pamike Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 i havn't seen this covered anywhere so i'll ask. i currently have outback struts on my car. i found these, http://www.subtle-solutions.com/product_info.php?products_id=107 1 " lift spacers. so my question is will i have any problems with running the outback struts and these spacers together? my main concern is allignment, i don't want to wear through tires as they get expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 You're CV axles will be at a pretty extreme angle, so will the camber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 You're CV axles will be at a pretty extreme angle, so will the camber. ^^ ditto. If you go for it, you should consider all the subframe spacers from an outback... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawlerdan Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 i have outback struts and spacers that i make and sell (1 inch) the axles in front are at a little more angle, but after 15k miles, no issues, im using new EMPI axles i installed at the time of the lift. no alignment issues at all, it was all returnable with the factory excentrics. i am not using body blocks at all, and ground clearance is amazing! i sell my kit for 175.00, with all hardware and instructions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
True2Blue Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 i have a 4" kit with a ea82 d/r trans and NEW 29" bfg mud terrains on new "snow rims" comes with EVERYTHING needed to swap it over AND more like a push bar and skid plate (if waned) 1k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 buddy has outback struts on his 96 Legacy L and it blows axle boots. he's put like 100,000 miles on the car in just a few years so it's got a lot of experience with the set up. it would only be worse with more lift, but those are only boots right? crawler dan - are you saying you use the spacers with the OB struts on a stock legacy with no lift blocks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawlerdan Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 yes, exactly, not so much as a peep out of my axles, and recently ive started to wheel it pretty often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 yes, exactly, not so much as a peep out of my axles, and recently ive started to wheel it pretty oftenawesome good stuff to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamike Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 i currently have outback struts on 2 of my legacy's. one of them i've put alot of miles on with this setup and alot of offroad time as well and i've had no problems with my cv's or boots. i think i may try to go another inch and see what happens. i've also seen that useing first gen forester springs will give me about another inch of lift so i may try to grab a set and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) FWIW, I'm running a 95 legacy on outback struts and gen 1 forester springs (rear) and SVX springs (front). I have a heavy tube bumper and BEEFY skid plate (read: 140 lbs together), so the SVX springs actually do well at holding up all that steel, otherwise it'd be much higher in front than the comparative FOR spring lift in the rear... plus 400 pounds of mud At any rate, I replaced a front passenger CV last year during a steering rack swap (it was OB springs then and no skidplate), I did the SVX front springs this spring and this summer I blew that new CV's boot... so maybe 9 months on the CV and maybe 2 of them on the SVX springs, Probably just coincidence, as this is a sample size of one so I can't say definitively. But I had NO problems with boots or CVs on the OB strut/spring combo for the 7.5 years prior... The rear FOR springs are going on 2 years now and the SVX springs are about 5 months or so. The camber is out of spec on all four corners and I think the front is still out of spec even WITH a camber kit using SVX springs in OB strutrs (gen 1 FOR upper perches). The rear is a touch out of spec with the FOR springs in OB struts, but a camber kit would bring those back... Of coarse the alignment tech could e a doof. Edited July 15, 2011 by Zap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisbad Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 i have outback struts and spacers that i make and sell (1 inch)the axles in front are at a little more angle, but after 15k miles, no issues, im using new EMPI axles i installed at the time of the lift. no alignment issues at all, it was all returnable with the factory excentrics. i am not using body blocks at all, and ground clearance is amazing! i sell my kit for 175.00, with all hardware and instructions so , the outback struts give you like 2" and then the one inch spacers for a total of three inches? that seems unlikely that you wouldn't need the body blocks. yeah , i can see that working if you're just driving on the road , buts what's going to happen the first time you drop a tire in to a big hole? i'm glad it's working for you so far , but i think you're pushing your luck. i'd certainly recommend using the body blocks. i understand that you lose a little of your newly acquired ground clearance , but isn't the reason why we lift them is so that we can use larger tires? larger tires = ground clearance. curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawlerdan Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 i assure you that in no way is my car strictly pavement, i wheel it,have you ever been to montana-? the highway isnt paved here i work it, its seen 4 foot snow, ect. the car still has all usable wheel travel. im not denying that the lift doesnt stress the axles, what I am saying is that with neary 20k miles on QUALITY axles, off road, snow, everything, they dont so much as show a sign of wear- take that for what its worth also-i have 60 kits or so sold and installed, no complaints , no issues, no problem. surley i havent stumbled on 60 flukes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisbad Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 i can easily see where the one inch spacers wouldn't create an issue. there are plenty of Subaru's running a 2" lift or using forester or outback struts without any kind of body blocks. three inches just seems