heartless

http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy_Outback/1990-1994/

using the internet to learn how to drive a manual is like using the internet to self diagnose an illness.. DON'T DO IT! and while they may be a "relic" of a bygone era, there are still plenty of them around, so learning how to drive one is not a complete waste of time - yet... One should NEVER ride around with the tranny in neutral... disengage the clutch by using the pedal (depressed FULLY, not partially), fine, but never just pop it into neutral and leave it there as you are slowing down. my first Subaru had a 5 speed - it needed a clutch when I got it (was an 89 GL that I got in 2000)... had one installed and drove the snot out of that car for 8 years with no clutch problems - and I was not "gentle" with it, either.. it still had plenty of life left when the car was taken off the road due to structural rust issues. riding the pedal (partially depressed) is where the greater majority of wear is going to come from.. using it correctly, even when downshifting to slow down, will not result in excessive wear.

Monroe & Gabriel are a much "softer" ride than KYB - they also allow more body roll, too.. I have tried both on the various Subarus i have owned over the years and did not really care for the ride, and they did not seem to last very long on the poorly maintained roads I have to drive on here.. I live in rural WI, and some of our roads are not great - especially the gravel ones.. I much prefer the KYB in ride and handling, and the KYBs just seem to hold up better to the beatings these roads can dish out. fwiw - the Subies I have owned are: 1989 GL wagon, FWD, 5 spd 1990 Legacy LS wagon, AWD, Auto 1995 Legacy L Wagon, AWD, Auto - Forester strut lifted 2002 Forester, AWD, Auto - pretty much bone stock Other Subarus we (other half) have had - 88 GL Coupe Auto w/push button AWD, 89 GL 5 spd Dual Range wagon, 1991 Legacy FWD 5 spd sedan, and a 2006 LL Bean Outback

yes, if you have complete assemblies, you can do this. 3 nuts on top, 2 bolts on the bottom - out with the old, in with the "new". pay attention to the 2 large bolts at the bottom - one is cammed for alignment purposes - it needs to go back in the same place. being as how you will be changing the overall stance, you should make an appointment for a proper alignment as soon as possible after the swap so you don't end up with unnecessary tire wear

there should be a page that gives general locations of the various relays, controllers and sensors.. you may need to do a bit of digging, but it IS in there. I know this from when I had my 1990 LS wagon... the page(s) you are looking for will look something like this... this happens to be a security components location guide for a 95, so is of little help to you, but there will be similar pages for the generation you are working on..

http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy_Outback/1990-1994/ look there for FSM info

there is a link above to a site that has FSMs for pretty much all Subarus, including 1st gen Legacy specific info (90-94) link to the 90-94 specific stuff: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy_Outback/1990-1994/ Granted - the wiring diagram is labeled 1990, but it would be MUCH more useful to him than a Haynes or Chilton's could ever hope to be. 1990-1994 did not change much at all - a few minor, mostly cosmetic things.

well, it is what it is - and for those of us that do not have access to pick-n-pull, it does suck. But what do you do? We can not force them to let us go get our own parts off of cars in the yard. years ago we used to be able to do it, but not anymore.

while this is a great option if the pull-n-pay yards are available to you, but not everyone has access to one (or more). There are ZERO pull-n-pay yards anywhere close to me.. none of the yards here will allow anyone out in the "field" - you go to a counter, ask for what you need, and a yard employee will go get it for you here.. "insurance reasons" is the stated reason why.

yes, 15" is stock on early 2000s Foresters. If the only thing needed to bring the Foz back up is "stock" strut assemblies - get KYBs, not Monroe. KYB is the preferred "aftermarket" brand for Subarus of all ages. you would need to purchase the struts themselves, and probably springs... everything else can be swapped over - top hats, rubber spring insulators, boots, etc. however, i would suggest getting at least the front tophats to have on hand, as the bearing in them tends to go with age..

sounds like you could use this site: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/ you should be able to find wiring diagrams and whatever else you may need.

you should be able to find tubing of the required size sold by the foot - just need to figure out what size that is. sources to try: home improvement stores, pet shop (aquarium line), and of course auto parts stores

if you take the assembly OFF the car, you will find it is not as deep as you think. we have a cheap set of offset boxend wrenches from horrible freight that do the job just fine. these here

fastest and easiest check is looking at the front reservoir.. if there are 2 separate pumps (one sits slightly higher than the other) then it is a combined system, if there is only 1 pump, it has a separate rear system. If you have a split system the rear bottle is usually tucked behind the trim panels on one side, but there should be an access for filling it .

this is what the assemblies look like off the car. obviously one is new, the other old - top is to the right - but the nut you are trying to get at holds the spring under tension under that top plate. you need to compress the spring before removing that nut.

no - take the strut assembly off the car. you will find it much easier to use your box end wrench and allen wrench then. you do not want to loosen that nut without the spring compressor in place and holding the spring and you will never get that in place with the strut assembly in the car

you need to take the strut assembly OFF the car.. you do not do it with them still in the car. there are 3 smaller nuts on the top, around that large one, and the 2 large bolts at the knuckle that need to come off to remove the strut assembly. once you have the assembly off the car, you will need spring compressors to compress the spring enough to remove the nut on top to change the strut out. Do NOT try to do this job without the proper tools. That is how people get hurt.

if the 16s are the stock size, then basically do what Bennie said.. lower profile to keep the rolling diameter as close to stock as possible so it doesn't mess with the speedo/odo readings no special requirements otherwise - other than matching the bolt pattern & offset to avoid anything rubbing. you can use this to check the differences between stock & what you are wanting to put on: https://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

my guess is it was custom fabricated. (ie: not cheap) I wouldn't mind having one myself, for my 2002 Foz, just because - but yeah, not really going to do much in the way of "protecting" the car in a full on deer collision.

the link I gave you above will have that kind of information. you might have to do a little digging around to find the exact file you need, but it is there.

Merry Christmas back at ya! Hope everyone has a safe and happy Holiday Season, regardless of what holiday you celebrate.

http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/ this should help get you going with things.. not a lot changed in the 90-94 1st gen Legacy, so you should be fine with what is available there. I know it helped me tremendously when I had my 90 LS

there may be some screws - or possible those plastic push in things - holding the bottom of the tailgate trim.. if there is a grab handle for the tailgate, that would definitely have screws in it.. usually covered by a small plastic plate. start by checking along the bottom of the tailgate panel.. but yeah, the greater majority of the pieces are simply tabs snapped into slots.

I would definitely order the front tophats to have on hand at least .. those are the ones that have the bearing in them for steering. and KYB for the win there Rears don't typically have many issues. springs, boots, and other stuff, unless in really bad shape, just swap over to the new struts.

the lighter location is stock, but it is very possible wires got knocked loose when the radio was changed. you can download a service manual here: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy_Outback/1996/ basically the trim around the outside will need to be removed (gently!) in order to access mounting screws and such.