Lowered OBXT Pics

[BAC5.2]

When you swapped the transmission, did the speedometer read incorrectly?

[AZP Installs]

That's a good question. I will e-mail the owner and ask him if his speedo was correct or not.

 

-mike

[jdmspec333]

i just joined this board and i'm in the market for a new car. m/t turbo legacys didnt exist since 2005, so i was told my other option would be a outback xt. i've searched the forums and from what i can piece together, all i need to lower the outback is legacy gt struts with a good set of lowering springs and some bumpstops? theres no modification or replacement needed to the body or control arms? can anyone give me a detailed parts list of whats needed to accomplish this? my target vehicle would be a 2009 obxt m/t turbo. thanks!

 

ps-what possible detrimental effects or benefits would come out of removing body spacers? are they similar to the body spacers used in pickup trucks with lift kits?

[SBT]

^ You might have control arm issues at the rear if you drop too much, but will let those who have done the swap comment.

[citka]

As noted in my OP, all I did was LGT spec struts (Tokico adjustables in my case) and LGT spec lowing springs (Swifts for me), and the bump stops. You can go to FredBeansParts.Com and order the bump stops right from their website (not sure of the part number), but be sure they are for an LGT, not an OB.

 

 

I had my car aligned by a local guy who does it old school...no lasers to be out of calibration, no computers that give him a 'range' to be in. Only a dead nuts on alignment by a seasoned pro. The rears are going be out of spec slightly from the perfect straight and narrow without a rear control arm kit (adjustable), but it wasn't enough to be concerned. The pictures you see of my car are with the body spacers still in. I can almost promise you that if you took them out, you would have NO room for tires. it would drop the car another 1.5 inches or so.

 

 

The alignment is sweet. Car tracks well. Within spec (minus the rear as mentioned) and no signs of terrible tire wear yet on my very soft winter tires. All in all, I'm setup better than my last lowered car before the OBXT (94 Legend Coupe on Eibach's).

[scoobyscoodle]

^^^ The outback spacers actually do not affect the ride height at all. The length of your strut/coilover setup dictates the ride height 100%. All the spacers do is drop the rear subframe a little over an inch, only changing the inner control arm mounting points. This is the same as a "subframe drop" lift kit for any IFS truck.

 

That being said, when you start to lower the obxt a lot, specifically lower than lgt-spec, the arms start to operate at extreme angles. I'm not sure what I think about this just yet I haven't had a chance to remove the 4 rear spacers but I intend to try it when I have some free time. Leaving the spacers in does two things I can think of: it gives you more rear camber than an lgt is capable of with non-adjustable arms (if you're into that sort of thing), it also lowers the center of gravity in the rear (your subframe assembly, rear differential, and all corresponding brackets are ~1.5" lower to the ground.

 

By removing the spacers the control arms would be much more level with the ground (similar to stock lgt-spec) and you would gain ground clearance under the rear diff, while being closer to -1* camber instead of ~-2*.

 

The front is another matter entirely. In order to make it lgt-spec you would need to replace the whole front suspension subframe (in order to locate the front LCA mount closer to the body) and you would need to replace the main bolt that goes through the rear LCA bushing (it looks like a spacer but it is not, it's attached to the bolt itself).

 

If anything I was thinking of removing only the rear spacers and leave the front alone. My main concerns with doing this are the effect it would have on driveshaft angle and whether that would induce vibrations, as well as the brake hard lines affixed to the frame which are specific to the obxt suspension setup.