AdventureSubaru Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) Finally got lifted! Took a while to get all the pieces together for it. Here's what I started with. 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. EJ22 with 5 speed. 250k Shopping list was Set of 4 99 Forester Struts/springs 3/8 inch HDPE Strut top spacers 99 Subaru Forester Swaybar Brackets 97 Subaru Legacy Outback Trailing Arm brackets 4 2001 Chrysler Sebring 15 inch steel rims 4 Sentry LT 215/75/15 tires 15 inch subaru rim (spare) 215/75/15 jy tire (spare) Safari style roof rack (a little welding goes a long way) Fog lights Fresh meat. First strut/spring/spacer installed. Gave about 3 1/2 inches of lift alone. Front complete. Front is super easy. took less than an hour. The rear was much more. Broke 5 of 6 welds on the bolts for the trailing arm brackets. Had to cut through the floor with an angle grinder and cutting disc to gain access. Replaced the old bolts with shiney new ones. Had to drill a new hole for the strut tops and widen two of the existing ones on each side. I'm thrilled with the final result. Took some cutting and bashing to get rid of the rubbing on turns. (Still have a little to find.) and there's a rattle somewhere when i hit a pothole on the passenger rear. I have about 11 1/2 inches of clearance at the rockers vs. 6 1/2 at stock. Still handles well. Working on swaybar links now. Alignment is also next on the list. (Any advice for getting back to normal camber? Is this something an alignment shop can do? or am I shopping for camber bolts?) Car is ready for some adventure. Too bad I have to drive a ways to find any decent trails in this part of the country. Edited February 11, 2012 by AdventureSubaru 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97preza Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 I LIKE IT!!! I have the same plans for my 97 OBS. forester struts/springs but minus the spacers. i see you said it still handles good. i still plan to drive mine every day. GREAT LOOKING CAR!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Comparison next to my friends stock 93 L sedan. It really is fantastic the way that everything sits tight to the body underneath. A stock Jeep Wrangler Rubicon has 10 1/2 inches of ground clearance at the diff. I've got about 11 1/4 at the rockers and not much that hangs lower than that under the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red92 Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Looks great! The whole thing really is a package deal. The lift, the meaty tires, the level stance... it all works great together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xbeerd Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 x2 man, looks pretty sweet. i wanna do a lifted OBS for my next ride once my wagon gets eaten by the salt monster. home made roof rack FTW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 I made two of them. I test fitted the other one on my girlfriends 2000 Legacy Outback. She kept glaring at me the whole time it was on her car, so I removed it after a couple days. At one point someone told her she had a nice rack. She didn't know how to respond. :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifu Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 very cool build. Looks great. Yes- I get the same rattle when I go over bumps. I figured the struts I swapped were either just old (especially that cushion that goes on it), OR the forester strut is bottoming out. Either way, I'll be putting new outback struts in. I'll let you know how that works on noise. What exactly did you bang in to reduce rubbing on turns? I didn't hammer because I didn't want to damage anything.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Your lift looks great. You got some good ride height. You have pulled it off better than most of the dirty impreza crowd with what they put together. (i.e. "the lift that wasn't" thread and similar) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Rattling in the back going over bumps may be from the nuts not being tight that hold the strut rod into the strut cap. Some struts had a longer unthreaded portion where they go through the strut cap. The nut bottoms out on the threads before it actually touches the strut cap. Grinding a washer to fit in under the nut fixes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifu Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 yes, this is a good call. It most definitely requires a washer. But from my experience with and without one on the forester struts, it's more than just a minor rattle over a pothole...it sounds like the car will fall apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Wow. Looks very good! Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 $30. on Craigslist. The plan is to shorten it to fit within the stock bumper. Gotta take 9 inches out of the middle. I'll have to weld some plates to the front of the car to get a solid mounting surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Man! That would fit perfect on the Ski wagon...! Nice find... I gotta find something like that now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 The guy that sold it to me had it on his S10. There's probably more like this around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xbeerd Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Looks sweet man, what diameter tubing is that? 2"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Yeah I think so. trouble is that it's stainless, so i can't just weld the ends back together. Gonna try an slide a smaller pipe under the original and bolt it all together as of now. Unless I can find someone who does cheap brazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ioku Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Ive welded stainless with regular steel wire before and it worked fine, might not be the best, but for somthing nonstructual like that brush guard you should be ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Just don't be like me and weld Galvanized sheet metal *Cough, cough* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xbeerd Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 hah, yeah. damn toxins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted March 25, 2012 Author Share Posted March 25, 2012 hee hee. This place is about 5 miles down the road from where I work. I got some funny looks from some granny types when I pulled over and snapped this picture. If my car ever needs a makeover, maybe these people can handle it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 hee hee. This place is about 5 miles down the road from where I work. I got some funny looks from some granny types when I pulled over and snapped this picture. If my car ever needs a makeover, maybe these people can handle it. That's really funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xbeerd Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 haha nice. wonder if they own a WRX-rated video store too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Man! That would fit perfect on the Ski wagon...! Nice find... I gotta find something like that now! you need to buy the Australian RooBar from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonryan Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 ahhh your car has me stoked to get my FXT struts in my obs this weekend! are you using the legacy outback subframe spacers? seems like your CVs would be screamin without em haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 ahhh your car has me stoked to get my FXT struts in my obs this weekend! are you using the legacy outback subframe spacers? seems like your CVs would be screamin without em haha They do ok with just the struts. If you add more than that, then you should use the subframe spacers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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