Hey there. Anyone know if 1995 Impreza Outback  rear struts would work on a 95 Legacy L wagon? I have a pair left over from my old Impreza. Thanks!

maybe?

i know early gen Forester struts will fit a 95 Legacy... same platform as the Impreza.. but length would be a consideration i would think. The Forester is taller..

Outback sport is likely a bit taller and valved softer (lighter car). IIRC the upper strut mounts are a different bolt pattern between the Impreza and Legacy chassis in that vintage, but if you're just using the struts.

 

Not ideal, but doable.

Thank you.I didn’t think they would work.  I’m having a heck of a time finding loaded struts for the Legacy. 

You likely won't, certainly not from a quality manufacturer.

 

Just get a couple KYB Excel Gs, and rent a spring compressor.

5 hours ago, BrianT said:

 I’m having a heck of a time finding loaded struts for the Legacy. 

yeah, not gonna happen.. not anything worth putting on the car anyway.

KYB struts.. either rent a spring compressor, or get the assemblies out of the car and take them to a local independent shop and they might do the spring swap for you for a small fee.

Shop near us only charged like $25 to do the 2 fronts on the other half's Outback

14 hours ago, heartless said:

yeah, not gonna happen.. not anything worth putting on the car anyway.

KYB struts.. either rent a spring compressor, or get the assemblies out of the car and take them to a local independent shop and they might do the spring swap for you for a small fee.

Shop near us only charged like $25 to do the 2 fronts on the other half's Outback

What is odd that these and a few others listed on EBay  for a 95-99 Legacy apparently won’t fit a 95. I know the quality isn’t there, but the car has 280,000 thousand on it and this will probably be its last winter coming up. I just wanted something quick to toss on with the new snows.The seller canceled the order because even though they list as a 95 they won’t fit.  

Trashy ride. Car angled like a demon. They could easily fail completely soon. Top mount could fail in less than 100 miles.  Maybe they’d last…but Not worth it.  I’d rather drive trashy old struts and wear a bike helmet for my head slamming the ceiling for a winter than install that garbage  

 a shop can just swap the struts out, take them thr old assembly and new struts.  you can do the assembly swap yourself and a decent shop shouldn’t charge much just to swap a strut into an assembly.  

agree with ido.. totally not worth it with those so called "assemblies"

matters little if it will be its last winter or not. Do the job right with the right parts.

or, if you really want to have a little winter fun... throw some 1st/2nd gen Forester struts under it.. that is what I did with mine and it was pretty nice.. better clearance/ride height, but still felt "planted" on winter roads.

55 minutes ago, heartless said:

agree with ido.. totally not worth it with those so called "assemblies"

matters little if it will be its last winter or not. Do the job right with the right parts.

or, if you really want to have a little winter fun... throw some 1st/2nd gen Forester struts under it.. that is what I did with mine and it was pretty nice.. better clearance/ride height, but still felt "planted" on winter roads.

Is that a bolt on? I also have a 95 sedan with a 5 speed and only 30,000 miles on it that I found in NYC. Might be a fun upgrade. Thanks for the info. 

yup, straight bolt in.. forester struts & springs, Legacy top hats (for the bolt pattern).. good to go. Can be a little bit of work to line things up correctly, but quite doable. a lot of people also do the outback rear trailing arm to center the rear tire a little better, but it is not a must do necessity.

I did use the Forester 15 wheels, too - was a nice setup and I kind of miss it. lol

can see a pic of the car here           

The Forester trailing arm body to arm mount is a little longer.  If you are in the rust belt, use lots of Kroil and a breaker bar to work the 3 bolts out.  

Took a Milwaukee impact to a friends in WI and we broke the welds on the captive nut inside the frame.  Solved that one by drilling an access hole into the frame from inside the car so we could put a socket on the nut.  

Still have to disassemble the strut assembly to swap strut mount.

 

Honestly, from what it sounds, I'd probably just use the Impreza ones. They're not correct, but they're likely better than what you have, or any of the cheap garbage you're looking at. Yes, you'll have to swap the strut mounts, but you could buy a pair of aftermarket mounts and rent a spring compressor or even pay a shop to swap them for cheap.