Anyone have advice for putting forester, outback, or baja struts in a 2003 OBS ?

 

From Zapar's posts it looks like some pounding may be needed. Any other experiences/cautions with this kind of modification would be greatly welcomed.

 

I'm not looking for hardcore offroad, just a bit more ground clearance for travelling over snow and sand.

 

And yes ... I figure this will void the warranty so I don't plan to do it just yet. I figure I'll wait until the car need struts.

WRX struts and springs lower a Forester by about 2 inches front and rear and the OBS struts are only .5"- 1" taller than the WRX package, so go with Forester springs and struts.

Anyone have advice for putting forester, outback, or baja struts in a 2003 OBS ?

 

From Zapar's posts it looks like some pounding may be needed. Any other experiences/cautions with this kind of modification would be greatly welcomed.

 

I'm not looking for hardcore offroad, just a bit more ground clearance for travelling over snow and sand.

 

And yes ... I figure this will void the warranty so I don't plan to do it just yet. I figure I'll wait until the car need struts.

So what's wrong with a little pounding? They clear fine afterwards, and you can't even tell where or what got pounded.

Shoot, you may even get away with no punding on an 03. . .

 

The extra clearance is nice.

If you're looking for an inch or two, John (Mudrat79) does a trick with moving the strut coil perch up. Gives ground clearence and room for larger tires. r/PK

That was the advantage of adding the GR2s from an Outback. They're almost 2 inches longer under the spring perch. That in turn allows for bigger tires.

That was the advantage of adding the GR2s from an Outback. They're almost 2 inches longer under the spring perch. That in turn allows for bigger tires.

Are there any other gotcha's ? such as camber adjustment, steering linkage adjustment? Have you seen any addition or unusual wear on the tires ?

The front struts have adjustable camber bolts. The rear seems to be just fine.

Anyone have advice for putting forester, outback, or baja struts in a 2003 OBS ?

 

From Zapar's posts it looks like some pounding may be needed. Any other experiences/cautions with this kind of modification would be greatly welcomed.

 

I'm not looking for hardcore offroad, just a bit more ground clearance for travelling over snow and sand.

 

And yes ... I figure this will void the warranty so I don't plan to do it just yet. I figure I'll wait until the car need struts.

I swappwd my stock struts for 97-99 outback struts and got about 2 inches of lift. It was an unbolt and bol-on deal, now i'm running 205x75's on my stock 14's, which gave me another inch.. now my 95 legacy is about 9-9.5 inches to the rear diff, and with a mudrat bumper lookin' bad-o!!

 

WELL WORTH IT!!!

lookin' bad-o!!

Do you have any pictures of the beast?

and here's more...

 

Not sure of the roo lingo, i'm assuming OBS is outback sport?

if so, check out this site

http://home.att.net/~rsmash/

 

 

Anyone have advice for putting forester, outback, or baja struts in a 2003 OBS ?

 

From Zapar's posts it looks like some pounding may be needed. Any other experiences/cautions with this kind of modification would be greatly welcomed.

 

I'm not looking for hardcore offroad, just a bit more ground clearance for travelling over snow and sand.

 

And yes ... I figure this will void the warranty so I don't plan to do it just yet. I figure I'll wait until the car need struts.