hey guys

 

Decided to make my legacy into the winter beater.

 

was told by SJR to use outback struts.

 

what year ?

AWD ?

FWD ?

 

subaruloverbrad said he thinks:

 

AWD Front Struts & FWD Rear Struts.

 

Can Anyone Confirm this before i buy ?.

outbacks are all AWD.

i used struts off a 97 outback awd. used my stock springs.

Correction.

 

Subaruloverbrad Said

 

FWD Legacy Rear Struts

AWD Outback Front Struts

Correction.

 

Subaruloverbrad Said

 

FWD Legacy Rear Struts

AWD Outback Front Struts

 

your car is awd right?

 

use all 4 struts from a 97 outback awd

i think 90-99 were all the same setup with the exception of outback struts being longer.

if you put legacy struts on you would get no lift because thats what you have now. plus i think the rear suspensions are different on fwd so i don't think struts for the rear of a fwd will even fit.

my 90 legacy with outback struts and 205/75-15 general grabber at2's

Edited November 22, 200817 yr by pamike

ok.

and yes mine is AWD.

 

very nice lift to. how much did you gain ?

 

Edited November 22, 200817 yr by SubaruJawn

i never actually measured it but i'm guessing about 2" plus at least another inch with the taller tires. with my tires it sets considerabally higher then a stock legacy and i've even parked next to outbacks and you can see mine sets up higher.

i've been in alot of snow with this and never gotten stuck. i've even went up this hill with about 6" of snow and my step dad's 2000 f-250 got stuck.

well worth the money i spent. i would also reccomend the 205/75-15 general grabber at2 tires, smallest size they make and it is a very tight fit(had to remove the plastic cover on the end of the rockers) but you will be amazed with where you can go.

i never actually measured it but i'm guessing about 2" plus at least another inch with the taller tires. with my tires it sets considerabally higher then a stock legacy and i've even parked next to outbacks and you can see mine sets up higher.

i've been in alot of snow with this and never gotten stuck. i've even went up this hill with about 6" of snow and my step dad's 2000 f-250 got stuck.

well worth the money i spent. i would also reccomend the 205/75-15 general grabber at2 tires, smallest size they make and it is a very tight fit(had to remove the plastic cover on the end of the rockers) but you will be amazed with where you can go.

 

 

Thats good to hear.

i was gonna get the Firestone Weather Force Tires in 215/70 R14

read the reviews and seen the specs blizzak were even better but their also more expensive.

Link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Winterforce&partnum=17SR4FWF&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=0

scroll down to Survey Results. i love the Tread design looks mean and aggressive.

 

Your Legacy is a Sedan. since mine is a Wagon wouldn't the extra weight lower it a little ?

 

Rear View:

Edited November 22, 200817 yr by SubaruJawn

And Here is some Videos:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcVC35vBZJw

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ONT82Anh9U

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I15uw07_iCo

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krAdRMD8Iew

i've seen other wagons with the outback struts and they set up just as high.

these are the tires i have. work very good in snow. i also run them all year and seem to wear very well. mine are 15 inch wheels but they come in a 27x8.5-14 which are the same height.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Grabber+AT+2

 

they do rub when the wheels are turned all the way and they rub a little on the rear mudflaps but only on hard bumps.

i used my stock strut tops and springs. you will also need an allignment, my camber was way out.

Edited November 22, 200817 yr by pamike

i've seen other wagons with the outback struts and they set up just as high.

these are the tires i have. work very good in snow. i also run them all year and seem to wear very well. mine are 15 inch wheels but they come in a 27x8.5-14 which are the same height.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Grabber+AT+2

 

they do rub when the wheels are turned all the way and they rub a little on the rear mudflaps but only on hard bumps.

i used my stock strut tops and springs. you will also need an allignment, my camber was way out.

 

Ouch! cheapest $73

way out of my budget.

i can hardly buy tires at $48.00

I have Weather Force Tires on my Hatch and Blizzaks on my Outback. If I were you I'd get the Blizzaks. They are worth the extra money. Not to say that the Weather Forces are crap, but I've been very impressed with the Blizzaks in the snow. Also if you can find Forester suspension I'd used that. It will give you and extra inch or so over the Outback stuff.

