"NaturallyAspirated" (NaturallyAspirated)
04/07/2014 at 12:57 • Filed to: Subarulopnik
1
15|
"NaturallyAspirated" (NaturallyAspirated)
04/07/2014 at 12:57 • Filed to: Subarulopnik | 1
| 15 |
This past weekend, I swapped the factory struts on my 1998 Subaru Legacy Outback with a set of springs and struts from a 2004 Subaru Forester XS !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I have every reason to believe that the struts on my Legacy were the original factory struts, with just a hair under 220,000 miles on them, so I'd gotten my money's worth out of them long ago.
My research indicated that 2004-2008 Forester strut assemblies were pretty much a direct swap for the BG Outback. They have been reported to lift the car anywhere from .5" to 1.25", and most reports I read indicated an increase in firmness over the Outback struts and springs. For the sake of completeness, here is are the ride heights for each wheel on my Outback, measured from the center of the axle to the lower lip of the wheel arch.
In case that's hard to read, the numbers are: FL 16.25", FR 15.74", RL 15.5", RR 15.75". I have no idea why the front left wheel is so much higher than the others.
I started with the rear struts. Here is a comparison of the Outback and Forester strut assemblies:
The overall length is almost identical. It looks like the coil spring on the Forester has slightly more wraps than the Outback, and the upper seat is definitely smaller, although the bolt pattern at both ends is absolutely identical.
One of the biggest frustrations of this job was the fact the the original struts on the Outback had brake hose clips that consisted of a hole in a bracket - meaning that to remove the old struts, I had to remove one end of the brake hose and pass it through the hole. Cue A-Team music over a montage of me going to the auto parts store for a pack of brake hose crush washers and a bottle of fresh brake fluid.
There were no complications of installing the Forester struts in the rear. The top mount lined up perfectly, the lower bolts lined up perfectly, and even the brake hose clamp on the Forester struts worked well enough that I could reuse it on the Outback.
On to the front!
The Forester struts do appear to be slightly longer than the Outback struts, and the coil spring definitely does have more wraps. The ABS wire attachment point on both struts is in exactly the same spot, so although they look different, I was able to attach the wire to the new strut with no complications. The brake hose was a different story. Although the clip location was the same on both struts, the Forester hose uses a completely different mounting solution. I was able to rig up a pleasingly secure solution using my old brake hose and a pair of zip ties per side. (Sadly I forgot to take a picture.)
Time for a thorough brake bleeding job, since I'd had to disconnect all four brake hoses to get the old struts off. The Subaru service manual has a very specific order to bleed the wheels in, which I followed. I had previously installed quick bleeders on all four calipers, so I was able to do the bleeding fairly quickly as a one-man job.
Done! I put the wheels back on and lowered the car off the jack stands. It looked higher, but who can tell really? First things first - I drove off to a reputable local shop for an alignment.
Back from the alignment, I re-measured the ride height:
FL 16.75", FR 16.75", RL 16", RR 16".
It did lift the car somewhat, about .75" or so. It looks pretty good in my opinion. The ride is definitely firmer, but I don't know if that's due to the Forester parts, or if that's due to the fact that I'm no longer riding on struts that are completely shot.
The car feels better to me on the highway. I guess I would say that the car handles like a smaller car than it did before. In any case, I'm happy with the swap, and would not hesitate to recommend it, if you can find a Forester with good struts.
MonkeePuzzle
> NaturallyAspirated
04/07/2014 at 13:01 |
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hi! It's strut guy strutting his stuff!
mattoverdrive
> NaturallyAspirated
04/07/2014 at 14:12 |
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Great write up! I was thinking of getting an Outback like yours as a winter vehicle so I don't have to try driving the BRZ in the snow again. What should I avoid when I go looking at them?
