Liftedlego96

I'm not so sure that is the issue. 2 months ago I installed brand new 04 forester struts. But mabey I need a better quality strut? I know both sway bars have some play so starting there may be cheaper and help narrow it down abit.

I Yah the sway bar thing interested me. They make larger diameter sway bars and bushings and links to go along with it. Just to stiffen things up abit. My legacy is alittle "swoopy" when I get going highway speeds and I think it would help. Plus the stock sway bar links are solid. With no articulating ball type joint it's kind of janky. The bolts are some what angled stressing out the link. The control arm is pretty angled now that I have forester struts in. I'd like to reduce the stress some how. I also was recently looking at that make of tires for the spring when I take my snow tires off.

Not sure what stock tire size is for the outback but I'm running 205/65/16s and there isn't a whole lot of room in the wheel well for a larger tire. I'm sure I could go alittle bigger but not much. I think the forester trans and dif are my next upgrades. From there skid plates and upgraded sway bars just to keep it stable on the road when I'm not offroading.

That's a good idea. But would it still be ideal for my daily? I don't want it to be geared in a way that makes it impractical. Might keep my 96 as my daily and find another 2nd Gen legacy that I can fully outfit for offroading. Frankenstein it with a forester ha

They really are extremely easy to tinker on. Now that I've thought it over, I don't see myself doing any crazy offroading with it and it's not made to be a speed demon so I think I'll just leave the original ej22e in it and if I need a new trany or dif then so be it but no sense in doing anything too wild with it. I like the lift though. So a few more upgrades just to help with handling would be nice. It's still pretty fuel efficient even lifted so it's just an interesting daily driver ha

I think I'll stick with my legacy ha an old GL huh? I'm interested. If I pull the motor it will not be wasted. I have no idea about the gear oil. I've only had the thing for 8 months or so but I've taken a liking to it. Thanks for all the insight.

Yah? Possibly trans/dif issue? I was hoping that wouldn't be it but accepted it as a possibility. It's my daily so I baby it. But it's also a bit of a project. I was thinking about swapping the engine and drive train to something with a little more power/more suitable for offroading. It's got an ej22e and I love the practicality of it but after putting 04 forester struts and 205/65/16s on it I feel like more power would be best. Specially if I want to put bigger all terrain tires on it this spring. I haven't done much digging on gear ratios and don't know what it has but I'm sure there is a better option if I want to do alittle offroading regularly.

I have a 96 legacy l sedan with alittle over 150k miles on it. Ever since I bought it it has had a whining noise when in 1st and in reverse. Not sure if it's common or not? Also it's a 5spd manual. It doesn't seem to be getting worse or effecting anything but I would like to know the cause and if it may become an issue in the future. Thanks ahead of time for any info.

I installed 04 fozzy struts in my 96 legacy and so far so good. Not sure how much lift it got but it seems like a lot. So far no issues though I'm expecting something to bust at some point. Put over 1k miles on it so far. If I did it again I'd probably go outback struts. I can't imagine needing the clearance I got with the fozzy struts, as a daily driver. Though if you are mainly offroading then you may want it. But I'd suggest replacing ball joints and cv's at the same time. I know I'll be doing it before long now that I see how much lift I got. And if it's just and off road buggy then pull that sway bar. The fozzy struts are stressing the he'll out of it ha

Yah I had an 03 forester that I loved. Mabey I'll look for another engine to put in and leave my Ole reliable 96 alone. Always risky buying an engine not knowing what it came out of and what it sounded like when it was running. Any advice? What should a decent ej25 go for anyway? See them priced all over the place. What should I look for? Thanks again for the info.

I found a 05 forester in really good condition but the engine is blown... I have a 96 legacy L sedan with a 2.2l that runs like a dream but the body is not exactly inspectable... I'm wondering if I could swap the 2.2 into the forester without too much of an issue? I've never done an engine swap on a subi but have plenty of engine swap experience on a variety of vehicles. Thank you all ahead of time for any useful insight.

Im thinking so. I currently have a set of new studded goodyear winter comand's 205/65/16 nothing massive but definitely an updrage from the 185/60/14's that were on it before i installed the forester struts.

You are correct my man. I just wasnt thinking that way when i did the swap haha wasnt expecting as much lift as i got. It looks higher then the pictures ive seen prior to the swap. Now i gotta make everything else work with what i have.

It all depends. I leave for work before the plows take care of the roads. The snow drifts are my biggest concern. I had an 03 forester that I've almost burried several times. Luckily id always make it threw without stopping completely but i dont want to be in a snow storm trying to unburry myself when the next half awake bozo comes bursting threw the snow drift im stuck in lol plus my back isnt as strong as it used to be. If i could put my snow blower up top i definitly would ha

So the tires arent giving me more clearance then the forester. The only thing lower then the rear dif is the steering knuckle and i dont think they would measure from that. My rear is sagging abit so i gotta toss strut spacers on here soon. All i know is that my legacy is sitting higher then my 14 forester by quite abit and i gotta do something about the sway bar, id like to keep it attached while im driving on the road but feel like im gona be tearing threw sway bar links constantly.

Good to know. It has 123k on it and has never had an issue of any kind since i bought it 3 years ago. I didnt even know about the oil consumption thing. Figured it was just a subaru thing. My older 03 forester used just alittle more oil then the 14 does now but thats an ej25, whole other monster. Thanks for the insight.

Where is the ground clearance measurement taken from though? My lego sits 11inches at the rear dif. Tires play a factor as well. I hav 205 65 16 on at the moment.

Thanks for the responses. Im going to play around with both stock parts and adjustable aftermarket parts. Ill post some results when possible.

Thanks for the info. I think ill just go with oem parts and get what i get. I dont expect my handleing to go back to where is was before the lift but something is better then nothing. Ill just be disconnecting the sway bar when offroading anyway. No sence in upgrading when ill only use it half the time ha

Does anyone have experience with sway bar upgrades? Ive read abit about white line sway bars and brackets. Not sure if its worth the money though. I would definitely like more stability but the difference would need to be fairly dramatic for me to dish out the cash for the sway bars plus bushings and brackets. Mabey i should just replace the old ones with oem parts? The links and brackets im running rite now are pretty worn out looking. Not sure if stock parts will give me the difference im looking for.

Does anyone know if there are interchangeable control arms between subaru models? Id like to have beefier sway bar/ links on my 96 legacy but im not sure how to make it happen. Or mabey anyone know of any good options for sway bar mounts that might drop it abit to comp for the lift i have? I cant seem to find much out there. Alot of people just pull the sway bar but i mainly drive on road since its my daily comuter so i like the stability. Any insight is appricated. Thank you.

That and i heard about useing forester sway bar mounts but i dont know anyone personally, who has done it. I have stock links on rite now and i think its only a matter of time before they break. Ill post some results when i nake the switch, either spacers or the forester mounts. I have a 2nd gen legacy with 04 forester struts. Not sure exactly how much lift but its gotta be 3 or more inches.

Also setting the car down on its tires made the bolts slide rite out. Took most of the pressure off the sway bar.

I agree. I should have been more specific, this vehicle is my daily driver. Going to install some forester sway links that are ball joint style vs the stock solid plastic ones for a legacy.

I have a 2014 forester and it is an awesome vehicle. It does consume about 2 qts between oil changes though... i was unaware of the issues with the early fb engines. Whenever it is down a qt the oil light on the dash comes on. Not sure if this info helps but i figured id share in case it does.