I noticed that the 1986 FSM shows that rear shocks for the XT are a little longer than the 4WD or 2WD wagon shocks. Has anybody tried putting the XT shocks in a wagon? Would the springs and top from the wagon fit the XT shock? The wagon in question would be an '86 4WD EA82.

 

Thanks for any input.

they'll bolt right in if that's what you're asking. if they're longer i'm fairly certain it's a very minor amount.

 

the only major height/length difference in rear EA82 struts are between 4WD and FWD, are you sure that's not what you were looking at?

XT 2wd drive rear coil-overs are longer, IIRC. Something about the mounting is slightly different. Either location or top bracket. I honestly can't remember exactly what it is for sure though.

XT 2wd drive rear coil-overs are longer, IIRC. Something about the mounting is slightly different. Either location or top bracket. I honestly can't remember exactly what it is for sure though.

yeah you're right Qman, I actually thought it was all 2WD EA82's though, not just XT's? But yeah that's it - the mounting point on the rear arm is located differently (although it's exactly the same kind of fitting) so the strut is a different length but still interchanges.

All I know is I put an entire rear suspension out of a 4wd wagon into a 4wd XT and everything bolted in and looked normal and felt normal afterwords.

All I know is I put an entire rear suspension out of a 4wd wagon into a 4wd XT and everything bolted in and looked normal and felt normal afterwords.

 

That would be because they ARE the same! The 2wd is different.

The 1986 FSM says the rear shock outer cylinder length is 10.28" for 4WD wagons, 10.59" for 2WD wagons, and 10.98" for 2WD XTs. 2WD sedans are 10.75".

 

I ordered KYBs for a 2WD wagon, and found they were the same length (base attachment bolt to lower spring seat, lower spring seat to upper spring seat stop, base attachment to upper attachment bolts) as Subaru 4WD shocks, with no room to add any spacers. I got some Monroes for a 2WD wagon, and the base attachment to lower spring seat length was 1/4" more, and there was room to add about 1/4" of spacer washers below the top nut, giving me the 1/2" increase in ground clearance.

 

I thought that 2WD XT shocks might give me another almost 1/2", but it seems it is not to be. The KYB and Monroe part numbers are the same for 2WD sedans vs. 2WD XTs. And looking at part photos (on rockauto.com and monroe.com) and measuring things on-screen indicates that both manufactures simply took their shock for a 2WD wagon and moved the lower spring seat up (a little for KYB, quite a bit for Monroe) to get their shock for 2WD sedans/XTs.

 

I took the lower spring seats off of my old Subaru 4WD shocks (non-adjustable) and will try stacking them on top of the ones on my Monroes. That should give me about 3/8" extra in ground clearance, at least as much as I could get from the sedan/XT KYBs and without increasing spring preload too much, which might happen with the sedan/XT Monroes.

 

I wonder how Subaru shocks for these scenarios would compare.