Ahhh...

 

The wife is done with school and we're moving back to Alaska at last. My plan has been to buy a used OB to replace the Legacy wagon before we make the trip. We're moving to a neighborhood where the extra clearance will come in handy at least a few times a year, plus I like being a little taller.

 

Anyway, I've been poking around and found some interesting posts on doing a suspension lift on a regular wagon to obtain the ride height of an OB (with bigger wheels too.) If I understand it correctly, all you need is OB struts. (Probably a 4 wheel alignment, too?)

 

If I did that I would also want to change the 3.90 diffs to the 4.11 as is on the manual trans OBs. If I keep our non-OB wagon, I will have to pull and fix the tranny anyway, as the main input shaft bearing is rumbling (goes away when the clutch pedal is depressed halfway or more,) and the throw-out bearing is squealing (when I start to apply pressure to the clutch pedal.) Basically the car needs a clutch and tranny work. Finding a tranny with a 4.11 (rather than fix this one) shouldn’t be too much more expensive, right? Then I just need a 4.11 rear end to match and presto! My custom Outback without the two-tone trim around the bottom.

 

Possible things to dissuade me. My wagon is a '96 Brighton. I have never felt like it has inadequate braking power for my fairly conservative style of driving, but it does have comparatively small (to the rest of the legacy family) front brakes and just drums on the rear. Will increasing the wheel diameter from 24.2" to 26.3" overwhelm these brakes? Will it make that much difference?

 

 

Have I done my homework correctly? Or am I hopelessly naive and optimistic?

i dont see anything here that is a no-go. Maybe consider upgrading to 4 wheel discs?

Yea, I've looked into that option, but I think it would push me over the edge in the "replace vs. upgrade what I have" debate. I think I am sort of at my limit in what i want to take on with the above mentioned changes.

 

I guess getting a complete rear end with brakes and everything might beat swapping out a rear diff...

Upgrading the rear disc really isn't a huge task. Unless I'm forgetting something, it just requires hub, rotor, calipers, backing plate and pads. None of which is terribly hard to remove/install.

if you have multiple ungrades you want, you might want to price out and see if you can find an outback for sale.

 

It's rather easy to find one for cheap with blown head gaskets...oh like the one I just bought this week for instance! then you only have one repair - swap in an EJ22 or replace the head gaskets and you've got everything....lifted, gearing, rear discs..and hey you can end up with leather, heated seats and all sorts of other goodies too.

Sounds like you're building an Outback out of an old Legacy. Why not just buy an Outback?

Sounds like you're building an Outback out of an old Legacy. Why not just buy an Outback?

 

 

Where is the fun in that?