Fletchers to trim the back fenders. The result: Drives well. The front tires rub when making a sharper U-turn...I think this is manageable. (I wonder how some of the other guys got the 215 75 15s??!) The future: I'd still like more lift.. It looks a little too domestic for my hopes. Fabricated Spacer advice, anyone? And since I purchased unknown forester struts at the junk yard, I bet I can get a bit more lift with new struts. Sadly, the cost keeps adding up....Why should I even act suprised? And, I'd also like to do some body work. As you can see, I slopped on a new fender for $60 shipped in a couple hours. It's all a learning experience. The Summary: Cost of lift Struts + springs- $175 Terry (Mechanic)-$235 Tires-$470 Total: $880 ----- Wished the money would have gone further. There is still a lot of work to be done. My advice would be to plan carefully, and do more research (it seems). A lot of guys have posted what I had to learn the hard way. Anyway, will update with any major improvements!

Thanks impoutback, that's the advice I was looking for. Top hat spacers I saw around here were fairly expensive ($300?) And that's a bit more than I want to spend in addition to my lift. Any ideas on cheaper alternatives? And besides, while the forester struts may not be the ultra lift I was expecting, I'm still happy with it if I can fit the tires. Speaking of which- Yes, Car rides and handles well with the lift, the true test will be with the new tires. Will absolutely keep you updated. Here are the tires I'm thinking of putting on. http://www.discountedwheelwarehouse.com/Discount_Tires.cfm?pID=2862&pn=DLP-290110241 I'm a noob, and would hate to order tires that don't work, so just want to double check the ones I mentioned above.

so far so good. I've driven it about 50 miles and it rides and handles just as well as stock. The true test will be with the new tires. Speaking of which: I could really use some advice on these tires: http://www.discountedwheelwarehouse.com/Discount_Tires.cfm?pID=2862&pn=DLP-290110241 $88 a tire and a $40 discount with all four. Good deal? based off the pictures, think my car can handle 205 75 15?

After a little advice and inspiration from the board, I decided to go ahead with my project. Here are the details: Working with a guy named Terry F. out of PHX. AZ We took to the yards Saturday AM. Here is what we found: 98 Forester L. Unknown miles. Turns out that the backs are OEM and fairly shot, fronts were replaced, seem ok. 4 struts and springs x $ 40+tax = $175. It was a gamble... I didn't take before photos. Here is a good idea of what I'm starting with: THE BUILD We worked through some of the details already mentioned on the board. For clarity here are the issues with the swap we had to address: 1. Top hats were not compatible. Had to swap back my OBS top hats. The swap back was a nightmare. These are OBS vs. Forester Top hats. Wonder how much height opportunity I'm losing by keeping the OBS hats? Anyone know about top hat spacers? the top hat work required one of many additional trips to Autozone to pick up some spring compressor clamps. Required a $60 deposit. No biggie. 2. Front struts brake line bracket had to be cut to remove old struts, and cut again to fit new struts on. Rear brake lines were bled. 5 bucks in brake fluid. No biggie. 3. added 2x 1,27 cm washers on top of each rear top hat to fix rattle bump. Took about 1/2 hour to get all four filed with dremel. More info http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=109375&page=3 We went through here to pop the spacers on. Because of course, discovered the rattling after everything was already done. Anyway, prevented a good amount disassembling and saved some time. Here is the final product. Still need to pick up a trailing arm bracket to recenter the rear wheels. I'm a little disappointed with the swap, because looking at it next day, I just didn't get the lift I expected. I'm thinking that now that I've got the springs I might just buy some new struts. Any other ideas on how to perk up the ride? Keep in mind that the subaru I really want to emulate is here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=109375&page=8 Anyone have some ideas on what kind of A/T tires I can still get away with? If I don't need to do anything more, I won't. Finally, big credit goes out to my man Terry F. So far the job has been a nightmare, but nothing involving him. The guy gave me 12 hours (yes, this took ALL DAY) of his time and only took $160. Price recap: Dremel tool-$22 Wrench (replacement tool)-$15 Washers-$2 Brake fluid-$5 Struts + springs- $175 Terry (Mechanic)-$160