Raising an Outback

[Team Illuminata]

No, not from the dead, to make it more off-road friendly.

Have a customer seeking to raise her 97 Legacy Outback a bit. I think there are 2" lift springs out there somewhere and then it's down to tires for a bit more lift. Perhaps 215/70x15 all terrains.

My OB is so far from stock that I can't tell if they would fit without rubbing so am a bit concerned about getting the right offset wheels etc.

We're going to slap some Primitive skid plates on there too and maybe some Pro Rally 1 wheels.

Any thoughts?

[Rally OBXT]

The springs you are talking about are King or Scorpion springs. They are made in the land down under.

www.subaruoutback.org has lots of good info on raised outbacks.

[Team Illuminata]

Thanks, I probably should join that forum seeing as I race one etc.

[LPXLTT]

+1 on the king springs. I almost got some shipped here for my Legacy but got the WRX instead.

[Team Illuminata]

Where does one get them?

[JAN02000]

I looked into it briefly, and I couldn't find a distributor in the United States. So you have to get them shipped from Australia, AFAIK. I'm sure that someone in the land down under would be happy to sell you some, but I also know that they're not cheap to begin with, the dollar's weak, and the shipping costs suck. :( Maybe you could try Renick Motorsports. They seem to import a fair amount of Australian off-road goodies.

[Team Illuminata]

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Maybe I should be looking at Ground Control coil-overs on KYB struts instead.

[subydrift]

A cheaper alternative that will still provide some lift are the 04+ Forester struts & springs. Those are a direct swap in and they give between 1" and 2" lift. I inquired about getting some King lift springs and after shipping from Australia it would have been around 700 bucks for the springs alone! I know there is a company from down under that makes 2" strut spacers for the Foresters and I'm sure they would fit right up to the Outbacks but then again shipping from that far is a killer. I'll try to find some links...

[subydrift]

Here is a thread on SubaruOutback.org that goes over all kinds and sizes of tires for the Outback:

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...?s=&forumid=90

And another few on some lift stuff...

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...threadid=14738

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...&threadid=1786

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...threadid=13872

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...threadid=13366

[Team Illuminata]

These are great, thanks. Direct swap on a 97?

[subydrift]

From what I hear. A member on the SubaruOutback.org forums swapped over to his 97' and he said the only problem was with the brakeline mounts but some creativity and zip ties will take care of that!

Heres a couple more links...

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...threadid=10113

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/...threadid=12672

[Team Illuminata]

I'm going to look deeper into this. This seems like the way forward for this project. Brake lines are easy.

Thanks for your help.

[subydrift]

A couple months ago I needed some new struts so I got some 02' Forester take offs. They bolted right on to my 97' with no mods at all but they didn't raise it any. I looked into it more because I put some 04' Forester take offs on my old 2.5RS and it lifted that thing like 3" at least! It was later I found out that it is only the 04+ MY Foresters that have the higher/stiffer springs and longer struts. The bolt patterns for the strut tops are the same between the Outbacks and the Foresters. Everything else is the same through almost all year subys (except the 00'-03' legacys IIRC).

Just make sure they are complete 04+ MY Forester struts and springs and they will bolt right up and give between an inch or 2 of lift. But the 04+ Forester rear parts are not compatible with the earlier Outback stuff. The 04+ use the smaller diameter rubber damper rear strut top so the springs are different to match.

[Team Illuminata]

Originally Posted by subydrift

A couple months ago I needed some new struts so I got some 02' Forester take offs. They bolted right on to my 97' with no mods at all but they didn't raise it any. I looked into it more because I put some 04' Forester take offs on my old 2.5RS and it lifted that thing like 3" at least! It was later I found out that it is only the 04+ MY Foresters that have the higher/stiffer springs and longer struts. The bolt patterns for the strut tops are the same between the Outbacks and the Foresters. Everything else is the same through almost all year subys (except the 00'-03' legacys IIRC).

Just make sure they are complete 04+ MY Forester struts and springs and they will bolt right up and give between an inch or 2 of lift. But the 04+ Forester rear parts are not compatible with the earlier Outback stuff. The 04+ use the smaller diameter rubber damper rear strut top so the springs are different to match.

Thanks Subydrift. Everything in your post was great till you said "But the 04+ Forester rear parts are not compatible with the earlier Outback stuff. The 04+ use the smaller diameter rubber damper rear strut top so the springs are different to match." Does this mean they will or will not bolt to a 97 Outback?

[subydrift]

Sorry if that was confusing. What I meant was, the rear strut tops for both the early Outbacks and the 04+ Foresters have the same bolt pattern to the body. But, the strut tops for the Outbacks are not compatible with springs from the 04+ Forsters. And the like with the Outback springs and 04+ Forester top hats.

So as long as you have complete suspension from the same platform (ie: all 04+ Forester suspension vs. a mix and match of Forester and Outback) then it will fit right in.

The rear springs need to match the rear strut tops from the same MY style. In other words, newer Forester rear springs won't mate with older Outback strut tops (in the rear only). I'm pretty sure the fronts are compatible through all MYs.