I have Weather Force Tires on my Hatch and Blizzaks on my Outback. If I were you I'd get the Blizzaks. They are worth the extra money. Not to say that the Weather Forces are crap, but I've been very impressed with the Blizzaks in the snow. Also if you can find Forester suspension I'd used that. It will give you and extra inch or so over the Outback stuff.

 

i might reconsider.

but i love that tread design on the winter force tires.

the rear front wheel drive legacy struts are longer than the rear outback ones, i used the rear outback ones to lower my 2wd wagon 2"

Exhaust

 

Knocked out caty converter. stock muffler not for long !

ha ha ha

Edited December 9, 200817 yr by SubaruJawn

you just want yours to be like mine lol

 

Exhaust

 

Knocked out caty converter. stock muffler not for long !

ha ha ha

This is my 90 legacy wagon that I fit 195/75/14s without any more than a little trim here and there. It seems like most of the small lifts for these moves the rear axle centerline forward which doesn't help fitting larger tires to these. I couldn't have gone any bigger because of the rear struts being so close to the tread.

 

if you didn't get tires yet i highly rec. the winterforce tires. thats the only winter tire our shop sells. we put them on alot on escort vehicles and everyone loves them. i run them on my wifes car and they do work awesome. don't get me wrong the blizzaks are a nice tire too but the firestones just look cooler.

Blizzaks are AWESOME in the snow. Ever see the video of Ken Burns on the snowboard hill jumping hte rally car? I am pretty sure he was on blizzaks.

This is my 90 legacy wagon that I fit 195/75/14s without any more than a little trim here and there. It seems like most of the small lifts for these moves the rear axle centerline forward which doesn't help fitting larger tires to these. I couldn't have gone any bigger because of the rear struts being so close to the tread.

 

 

 

Use Outback or Forrester struts and you will have room for more tire to clear the springperch on the strut.

 

The wheel pivots rearward under compression, so you can run the tire VERY close to the leading edge of the wheel well.

 

With Outback struts, and 3inch lift blocks on the Strut tops and at the subframes, a 215/70/15 fit. With trimming to the area just behind the door, and some BFH work we get 235/75/15s on her with no prob.

 

Here it is at WCCS X"][/url] "][/url]

Edited February 6, 200917 yr by Gloyale

That is so awesome!

 

but looks like i'll be using my legacy for my Subaru Legale Project.

being parted out

So will Outback struts fit into a FWD vehicle? Sorry, that's probably a dumb question.

yes if you use the outback struts get the trailing arms also. this will move your rear axle back to the center of the wheel well. i've seen everybody not replacing the trailing arm brackets and it moves the wheel ahead and when running bigger tires it interfears with the ground effects. the outback trailing arm brackets are longger and should be replaced also. just to look good. i'm swapping all my stuff this week, struts AND control arms. will post pix when done.

Edited March 6, 200917 yr by rtcaravan

yes if you use the outback struts get the trailing arms also. this will move your rear axle backto the center of the wheel well. i've seen everybody not replacing the trailing arm and it moves the wheel ahead and when running bigger tires it interfears with the ground effects. the outback trailing arms are longger and should be replaced also. just to look good. i'm swapping all my stuff this week, struts AND control arms. will post pix when done.

 

Outback trailing arms ARE NOT LONGER.

 

It is the mounting bracket that it pivots on that is different. Specifically, the outback struts lower the pivot point 1 1/4 inches, just like all the other legacy lift blocks. This keeps the trailing arm geometry the same as on Legacies.

 

Lifting a Legacy using Outback struts work just fine without swapping the trailing arms, or brackets. It is the overall size of the wheel opening, not the trailing arms, that make fitting larger tires tough. A little trimming of the wheel wells takes care of it easily.

 

RTcaravan, have you actually ever done this swap? You should have waited till after you have to post this.

 

But again, to review, it is the brackets that lower the pivot point of the Arms. The trailing arms themselves are exactly the same Legacy vs. Outback. Changing out the arms will accomplish nothing.

 

The brackets only need changed if you are doing more lift, above and beyond the Outback struts.