superu Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 So who's who in the lifted Impreza world? I feel like I've run into nothing but problems lifting my IMP with forester stuts and I would like folks' input for solutions... I swapped 98 forester struts into a 93 impreza. The front owrked great, but the rears were a pain... First, yeah I needed to get mounts and swap out the maount and upper spring perch, then i got them in, with a little grunting and lowered the car on the ground and found like 4 inches of lift..... The rear springs, givin longer suspension travel from the forester struts, are taller and give lift on top of the longer strut shaft.... Then I've got the horrible clunking and the struts practically rub the wheel well at the bottom spring seat... I'm thinking of putting the IMP springs back on, but think that with the lnger strut travel, the smaller impreza spring will not push the strut shaft tight against the upper spring seat, thus not hold the strut together with tension... I have legacy springs but fear either the same thing, or the same as with the forester springs.... I'm about 2 steps away from junking the project for stock Impreza material.. Before http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3975&d=1150778471 After http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3978&d=1150778616 rear detail before lift (link fixed) http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3981&d=1150779235 After lift http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3980&d=1150778988 muffler detail before http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3976&d=1150778471 muffler detail after http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3977&d=1150778471 Granted 4 inches is neat, but its straining the axles and the wheel swung forward a lot in the rear, ergo not much room for larger tires... So I'd like to hear other lifted impreza stories and solutions. thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayn3ver Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 I am lifting mine today. I purchased 98 froester struts and springs. I was told i could resuse the impreza tops so thats my plan. We'll see how that goes. I'll report back later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 I used 96 legacy outback (kyb) struts and (stock) springs. I had some initial problems with clunking in the rear. It was because the bottom spring perch was rubbing against the inner wall. So I pulled them off and hit it plenty with the bfh on both sides and got rid of the clunking. It's good and raked in the back. I like it. I'm old school, you shoulda seen my 69 mustang when I was 18. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 do the impreza's get more lift than the legacy's do with a similar setup? i'm lifted on outback struts and springs and bigger tires and i don't think mine sits as high as the two posted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayn3ver Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 O man where do i begin. First off i must say i am a retard with a spring compressor. It only took me like 10 tries to get my first strut/spring to line up with the top hat. And then when i finally did get it and tried to put it in i aparently didn't line up the top hat right and i had to undo it and start all over. After that, i had the hang of it and banged out the second front strut in like 10-15 minutes...from start to finish. The rear passenger side came off somewhat smooth, but that hard brake line is a PITA trying to cut and bend the tab off the strut cause theres like no room to fit vice grips at the angles you need. The rear driver side, i am sad to say, will be finished tomorow. the lower strut bolts are frozen good and i didnt feel like bustin the torch out today after doing the other three corners. I tried my 18inch breaker bar as i lay on the ground face up, i layed on it with the 1/2inch impact for several minutes, several tries. And both attempts were made after soaking both nuts and bolts well in PB blaster. O well. On the bright side i got to test fit one of my super swamper ssr's on the front. Damn. With those tires and the struts, my rear bumper will almost be sitting as hight as my brother's rear bumper(brother has 98 dodge ram with 5 inch lift and 33's right now). Well, not dead even, but i am surprised at the height i gained. How much less does a stripped out imp L coupe with manual locks/windows vs an OBS? Oh and in the rear, i did notice its very very close on the inside where the spring perch meets the wheel well. I am gonna try and drive around tomorow after i get the other strut on and see if i notice any clunking. and if i do, i'' BFH it. Then hopefully get an alignment cause i traveling to the shore on sat/sunday and don't wannt screw up my tires. Anyways. good night. I'll report tomorow how i make out. And for everyone to know, i used imp strut tops all the way around and they fit. Atleast i think...haha. The only issue i would say is the rubber cushion that goes on the bottom of the rear assembly...its just a tad off and the little tabs dont line up so i cut them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted June 23, 2006 Author Share Posted June 23, 2006 Okay, I've pulled the a rear OFR strut of and compared a couple things, First, longer suspension travel on FOR Second I think the clunking, while could be lower spring seat agaist the body wall, i think the stud isn't seated against the tophat and nut... See images, the IMP collar (where the stud rests in the upper mount/tophat) is smaller/shorter/ not as long, while the FOR coller (where the shock stud rests inside the upper mount/tophat is longer. The collar i'm talking about is less diameter than the shock shaft, but greater diameter than the shock's threaded stud... I think this, unseated condition gives the thunking, ergo, when (rear FOR strut on rear IMP) the washer and nut cranked all the way down are not seated on the upper mount/tophat, but are seated on the upper plane of the collar, thus the collar/shock shaft has .5 cm (5 mm) play up and doen inside