possible?

i have a 97 legacy gt and i want to know if it is possible to put the outback suspension on the vehicle? if not what is the best way to lift it? i live in the mountains and need more clearance any suggestions would help?

For what it would cost to source all the parts, and the actual amount of time required to do it... it effectively cannot be done.

are the suspention parts actually diffrent geomotry on the out back vs legacy ?

i want to put air or hydraulic ( with acumulator) on mine to be able to raise it for off roading. but have not decided yet.

depends on the year and which parts.

 

 

I don't know about aftermarket support, haven't looked. There may be products to lift a legacy. i dunno.

 

 

 

to the OP, at over 10 years old. do you really want to remove the main bolts that hold teh car together? will they even come out at all?

Yes - older Outback suspension just bolts on to the corresponding Legacy. There is no "body lift" (spacers) like on 05-09 Outback.

 

For what it would cost to source all the parts, and the actual amount of time required to do it... it effectively cannot be done.

 

Says who is wasting money on parts selection for the built motor?

Welcome to the forum.

 

PM me if you want take off forester springs from my 99' with around 65K miles on them. Not sure exactly if they'd fit or would lift your car, but I'd imagine they would.

Forester suspension would definitely lift you up quite a bit (~2" IIRC).

 

When your stock suspension wears out, simply buy Forester struts, springs, and top hats to replace it with.

thanks for the confirmation BAC5.2

IIRC Ben at Hodges Subaru used SG suspension on his Outback Wagon. It's the same basic thing.

 

The Outbacks from 96 to 98 had spacers. The 95 actually had no spacers and was, beyond paint scheme, equivalent to the Legacy wagon. In 96 they got the body spacers, and different springs/struts.

 

You are pretty likely to find an Outback in a junkyard, so jacking the spacers would be cheap and easy. But definitely use Forester struts/springs. It'll give you more lift.

http://alliedarmament.homestead.com/LiftKit.html

Scroll down all the way to the EJ lift kit.

 

$900 and it will jack the car up 4". You're gonna want bigger tires obviously. I've had good experiences with BF Goodrich All-Terrains, and I know a few people who could back me up on that.

 

The Outbacks from 96 to 98 had spacers.

 

 

?

 

I'm pretty sure they did. There was SOME change after the 95 Outback that raised it up. The 95 Outbacks were just Legacys with different bumpers. I might have missed it by a year, and the 96's were the ones that were just Legacy's with different bumpers. In that case, then 97's and whatever the last year of the McPherson rear end had spacers.

 

Either way, I bet the SF Forester body spacers would bolt up.

AWESOME INFO!! Thank Platinum for the link. I looked into this a little a few years back when I had my first '98 L Impreza... it's been going through my mind since. May be a project in a few years when I have some money.... has anyone here every mudbogged a subaru? I'm curious how their light weight and narrow wheels would do???

I know someone who simply put spacers in the top hats. Cost like $5 in parts to get 2". He also got some bigger tires.

?

 

I'm pretty sure they did.

 

nope, you're right. I was laughing at something someone else said earlier