superu

Here's a bit of background and story of my experience lifting my 95 legacy, and gearing. RE: gearing I have a 95 legacy "L" and lifted it on 99 OB struts but different springs. The 95 L had a 3.90 FD in the 5MT, but I just swapped that out for a 99 OB 5MT with 4.11s, plus the rear diff. I'd been rolling on 27" tires for nearly 7 years in that 3.90 5MT. UNDERGEARED! But when I swapped for the OB 5MT (like a month ago), the 4.11s took it back to driving like stock, with 27" ATs!!! I had doubts, but was really surprised at what a difference that 21% gearing difference did!!! Yeah, my rig accelerates very well now and has power on the highway, it can pull hills and still has a top end to all gears at speed. I can't rally spin it up around 80 to well, but I have no need for that ind of speed. The OB 5th gear (.870) has less overdrive than the 95 leggo's 5th gear (.780) did, so my RPMs are about 250 higher for comparable speed in the 3.90 tranny... Yeah there's the speed compensation with a taller tire, but the RPMS vs. speed still hold true. In fact my speedo now reads a little faster than my actual speed, whereas it read slower than actual speed with the 27" tires and 3.90 FD tranny. BUT, anyway, my 5th gear was useless unless the road was flat or a downhill... The OB 5th (while a touch higher RPM) can pull 4-5% grades at speed with the cruise engaged, whereas the stock 3.90 tranny needed to drop to 4th at those mild grades. (I'm fairly certain) All foresters are .780 5th gear and 4.11 final drive, and some RS imprezas are the same, but OBs I think have the higher geared 5th across the board. I think OB's got a little different in the mid 2000s and am told 99 had some internals changes (vehicle speed sensor in early models no VSS in later models), but I kind of doubt IMPS and FORs did that... My wife's 03 OBS has a VSS (but is 3.90 FD)..... So I suggest 4.11s all the way with a taller tire on a car that originally had 3.90s!! I can't imagine what 4.44s would be like, especially coming from 3.90s RE: lift I have a 95 legacy "L" and lifted it on 99 OB struts, then more with 99 FOR rear springs and SVX front springs. The 95 L had a 3.90 FD in the 5MT, but I just swapped that out for a 99 OB 5MT with 4.11s, plus the rear diff. My front camber (with a camber kit) is still out of spec and the rear (no kit yet) is just bearly off too. I put a 99 OB RSB (I'm pretty sure it's 18mm and stock leggo was 15), and THAT'S NICE!!! I kind of doubt an OB bar will fit in a 99OBS.. different body play (IMP/FOR LEG/OB), BUT a tribeca will go into an IMP, and they're meaty fatty!! I lifted a 93 IMP on 98 FOR struts, but got new IMP tophats for the rear... This pic shows the new 93 IMP rear tophat next to a 98 FOR rear tophat rear springs...gen 1 FOR left, gen 1 IMP right So you'll want IMP rear tophats, but the rest can be all 03 FOR... I'm pretty sure you'll want a camber kit for the front. I got mine at checker 6.5 years ago and they've been fine until i put SVX springs in the OB struts... TOO much lift for the camber kit to adjust... So I'm trying to work that out. but yeah: 03 FOR struts, springs, upper spring perch and tophats for the front FOR strut, spring and IMP tophat for the rear, plus camber bolts rear trailing arm bracket and you'll be Psyched!!!

Copy that! Things have changed here in the last 5 years or so. . .probably more like the last 3 or so. I had an 8 points infraction for No Relevant Information or answer provided. So it goes I guess... "Absolute power corrupts absolutely!" as it has been said. I've always wondered how folks who've been here half the time I have have 3K posts. . . . . At any rate, keep up the awesomeness of the trashwagon thread and keep on keepin' on!!

1st gen OB (96-99) struts and springs over 1st gen FOR (98-02) struts and springs BUT a touch more lift than 1st gen OB is using 2nd gen FOR (03-08) strut assemblies (strut, spring, upper spring perch (front) and tophat). with any of these, get the rear trailing arm brackets too. You'll be comfortably able to fit 27" tires and maybe 28 or 29" with the 2nd gen fozzie strut assembly lift. Road handling will be fine with any of these lifts. For rally cross you may want a touch fatter (like WRX) RSB to promote oversteer, rather than the factory-tuned Subaru understeer. -those're my suggestions- good luck and keep us updated! __________________

rust maybe??

1st gen OB (96-99) struts and springs over 1st gen FOR (98-02) struts and springs BUT a touch more lift than 1st gen OB is using 2nd gen FOR (03-08) strut assemblies (strut, spring, upper spring perch (front) and tophat). with any of these, get the rear trailing arm brackets too. You'll be comfortably able to fit 27" tires and maybe 28 or 29" with the 2nd gen fozzie strut assembly lift. Road handling will be fine with any of these lifts. For rally cross you may want a touch fatter (like WRX) RSB to promote oversteer, rather than the factory-tuned Subaru understeer. -those're my suggestions- good luck and keep us updated!

