thinking about lifting my wagon

[bmcgov1209]

I'm new to these forums and have a few questions about lifting my 04 wrx wagon. I searched some, but couldn't find a good answer to my questions.

I recently moved from the beach to the mountains and ground clearance has become an issue. I'm currently on lowering springs, but would love to lift the car 1-2" above stock and put a bigger tire under it.

My car will be 95% DD and 5% dirt/gravel roads and snow driving.

Will OBS springs/struts bolt right in and give me the lift I'm looking for?

What other options do I have without spending a ton of money(<1k)?

[TOI]

im new to this too, but i think getting stock springs and slipping in a JR lift would do the job

[GClark]

Yeah I say just do the Jackson Rally 1in spacer kit. Its only 250 so you can spend the rest of the money on tires and lights!

[bmcgov1209]

Will the JR kit just bolt in with no other modification? If so that does sound like a good cheap option.

[Newk_Rally]

yes it will =D they're out of stock right now but should be getting more soon

[bmcgov1209]

Yeah I say just do the Jackson Rally 1in spacer kit. Its only 250 so you can spend the rest of the money on tires and lights!


The JR kit and tires are the only lift on your car, correct?

[GClark]

Si errr CorrectO.

[baconpocket]

i've been scouring DI and NASIOC and foresterforums trying to figure out what my best option would be to do a very small lift on my 02 wrx wagon. i'm thinking of trying to get some geolander ats 215/60-16 to fit without rubbing. i'm pretty sure that OBS springs of a similar vintage can be used to give a very mild lift ~0.5 inch. this may be offset by the extra weight of the turbo hardware upfront, combined with a softer spring rate. i can't find the spring rate for the OBS (maybe someone can post it) but i believe the WRX wagon is F/R 163/132
see http://www.northursalia.com/techdocs/spring/spring.html
another option i've come across is the 1/4 to 1/2 spacers sold by paranoid fabrications http://www.camotoy.com/products/saggybutt/index.php

maybe you're looking to go a bit higher than i had in mind, not sure but hopefully this helps you or someone else

[em99sport]

another option i've come across is the 1/4 to 1/2 spacers sold by paranoid fabrications http://www.camotoy.com/products/saggybutt/index.php



Just keep in mind that these are for the rear only.

[baconpocket]

Just keep in mind that these are for the rear only.

i could be wrong but when i scroll to the bottom of that page, i see front spacers.

so maybe one could mix and match to level their ride?

[subie_drift]

i was thinking the same with the spacers but i think the most durable lift would be the jackson rally kit. But not to thread jack but instead of using a spacer has anyone used bigger springs with the stock shocks to achieve a lift. so ull get lift and more travel which would be nice. jus throwing out sum ideas.

[baconpocket]

my main reason for thinking about a lift is that i'd really like to fit the geolander at/s in 215/60-16 (the smallest all terrain on the US market). i want to do this because i want a tire that can handle just a tiny bit of snow and ice well, while mostly seeing dirt and street. i feel like snow tires will just disintegrate with too much street and dirt.
here's some info that i've compiled regarding tire sizes:
use size radius diameter tread width
stock 205/55-16 12.41 24.87 8.07
snow 205/55-16 12.84 25.68 8.07
- i've seen many reports that these will fit with no rubbing at stock ride height
gclark fitted 215/xx-15 d~27.1 tw8.46
with just jackson rally 1 inch spacers (which in my personal opinion cost more than i'm trying to pay for such a small change)
the geolander at/s
215/60-16 13.07 26.15 8.46
with a radius change of +0.66 (13.07-12.41) in from stock these tires alone will lift the car 2/3 inch. the width increases by 0.39 inch which would be divided by two laterally.
if these do rub, and depending on where they contact, the problem may be averted by using stock forester wheels which have a +48 offset rather than the impreza +53 or +55

any of you guys have a forester handy? you could simply fit the stock 16 inch wheel/tire combo from the forester onto your impreza and see if it rubs anywhere

[baconpocket]

addition to the above post. this commenter on nasioc claims that he sees no rubbing with a 1 inch larger diameter tire on stock sedan suspension, minor rubbing in back on a stock wagon. anybody know the actual measurements of the named rally tires?

quote (user wrxinfx (http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/member.php?u=10515)):
I run the Michelin FB-80's from Sube sports on a second seto of take-off WRX rims. They don't rub on my sedan, although I ran in a brisk gravel TSD rally with a '03 wagon with the same tires on 16" steelies from TireRack and he noticed some rubbing in the rear when fully compressed.

Speaking about the tires - they are great. The lateral reisistance at speed is great, they are just as predictable as everyone says. They are very loud on the road though, and I wouldn't run very far on tarmac as it will cause unessesary wear.

As for a spare, another consideration is at they are about 1" larger in diameter. So carring a regluar full-size spare could be a problem due to the uneven tire sizes. Although - if you look, the factory "donut" spare is smaller in diameter than the OEM tires, so maybe tire diameter is not such a big issue.

Casey
/end quote

[theworx]

I'm new to these forums and have a few questions about lifting my 04 wrx wagon. I searched some, but couldn't find a good answer to my questions.

I recently moved from the beach to the mountains and ground clearance has become an issue. I'm currently on lowering springs, but would love to lift the car 1-2" above stock and put a bigger tire under it.

My car will be 95% DD and 5% dirt/gravel roads and snow driving.

Will OBS springs/struts bolt right in and give me the lift I'm looking for?

What other options do I have without spending a ton of money(<1k)?

I'm looking to do the same thing as you. My car is on coilovers right now. I'm thinking that my best option will be to find someone who wants to trade their stock suspension for my coilovers. Throw some JR spacers on there and some bigger tires (size?) and i should be set.

[LiTe]

Hi I´m thinking about lifting my wrx wagon 2001. Can i use forester springs only on my wrx wagon ? Will it fit ? I know it will be just a small lift, but better some lift than no lift :mrgreen: