njdrsubaru Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Hey Guys Stupid question i guess but here we go How durable is the Air Suspension on a 93 Legacy to go on dirt roads and Mud? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerFahrer Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 It's not durable at all, especially for mudding/rallying/general abuse. Wear your hat wrong around air suspension, and it will goof up. If you are feeling mischievous, just swap to conventional struts. Then you don't have to worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 don't know much about legacy air suspension. the XT6 air suspension is awesome...or i should say, i really, really like. i have some detailed information and pic's on how to recondition your struts. do that to decent struts and replace all of your o-rings and the system isn't all that bad. actually i ran my last daily driver to 220,000 miles and retained the air suspension the entire time (owned since 105,000) without ever replacing anything...i don't think i did anyway, a compressor at most. i've never had to replace an air strut. i drove that vehicle off road quite a bit. the problem is there are o-rings every where. 5 at the air compressor, two in the air tank, one at each front strut and two at each rear strut (and there are different sizes). having an extra complete air suspension for parts is nice too, i'd hate to have mine break down and nothing to go on, even though that hasn't happened yet. address all of those things and system reliability increase DRAMATICALLY. the problem is, very few people do that or want to or have a need to. in the XT6 it's worth it to me, i really dig the air suspension and like being able to play with it. but for most people, i'd suggest converting as it can be a real PITA to mess with. particularly with legacy stuff, decent struts are probably a dime a dozen for that vehicle, i'd be much more prone to convert it coil overs. the XT6 is rather messy to convert and get a solid ride out of it. and that hassle isn't worth the loss of flexibility for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulwnkl Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I agree with grossgary. The air suspension is fun and I liked it (XT6 not Legacy). Follow his advice/instructions regarding care and "tune up" and you'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njdrsubaru Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 don't know much about legacy air suspension. the XT6 air suspension is awesome...or i should say, i really, really like. i have some detailed information and pic's on how to recondition your struts. do that to decent struts and replace all of your o-rings and the system isn't all that bad. actually i ran my last daily driver to 220,000 miles and retained the air suspension the entire time (owned since 105,000) without ever replacing anything...i don't think i did anyway, a compressor at most. i've never had to replace an air strut. i drove that vehicle off road quite a bit. the problem is there are o-rings every where. 5 at the air compressor, two in the air tank, one at each front strut and two at each rear strut (and there are different sizes). having an extra complete air suspension for parts is nice too, i'd hate to have mine break down and nothing to go on, even though that hasn't happened yet. address all of those things and system reliability increase DRAMATICALLY. the problem is, very few people do that or want to or have a need to. in the XT6 it's worth it to me, i really dig the air suspension and like being able to play with it. but for most people, i'd suggest converting as it can be a real PITA to mess with. particularly with legacy stuff, decent struts are probably a dime a dozen for that vehicle, i'd be much more prone to convert it coil overs. the XT6 is rather messy to convert and get a solid ride out of it. and that hassle isn't worth the loss of flexibility for me. grossgary i will be taking the car to dirt roads, ocasionally watery mud and some bumps, do you think it will be a problem for the struts? keep in mind that the struts were replaced 6 months ago and compressor 2 years ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manarius Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Air suspension on Legacys = bad. There's a reason so few of them were made and even fewer of them have survived the past 10+ years of abuse. I wouldn't trust it to go two feet let alone through rocks and mud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 i will be taking the car to dirt roads, ocasionally watery mud and some bumps, do you think it will be a problem for the struts? keep in mind that the struts were replaced 6 months ago and compressor 2 years ago... that won't hurt the struts at all. i off roaded my old daily driver a ton and i've never lost a strut in 100's of thousands of miles of XT6 air suspension madness. snow, mud, i've buried my XT6 a few times where mud/water is pouring in the door when i get out....etc. so yeah i've hit it with some off road dirtiness. the strut is just an air bag. clean them occassionally for good measure. read my thread on air strut maintenance and you'll see the weak spot of the struts, what causes them to fail early and how to prevent it. off roading will exacerbate that, so read up and keep them clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstwagon Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Air suspension on Legacys = bad. There's a reason so few of them were made and even fewer of them have survived the past 10+ years of abuse. I wouldn't trust it to go two feet let alone through rocks and mud. Not really true. Air suspensions don't last forever but name a suspension that does. Conventions struts and springs wear out too. The trouble with the air suspension is the cost of parts and you can only get them from Subaru. I've driven my 91 Legacy wagon (with air suspension) down many forest access roads with no problem. I would inspect the rubber boots for rot and cracks first though. If they are at the end of life then it might not be a good idea. And considering they were only available as an option on the LS wagon, there sure are alot of them still out there. I guess they did make more then a few of them. I've thought of changing mine out several times now but each time I've found a simple, cheap way to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njdrsubaru Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 that won't hurt the struts at all. i off roaded my old daily driver a ton and i've never lost a strut in 100's of thousands of miles of XT6 air suspension madness. snow, mud, i've buried my XT6 a few times where mud/water is pouring in the door when i get out....etc. so yeah i've hit it with some off road dirtiness. the strut is just an air bag. clean them occassionally for good measure. read my thread on air strut maintenance and you'll see the weak spot of the struts, what causes them to fail early and how to prevent it. off roading will exacerbate that, so read up and keep them clean. hey i tried to go to the xt6.net and its not working, i also found your thread however there are no pictures, i would like to see the picture process of cleaning them up as weel as the picture of the adapter thanks Neo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 xt6 is down right now so that's jacked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njdrsubaru Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 do u still have the pics? can u email them to me? njdrsubaru@optonline.net thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xrturbo Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I will 2nd or 3rd the Lego air suspension being bad news. They have about as good of a track record as Lincoln. Scrap the air and just get to the OB struts. Speaking of, what are you running the struts on that you are picking up on Fri? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njdrsubaru Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 I will 2nd or 3rd the Lego air suspension being bad news. They have about as good of a track record as Lincoln. Scrap the air and just get to the OB struts. Speaking of, what are you running the struts on that you are picking up on Fri? Hey Rich yes i am, but i will wait untill the system is totally dead to swap to OB struts, thats why i am picking up the front ones on friday and then the rear ones next month after the barrens! lol ya never know what can happen down there heheheh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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