rlpete

Thanks for all the concern, unfortunately my nephew was in it at the time. After we saw the vehicle we made him go to the emergency room. He is being observed, is very sore. And we found out he greatly under estimates things. He was hit so hard the steering wheel was bent a 45 degree angle where he had his hands on it, and once the doors opened they would no longer close. He may have some minor injuries but luckily there will be nothing major.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, just got back from checking the car out and it is totalled. Roof buckled in several places and the motor is not even sitting in the car properly. but thanks for your help.

Yes as I said in the original post all of the lights work, that is why I am checking to see if there is anything like a safety shut off switch like a lot of cars use on the fuel pump.

My nephew's 93 legacy was rear ended last night and now the starter will not crank. All of the lights are working so there is power. He has asked to go help him retrieve it and it would be helpful it I could get it to start. I personally own an 86 XT so I am familiar with Suby's but not this particular model. In case I can get the starter to crank is there a fuel shut off switch? Any help is appreciated.

Actually I did check out your link from post No 10, great research and if this were 4WD I would be very interested in following that lead. I am trying to get back to original specs, although I do like the idea of heavier duty. As for the other posts I am definitely considering changing the springs while I do the struts. That is a lot of the reason I started this topic to see if I was on the right trail. I didn't expect to find that the new struts I had purchased were the wrong size and that I will have to redo the front. As soon as I get a little extra money I am going to order the correct KYB's for the front. My original purpose for this car was to fix it up for my 16 yr old niece for her first car. But I am having fun with it, I may try to find something else for her and play with this a little longer.

Got a chance to get under the car and do some measurements, I get 7 1/4 inches or about 184 mm, that seems to be on the low end but with in specs that Jono gave. Can someone tell me where the correct place to measure up front? As for the aftermarket shocks, Over the last 30 years I have not had problems with aftermarket but this is the first Subaru for me. The ones I have purchased are Gabriels. For the front G67739 and for the rear G51173. They match up to what was on the car when I bought it but I did not check to see if they were OEM or not. It did ride like this when I got the XT about 6 months ago. If these are incorrect it is not that big of a loss because I found them on clearance and only paid $14 for each front and $9 for each on the rear. Thanks for all of the info, I am learning alot about this car on this forum.

Jono, Thanks for the specs, as soon as the snow melts I will get under it and do some measuring. rpholz, I have put new struts on the front, and there were supposed to be for the 2WD. I will see if I can get a number off of them and see if they looked them up correctly. Thanks for the help.

I have replaced the struts on the front, and I bought the ones that are specified for this, I have new struts for the rear also but wanted to make sure on the ride height before I changed them. The new front struts matched the ones that I removed so I assumed that the front was correct. The rear is so low that it can drag on a larger speed bump but if I could bring the front down that might correct the issue. Every XT that I have seen has sat up high, but to the best of my knowledge this is the only 2WD one I have seen so if they ride lower than the front that would be good to know, does anyone know what the ride height specs are?

Both sides seem to be pretty even, and the wheels do not seem to be leaning in at the top. The strut seems to be the correct ones from the description. At this point I am thinking the springs are worn out, is this a dealer item or does anyone have any suggestions where to but them? Thanks,

It is a 2wd, I will get under it and take some pics. On the rust issue, what do I need to look for? I have some body rust issues so it would not be a surprise.

I have and 86 XT and the rear is riding very low. I have searched and found where some subaru's have a ride height adjustment bolt under the rear seat. My XT does not seem to have this, does anyone know if there is any adjustment or if it just worn out springs? Thanks,

I have had this problem with my 86 XT DL. I have pulled the speedo head and am working on a replacement, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me the Subaru part number for the oil seal. My local dealer has only been a Subaru dealer for 3 years and didn't even know what an XT was, and the seal that he order isn't even close to fitting. Any help would be appreciated.

I got a chance to get under the car while I had someone that could move the shifter for me. All of the bushing look tight and it seems all of the looseness is inside the transmission. To verify this I grabbed the shaft coming out of the transmission with pliers and held it and there was no looseness in the shifter. Could this be the rubber shifter mount in the transmission tunnel? Any help would be appreciated this is my first Subaru so I am still learning how they work. If this is not the shifter mount does anyone know what may be going on inside the tranny? btw it is an 86 XT DL 5 speed 2wd. Thanks,

Mine is the 2wd. I have it jacked up right now swapping out the front wheel bearings, can you tell me what and where to check?

I have been reading about loose shifter most likely being result of worn bushings and to replace the whole set. Is this a dealer item? I have not had any luck finding the shifter bushings aftermarket. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Just curious, if I get the sealed bearings to I need to put the grease seals back in? I will be picking up the sealed bearings that I ordered at the bearing house tomorrow.

Thanks, that will help a lot.

I am trying to get the bearings out of my 86 XT, I tried using a press to press them out but they will not budge. Is there a stop in the middle to prevent them from being pressed through the housing?