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Impreza springs with Forester struts?


wallaceg
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:eek:

i thought you ment the strut was toast....

Yeah the shocks of both rear struts are soggy

 

man.. that's nasty.. mmm... i'd get a new top too :rolleyes:

Yup!

 

good luck! sorry about the mixup

No worries yo, thanks for your beta though!

Now to find a pair of rear mounts for cheap...:grin:

Wow, i see now (after being online 3+ hours, avoiding work) how threads get conversationally hijacked...:D

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  • 2 weeks later...
So what's the story about the spring perch? Does it come off the mount when you get the shock nut off?
The big shiney (sometimes not so-shiney) nut? yeah, it should slide right out of the bearing there.... the spring & top that is... as for the perch.. it's welded to the strut.. it's not going to go anywhere.. the rubber boot thing will most likely come off.
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The big shiney (sometimes not so-shiney) nut? yeah, it should slide right out of the bearing there.... the spring & top that is... as for the perch.. it's welded to the strut.. it's not going to go anywhere.. the rubber boot thing will most likely come off.

 

Hmm, not talking the same stuff...

 

So when I got the nut loose, the mount and spring perch came off as one unit, the rubber bumper stayed with the spring (just stuck to it), but the large round 'perch' is what I'm talking about, the spring seat.. How does this come off the upper strut mount?

 

The pic shows the FOR mount with the spring seat 'attached' on the left, and the new IMP 'mount' on the right... How do i get the seat off the FOR mount and attach it to the IMP mount?

post-9686-136027608522_thumb.jpg

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Hmm, not talking the same stuff...

 

So when I got the nut loose, the mount and spring perch came off as one unit, the rubber bumper stayed with the spring (just stuck to it), but the large round 'perch' is what I'm talking about, the spring seat.. How does this come off the upper strut mount?

 

The pic shows the FOR mount with the spring seat 'attached' on the left, and the new IMP 'mount' on the right... How do i get the seat off the FOR mount and attach it to the IMP mount?

ohh.. that... just pry it off i think... when i changed mine i think it just fell off... i don't think it's pressed on or anything :confused:

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ohh.. that... just pry it off i think... when i changed mine i think it just fell off... i don't think it's pressed on or anything :confused:

 

I certainly hope its not pressed.. I'm curious about the rubber seat on the bottom of the IMP mount, maybe it just gets pressed when all installed under spring load?

 

I was hoping to get this done B4 my trip wed. night, but looks like i won't

:(

 

Ooh wel, it'll an official summer project (i.e. after the 21st ;)

post-9686-136027616594_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

So here's a couple images of before and after.

'93 IMP on '98 FOR struts and springs...

 

As you can see, i gained like 4 inches in the back and a couple in front...

How can i bring down the back some so its not all jacked up '70's musscle car-style?

I'm thinking of either dropping in legacy springs or the stock IMP springs, but would like you guys' opinions...

post-9686-136027616693_thumb.jpg

post-9686-1360276167_thumb.jpg

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Andy, like you said, yes the spring seats just pop off whewn you unbolt everytihing, but its kind of a trick to get things lined up correctly again ..

 

I too have the thumping in the rear.. I think its in need of some washers as spacers for the shock bolt...

 

The front looks perfect, the rear looks dumb.. The wheel as swung forward and is too close to the fender, and i am not a fan of the chizle/doorstop look..

I'd like the rear to raise traight up a couple inches like the frint, so how can I mellow out the lift in the back?

 

Anyone that's lifted IMPS would be welcome to chime in here...

thanks..

post-9686-136027616705_thumb.jpg

post-9686-13602761671_thumb.jpg

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So here's a couple images of before and after.

'93 IMP on '98 FOR struts and springs...

 

As you can see, i gained like 4 inches in the back and a couple in front...

How can i bring down the back some so its not all jacked up '70's musscle car-style?

I'm thinking of either dropping in legacy springs or the stock IMP springs, but would like you guys' opinions...

 

My car does the same thing, but I like it. Before I got the OB springs to go with the OB struts, I had to use my stock OBS springs. I wasnt' happy. Without spring compressors, I was able to install the springs on teh struts and tighten the nut on top by hand. Yeah, that loose. The OB strut has an inch and a half more up travel.

 

I would recommend looking into a regular legacy wagon rear spring. Might be a happy medium.

