Load spring for Gen6 Legacy

[CharlesLeblanc]

I am looking to purchase a pop up trailer and I will tow it with my Gen6 Legacy

 

After some search, I settled on progressive springs from King Spring. The Legacy is also called the Liberty and I purchased the KSRS-58 rear springs.

 

I also swapped all shocks with KYB shocks, I figured that since we were already dropping the rear suspension and doing an alignment, it was a good time to replace the 60000 stock suspension

 

Overall the car is still leveled but the rear is stiffer. It looks like they are using a combination of progressive rate AND a shorter stiffer spring.

 

My nest steps are:

Electric Brakes (Curt Echo Mobile)

 

Modification of the trailer hitch: since the hitch is a common pat to the Outback and the Legacy and since the Outback bumper is 7/8'' lower than the Legacy, I need to cut 7/8'' from the hitch support

[MoleMan]

Can any of our Australian friends chime in on this? I was under the impression that the North American suspension setup was not as beefy as the “Liberty” and European version counterparts due to in those markets more people “caravan” like this member wants to.

 

OP why did you go with KYB shocks? I had nothing but issues with them for years before I went to other brands. Or did you do it for expense or other supply issues? And 60k seems very soon to replace them unless the potholes really took a beating on the suspension.

 

 

That aside the big thing is the weight of the trailer. I honestly don’t think that’s going to be an issue as long as you are in the specs for towing which I believe you are and that guessing you have a four cylinder. With the 3.6 it’s no issues at all.

 

I have a truck for our fifth wheel trailer. However that in itself is a major pain in the butt to get out, hook up, get to the campsite 170 miles away going up several mountain passes. And even then the truck still struggles sometimes to get up the grades and mind you this is a 2003 Ram 3/4 With the Cummins. But that also is a trailer that is probably ten times the weight if not more then what you are looking at. In all fairness I have Crosstreks bone stock doing what you wish to do so I honestly think you will be fine.

 

And to you come t about the Outback number being lower then the Legacy’s I thought the Outback’s was higher since the suspension is taller. But then again I don’t really pay attention to Outback’s that much.

Edited October 27, 2021 by MoleMan

[CharlesLeblanc]

Why did I go with KYB shocks? I did a research and only found 3 brands that list shocks for the 2017 Legacy : Subaru, KYB and Monroe.

 

The OEM shocks were still good, riding and handling is a bit better with the KYB but I am comparing 60000milles shocks with new shocks.

 

As far as King spring, I sent them a question with the VIN of the car and they confirmed that the shocks were compatible, the King spring are load shocks but not lift shocks, the read ride height is within 1/2'' of the previous one.

 

I have owned many Subaru over the years and I did tow small trailer with many of them

 

I did tow up to about 2500# with my current Legacy and it dropped the rear suspension more than I like.

 

This is the other problem: the trailer hitch is the same model than the 2017 Outback and because of the trim of the bumper is much lower on the Outback than on the Legacy, the trailer hitch is flush with the bottom of the bumper trim on the Outback and it is about 7/8'' lower than the bottom of the bumper of the Legacy.

 

This is not a problem on the Outback because they have a 2¾" suspension lift and bigger tires but on the Legacy, the departure angle is fairly low on the stock car with it's long rear overhand. With the trailer hitch, I am getting 13.5°

 

This is why I installed stiffer springs and I will also cut and lift the trailer hitch to try to help.

 

I used to have a 2000 Impreza wagon, I put 2 x motorcycle on a heavy 4 x 8 trailer and drove over 1000 miles to go to the Dragon Tail. The 2017 Legacy is a much better towing vehicle and surprisingly more fuel efficient than the 2000 Impreza and with the gas price increasing, I want to keep the Legacy

 

Can any of our Australian friends chime in on this? I was under the impression that the North American suspension setup was not as beefy as the “Liberty” and European version counterparts due to in those markets more people “caravan” like this member wants to.

 

OP why did you go with KYB shocks? I had nothing but issues with them for years before I went to other brands. Or did you do it for expense or other supply issues? And 60k seems very soon to replace them unless the potholes really took a beating on the suspension.

 

 

That aside the big thing is the weight of the trailer. I honestly don’t think that’s going to be an issue as long as you are in the specs for towing which I believe you are and that guessing you have a four cylinder. With the 3.6 it’s no issues at all.

 

I have a truck for our fifth wheel trailer. However that in itself is a major pain in the butt to get out, hook up, get to the campsite 170 miles away going up several mountain passes. And even then the truck still struggles sometimes to get up the grades and mind you this is a 2003 Ram 3/4 With the Cummins. But that also is a trailer that is probably ten times the weight if not more then what you are looking at. In all fairness I have Crosstreks bone stock doing what you wish to do so I honestly think you will be fine.

 

And to you come t about the Outback number being lower then the Legacy’s I thought the Outback’s was higher since the suspension is taller. But then again I don’t really pay attention to Outback’s that much.