gregdavis Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 1995 Legacy Outback L 183,000 / 2.2 Here is my dilemma: Just today I had the front struts, coil springs and lower ball joints replaced on the front of my car. The struts that were taken off were about an inch shorter than the new struts that were put on the car. The mechanic double checked with Napa and made the decision to just put them on anyway. I thought fine, if it rides smooth I won't worry about it. Even though visually you can see that the front sits higher. Well it doesn't ride smooth, it still has a clunk in the passenger front and when I take a corner there is a clicking noise. (what I would say sounds like the axle joint). I had not heard this sound before. The clunk I had heard before but thought it was related to the broken spring or bad ball joint. When I got home I did some research and with a trip to Napa found that the strut that was taken off the car matched a strut from a 1995 Legacy. I then had them search by the VIN number to determine what should be on there and sure enough the longer strut is supposed to be used. It appears that the shorter legacy strut was put on the back of the vehicle as well. Questions: Will it do any harm to the vehicle having longer struts in the front? Should I have him put the strut on that matches the one that was taken off? If I have him do this I am out the money of the strut because I can't return a strut that was installed and I also have to pay for the labor to do this. I do mainly in town driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 96 outback struts are taller than 95 outback struts maybe as much as 2 inches. the new struts may be 96 - 98 struts. but it should not hurt your car. lots of folks put the taller outback struts on the legacy so the car is higher and they can use larger tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniberp Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I'm pretty sure the shorter struts were for Legacies, and longer struts were for Outbacks. Actually the strut is the same length, the spring seat is just placed higher for the Outback. The clicking could be occurring because of the sharper angle of the cv joint caused by the higher stance. The cv joint wore at a lower angle, and now is wearing a new spot and not liking it. So you are facing new rear struts and new axles, or just new front struts. I would move forward. (Doubtful you'll need rear axles, they are not so stresed) The rear struts and axles will eventually need replacement anyhow, with some luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregdavis Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 johnceggleston- The new struts that are on the car now are for a 95 Legacy Outback and the ones that were taken off were for a 95 legacy. The spring seat does sit higher for the outback strut that was the most noticeable. According to Napa the outback strut is about 3/4 of an inch longer. uniberp- your cv joint explanation is the same one the mechanic gave me. He thought it would settle in. I just don't want to cause damage to something else and have to put more money into it. If i don't have to replace the rear struts I won't as long as it won't cause damage having the car sitting higher in the front. I guess it just looks goofy. I'm not sure how much more I want to put into this car. This project was already $700. But I thought it would be worth it because it runs really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Hit one of the You Pull and Pay yards. Complete Strut is about $25 and It will bolt right in. If you look, you will find KYB struts someone put on recently. $700 is crazy. Hope he did an alignment for that price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 i didn't know that the 95 outback had different struts than the 95 L , LS, or LSi. the outback in 95 was just a ''trim'' level option, it did not have all of the same stuff as the 96. the 95 obw had the 2 tone paint and a different bumper with fogs, but it didn't have the step roof or the larger tires. and since the tire diameter was the same as the legacy, 195/60/15 = 185/70/14, i just thought the struts were the same. live and learn. if you didn't request outback struts i would have him put on the stock legacy struts. clearly the ones installed are not the stock struts. note : i can't find a part number for a 95 front strut, outback, that is different from the legacy L part number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Courtesy of http://www.cars101.com/subaru_legacy_archive95_97.html New model: 1995 Legacy Outback was an 'Active Safety Group' L model with lower grey accent, 15" 5-spoke alloy wheels, mud flaps, roof rack, projector-beam fog lights, upgraded woven cloth, cargo area power outlet, cargo hook and cargo tray, and had the same suspension and ground clearance as the L model. It did *not* have the raised roof-line, raised ground clearance suspension, larger fog lights etc. That was started with the the 1996 Outback model! 1996 was the first year for the real Outback that became so popular. For Legacy Outback specs please go to my Outback page You need plain 95 Legacy L model struts for proper fitment for your car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregdavis Posted October 15, 2011 Author Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thanks for all the input. I bought and had installed struts for the legacy L model and they fit just like they were supposed to. No more clunks in the front or noise from the cv joint. This whole thing is just strange to me on how multiple parts stores had the wrong strut listed for the vehicle (legacy outback). I may start a new topic with this but the mechanic also discovered that when taking a tight turn the awd system is not working together like it is supposed to. It acts a little jumpy when making a turn. Considering the miles on the car he suggested just running it in fwd by putting in the fuse. Then in the winter months either pulling the fuse out for the winter or just for bad weather. I'm not overly excited about this but I don't really want to put more money into this vehicle if I don't have to. I live in northern Minnesota so I really like having awd atleast 4 months out of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 Thanks for all the input. I bought and had installed struts for the legacy L model and they fit just like they were supposed to. No more clunks in the front or noise from the cv joint. This whole thing is just strange to me on how multiple parts stores had the wrong strut listed for the vehicle (legacy outback). I may start a new topic with this but the mechanic also discovered that when taking a tight turn the awd system is not working together like it is supposed to. It acts a little jumpy when making a turn. Considering the miles on the car he suggested just running it in fwd by putting in the fuse. Then in the winter months either pulling the fuse out for the winter or just for bad weather. I'm not overly excited about this but I don't really want to put more money into this vehicle if I don't have to. I live in northern Minnesota so I really like having awd atleast 4 months out of the year. The jumpiness in tight turns sounds like "torque bind." The phenomenon is well written up in the archives of this forum. Changing ATF if your car has an auto transmission may help. Change the fluid 3 times with short drives between changes is recommended. Only about half the ATF can be changed at one time, the other half stays in the torque converted, and won't drain is the reason for the 3 changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 +1, what he said. since the fuse ''cures'' the binding there is a really good chance that new fluid will fix, or at least dramatically reduce, the binding. drain and fill 3 times is recommended rather than having a ''flush'' done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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