How does a Legacy L suspension differ from an Outback?

[Highway_Star]

The Outbacks have a higher ground clearance and that would come in handy this winter, what parts would I need to swap to my L to raise it up ?

[subaru360]

The Outbacks have a higher ground clearance and that would come in handy this winter, what parts would I need to swap to my L to raise it up ?

 

You can swap just the struts/springs. I'd also swap the rear trailing arm brackets, they center the wheel in the wheel well.

 

 

The outback also has frame spacers, different trans crossmember etc, but most people don't bother with all that.

 

Be sure to align it afterwards, you may need aftermarket camber bolts to get it right.

[WoodsWagon]

What year L do you have? There's some differences between the years that cause minor issues that are easy to adress when swapping ouback struts in.

[Highway_Star]

It's a 1999

[WoodsWagon]

Get a set of 99 legacy outback struts and put them in, will be a direct bolt in. You do not need the springs, just the struts. Reuse your springs.

 

99 outback struts have the ABS wire bracket welded to the struts, 96-98 have a separate bracket that is held on by the camber bolt, you can use these brackets in your 99 if you only find older struts.

 

Get an allignment afterward.

[Fuzpile]

In highway handling and nipping around the SUVs if you can see over them, then regular stance is fine. There are those times to walk over things with our AWD. I just find it interesting that the air adj suspension was offered yet not much is said about it here. It wouldn't have to be active all the time.

[Fuzpile]

I was just thinking about the hydrapnuematic variations of the past. it would be cool to flip a switch and gain 5" . Because you cut in a compressor which normally doesn't drag the engine. Then level it down. In memory which is faint, it was really a shock tower comprised of nitrogen on one side and hydraulic fluid on the other coupled to torsion suspension. It required a hyd pump and all that.

[Fuzpile]

There were many problems as the hydraulic fluid for the sphere membranes leveling/suspension system was unlike that for the brake system until it wasn't.. stuff changes. Also there were climatic changes which doomed the operation of myriad switches at six points to work correctly. It was sort of a fiasco depending upon how you look at it. I'm not even going there with the suspension automatically adjusting around curves at hi speed and all those awards and stuff because I'm talking about much simpler things.

I do notice that the coils on an outback spring are the same number as a legacy. They just stretched them. I'm going somewhere but gotta think about it.