XT suspension conversion and shifter bushing?

[Speed Kills]

First time poster here, be gentle. Haha.

 

 

I'm looking at buying an '88 XT6 5 speed. The car needs a little work, but the price is right, so I'm trudging forward. On to the bad.....

 

First and foremost, the air suspension. Does not work. At all. So, what would my options be to replace this with a conventional strut/spring in the cheapest/quickest/easiest fashion possible.

 

Also, the car has A LOT of movement in the shifter while in gear. Do these cars have an internal rail, linkage style, or cable-shifted trans? Guessing there's some kind of bad bushing/loose whatever somewhere?

 

If someone could shed some light on these issues for me, i'd greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks for helping the n00b everyone.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Speed Kills

[idosubaru]

air suspension - most direct and easy conversion is XT6 FWD which were all coil over. but the car tends to lean "nose forward" with those. you can flip the rear top mount to help level it out or cut a coil off the rear spring.

 

any EA82 (old school subaru's) REAR strut assemblies also work.

 

EJ (impreza/legacy) front struts fit on an XT6 but need some minor work - the bolts are larger so the hub needs drilled out or you can try to fit your XT6 bolts to the EJ struts...i don't think I'd do that though. Just drill out the XT6 hub holes to accmodate the EJ bolts.

 

just regular cable shift, very simple, bushings are shot. i've never worried about it, does it cause any acutal problems?

 

subaruxt.com for all your XT6 specific needs. many of us are here as well, but that forum has more activity from XT6 folks.

[Numbchux]

yep, any standard EA82 (be it 4-cyl XT or wagon/sedan/coupe) rear shock/spring assembly will work. keep in mind, the wagon will be a much stiffer rear spring than the XT. I like upping the rear spring rates more than the front, so it's not necessarily a bad thing, but be aware, it will change the way the car handles.

 

 

EJ struts aren't too hard to adapt. but you'll want some sort of hydraulic tool to spread the flange. I used a hydraulic press and an impact socket that was about 2 mm wider than the XT6 knuckle. worked perfectly. then a few minutes with a dremel to modify the holes in the strut tower for the EJ strut tops (or, swap the '6 tops onto the EJ struts. they'll interchange. but if you've got a dremel, it'll be faster to modify the body).

 

 

 

what gary meant is that it doesn't use a cable shift. it's external linkage. but yea, there are a few sets of bushings. I started looking to see if some EJ-style ones would work (so that some stiffer ones could be used), they look similar, but I never confirmed anything.

[Speed Kills]

Wow, that was fast! Thanks for the responses fellas.

 

 

I'm slightly confused by using the EJ struts. Do the EJ fronts work on all four corners? Or just work on the front of the XT? I'm sure I could hit the junkyard and leave with some EJ struts, so this might be the easiest route for me, unless my parts connection can get me some loaded XT FWD struts/springs. I'd imagine those XT FWD Struts are hard to find?

 

As far as the shifter goes, it's just mega sloppy. Stick in a bucket of mud sloppy. If the car is in third, the shifter itself can move all the way against the trim piece in either direction. I'd live with it, but it seemed to be a problem finding a gear sometime when I drove the car.

[idosubaru]

Cool sounds like you're up for this, that's great as this is the easiest and best solution. The air suspension is really quite a fat set up to be honest. I always keep it because it rides so nice. Handles awesome and just plain rides really smooth particularly considering how high it sits, not bad for 20 year old cars. But it can be a real pain to keep operating. Gone completely over it can be reliable, but that requires a lot of effort.

 

Okay let's clear this up before you get in trouble:

 

XT and XT6 are not the same. They have some significant differences here, so start using "XT6" when you're talking about your car and pay attention to exactly what folks are saying since they are interchangeable sometimes but not others.

 

Front Struts:

MUST be from a FWD XT6 - not an XT. Not compatible at all.

EJ (legacy/impreza) struts will work up front.

 

Rear struts:

MUST be from an EA series car - GL-10, Loyale, RX, GL Wagon, XT (4 cylinder)

FWD XT6 rear struts work as well.

