I had a lot of trouble gathering the exact info that I needed when i was trying to complete this project on my 1991 Legacy wagon, about 10,000 miles ago.

 

I ended up gathering 4 junkyard struts off of a 1997 Legacy "Outback" wagon. I then ended up swapping the springs on the rear struts, leaving me with 91 legacy springs and tophats on the 2 rears.

 

I decided to go with 27 x 8.5 x 14 general grabber AT2 tires, which lowered my gas mileage from about 25 to 20 mpg. Tires are unbelievably grippy and drive great.

 

Other than removing some underguard thin plastic and metal around the front tires, all that was required was some seriously hard hammering on the frame area front and rear behind where the strut sits. ( I believe this was because of the larger diameter of the outback strut perches )

 

I have pictures of my car next to a stock legacy i just bought, both are the exact same color, just so people can see the difference. I am really happy with the difference in drivability so far.

 

 

http://s457.photobucket.com/albums/qq298/contactrburns/Lifted%2091%20Legacy/ < --- link for pictures of car, " i hope "

Edited February 16, 201016 yr by 91LIFTEDLEG
Pictures not working possibly?

Looks great! I love 1st gens.

We should get rollin' on installing the lift kit... I have more details for you, I will talk to you at work this week..

 

Ready for a 3" lift?

Usually you don't need to do any hammering, they look tight and may rub a bit at full extension when you put them in, but once everythings toghether and settled they work fine without rubbing.

 

With the drop in gas milage, you are taking into account the odometer reads lower than actual miles drivin due to the larger circumference in the bigger tires, right? You have to multiply the odometer reading by the percentage of increase in circumference before dividing it by the gallons to refill the tank.

 

If you swap out the brackets that the trailing arms bolt to the body with ones out of a legacy outback, that will re-center the rear wheels in the wheel well. They move the front attachment point down 3/4" of an inch and it helps level out the trailing arm.

Right on, thats good info. I had no idea about the circumference multiplication. I just thought i was getting 100 less miles to the tank lol. All i know is that it fixed my speedo from 7 mph off to 1 mph off which is kind of a nice fix

help me understand, all you did was put the91 lego springs on the 97 outback struts?

Yup, just for the rear struts. The fronts bolted right in. The rears needed to have the tophats/springs swapped because they have a different bolt pattern on top.

Yup, just for the rear struts. The fronts bolted right in. The rears needed to have the tophats/springs swapped because they have a different bolt pattern on top.

 

This is why HighGuys has made a conversion lift block available.

 

strut top lift block featuring an upper plate that mounts into the smaller First gen bolt pattern, and a bottom plate that bolts to the larger 2nd Gen Legacy/Outback/Forrester pattern. Cut at angles to provide Camber correction. available in 3", 4", or 6"

 

This allows for a direct bolt in of complete Outback or Forrester strut and spring assembly.

 

PM me for info and ordering