suspension 88 GL Wagon 4WD Anyone know where to find front shocks/struts?

[Nevada]

I can find the rear struts easy on places like rockauto, o'reilly's and other sites. But I can not find any front ones. My friend says it's possible I have DL front suspension or are they the same? If anyone has 2 spare shocks for sale or knows where to find a front left and right struts please let me know I need to replace them ASAP.

[SuspiciousPizza]

You can replace them with 2WD or 4WD ones. Only different is a slight height change (2WD sit lower) so replace both of them. Your springs will still work on either. Grab some new bump stops and bellows for the struts if you have the scratch.

I think there was some TRW struts out there very recently. 

Good luck :]

Edited September 26 by SuspiciousPizza

[Nevada]

5 hours ago, SuspiciousPizza said:

"You can replace them with 2WD or 4WD ones."

I can't either for sale, this one is the only one I have found for sale, is there a way I could convert it to a different car's suspension like a forester or something? I do want to offroad what are my options can I just opt for an upgrade instead?

Edited September 26 by Nevada

[SuspiciousPizza]

It might work, not sure though. The issue is the strut sockets into the steering knuckle, so you'd need a strut that had the right diameter and spring mount location. 

Here are the 4WD strut parts numbers I had in my notes. There are some used Loyale struts on eBay at the moment (both right and left).

Front Right Sachs: W0133-1932779

Front Left Sachs: W0133-2038805

Front Right TRW: JGM4031SR

Front Left TRW: JGM4031SL

Front struts are very difficult to find. They are available but the parts availability seems to come in waves. There's not really any "upgrade" parts for these cars (there are overload springs out there). Just finding parts designed for these cars is an accomplishment.

:]

[Nevada]

4 minutes ago, SuspiciousPizza said:

Here are the 4WD strut parts numbers I had in my notes.

Front Right Sachs: W0133-1932779

Front Left Sachs: W0133-2038805

Front Right TRW: JGM4031SR

Front Left TRW: JGM4031SL

There's not really any "upgrade" parts for these cars (there are overload springs out there). Just finding parts designed for these cars is an accomplishment.

So what do those people who off road in GL's/Loyales just stock suspension? Thanks so much for your help I saved those on eBay so I'll get an email if any of those pop up. 

[moosens]

Check archives or unfortunately go on FB and look at the Subaru groups. 

[LaMamelle]

I had a really hard time finding these, I got lucky and found some good condition ones at a scrap yard in my area, but that was the only place I could find them. I'd recommend searching around there. I believe that any 85-89 front struts will work, but someone else can contactant me. If you're on the west coast, I've seen Pick-n-Pull have some in their lots, might be a good place to start.

[SuspiciousPizza]

After doing a TON of research:

Front Right KYB: 333234

Front Left KYB: 333235

These struts seem to only be available in Australia so you're going to pay out the keister for shipping but luckily for US residents the current exchange rate is quite good. 

I have one KYB strut on the way from down under so if you want to wait to see if what I actually get is the correct strut, I'll post back here when I get it and let y'all know. I needed a right side strut BAD, I had a spare left Sachs but I couldn't find a right Sachs nor TRW. Hopefully now I'll have a spare set to keep my GL running far longer than the engineers intended.

:]

[PrinterTechnician]

Yeah sort of looks like 5 lug swapping these things is the only move going forward. I'm interested who you bought from, I couldn't find an Australian suspension supplier willing to ship to the US. And I'd be concerned using one of those forwarding services because they would likely refuse to ship them as well.

What part number is your spare left Sachs? 

 

 

[SuspiciousPizza]

1 hour ago, PrinterTechnician said:

What part number is your spare left Sachs?

See above. I bought the last one from Parts Geek a few months ago and I've been eyeing their availability after this thread was started and I haven't seen any anywhere. I forget where I saw it, but there does appear to be two part numbers from Sachs that refer to the same strut. The part number I listed above is the longer version. There's another part number that is 6-8 digits long. Though when I searched that number I also couldn't find any. 

I bought my KYB from PEC Australia. It still hasn't shipped yet. They were messaging me last week asking what model number my "Leone" was and if the strut was compatible (I knew it was, I found a KYB catalog online). There's model codes for the cars that give a general designation of drivetrain specs and geographical market (my car is an AN5, for instance). My guess is this causes confusion from those outside the US since I haven't really heard US owners talking about their "AN5's" it's really only DL, GL, etc. Hopefully it'll actually ship and I don't just get refunded. Finding these struts is a bit of an Easter egg hunt. 

:]

 

[PrinterTechnician]

Ah sorry I see it now. I was hoping your LH Sachs was the matching part to my single RH and I would've given it to you. Yours is the later 88+ with the welded coil seat.

I bought the last RH Sachs 031-168 on RockAuto (has the bolt on coil seat) in hopes of maybe finding a matching LH strut. If PEC ships it out to you that's a huge win, I see that they actually offer international shipping. I'll give it a go as well if you get a tracking number.

Dying breath for these cars with their stock suspension setups. KYB and Sachs probably won't manufacture these ever again.

[el_freddo]

On 10/2/2025 at 1:20 AM, SuspiciousPizza said:

luckily… …the current exchange rate is quite good.

No it’s not! 
 

9 hours ago, PrinterTechnician said:

I couldn't find an Australian suspension supplier willing to ship to the US

Try Subarino auto electrical. He’s based in Perth and will send stuff internationally. 

4 hours ago, PrinterTechnician said:

I bought the last RH Sachs 031-168 on RockAuto (has the bolt on coil seat) in hopes of maybe finding a matching LH strut

The strut with the welded seat bolts in. Subaru obviously realised these were cheaper  to manufacture and no one used the “wind up suspension” feature of the earlier struts. 

@SuspiciousPizza - I can provide you with an AUDM VIN if you need it. 

[SuspiciousPizza]

@el_freddodo you know what's up with the 3-digit codes for these cars? I've seen them around when doing research but I've never found a chart or spreadsheet or anything listing them out and what they mean. 

For instance, my car's code matches (as far as I know) what's known in the AUDM as a "Super Turbo". My car isn't turbo and I cannot tell what transmissions the supers had (some places say AWD M/T, some say FT4WD). I'm just kind of confused by the whole thing.

Not to hijack, I'm just curious.

:]

[el_freddo]

That 3 digit code at the start of the VIN I believe denotes the model and possibly the market it was sold in. 

This is the start of my VIN for my L series: JF2 And my Brumby: JF3 

Interesting that my L series is a 1988 DL and my Brumby a 1990 GL (came with AC). 

Other than that I can’t tell you much more than the above about VINs. I do collect different VINs to source genuine parts through online searches that use VINs as the reference point.