Subaru trepa por Chile Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 Hello All! My wife inhereted a Subaru Legacy Wagon bought by her dad new in 1996. Served for many years as her mother’s car untill she couldn’t ride no more....Alzheimer. The Car was abandoned in my house a couple of years ago, we used it for going to the supermarket and so....until I decided to make it my project...my wife said to me “Are you crazy, why you want to fix that old Car!!!” I reply....because it has 150k kms its a manual transmission and has awd Hi & Lo..... she gave me the look....and said “do what you want, but dont spend too much”...so here I am, wanting to make it good for traveling arround my beautiful country from de desert to the patagonia and from the Andes to the Pacific...with my two doughters...in case they want to join!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Welcome STPC! That’s a clean looking liberty/legacy you have there. A mild lift and maybe a low range swap would be two very worth while mods to do. The low range swap isn’t for the faint hearted as it involves opening up the gearbox - and sourcing a non turbo dual range gearbox from an L series for 1.59:1 low range. Much better than the standard 1.19:1 in your wagon. Good cars though! Look after it and it’ll look after you! Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru trepa por Chile Posted April 9, 2020 Author Share Posted April 9, 2020 Thanks Freddo, the paint its really bad specially in the roof and bonet. Im thinking in the Outback strut mode (buy new and keep the springs) to make room for bigger tires. I will not do much offroading maybe some bad rocky roads. Right now I need to put some new tires to pass inspection. The stock tires are 185/70/14 I found some 195/75/14 A/T Goodyears. I think the model is FSR. Will they fit with stock struts? I checked www.tiresize.com and they are 5,4% bigger. From 24,2” to 25,5”. Any advise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 6 minutes ago, Subaru trepa por Chile said: Any advise? Needs bigger! Serious note: I’m not good on tyre size readings but going an inch taller won’t really be noticeable or have any real benefits. I do know what you need to ensure is that the tyre clears the spring perch/seat on the strut when going larger. Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru trepa por Chile Posted April 9, 2020 Author Share Posted April 9, 2020 2 minutes ago, el_freddo said: Needs bigger! Serious note: I’m not good on tyre size readings but going an inch taller won’t really be noticeable or have any real benefits. I do know what you need to ensure is that the tyre clears the spring perch/seat on the strut when going larger. Cheers Bennie Hahahahaha! Go Big or go home!! I just want to pass the inspection (yearly mandatory) and work from that base. If my struts do not pass...I will hurry the OB strut mod and go for bigger tires. What would be the benefit of the gear box change? I do notice that first and second gear are very “short”. Will that improove? Thanks! Cesar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 (edited) Welcome. I’ve been to Chile. My wife worked in Santiago for 2 years. I walked past a Subaru dealer, should have went inside. She’s fluent but I speak no Spanish. I didn’t get to travel much but went north close to Peru but not quite all the way. People run different size tires all the time. They just need to clear strut, the lower spring base sticks out. See how much room you have there. I would think there’s plenty of room. 90s legacy’s had 15” wheels/tires and the GT had 205/55/16”. Most Likely the clearance is the same between those and yours. You could check by verifying the strut part number is the same and then comparing those tire size differences. Edited April 9, 2020 by idosubaru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru trepa por Chile Posted April 9, 2020 Author Share Posted April 9, 2020 17 minutes ago, idosubaru said: Welcome. I’ve been to Chile. My wife worked in Santiago for 2 years. I walked past a Subaru dealer, should have went inside. She’s fluent but I speak no Spanish. I didn’t get to travel much but went north close to Peru but not quite all the way. People run different size tires all the time. They just need to clear strut, the lower spring base sticks out. See how much room you have there. I would think there’s plenty of room. 90s legacy’s had 15” wheels/tires and the GT had 205/55/16”. Most Likely the clearance is the same between those and yours. You could check by verifying the strut part number is the same and then comparing those tire size differences. Thanks! I’ll just give it a try! Nice to hear you lived in Chile, Santiago it’s not the most beautiful city, with one exeption...a sunny day after the rain in the middle of the winter....clean air and snow in the mountains...so beautiful. Can you recall the name of the place you visited? It was by the ocean or the desert? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, Subaru trepa por Chile said: Thanks! I’ll just give it a try! Nice to hear you lived in Chile, Santiago it’s not the most beautiful city, with one exeption...a sunny day after the rain in the middle of the winter....clean air and snow in the mountains...so beautiful. Can you recall the name of the place you visited? It was by the ocean or the desert? La Serena. The mountain view from Santiago can be impressive. I should have made more effort to see the south, desert and Andes! Maybe we can return visit some day. Your Brat (Brumby) is fantastic! Edited April 9, 2020 by idosubaru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 If you have 14” wheels it’s because of the market you’re in , I would guess. As mentioned the USA had 15” in that era. There is a diameter match going from 14 to 15. 195/60/15 will equal the circumference of your stock 14”. We have done just that , as have many others , with our 94 Legacy. Enjoy ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru trepa por Chile Posted April 9, 2020 Author Share Posted April 9, 2020 18 hours ago, el_freddo said: Welcome STPC! That’s a clean looking liberty/legacy you have there. A mild lift and maybe a low range swap would be two very worth while mods to do. The low range swap isn’t for the faint hearted as it involves opening up the gearbox - and sourcing a non turbo dual range gearbox from an L series for 1.59:1 low range. Much better than the standard 1.19:1 in your wagon. Good cars though! Look after it and it’ll look after you! Cheers Bennie Bennie, you got me thinking about the gearbox. My Legacy already has a selector between Hi & Lo AWD....did you mean that?? It does change the ratio of the gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Gotta move to Chile. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 5 hours ago, Subaru trepa por Chile said: Bennie, you got me thinking about the gearbox. My Legacy already has a selector between Hi & Lo AWD....did you mean that?? It does change the ratio of the gears. There’s a low range gear before the drive gears (1st to 5th) - it’s opposite to traditional 4wd gearbox setups and is done like this mainly for tidy packaging. Your current low range ratio is 1.19:1 (19% reduction). The L series has a 1.59:1 low range (60% reduction) - the best one subaru ever made. With some manipulation of the hub in the middle of the whole thing and an interference bush on the input shaft (bearing size difference), the L series low range will drop in place of your legacy low range. Do some searching on it. There’s a good thread on Ausubaru.com.au but the pics are blurred thanks to photophucket. https://ausubaru.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=13511 Hopefully that explains what needs to be done. Gearboxes aren’t as scary as ppl make them out to be. Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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