Did the tie rods on my lifted 96 legacy sedan lastnight. Figured id do the sway bar links at the same time. As i started on the bolts i realized there was ALOT of pressure on the link from the lift. The bolts just didnt want to come out. Now im worried if i do get them out i wont be able to get them back in.... anyone else run in to this issue? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Im going to get it don today, one way or another.

I think maybe an offroad vehicle should not have a swaybar. Allows greater independent movement without.

 

I agree. I should have been more specific,  this vehicle is my daily driver. Going to install some forester sway links that are ball joint style vs the stock solid plastic ones for a legacy. 

Also setting the car down on its tires made the bolts slide rite out. Took most of the pressure off the sway bar.

I have seen spacers/blocks for sway bar mounts. Dunno when that would be advisable. more than 2" lift? more than 3.....?

That and i heard about useing forester sway bar mounts but i dont know anyone personally,  who has done it. I have stock links on rite now and i think its only a matter of time before they break. Ill post some results when i nake the switch, either spacers or the forester mounts. I have a 2nd gen legacy with 04 forester struts. Not sure exactly how much lift but its gotta be 3 or more inches.

i doubt it is that much, to be perfectly honest.. it just "feels" like it.

probably had worn out struts when you got the car, pre-lifting.. if so, it would sit a lot lower than it should have.

after installing good struts and associated springs, yeah, it would "feel" a lot higher

 

Per owners manual/service manuals for a 96 Lego, and an 04 Forester...

ground clearance for the base Lego is 6.1 inches (for an Outback it is 7.3)

ground clearance for the Foz is 7.9 inches

there is not that much difference there -  a maximum of 2 inches in difference...

Where is the ground clearance measurement taken from though? My lego sits 11inches at the rear dif. Tires play a factor as well. I hav 205 65 16 on at the moment.

typically the measurement is taken at the lowest point under the car.. whatever that may be.. might be rear diff, but might be something else.. like cv joints of the axles, or exhaust maybe.. I dont know where they take the measurement from exactly as they dont say.
and yes, tires do play a part in all that...
the stock size for the 04 forester I am driving right now are 216/60x16 (26.2") - your 65 is less than half an inch taller (26.5") than the stock Forester tire size

you can compare here: https://tiresize.com/calculator/

Edited December 14, 20214 yr by heartless

So the tires arent giving me more clearance then the forester. The only thing lower then the rear dif is the steering knuckle and i dont think they would measure from that. My rear is sagging abit so i gotta toss strut spacers on here soon. All i know is that my legacy is sitting higher then my 14 forester by quite abit and i gotta do something about the sway bar, id like to keep it attached while im driving on the road but feel like im gona be tearing threw sway bar links constantly.

On 12/13/2021 at 5:07 AM, heartless said:

i doubt it is that much, to be perfectly honest.. it just "feels" like it.

probably had worn out struts when you got the car, pre-lifting.. if so, it would sit a lot lower than it should have.

after installing good struts and associated springs, yeah, it would "feel" a lot higher

 

Per owners manual/service manuals for a 96 Lego, and an 04 Forester...

ground clearance for the base Lego is 6.1 inches (for an Outback it is 7.3)

ground clearance for the Foz is 7.9 inches

there is not that much difference there -  a maximum of 2 inches in difference...

I'm not sure your math is quite correct. You're assuming that the strut mounts are at the same height in the body compared to the undercarriage in each model and every year and I don't think that's correct or swapping to Forester struts would not be a thing if it gained less than an inch over an outback's normal clearance.

It seems more likely that the 04+ Foresters have their strut mounts higher and therefore have taller struts than an impreza/outback/1stGenForester.

Maybe someone wit measurements can clarify.

You are correct my man. I just wasnt thinking that way when i did the swap haha wasnt expecting as much lift as i got. It looks higher then the pictures ive seen prior to the swap. Now i gotta make everything else work with what i have.

8 hours ago, laegion said:

I'm not sure your math is quite correct

Not MY math.. that is from Subaru directly.. owners manuals and service manuals in the "specifications" sections.

Dont believe me? go look it up yourself

 

1 hour ago, heartless said:

Not MY math.. that is from Subaru directly.. owners manuals and service manuals in the "specifications" sections.

Dont believe me? go look it up yourself

 

I'm not questioning the ground clearance numbers. You're just making a lot of assumptions about the strut mountings being at the exact same relative height on two completely different chassis models from two different decades.

21 hours ago, laegion said:

I'm not questioning the ground clearance numbers. You're just making a lot of assumptions about the strut mountings being at the exact same relative height on two completely different chassis models from two different decades.

I am not assuming anything.. I am just passing on the numbers and those numbers do not reflect a lot of difference.
 

the first gen Forester struts on a 95 Legacy netted about 1.5-2 inches if lift max.. I can not imagine that his would be that much different - but. you are correct that i do not know the lengths of the struts, or where they sit in the vehicle itself

 

and having old, worn out components CAN make a big difference in how things sit... proof here..

old worn out Forester strut & spring with all brand new next to it.. fair bit if difference, don't ya think? new stuff is KYB strut & tophat, OE spring

Should have the dust boot to keep the rod seal area clean and long lasting.