MitchJi Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 Hi, A friend who doesn't have much money needs to replace the rear air shocks on a 1994 Subaru Legacy (4WD Wagon). New shocks at the dealer are $150 each. There are a lot of Subaru shocks online but I have not been able to find the AIR shocks online. Anyone know a good source? Is there a source for rebuilt shocks? She is considering used shocks which I don't think is a good idea. If anyone thinks this is a good idea where can we get a pair? Thanks! Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 You wont find them on line or used because everyone replaces them with standard struts on all four corners. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchJi Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 You wont find them on line or used because everyone replaces them with standard struts on all four corners. nipper Thanks for the information. The non-air struts are cheaper. How hard/expensive would it be to replace them with standard (non-air) struts? Would that be a good idea? Thanks Again! Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 are you sure the rear air struts are bad? i'd bet they aren't. if both are deflated it could be something else. it could be a 50 cent o-ring. or it could be the computer or something else. if you're sure the air bag is leaking you can blow tire sealant in the air strut to seal the leaky bag. the front is easy, just blow it in the top...not sure how to get to the rears to do that though. replacement with regular (non-air) struts is the best option by far. the air suspension is expensive and difficult to troubleshoot if you're not doing it yourself and have a horde of extra parts. if you want to trouble shoot - at the drivers side front strut top in the engine bay should be a long connector (female) that doesn't plug into anything. it's just hanging there by the strut solenoid. facing the end of the connector, each pinout grounds a solenoid. facing it from left to right on the top row is: Front Passengers Side, Front Drivers Side, Rear Passengers Side and Rear Drivers Side. if you ground each of these pins (just run a wire from negative battery to the pin, that's it) you should hear a click at each strut. that's the solenoid clicking. anyone that doesn't click means it's not working and needs to be replaced. the rear passengers side is hard to hear yourself while grounding it on the opposite side of the car so listen carefully. i'd be comfortable with using a used air strut assuming it's in decent shape and cheap. inspect the bag and make sure there isn't significant rust where the air bag meets the bottom strut support. the metal rusts and rubs on the air bag. the internal height sensor can fail, but that is rare so if the bags good i'd go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchJi Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 Hi grossgary, Thank You Very Very Much! Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstwagon Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 Hi, A friend who doesn't have much money needs to replace the rear air shocks on a 1994 Subaru Legacy (4WD Wagon). New shocks at the dealer are $150 each. There are a lot of Subaru shocks online but I have not been able to find the AIR shocks online. Anyone know a good source? Is there a source for rebuilt shocks? She is considering used shocks which I don't think is a good idea. If anyone thinks this is a good idea where can we get a pair? Thanks! Mitch When I bought my 91 Legacy wgn last year, one of the front air struts was leaking. I replaced both the fronts with used air struts from a local wrecker that deals with Subarus and they have been fine since. It was my cheapest option at the time. They had a waiting list for complete used strut/spring suspensions and they wanted way too much for them anyhow ($800 Cdn, $650 US). I looked into new struts but the only place I could get them was Subaru and they wanted $569 Cdn PER STRUT! ( about $460 US at the time). I would have been happy to pay $150 each for new ones as that's what I ended up paying for used. The trouble with replacing only some of them is there other parts to go bad. Now I have a leak somewhere in the rear system that I can't find. As soon as I can scrape up the money I plan to replace everything this time rather then continuely fixing the air suspension bit by bit. By the time I buy 4 struts, 4 springs, 4 strut mounts and the bits and pieces, I expect it to cost close to $1000 Cdn ($900 US ) if I do the work myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 12, 2006 Share Posted June 12, 2006 Have you soaked the entire system with soapy water to see if there any leaks other then the suspected strut? nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchJi Posted June 12, 2006 Author Share Posted June 12, 2006 Hi, replacement with regular (non-air) struts is the best option by far. the air suspension is expensive and difficult to troubleshoot if you're not doing it yourself and have a horde of extra parts. Which model/year of struts will bolt into a 94 4WD Legacy Wagon? Have you soaked the entire system with soapy water to see if there any leaks other then the suspected strut?nipper Thanks Nipper! Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 i believe just 90-94 as the air strut was discontinued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchJi Posted June 13, 2006 Author Share Posted June 13, 2006 Hi, Thank you all very very much! One more question. There two rear shocks are almost totally non-functional (which I now know could be caused by something other than the struts). Can driving the car like that cause any damage other than something breaking off if the car hits a big bump? Can this cause damage to either the front struts or some other part of the air suspension? Thanks Again! Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 what do you mean by non functional? Do you mean the air system is totally dead, or that the shocks are dead and wont bounce at all. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchJi Posted June 13, 2006 Author Share Posted June 13, 2006 what do you mean by non functional? Do you mean the air system is totally dead, or that the shocks are dead and wont bounce at all. nipper Hi, The rear shocks are totally dead. The front shocks work fine. Thanks! Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Hi, The rear shocks are totally dead. The front shocks work fine. Thanks! Mitch The rear shocks are completly blown. i dont think the air system can compensate for that then. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstwagon Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Hi, Thank you all very very much! One more question. There two rear shocks are almost totally non-functional (which I now know could be caused by something other than the struts). Can driving the car like that cause any damage other than something breaking off if the car hits a big bump? Can this cause damage to either the front struts or some other part of the air suspension? Thanks Again! Mitch While I don't think it could damage the rest of the air suspension system, it could damage your car. If by non functional you mean completely deflated then your car is riding on the bump stops. There is no springs to absorb impacts and so the force will be transfered directly to the mounting point for the rear struts. Not good. Mine got like that on the front when I got a rip in one of the bags. As the rip got worse, the compressor couldn't keep up and the front end of the car would settle right down on the stops. Handling was great (no lean) but the ride was brutal. New or used, I recomend changing them out before you drive it much more. The repair bill will be much bigger if you punch a strut through the mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 yes things will break, the most at risk thing is the exhaust system, then there is the senders in the fuel tank and any dirt in the tank. The battery does not like being slammed .... i can go on but you get the idea nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchJi Posted June 14, 2006 Author Share Posted June 14, 2006 Hi, Thanks firstwagon! Thanks nipper! Thanks everyone who helped! Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreasMunky Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Seriously consider the conversion to a passive coil system. There are less tiny, fragile parts to break. I got my conversion kit from Strutmasters.com about 8 months ago and have been very happy. It was about $650 for me to convert all four wheels ( http://www.strutmasters.com/subaru-legacy-suspension-s/155.htm ) but just like in one of the previous replies, it was going to cost me A LOT MORE to fix all the components within the air ride suspension that could have been wrong. Bloody Nightmare!!! Anyways.. these coil springs had a lifetime warranty which was nice. Just made it a lot easier for me to spend more time driving my car instead of fixing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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