like a ton of angle on the cv axles. the stress on them must be intense. i'm not doubting what you're telling us. it just seems to me like the axles must be ready to snap at any moment. it's good to know that 3'' isn't too much. what size tires are you running crawlerdan? curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawlerdan Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 225 65 16 on forester steelies they really are not at that much of an angle in reality its only a few degrees over outback struts alone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 they really are not at that much of an angle in reality its only a few degrees over outback struts alone I'll copy that. Actually OB struts give like 1.5" lift (strut shaft length difference) and tires (27" over stock 24" in my case) give another 1"ish, THEN FOR sprigs in the rear struts gave me about another 1" lift and SVX front springs provide about an inch more up there, so 2.5ish in suspension and 1ish in tires. So I guess I'm a around 3.5" over stock ground clearance (in a strut and spring-lifted 95 legacy)? At any rate I'm running a little over 2" > stock and no problems to speak of... Ran OB struts and springs for 6.5 years, no probs even on old CVs. Then with FOR and SVX springs I got a new half shaft, whose boot split within 6 months, but the other 3 old shafts are fine... So I argue between 2-3 inches is still ok on the axles... You have to take into account suspension travel and applying that torque during travel. if folks are "wheeling" on 2+" lift then they're applying that torque at more extreme axle angles. And if they're not reporting problems, maybe 2" over stock isn't the magic number for realigning drive line components. Maybe it could be revised to 3" over stock? my 2 cents... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanurys Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 My 1998 outback is doing great with a 2" strut/spring lift after about 3000 miles. I guess that means you could just throw in the outback spacers, outback struts and a 1" strut lift with no problems at all. I installed a 2" strut spacer lift on a 1998 forester and it blew the right front inner cv boot constantly, for what it's worth...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanurys Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 My 1998 outback is doing great with a 2" strut/spring lift after about 3000 miles. I guess that means you could just throw in the outback spacers, outback struts and a 1" strut lift with no problems at all. I installed a 2" strut spacer lift on a 1998 forester and it blew the right front inner cv boot constantly, for what it's worth...? OOPS, DOUBLE POST. PLEASE DELETE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanurys Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 i havn't seen this covered anywhere so i'll ask. i currently have outback struts on my car. i found these,http://www.subtle-solutions.com/product_info.php?products_id=107 1 " lift spacers. so my question is will i have any problems with running the outback struts and these spacers together? my main concern is allignment, i don't want to wear through tires as they get expensive. Also, I built a lift kit with 1" HDPE I bought off ebay for $40 and a jigsaw. Same purpose as in your link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I installed a 2" strut spacer lift on a 1998 forester and it blew the right front inner cv boot constantly, for what it's worth...? It's a flexible rubber dust cover, I can't figure how lift would promote THAT boot to blow out, reliably? Do you have any speculation why the pass inner BOOT would blow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanurys Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I think that front passenger inner boot is a common failure because it is right next to a HOT catalytic converter. When you do a suspension lift the overall tension of the inner boots are increased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 On my GL I found that sliding the boots up the shaft closer to the joints helps immensely in their longevity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael appel Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 also if the camber is wrong it tends to strech an axle more negative is better then positive just got to find a medium when i make a 2 ich its on the wall so three has got to be close to pushing it over the edge but i have seen bad lifts homemade and they lasted for a long long time It's a flexible rubber dust cover, I can't figure how lift would promote THAT boot to blow out, reliably?Do you have any speculation why the pass inner BOOT would blow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanurys Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) On my GL I found that sliding the boots up the shaft closer to the joints helps immensely in their longevity. That is a great idea. I will try this. Could you slide the end of the boot up on one with a band already on it, or did you cut the band, slide, and reinstall a new one? With ej axles, the boot seems to be more of an issue than small strain. Right now I am heading out to my garage to replace an MWE axle on my 1998 legacy outback with 2" suspension lift. It's the drivers front inner boot. It looks like someone took a weed whacker to it. I believe it has 10100 miles on the axle. It was fine before the lift, which was installed about 3000 miles ago. Edited August 25, 2011 by kanurys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 That is a great idea. I will try this. Could you slide the end of the boot up on one with a band already on it, or did you cut the band, slide, and reinstall a new one? With ej axles, the boot seems to be more of an issue than small strain. Right now I am heading out to my garage to replace an MWE axle on my 1998 legacy outback with 2" suspension lift. It's the drivers front inner boot. It looks like someone took a weed whacker to it. I believe it has 10100 miles on the axle. It was fine before the lift, whichwas installed about 3000 miles ago. If you take the clamp off carefully you can re-use it. Otherwise wire it on, hose clamp. whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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