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NaturallyAspirated
> mattoverdrive
04/07/2014 at 14:22 |
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The only "big deal" maintenance-wise I've run into is the headgaskets. The BG Outback uses the EJ25D engine, which when the headgasket fails, it blows exhaust into the cooling system. The best way to check for a leak is to drive it at highway speed long enough to get the temp gauge into normal range, then park it and idle for a bit. If the headgasket is blown, you'll get a big temperature spike, and if you shut it off, it'll start blowing bubbles into the coolant overflow tank.
Takuro Spirit
> NaturallyAspirated
04/07/2014 at 14:55 |
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Cool, glad you got it done!
I forgot to mention that when I pulled my old struts out to replace them with WRX ones, I just cut a slot in the bracket that held the brake lines. I didn't have to remove the lines or bleed the system that way.
Stock leggy on the left, WRX on the right.
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NaturallyAspirated
> Takuro Spirit
04/07/2014 at 15:10 |
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Wow, that would have made things easier. Do you remember what you used to cut the slots? I would worry that I'd nick the hose if I used my angle grinder.
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Takuro Spirit
> NaturallyAspirated
04/07/2014 at 15:15 |
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I like to live dangerously.
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mattoverdrive
> NaturallyAspirated
04/09/2014 at 21:33 |
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If the head gaskets are blown is it worth it to try to replace them, or is the engine probably shot?
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NaturallyAspirated
> mattoverdrive
04/10/2014 at 18:17 |
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My understanding is that the blocks are quite stout, so as long as you have the heads checked for flatness and machined if necessary, you should be fine. I pegged the temperature gauge on my car when I blew the headgaskets, and with fresh headgaskets and machined heads, it runs as good as new. I didn't even bother to have my heads checked; I figured with 196,000 miles they could do with a valve job anyway, so I found a machine shop that did the whole shebang.
(I like to try to convince myself that I "decked the heads" and "bumped my compression." I'm sure I did, but not by a perceptible amount.)
CapnRexKramer
> MonkeePuzzle
05/02/2015 at 13:50 |
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I bought 05 forester struts and the rear strut has 3 bolts on the top, while my 01 outback has 2. How did you get around the mis match?
ssxt
> NaturallyAspirated
08/16/2015 at 12:58 |
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HI,
Nice swap. Just use a hacksaw to cut the brake line bracket. Cut the outside - vs. top/bottom - of the bracket to get more room. Hacksaw is more controllable than power tools IMHO, and only takes a minute w/a sharp blade. Also, RE: HG on these cars, overheating fries the rod end bearings a little bit each time it overheats. If it was driven a few minutes once or twice, then bearing damage is minimal, and the engine (short block) is likely fine. If overheated repeatedly and driven that way, it’s way more likely the engine will start ‘knocking’ sooner than later and require a rebuild or replacement. But the 2.5 is not really ‘stout’ IMHO, the 2.2 is much more ‘bulletproof’ as many like to say.
inni
> NaturallyAspirated
11/06/2015 at 15:59 |
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Nice report, thanks. One question before I start to look for Forester struts – what is the handling like afterwards the swap, cornering wise, not straight line highway cruising. I’m worried camber and caster might get thrown out of alignment tolerance…
x
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NaturallyAspirated
> inni
11/06/2015 at 18:06 |
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The alignment shop I went to after the swap didn’t have any trouble getting the alignment in spec. The Forester springs and struts are definitely stiffer than the struts I had on the Outback, and in my opinion the Fozzy struts improved the handling and balance by a moderate amount.
As I stated in the write-up, though, I don’t honestly know if the improvement was due to the fact that Fozzy struts handle better, or if my old Outback struts were so completely shot that anything would have been an improvement.
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inni
> CapnRexKramer
11/07/2015 at 03:33 |
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2001 Outback is a different, newer model, with rear strut towers and suspension redesinged and the above swap won’t work. Front could work, though.
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inni
> NaturallyAspirated
11/07/2015 at 08:11 |
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Sounds promising, thanks. I will report how did it go with mine, wich is EU spec. (generally stiffer than U.S.)
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subenube
> NaturallyAspirated
08/31/2016 at 23:57 |
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Could you have cut the bracket hole so that the brake line could have just been disconnected?