 

EZ

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My car does the same thing, but I like it. Before I got the OB springs to go with the OB struts, I had to use my stock OBS springs. I wasnt' happy. Without spring compressors, I was able to install the springs on teh struts and tighten the nut on top by hand. Yeah, that loose. The OB strut has an inch and a half more up travel.

 

I would recommend looking into a regular legacy wagon rear spring. Might be a happy medium.

 

EZ

That's good beta, thanks.. I have my old legacy struts and could part the springs...

 

So I was thinking it would be fine to loosen the center shock nut in the car right, then jack it up and pull them apart?

One could put the spring compresser on the spings tighten some, then jack up the car, and push the shock down into the shaft to remove the spring, right?

 

I'm just trying to avoid having to take the WHOLE stut out of the car, again...

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The wheel as swung forward and is too close to the fender, and i am not a fan of the chizle/doorstop look..

 

 

Here's a different before and after.

I've done some trimming on the green car, doesn't look too "hacked" to me. Still looks close, but they would rub severely on a stock OBS.

obsdif2.jpg

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Here's a different before and after.

I've done some trimming on the green car, doesn't look too "hacked" to me. Still looks close, but they would rub severely on a stock OBS.

obsdif2.jpg

 

Right on, those are certaily larger than I would go on this rig. Its not aven an OBS, just plain '93 IMP L... Maybe OBS wells are larger?

 

Anyway, did you have the clunking issue at the rear upper mounts (as did Andy and a couple others) when you completed the job? I'm thinking legacy springs (as you alluded to) and a washer or two to tighten the shock stud at the mount...

 

THanks for your beta Eric (I think that's you ;) I'm terrible conecting names to screen names...

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The only difference between the OBS and (plain) imp is paint and a couple of stickers.

 

I had clunking issues when I tried to add WRX struts and springs to the blue one. The shoulder at the top of the strut requires a washer about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. So I removed them untill I get some.

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The only difference between the OBS and (plain) imp is paint and a couple of stickers.

 

I had clunking issues when I tried to add WRX struts and springs to the blue one. The shoulder at the top of the strut requires a washer about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. So I removed them untill I get some.

 

Right, i retained the washers from the IMP strute to install on the FOR ones. I put teh shock shaft through the spring seat, through the upper strut mount, then washer, then nut = clunking

 

methinks additional washers?

 

perhaps the shaft is not seated on the nut, ergo gap b/t shaft seat and washer ...

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Maybe i should add another washer... that'd explain the clunking... d'oh! :rolleyes:

Oh yeah... what's with the rear end there... breaking any axles?

 

Silly aint it? ;)

 

That's forester struts and springs straight into an Impreza...

front's fine, back's kinda high (for what I'm looking for)

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Silly aint it? ;)

 

That's forester struts and springs straight into an Impreza...

front's fine, back's kinda high (for what I'm looking for)

What year Forester struts? The earlier models up to '02 have shorter rear struts, while the length of the fronts hasn't changed.

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What year Forester struts? The earlier models up to '02 have shorter rear struts, while the length of the fronts hasn't changed.

Those were '98 forester struts and springs.

I think the strut length plus the forester spring gave it like 4 inches. I'm going to swap out the springs from forester to legacy or back to the original IMP springs, but in doing so I'm going to look closely at teh shock studs in comparison to see how to get rid of the clunking...

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Anyone know how the length of the late 90's OBW rear struts compares to Forester struts from the same vintage? The front struts are the same between the two models, but the rear are different. Which one is longer?

Yes! Posted this a while back, nobody seemed to care. Measurements were done on brand new, fresh out of the box KYB GR2 struts, which I confirmed are identical in dimensions to OEM, according to a KYB engineer.

 

Picture comparo: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=447461&postcount=4

Measurements: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=447460&postcount=3

 

I have since measured '04 Forester struts, but I can't find the info at the moment.

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Zapar,

 

"I would recommend looking into a regular legacy wagon rear spring. Might be a happy medium."

 

 

 

As in the roll call for lifted IMP thread, I'm going to try legacy springs for the mellowed lift (compared to forester springs vs. impreza springs) b/c the impreza springs are not as ltall as the forester strut shaft/travel

 

here's spring pix for 98 forester (left) 95 legacy (center) and 93 impreza (right)

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3997&d=1151171638

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