bh3025 Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 I'm new to cars, new to this site, new to life basically. 20 years old, just bought my first car. It's a really clean 89 Xt6 with 98k miles. Everything works like it should, except for my air struts. One of my rear airbags has a puncture in it now unfortunatley. It's such a hard car to find parts on, but this is part of the reason I purchased it. I plan on spending good money on this vehicle for it's uniquness and just the fact its freakin sweet. If anyone here has any information on how to obtain parts for it I would appreciate it. I conduct all of my own repairs and work on this vehicle. Any information on converting it to coil overs that will fit would be great. Drive It. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Original replaement parts may be all but unavailable. Otherwise there are for one side, but not the other. If you sour the earth, you may find a poll-off set or reondtioned set. You can retrofit non airbag struts just as easlily. Impreza parts are an option for the xt-6. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 are you positive the strut has a hole in it? in that case just get a used one. i may have one, i've got a pile of XT struts. the air system is quite challenging to diagnose, but i do prefer it and they ride well and last a long time when properly operating. but there's about 50 ways in which they can fail due to age so it's tedious keeping them reliable. if you get all the rust off the front strut bodies, replace about 20 orings in the system, and make sure solenoids are good and replace the rear strut mount bushings...they can be reliable. you can convert the suspension to conventional coil-spring struts. Fronts - Impreza's/legacy can be used - have to spread the lower flanges apart for it to slide over the hub. Rears - EA82 rear struts are a direct bolt in. Flip the rear top mounts upside down to bring the rear down as the car will then sit raked with rear higher than front and overall it would sit a little lower than air ride. You can retrofit non airbag struts just as easlily. Impreza parts are an option for the xt-6. Good luck that's only true for the front. that won't work for the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmashedGlass Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Has anyone ever thought of checking with the numerous air-suspension vendors on replacements/fixes for the old Sube stuff? I mean.....if they can bag an '80 Corolla or a '49 Mercury, they should be able to come up with something for us. Just saying..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hsoj Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 The hard part of using the markets current air suspension setup is coming up with the cash. At over $400 a corner just for the struts it gets out of hand fast. Some companies will make you a strut, but thats expensive. I'm sure there is an option out there. Even land rovers use a sleeve style air bag crimped on to a strut body. That leaves the strut at less than 5" diameter fully deployed. http://www.jcwhitney.com/air-springs/subaru-outback/c11299d13233j1s21.jcwx Here is for the outback http://thmotorsports.com/i-508877.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=5088771996SUBARUIMPREZA&utm_campaign=GoogleShoppingSeanVehSpec&adtype=pla&kw=&gclid=CLq5kfOCtr8CFQphfgodFxcAlw an impreza And there are a lot more out there. Now the OP's xt has some of the parts already installed and so the full kit wont be needed but the rest of the system is out dated. Something to consider as well. All the air suspension system on the market started with these big semi trucks. These are all being run all across the country on every big truck you see everyday. Try that with some soapy water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Has anyone ever thought of checking with the numerous air-suspension vendors on replacements/fixes for the old Sube stuff? I mean.....if they can bag an '80 Corolla or a '49 Mercury, they should be able to come up with something for us. Just saying..... of course. that something has been done doesn't mean it's a good fit for average daily drivers. you could use your example to answer every question every posed "couldn't someone retrofit brand XYZ component to replace this lesser one?" that's generic, incomplete, and short sighted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Buy a strut from Gary, pop it in and be done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bh3025 Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 I'm positive my airbag has a hole in it, my compressor is almost shot, couldn't find the fuse to pull it to get it to stop running constant. About how much am I looking at to spend on the coil conversion? I might as well do front as well as the rear. I need my vehicle to be reliable at this point, plan on keeping the air system and installing it again once I have enough money to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john in KY Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Open the hood and look by the MC. Should see a black rubber boot looking thing. Remove boot and unplug the relay and the compressor will stop. Foolish to replace the entire suspension when all you need is one strut but that's just my opinion. Note: unplug the 2 smaller wires at the relay. One of the two larger wires is always hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBoot Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) My XT6 came with the swap done, but it looked too high, i checked the rear struts and found they are FWD so 2" taller than AWD, and found the receipt from the swap in the records that came with the car, says forester fronts, 2" higher than Impreza. It has the same ground clearance as my AWD wagon 6 1/2". 2 1/2" between tire and wheel well in rear, and 3" in front. I'll leave it for now and have some fun rallying, but once it"s painted and has nice wheels I'll lower it. Edited August 4, 2014 by BlackBoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skishop69 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 There is no air strut made that will bolt in. Years back when I got my XT GL10, I spent hours searching. At the time, there were 2 companies willing to give it a go to rebuild or build new ones to the tune of, please be seated..... $1500/strut. That was their estimated starting price. Ummmmm..... pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I'm positive my airbag has a hole in it, my compressor is almost shot, couldn't find the fuse to pull it to get it to stop running constant. About how much am I looking at to spend on the coil conversion? I might as well do front as well as the rear. I need my vehicle to be reliable at this point, plan on keeping the air system and installing it again once I have enough money to do so. If you want to disable the whole system the computer for it is on the drivers side floor, behind the drivers seat. Pull up the carpet edge and unplug the whole mess. You could convert to a set of Impreza fronts struts and EA82 rear coilovers for a few hundred dollars. My XT was de-airbagged along time ago, but the compressor, solenoids, vavles, and hardlines are still int he car and intact..........It would be nice to get a full set of airsturts again someday if they become avavilable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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