Still wondering about lowering a Baja.

[jseabolt]

Sorry if I sound hard headed about this or missed something in someone's post but there are tons of Legacy wagon lowering springs on Ebay but none listed for the Baja. And they always say "not compatible with your vehicle". There could a reason for this. Such as the outer diameter of the spring itself will not fit a Baja strut.

 

I did a search for some used Legacy struts and came up with $188 (each) used. God only knows how many miles they have on them, if they are rusty, worn out, bent which came from a northern state with crappy roads with allot of salt. Round here you can get almost 200,000 miles out of a set of struts before they wear out. A friend in Vermont says 60,000 miles is the life of a strut up there. I could buy a new set of lowering springs for that and use my known good struts.

 

I did find some adjustable coilovers for my Baja but at $900 they are out of my price range.

 

I'm thinking if I used a set of 1.5 lowering springs for a Legacy wagon not only will this lower my car 1.5" but maybe an additional 1-2" which will give me the look I am after. Just guessing. I'm not wanting to slame it or anything. Just make it sit like a Legacy GT version. About a 1" gap between the tire and wheelwell.

 

Someone mentioned there is a spacer that goes between the body and the strut assembly on the Baja makes it sit higher than a standard Legacy. So could the standard Legacy and Baja possibly use the same springs?

 

So other than cutting the springs with a cutting disc, what's the cheapest alternative to lowering a Baja?

 

I just want to know if the springs between a standard Legacy and a Baja are interchangable between the strutt assemblies. Has anyone ever compared the two together to see what the actual difference is?

[86BRATMAN]

People use Baja springs to get some extra lift on the 00-04 outbacks. The reverse is also true, the suspension components are interchangeable.

[jseabolt]

People use Baja springs to get some extra lift on the 00-04 outbacks. The reverse is also true, the suspension components are interchangeable.

 

That's odd. I always thought the Outbacks and Bajas had about the same ride height and possibly used the same springs or suspension.

[AdventureSubaru]

They are pretty close between outback and baja.

 

If you want to get noticeably lower, you want stock 00-04 Legacy stuff under there. Fronts from 1990-1999 Legacy or Impreza will do the same but the rears must be 2000-04

 

$188 each for used struts is crazy expensive. Shop around and you'll find them for more like $50 each for the whole assemblies. KYB GR2s are $52. each on rockauto.

 

Your baja would sit the same as a legacy so if you're wanting to go lower still than a stock legacy you'll need the lowering springs. At this point you likely will no longer clear stock tires though.

[86BRATMAN]

From what I've read, the 03 Baja does use the same springs as the 00-04 outbacks but the 04-06 Baja it's about an inch taller.

[987687]

The 00-04 baja and outback are the same platform and have the same suspension, etc. It was 05 that they changed.

 

I'm not sure why you'd want to lower a baja, I'd probably lift it and put bigger tires on it.... BUT, get stuff meant for 00-04 legacy/outback and it'll work on the baja, too.

[jseabolt]

Well I did find four struts w/coil springs from Rock Auto for $352 a set. But I have a coil spring compressor so I don't care to swap out just the springs.

 

 

I checked for just the springs and they are pulling up a whole host of different springs for the 2003 Legacy. The descriptions are misleading (4WD not AWD ) and confusing. It mentions models sold in the UK and Ireland using difference springs. WTF?

 

Maybe I need to check somewhere's else for a better description of what they are trying to sell such as 2003 Legacy station wagon...

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2015 by jseabolt