the upper mount (which is bolted to the car)... I hope this makes sense... I too am having fun with the spring compresser, but was going to compare unlaiden springs (FOR to IMP and see the height difference ther as well.... more tomorrow, keep the imput coming, we'll get this lift ironed out in its minutae for other impreza owners to follow without runin into these problems!!! O man where do i begin. First off i must say i am a retard with a spring compressor. It only took me like 10 tries to get my first strut/spring to line up with the top hat. And then when i finally did get it and tried to put it in i aparently didn't line up the top hat right and i had to undo it and start all over. After that, i had the hang of it and banged out the second front strut in like 10-15 minutes...from start to finish. The rear passenger side came off somewhat smooth, but that hard brake line is a PITA trying to cut and bend the tab off the strut cause theres like no room to fit vice grips at the angles you need. The rear driver side, i am sad to say, will be finished tomorow. the lower strut bolts are frozen good and i didnt feel like bustin the torch out today after doing the other three corners. I tried my 18inch breaker bar as i lay on the ground face up, i layed on it with the 1/2inch impact for several minutes, several tries. And both attempts were made after soaking both nuts and bolts well in PB blaster. O well. On the bright side i got to test fit one of my super swamper ssr's on the front. Damn. With those tires and the struts, my rear bumper will almost be sitting as hight as my brother's rear bumper(brother has 98 dodge ram with 5 inch lift and 33's right now). Well, not dead even, but i am surprised at the height i gained. How much less does a stripped out imp L coupe with manual locks/windows vs an OBS? Oh and in the rear, i did notice its very very close on the inside where the spring perch meets the wheel well. I am gonna try and drive around tomorow after i get the other strut on and see if i notice any clunking. and if i do, i'' BFH it. Then hopefully get an alignment cause i traveling to the shore on sat/sunday and don't wannt screw up my tires. Anyways. good night. I'll report tomorow how i make out. And for everyone to know, i used imp strut tops all the way around and they fit. Atleast i think...haha. The only issue i would say is the rubber cushion that goes on the bottom of the rear assembly...its just a tad off and the little tabs dont line up so i cut them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JordanR693 Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I have a 94 impreza sedan and i had no trouble using the Forester Struts and Springs. yea the rear was hard to connect back to the struct but plus you have some fairly high tention springs back there expecially if they are new out of the box. But it can be done. I did it in about 3 hours. I reused the assembly for the top that i had already had for the impreza struts and springs. I get no noises from driving it and they perform just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 The attachments you added show exactly the problem I had putting in the WRX struts and springs. The top hats are completely different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayn3ver Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 wrx top hats are completely different than the 93-01 imprezas. The forester 98-01? is based on the impreza and should in theory work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayn3ver Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 well, it took me all day to get the bottom strut bolt off from the rear driver side. I even tried to remove the axle to get to the nut side of it but i ran into more stuck bolts. Torched that mother for like 15 minutes and then threw the breaker bar on it than once it was rotating in the slot i threw the impact on there. WHew. Ok, i took it for a quick run tonight. First thing i noticed was that it was really stiff. Second, was that i think i bent one of my rear heat shields by accident during the course of things because as i drive i hear a rubbing from the back every rotation. I also noticed an intermitent clunk BUTT...i dunno if i seated the strut tops correctly. I used a scooby mods pictorial for the front, which made it a point to show you how to line up the fronts. But the rear, i just kinda rotated the top until is evenly covered the rubber boot which is placed on top of the spring before the top. I got in/on my trunk ans jumped up and down and could not reproduce the clunk, so i'm not sure with that yet. i still might take the rears off and bang in the areas where its kinda close and see if that helps. I also left my rear sway bar unattatched on both ends from the links so it might be that which is clunking. Pics tomorow, hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted June 24, 2006 Author Share Posted June 24, 2006 I think so, I didn't get that much (as my whit IMP) on my legacy/OB lift I think you get a couple inches from the strut shaft and a couple inches from the spring going forester into impreza, but OB into legacy only gives you a couple from the strut height, but the OB has the same spring as the legacy... Hmm, maybe I'll put these foresters on my legacy? do the impreza's get more lift than the legacy's do with a similar setup? i'm lifted on outback struts and springs and bigger tires and i don't think mine sits as high as the two posted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted June 24, 2006 Author Share Posted June 24, 2006 ignore this duplicate (got booted by dialup AARRGGG!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted June 24, 2006 Author Share Posted June 24, 2006 sayn3ver, Is your rear tire uber-cloase to the front of the wheel well? This is my main problem, other than the back being lifted more than the front... I'm going for stock IMP springs in the rear to see if that'll mellow it out some... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjo Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 OH oh, i've got a lifted impreza... but you've all seen the pics before :-p Zap, i like the one with big wheels better no offence to your wife's car, but the dark grey is like.. 300% sexier than the lighter grey (yeah.. my car has the light grey :-\ ) oh yeah, superu, it looks like you've got plenty of axle angle left there, when it's lifted.... just put bigger rubber in there and it'll be hott oh yeah.. is that lots of PB blaster overspray i see on the cv boot? because i know i must have drained at least 1/2 a can to get those bolts out good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayn3ver Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 I used 1/2 can of PB on the one bolt. Didn't need any for anything else. My rear tire did move abit foward, but no different than anyone elses. Its a compromise for the extra clearence. All suspension systems have trade offs. This happens to be one of them (not to mention must people lower their cars, not lift them). i am pretty happy with the ground clearence, and when i cut and put on the ssr's on all 4 corners she's gonna sit pretty good. But i have also went ahead and made my payment towards the AA lift kit via the group buy. I dunno whether or not it'll be a big improvement, but any addtional height is welcomed, whether its suspension or body lift(so theres is more distance between me and the mudd pit). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 so the forrester springs are actually taller? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayn3ver Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 i didnt do a side by side measuring, but yes. Not only are they taller, they are of a higher spring rate, thus a lighter car will sit higher on them (hence a lift when used on an impreza). I definetly needed to compress them more to get them on the struts than taking off my impreza springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted June 24, 2006 Author Share Posted June 24, 2006 Andy, Hmm, just doesn't look like much room for larger tires b/c of the swing forward...(http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3980&d=1150778988) And nope, that's brake fluid With a 3 ton floor jack's handle, we didn't have too much trouble getting the bolts off, but the upper driver's rear, that one was the bugger... I'm going to swap legacy springs today and put it together calling it good (hopefully).. the IMP springs don't even seat, and pop off the lower perch when poping the strut into place on the drum assembly... the photos here go with post #11, comparing my legacy on OB strut lift OH oh, i've got a lifted impreza... but you've all seen the pics before :-p Zap, i like the one with big wheels better no offence to your wife's car, but the dark grey is like.. 300% sexier than the lighter grey (yeah.. my car has the light grey :-\ ) oh yeah, superu, it looks like you've got plenty of axle angle left there, when it's lifted.... just put bigger rubber in there and it'll be hott oh yeah.. is that lots of PB blaster overspray i see on the cv boot? because i know i must have drained at least 1/2 a can to get those bolts out good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted June 24, 2006 Author Share Posted June 24, 2006 Yup. The IMP uncompressed is about 12 inches and the uncompresses FOR is 16 inches. so the forrester springs are actually taller? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superu Posted June 24, 2006 Author Share Posted June 24, 2006 Okay, here's rear springs from a '98 forester (left), ;95 legacy (center), '93 impreza (right) Sorry, not taking off my OB struts to show an OB spring too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75subie Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 sayn3ver, did you get pics of your imp lifted yet? i`m looking at a 96 coupe, just would like to see how it would look with a lil extra height..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayn3ver Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 nah, i mean, i can go outside and snap some, but i havent figured out how to upload them in linux yet/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75subie Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 excuse my stupidity, but what is linux? i usually use photobucket, and link them here, piece of cake.if you cant't upload them, thats no biggie, thanks for the reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjo Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 linux is an operating system, which some say is better than windows... i agree with them It's just another way of computing data.. it's less suseptabe to viruses etc.. but you usually need to know what you're doing with it.. opposed to windows where anyone can use it Are you trying to get the pics off the camera, or from your system to the web that you're having problems with? The web thing is easy here on usmb.. just hit the 'photos' link at the top of the page here.. .and then hit 'upload photos', you can mess around w/ albums too if you're feeling ambisous. The camera and linux... what kind of camera are you using? you can usually map the device as a hard drive, and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayn3ver Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 ok, i messed around with it today, i didnt get the camera to talk with linux, but i installed my 11-1 card reader that i've been meaning to install and it reads my CF card fine. I'll go snap some pics right now. Linux is an O.S. It is free. It is stable, fast, and fully customizable. Its getting to the point where even an idiot like me can use it. Oh, and i picked up a canon Digital rebal EOS(300d) off of a teammate for cheap. ********Edit****** A face only a father could love Duct tape covering rusted out quater panel. Rear bumper is sagging because i was rear ended by some lady in a mini van and the metal tabs that you clip the bumper to broke. Waiting for my body man to recover and then the rust and rear bumper will be fixed and hopfeully sprayed all black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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