 

(EJ struts WILL NOT work in the rear minus an oddball exception that doesn't matter here)

Edited December 7, 2009 by grossgary

[Speed Kills]

Outstanding. seems as the parts to fix this thing are even up for sale in the classifieds on here. Excellent!

 

 

Thanks for all the insight. Hopefully I can line up these struts and put this thing in my driveway, then on the road!

[rpholz]

+1 on the SubaruXT.com advise

 

and indeed definatly some differences on the XT6 from the XT i own an XT DL myself exact oposite of your car (base model)

 

the shifter bushings- i used a washer on the connection on the bottom of the shifter itself.. took most of the play out.

 

*edit- so i take it you bought/definatly going to buy the car?

 

and as far as this forum goes. search your question first, if no solid results then post. just a suggestion.

Edited December 7, 2009 by rpholz

[87.5ea82txt]

Ive got an 87.5 Ea82t XT awd 5 speed that has the air struts replaced by the previous owner with coilovers from a '91 fwd XT. The front struts are worn out now and I'm not a huge fan of the extra height in the rear from the fwd rears. Im considering the hybrid suspension swap as done on subaruxt.com site. I was wondering if that would work just the same on my XT as does the XT6?

Edited December 25, 2009 by 87.5ea82txt

[idosubaru]

you have to define what you mean by "hybrid swap" as there's a few ways to do it. but if you mean the EJ (impreza/legacy) swap, then no.

 

Front struts: XT and XT6 are NOT the same and not interchangeable

Rears: Interchangeable.

 

so i think the answer to your question is "no".

[87.5ea82txt]

I meant would the custom suspension setup on the subaruxt.com site that was installed on the XT6 work just the same for my 1987.5 ea82t XT awd currently with complete 1991 fwd 4 cylinder XT using the same parts that they used for the front and rears. Also, is the camber kit required or is that optional? I believe the part number for the rears in the list below are XT-

 

Parts required:

 

Front Struts for a 95 Impreza FWD KYB GR-2 # ????????

 

Adjustable Spring kit for a 93-96 Impreza, From B-Bay Seller Name : t4rac

 

(2) Adjustable Camber Strut bolts from an Impreza

 

(2) Standard Strut bolts from an Impreza

 

(2) Top mounts from XT6 (can be the top mounts off the air struts or the Coilovers)

 

Rear-(A) I ordered (2) rear KYB Struts from http://www.thepartsbin.com Part number # L4000-19670 at $45.85 each (free shipping over $50)

 

( Next I order a set of adjustable Coilovers for a 93-97 Impreza from this E-Bay seller ?t4rac? For $37.88 + $29.00 Shipping .

 

This kit came with springs for the front and rear struts for an Impreza, which weighs almost the same as the XT6 so I figured it would be a close match. (I?ll be using the fronts soon J )

 

© A can of paint (to repaint the mounting hardware) and a can of undercoating to coat the are you will be beating on?.J

 

(D) A can of penetrating oil is handy also

Edited December 25, 2009 by 87.5ea82txt

[idosubaru]

right on - i already answered your question - no, it's not the same as your XT.

 

Front struts: XT and XT6 are NOT the same and not interchangeable

Rears: Interchangeable.

 

so i think the answer to your question is "no".

 

XT6 and XT front struts are not the same, not interchangeable therefore this conversion will not work for you.

 

now - it is possible to swap to XT6 front hubs...which essentially requires a full on 5 lug swap front and rear - that is possible in which case THEN you can swap to impreza/legacy front struts.

 

if you're interested in that, start reading about 5 lug swaps, there's all sorts of options and info on it here but is obviously a much bigger job than just a strut swap.

[87.5ea82txt]

Ah, OK. That makes sense now. A while back I was thinking since the back end sat higher that maybe I could swap some XT6 springs in front while I'm at it and stiffen and raise the front a bit to match the rears to simulate the height of the airstruts in the high setting but I guess that wont work either?