Yesterday I decided I was really board and that my Legacy (a.k.a. Spiffy) need a little more ground clearance! I gutted my outback parts car and took the struts, and spacers out of it, swapped out the rear strut mounts and the thing is sweet. We also got our first real snow today so that made it even better! It has much more ground clearance now and it made it up a bank my friends Colorado pickup wouldn't even go up Here are some pics. What do you think?

 

 

Love it, can't wait till I do the same with my leggy.

It's so worth it, It was nice having a whole parts car. Every time I forgot something I could just go get it! I also took the interior! It's sweet! I'm going to add bash plates next week, but first I have to change the oil pan because it's leaking pretty badly now. Has really good ground clearance now too, right about 10" at the rocker panels.

Sweet!

I just put the OB struts on my 97 Legacy and am waiting to get a few more parts to put in all the spacers. Already nice ot not fall so low just ot get in the car. Nice job!

Well, That's just Spiffy!

Is there a thread that explains what you did in more detail? I would like to do the same to my 97...

Is there a thread that explains what you did in more detail? I would like to do the same to my 97...

I'm sure there is somewhere on here... A lot of people have done this. Pretty much I took the strut assemblies out of my outback (for the gen one you have to change the rear mounts as they are different and no matter how much you want them to fit they wont ) I also took all the subframe spacers so my camber would still be in check. You have to take all the hardware from the outback because the bolts are all longer. And then you spend a few hours putting it all in!

-SB

Ok thanks I'll do some more searching! BTW your car looks bad-rump roast

Ok thanks I'll do some more searching! BTW your car looks bad-rump roast

 

Thanks! I'll post some more pics up when I get the bash plates on next weekend!!

I'm doing the same with my 97 and I was wondering if you found you needed to lengthen any wires/cables etc, in the swap or if it was just a plug and play. I'm still rounding up all the spacers and bolts, but should have it done in a few weeks. The struts make a big difference by themselves, can't wait to get the spacers in and 15s on it!

 

 

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Gonna flat black the hood and use truck bed liner below the belt, get a tube bumper and some lights and it'll be ready to rock!

Edited November 30, 201015 yr by kenpdx
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I'm doing the same with my 97 and I was wondering if you found you needed to lengthen any wires/cables etc, in the swap or if it was just a plug and play.

 

I didn't notice anything that needed lengthening on the gen 1 Pretty much everything fit nicely, even the abs harness bolted in the stock location . I'm not sure about the rear brake lines, mine were looking really rusty so I replaced them at the same time. BTW Nice Lego!

I'm not sure about the rear brake lines, mine were looking really rusty so I replaced them at the same time. BTW Nice Lego!

 

Thanks!

Was a rare gem find and has been all over the place. I've been getting sick of no clearance after having had an 86 and 87 and rallying the hell out of them then getting bumper busted with the Leggy.

 

I've got most of the spacers, steering knuckle, and most of the bolts. just want to get it all together before tearing into it and finding I need a ton of ************ to finish it.

 

Quite the sexy beast you've built there!

Here is a poor shot of it with just the OB struts:

 

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8830/002jfk.jpg' alt='002jfk.jpg'> Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/img]

Quite the sexy beast you've built there!

 

Thanks! Yours looks like it's in really good shape! Wish I could still find them like that where I live! Here's a link of everything I have done to it except the lift! http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=117327&highlight=meet+spiffy

Yep, found it in Bend. It was a lot car the owners gave to their daughter for a couple years then they sold. They took it to the shop I always went to so I got the full maint records and am anal so it has stayed pretty good. Got a little bash on the right side front 1/4 panel, but I'm gonna replace it.

 

Thanks for the info, bub!!! I appreciate it!

Looks fabulous! I love those wheels.

 

-Tom

Thanks! They are off a Forester. I ran them on my wrx for a season and this year I decided I wanted something with less power and a lift (plus I don't want the salt monsters to eat my baby) so now I have four Subarus. I can't get sick of that flat 4!

-SB

Thanks!

Was a rare gem find and has been all over the place. I've been getting sick of no clearance after having had an 86 and 87 and rallying the hell out of them then getting bumper busted with the Leggy.

 

I've got most of the spacers, steering knuckle, and most of the bolts. just want to get it all together before tearing into it and finding I need a ton of ************ to finish it.

 

Quite the sexy beast you've built there!

 

Don't add the body spacers. Espescially if you don't also swap the rear pivot for the Control arms. You will be LOSING ground clearance. And like I said, the Outback control arm mounts are *taller* to match the spacer, so if you add the spacer but don't change mounts the Control arm will be at an angle.

 

Really you don't need any of the subframe stuff......except possibly the rear trailing arm brackets are good to swap. Drops the pivot, gives you a bit more down travel, and moves the wheel back int the well slightly.

 

Otherwise don't waste time with the subframe blocks.

Yeah, if your going to do subframe spacers and all that jazz, then you'd be better off swapping in a SJR Lift kit in its place! Why go factory, when you can go bigger!

Don't add the body spacers. Espescially if you don't also swap the rear pivot for the Control arms. You will be LOSING ground clearance. And like I said, the Outback control arm mounts are *taller* to match the spacer, so if you add the spacer but don't change mounts the Control arm will be at an angle.

 

Really you don't need any of the subframe stuff......except possibly the rear trailing arm brackets are good to swap. Drops the pivot, gives you a bit more down travel, and moves the wheel back int the well slightly.

 

Otherwise don't waste time with the subframe blocks.

 

A Very good point I forgot to mention! I just swapped it out because I had all of it and it was free!

A Very good point I forgot to mention! I just swapped it out because I had all of it and it was free!

 

Thanks to you all, 1982gl4, gloyale and theloyale, for the feedback. I have most of the stuff, but have been going back and forth on whether to install a 3". My main concern is this is my only car and it needs to function as a daily driver, but looking at all the lifts there seem to be quite a few daily drivers with some serious lift out there. I've got a lot of experience wrenching Soobs, just not modding so I'm on the cautious side.

Think I'll keep it as till I can get the ducats together for the 3" based on your input and my true desire for a little more air under Mighty Whitey.

thanks again, fellas. A cold one to you all!