Hey guys! In the beginning stages of building my 86 Xt turbo, sadly like most 4wd Xt’s on this planet the air suspension is completely destroyed... my goal is to drop the car as low as I possibly can on coilovers, swap to 5 lug (or get adapters), and eventually engine swap it. I have read a few threads about swapping the air bags for modern struts but i would like a little more detail on what parts I will need to do it with coilovers. The info I have so far is I can use Miata coils for the rear but I’m not sure what to do about the front given that I have 4 lug, I am completely open to swapping to 5 lug if needed for the front but what will I need? 

Here’s a photo of the car, I would like it to be as low or lower than it is with the air bags blown out lol

Coil overs are the "easy" but expensive solution as they're easy to dial in the ride height and make the car level. 

The more economical route is:

Rear:  Buy a set of used EA82 rear strut assemblies and swap in new KYB struts.  All XT's and EA82 subarus have the same rear strut form factor so they're entirely interchangeable and swappable between coil over and air suspension.  remove air strut, bolt on standard EA82 strut/spring assembly.  The 2WD struts are longer than 4WD on OEM struts, but i'm not sure aftermarket KYB retains that difference. 

Reuse the stock springs or get something you want.  They're a very standard coil spring size (2.5" i think) so there's tons of aftermarket springs to dial in whatever spring rate and ride height you want.  I think I have 10" 200 pound rear springs and they're considerably towards the high end of ground clearance.  I think @Numbchux has 12" and 250 pounds. I bought my springs from his suggested source here:

https://groundcontrolstore.com/collections/springs

You may want to convert everything first and then buy your rear springs as needed to level the vehicle out. 

 

 

Front: Convert to 5 lug and there's unlimited EJ options for struts: Impreza, legacy, outback, forester.  Impreza/legacy if you want it lowered, outback if you want ground clearance. 

25 minutes ago, idosubaru said:

Coil overs are the "easy" but expensive solution as they're easy to dial in the ride height and make the car level. 

The more economical route is:

Rear:  Buy a set of used EA82 rear strut assemblies and swap in new KYB struts.  All XT's and EA82 subarus have the same rear strut form factor so they're entirely interchangeable and swappable between coil over and air suspension.  remove air strut, bolt on standard EA82 strut/spring assembly.  The 2WD struts are longer than 4WD on OEM struts, but i'm not sure aftermarket KYB retains that difference. 

Reuse the stock springs or get something you want.  They're a very standard coil spring size (2.5" i think) so there's tons of aftermarket springs to dial in whatever spring rate and ride height you want.  I think I have 10" 200 pound rear springs and they're considerably towards the high end of ground clearance.  I think @Numbchux has 12" and 250 pounds. I bought my springs from his suggested source here:

https://groundcontrolstore.com/collections/springs

You may want to convert everything first and then buy your rear springs as needed to level the vehicle out. 

 

 

Front: Convert to 5 lug and there's unlimited EJ options for struts: Impreza, legacy, outback, forester.  Impreza/legacy if you want it lowered, outback if you want ground clearance. 

thanks! I’m fine with spending the extra to have coils if I can get it low! Are there any options for coilovers fitting the front without changing to 5 lug? If not what parts do I need to swap to 5? I want to eventually make the car look similar to this guys build

I’m not familiar enough with 4 lug stuff. 
 

What parts for 5 lug swap?  I just listed what you need and there are write ups about it. There’s a 5 lug conversion write up as well. Read it.