1999 subaru legacy wagon lift

[phase2scooby]

I know theres a bunch of threads floating around about lifts but I was wondering will say 2006 subaru forester struts and springs fit my 99 legacy wagon and if so will I get the desired 3 inch lift I want .I seen something about having to use the stock legacy top hats instead of the foresters can anyone clarify wat I would need for a 3 inch lift. I plan on trying to run 215/75/r15 general grabber 2 or 235/75/r15 of the same tire

[Scott in Bellingham]

3"YOU will need a complete lift kit found here www.sjrlift.com . the struts will only get 1-1-1/2"

[phase2scooby]

Yeah sorry not buying you lift kit for 600 bucks bud . Especially considering your trailing arm brackets bend I've seen pictures

[Prwa101]

The forester struts are a direct bolt on for your lift set up. Now if you wanting more than the 1-1.5" of lift that it will give you i would go with a 2" lift on top of that. It though will require you to have the forester sub frame spacers/trailing arms/brackets or a proper trailing arm spacer. you can clear with the 06 struts a 215/70/16 easy. so the 15's all day. but the 235's is a challenge, either offset wheels and spacers, or a lower strut lift bracket and wheel spacers.

 

best to lift with Forester struts FIRST than lift with a lift. You gain larger tires clearance due to the higher spring perch and a better ride.

 

My contacts are below, if you have any questions feel free to email me!

 

Patrick

Edited April 4, 2015 by Prwa101

[wondercow2]

How much CV and steering geometry trouble will the '04-'08 Forester strut-spring-tophat combo cause on a BK legacy without adding the subframe spacers? I am seeing all kinds of conflicting information about 1.5" effective lift on a 2nd gen legacy vs 3.5-4" lift. Is the higher number from the forester springs and tophats?

 

I have a stock '98 Legacy L that needs new struts but at 185k miles the springs and tophats probably need to go too, and the Forester struts are available as a complete quick strut at a good price. I am willing to add the outback rear trailing arm brackets and maybe play with sway bar links, but adding the subframe spacers, a new steering coupler, etc.  is just not worth it for me. I'd be happy with the 1-1.5" from OB struts but getting new OB springs is pricey; only the dealerships seem to stock them.

Edited April 23, 2015 by wondercow2

[SnatchedHatch]

How much CV and steering geometry trouble will the '04-'08 Forester strut-spring-tophat combo cause on a BK legacy without adding the subframe spacers? I am seeing all kinds of conflicting information about 1.5" effective lift on a 2nd gen legacy vs 3.5-4" lift. Is the higher number from the forester springs and tophats?

 

I have a stock '98 Legacy L that needs new struts but at 185k miles the springs and tophats probably need to go too, and the Forester struts are available as a complete quick strut at a good price. I am willing to add the outback rear trailing arm brackets and maybe play with sway bar links, but adding the subframe spacers, a new steering coupler, etc.  is just not worth it for me. I'd be happy with the 1-1.5" from OB struts but getting new OB springs is pricey; only the dealerships seem to stock them.

 

I do not see any issues with cv/steering if you are only going to bolt-in stock Forester struts (assuming you use one of the accommodations for the mismatching rear top bolt-pattern).

You could feasibly stick with stock Foz struts and use top hat spacers (3/8") to achieve a little over a 1.5" lift without having to mess with re-situating the sub-frame.

 

You would still need to get a trailing arm spacer, or use the Outback trailing arms.

Thicker top hat spacers can be achieved but by replacing the top mount studs with longer ones. I can't stand by how this set-up holds up, I've heard claims of it being weaker than mounting the top-hat directly to the chassis. Maybe another member has experience with using them.