Lifting the 95 Legacy LS, problems and solutions

[foxgap]

All,    A few months ago I posted questions about clicking noises in our lifted Legacy. It was lifted with 07 Forester struts and right from the get go it had this clicking noise in the front axles.  Some thought it was the diff, others thought it was bad remaned axles.  I did get a post from one gent that suggested that it was the angle of the axles and to cure the problem I would need to get the 1" blocks that fit between the frame and crossmember, the bolts that hold those blocks in place,  the pivots on the A frames and the steering coupler from a 96 thru 99 Outback.  I just happen to have a 96 Outback in the backyard that has a bad 5 speed and TONS of rot on it.   Now that the snow is gone and I can get to it I drove it and the 95 up to my friends shop last night and we started switching parts around from car to car.   Everything went pretty well today and I was driving the 95 around without any clicking noises by 3:00pm.  Horahhh.  Minor problems did crop up though.....

 

The most major problem was the steering coupler.  This we had to fabricate to make it work.  I don't know about some of the newer Outbacks but the steering coupler from the 96 Outback was to long for the 95 and of course the one from the 95 was to short.  What we did was cut and fab a shaft the correct length from the 95. Mig welded it together and now it fits perfect.  It was doing it this way or changing the rack, which looked like another PITA altogether.  The pivots were very easy, just swap the entire A frame from the Outback to the 95 and yes the pivots are different thicknesses. Putting the blocks in was the easiest, loosen the nuts on the bolts and lower the crossmember down while pulling the bolts out the top after removing the airbox and washer jug.  For some reason they put a phillips screw in the sheet metal holding the bolts to the frame, but they got lost in the transfer of parts and did not go back on.  I think that before I drive the car a lot with the good summer tires on it I will have an alingment done on it just to be on the safe side.

 

Would I do this swap again?  Sure, just need to do the correct part swap in the beginning the next time.  Maybe to a newer Legacy if one comes by.  But there are so many Outbacks out there that it just does not seem practical.  We did the 95 cause it had a ton of options and it came cheap with the 2.2.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone,

Mark

[86BRATMAN]

On the steering coupler issue, the reason you encountered the issue is because the actual steering columns are different lengths between the outback and regular legacy.

[foxgap]

That is what we thought also,  another PITA we did not want to get into.  The 15 min it took to fab up a new coupler was worth it.  We also noticed that the racks had different lengths on their shafts.