FWIW. . . . We finally did the three-steel layer head gasket swap to the 03 OBS. Clutch, HG, Timing kit (with all the rollers), intake/exhaust gaskets, main seals and cam seals... This EJ25 (106K) should go forever now!! It hadn't failed, just a minor leak, but it was showing signs of HG weakening...

Not really an off-roader, but an "urban adventure" ute http://www.leftlanenews.com/subaru-xv-2.html But we'll get it in 2013 at least...

Lookin' good!! What are your lift plans? How high do you want to go... My friend (with the 96) went 4" and 6" is kind of the standard... well out west at least.. Anhoo he mentions weird castor issues going 4" or higher, and weird lateral axle shifting to fix... something about as you go up, the rear axle shifts sideways. . . . Anyhoo he sends this link for your educational pleasure http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/ He has a uniden 510 (I think the newer 520 is the same size) CB in his ashtray slot! Perfect fit in his 96, but I think they changed the tray in 93 so it might not work for you...

Coming to America 2013!! http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/27/subaru-impreza-xv-headed-to-u-s-for-2013/ Hopefully it'll stay good and not downsized of its goodness like the STX did when it became the Baja.

So My dad emailed me asking about a new Subaru model, for off-roading, to compete with Jeeps, and the like. I figured I or others here would be in the know for anything new and off-road subaru.. Mybe he's talking about the concept XV, which is just a lifted OBS. But a factory "lifted" OBS with 09-10 forester ground clearance numbers (i.e. 8.9") is pretty cool!! Anyone know more? here's a quick autoblog link http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/13/2012-subaru-xv-frankfurt-2011/

Copy that, plus this Scion Scion tC go home Mad Max, there's a Scion on the scene ;D

Not sure what KM2s are, but I'm sure he says thanks! I think he has a (kind of non-standard) 4" lift with 33's. I'll get the links to his favorite forums for you, but here's on he likes, and it's a Forester build from a cruiser guy! http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/55509-Forester-ExPo-Subaru-Project

Yeah, my friend loves his '96 But it sounds like (from page 2/3) you're already missing the ease and simplicity of your subie's engineering BUT there is something to be said for torque, lockers and LOW gears

I like the pump on the tire

on gen 1 OBs you can put gen 2 Forester (03-08) strut assemblies on and get another 1-1.5" lift over OB suspension.. It's a simple Bolt-off -- bolt-on job, otherwise king/scorpion springs will do about the same (about +1 "), but really extend your OB struts so they're at near full extension always... that'll shorten the strut life :-\ and strut spacers/blocks will push the body up off the top of the strut = lift and more clearance for taller tires. a few companies around make 1" spacers, and you can find 2" and 4" spacers... Over 2ish inches TALLER that stock and you'll want to space down your drive line components. Look at an OB's suspension compared to a legacy and you';ll see what all you need to drop Here are some links to check out http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20597 http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2166272 http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329349 http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16296 Cheers, and happy lifting!

NICE, my friend loves his 96 Say it ain't so . . .

Japan and Australia!!

It's a flexible rubber dust cover, I can't figure how lift would promote THAT boot to blow out, reliably? Do you have any speculation why the pass inner BOOT would blow?

I'll copy that. Actually OB struts give like 1.5" lift (strut shaft length difference) and tires (27" over stock 24" in my case) give another 1"ish, THEN FOR sprigs in the rear struts gave me about another 1" lift and SVX front springs provide about an inch more up there, so 2.5ish in suspension and 1ish in tires. So I guess I'm a around 3.5" over stock ground clearance (in a strut and spring-lifted 95 legacy)? At any rate I'm running a little over 2" > stock and no problems to speak of... Ran OB struts and springs for 6.5 years, no probs even on old CVs. Then with FOR and SVX springs I got a new half shaft, whose boot split within 6 months, but the other 3 old shafts are fine... So I argue between 2-3 inches is still ok on the axles... You have to take into account suspension travel and applying that torque during travel. if folks are "wheeling" on 2+" lift then they're applying that torque at more extreme axle angles. And if they're not reporting problems, maybe 2" over stock isn't the magic number for realigning drive line components. Maybe it could be revised to 3" over stock? my 2 cents...

Awesomeness!! But really, what IS the purpose of those stifling backing plates on these vents and similarly with gen 1 OB hood scoops, and others?

ooooo I almost had the opportunity to make it to the WCSS a few weeks ago, but ended up flying instead of driving to OR... I understand the take on pulling the route then moving on But in my rock climbing world (back in the day we always had to climb a route clean 2 times to call it good soooo, it would be cool to get your impressions of pulling that line now that you've got the EJ22 and all your other sweet mods since the first run. I'm just sayin' . . . leter G, -mw-