will 2000 legacy front strut assembly work on 1995 legacy?

[helpfulNeighbor]

New info and spec comaprison at the end...

Have a 1995 Legacy Wagon L AWD with ABS.

The driver's side coil broke when the ball joint popped free using the ball joint separator.

I found a nice lloking set of front struts in local pull-it yard but they are on a 2000 legacy wagon.

They look close in match except for the brake hose mount and where the ABS sensor line gets mounted to strut. I think I can work around that.

Are they equivalent otherwise?

Yes I did read all the threads using search '1995 legacy strut'.

Thanks very kindly in advance.

I am fixing this for my 72yr old neighbor on fixed income. Please help....

------new info ------------

So I went to Rockauto and compared specs as much as possible.

The 1995 struts have the following numbers:

Extended length: monroe-20.75 inches, osc- 20.67 inches

Compressed length: monroe- 14.125 inches, osc- 14.17 inches

Travel length (stroke): monroe- 6.625 inches, osc- 6.5 inches

The 2000 legacy outback struts have the following numbers:

Extended length: monroe- 21.614 inches, osc- 21.73 inches, gabriel- 21.73 inches, kyb- 21.65 inches

compressed length: monroe- 15.709 inches, osc- 15.51 inches, gabriel- 15.75 inches, kyb- 16.1 inches

travel lenght (stroke): monroe- 5.905 inches, osc- 6.22 inches, gabriel- 5.98 inches, kyb- 5.55 inches

 

The numbers look close.

Question: Can I put these 2000 complete struts on the 1995 if I modify the mounts for the hose and abs sensor?

Would placing these in the '95 cause more issues, specifically with tire wear (camber)?

Edited September 28, 2019 by helpfulNeighbor
new added info and specs comparison at the end

[wtdash]

Struts should fit 'as is'. And if it's a non-outback may be OK for height (no lift like an Outback would).

 

But, not something I've come across. I'd do some more searching.

[helpfulNeighbor]

Struts should fit 'as is'. And if it's a non-outback may be OK for height (no lift like an Outback would).

 

But, not something I've come across. I'd do some more searching.

 

Thank you wtdash for your time and your reponse. Much appreciated!

That is what I was thinking as well.

 

If it were the Outback model in the yard, and I placed them for the front, would it cause problems while leaving the rear stock? (ie., would it throw alignment off enough to eat the tires?).

Or would it just look odd with the body raised in the front?

 

(if just looks odd then it might not be so bad because in the town where the car is driven, the road dept thinks it is OK to leave 12inch snow berms in the intersections while plowing, lol)

[wtdash]

Probably not hurt the alignment but I'm not the expert.

 

The Subaru FRONT struts have a camber adjustment bolt on the TOP strut bolt. If you mark its orientation (I like to take a punch/chisel and mark the bolt at the 12:00 position - if use a marker and then have to use PB Blaster or similar to get it loose you'll lose your mark). If you put the bolt back in the same spot, your alignment will be really close, from my experience.

 

Also, I'd just get another front set of struts from a '95-'99 Legacy or get the 'lift' from a '96-'99 Legacy Outback. The original struts seem to last. If you're in the yard and see one w/the silver/gray colored struts those might be KYB replacements, which should be factory quality.

 

You can also use '98-'08 Forester struts, which will give you a lift but may end up with a 'saggy butt' (yeah, that's a thing ). See how the front has more space between fender and top of the tire than the rear.

 

 

Stock camber bolts:

[helpfulNeighbor]

Probably not hurt the alignment but I'm not the expert.

 

The Subaru FRONT struts have a camber adjustment bolt on the TOP strut bolt. If you mark its orientation (I like to take a punch/chisel and mark the bolt at the 12:00 position - if use a marker and then have to use PB Blaster or similar to get it loose you'll lose your mark). If you put the bolt back in the same spot, your alignment will be really close, from my experience.

 

Also, I'd just get another front set of struts from a '95-'99 Legacy or get the 'lift' from a '96-'99 Legacy Outback. The original struts seem to last. If you're in the yard and see one w/the silver/gray colored struts those might be KYB replacements, which should be factory quality.

 

You can also use '98-'08 Forester struts, which will give you a lift but may end up with a 'saggy butt' (yeah, that's a thing ). See how the front has more space between fender and top of the tire than the rear.

 

 

Stock camber bolts:

 

Thank you again wtdash, the link provided by you was an interesting read.

Also, I am aware of the camber adjustment bolt and did mark it already. I just wasn't sure if there would be enough adjustment in the bolt to dial out any extra misalignment from the 2000 strut.

 

I called a place about 40 miles away and the guy says he has a '96. I am going to call him back and find out the condition and if he has both.

 

(If it was my car I would just go with the 2000 struts and see what happens).

 

Again I do appreciate that you have been taking your time to help us out.

 

UPDATE: Drove the 40 miles and nothing was useable.

Edited October 4, 2019 by helpfulNeighbor
went to the yard as promised

[helpfulNeighbor]

FIXED

I finally was able to finish my neighbor's '95 legacy wagon.

I ended up using a '96 strut and a decent knuckle/hub from a '95. I guess I had waited someone else out long enough for them to send their vehicle to the local u-pull-it.

 

Now she has working ABS again and a not-broken coil spring.

Originally her ABS was acting up and then just refused to operate.

CHecking it all out and following the service manual to a 't', I could see that the signal was indeed 'abnormal'; it was very noisy and not quite too clearly sinusoidal.

That was interesting because I had to use a homemade cable to my MIC input on my netbook running Ubuntu linux with a software oscilloscope, ha ha ha, but it worked.

That led me through checking all the usual: wiring, sensor, bearings, etc. It was looking at the 'abs tone ring' that I could see it was rather gnarly from being eaten up by NEPA winters, and how [cough cough] the dealer forgot to put the shields back on after they serviced her vehicle.

I cleaned up the knuckle from the u-pull-it yard well. I used some homemade 'schmutz' or 'cool-aid' mixture to attack the rust that was there without having to take a file to anything (wanting to protect the trueness of that tone ring). Great results there.

TIPS:

• 
  Homemade 'schmutz'/'cool-aid'/'whatever-you-or-someone-else-called-it'--- literally 50/50 mixture of any typical transmission fluid and 100% acetone. That's it just mix and shake vigorously like salad dressing and use on rusted up, rusted together, or stuck bolts and tools. The idea goes that there is a conversion of the rust chemically and what-not. I can't remember whom I viewed the video of showing this but it is on the internet. It works better than PB blaster. Make sure to use brake cleaner to remove any excess when you are done from any areas where lubricant would be bad; like lug nut studs/lug nuts, rotor, brake pads (why would you use it there? ha ha ha), axle nut threads, etc.
  

• 
  Having trouble getting that axle back through the hub? Try carefully using a small block of wood or rubber right behind the CV boot where it attaches to the metal part (the rim) and tap with a 3lb sledge and then the other side, back and forth, until you can get the axle nut on the threads enough to just pull the axle back through.
  

[doublechaz]

Good work!