GD/GG Impreza (WRX/STi) springs on BC/BF/BJ cars: UPDATED

Struts, spring, anti-rollbars, braces and the like.

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THAWA
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Post by THAWA »

His base car is a 90 NA though. My setup with pinks was a 50/53mm drop. If he uses the eibachs on a gd strut it will be a 58/48mm drop. Which is first really uneven, and second puts the front suspension so incredibly low that it'll suck balls when trying to handle.
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Post by Project_Legacy »

yea it is a 90 NA Legacy. im probably just gonna try and trade those eibachs for some stocker springs. i believe i have figured it all out though, thanks everyone for all the help!
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Post by Project_Legacy »

Brat4by4 wrote: This is mostly correct. You can only use all 4 '04 STi struts, though, '05 STI front struts won't work. And you will need the front upper spring perch (aka tophat) because of different spring coil diameters. Re-use all of your stock top mounts unless you want to try to upgrade.
is it only 05 STi struts that i wont be able to use, or could i use 05 WRX struts for my 90 NA? basically, its the whole assembly, 05 WRX struts, tops, and springs all still together. it seems that i should be able to just put those in as a whole assembly without modification correct? or do i still have to use a 90 legacy rear top (so i dont have to file anything)?

LoL i thought i had it down.
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Post by Project_Legacy »

i read some things on nasioc saying that the 05-06 STI struts wont work. i still have no idea on the RS/WRX stuff though. if anyone can help me out with that info that would be great. thanks a bunch in advance!!
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Post by jamal »

For 05 the front hubs on the STi were beefed up. The spindles were beefed up to match, so the flanges and bolts on the strut are farther apart. They also went to a 5x 114.3 bolt pattern which happens to be the same as the svx. 05+ STi front suspension is not compatible with anything else. WRX and other impreza stuff still works.
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Post by BhamRoadrunner »

So based on this finding... Would USDM WRX coilovers work as well?
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Post by entirelyturbo »

I would say no, because the rear WRX coilovers should use the WRX bolt pattern for the mount, and the WRX bolt pattern is different from ours. Again, I can't confirm this.

If you want to drill in your body, you can probably make them work...
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Post by jamal »

There are coilovers available for the 93-01 Impreza and they work a lot better.
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Post by BhamRoadrunner »

jamal wrote:There are coilovers available for the 93-01 Impreza and they work a lot better.
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Project_Legacy
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Post by Project_Legacy »

ok, i have another question on this. the 90-91's have integrated strut tops and the 04+ have the same thing correct? how am i supposed to use the wrx tops if they are integrated(one piece)?? i was told to use the upper spring perch on the stock 90 top, how am i supposed to seperate it?
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Post by Project_Legacy »

anything guys?
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Post by jamal »

you don't use the WRX tops, the WRX springs work with 90-91 tops.
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Post by Project_Legacy »

ok... i was told to use wrx front tops and the upper wrx rear spring perches. so all i have to do is use my stock 90-91 complete integrated tophats on the WRX springs? that makes it all easier.


thanks for the reply!
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Post by Matt Monson »

Ok,
I am going to add to this because I am working through a unique situation, and don't see anything posted about it here. As many of you know, I recently acquired a '91 SS. And the suspension on it is blown. So, I picked up a set of '95-99 BD chassis Bilsteins. They are complete with springs and tophats. I thought it was going to be a direct bolt on for my car. Well, that idea quickly went out the window. The BD chassis Legacy uses the same rear bolts pattern on the top hats that the '02+ Imprezas use.

For reference, this is 4.25" on center to the outer two bolts from the inner bolt, with 4" span between the pair of outer bolts. For comparison, our Legacies and GC/GF Imprezas are 3.75" spanning any pair of bolts as the earlier ones are symetrical. I looked at some GD tophat/spring perches at the dealership last night, and they are same as the BD legacy. I only mention this because I don't find it clearly stated anywhere around here. For replacement rear top hats ONLY GC ones will work...

So, that's part 1 of my problem. Part 2 is that the BD Bilsteins also use the wider spring diameter. If I had done more reading before buying, I would have realized that my car had a tapered spring top. But as is it, I didn't discover this until I pulled a strut off the car.

Anyways, I am still thinking about my solution. I don't think my stock '91 springs would be a good match for the Bilstein struts. So, I am likely going to get some GC group N top hats and upper spring perches and just switch top hats. I don't like the idea of finding some '04+ springs and using them because of potential issues of mismatched drop. I have no interest in drilling my body and messing around with alignment based on that. It's too bad I sold all my spare rear struts recently, or I would just use used tophats and perches. But if I am going to buy something, I am going to buy the best and call it done...

In conclusion, I thought it was important to mention that the BD/BG chassis cars used the later rear bolt pattern, just in case someone else out there thinks they can just bolt them onto their car as a complete unit. If one digs a little bit, the information is out there, but it's not really explicitly stated anywhere that people would find it easily...
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Post by jamal »

Well I did say that at the bottom of my post about tops on the first page of this thread. Anyway, what I would like to know is if the BD springs fit on the Legacy perches. The other thing that I'm not sure about is the supposed 90-91 separate rear spring perch that could possibly be used with GC group N tops and 04+ GD springs.

Also, I'm not entirely clear on the track width thing since apparantly BD axles are the same length as those on a WRX sedan. It's possible you'll have the same camber problems I did with GD stuff.
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Post by Matt Monson »

Well,
When I look up KYB AGX struts online, it's the exact same part number for a BC, a GC or a BD, and thus why I think this will work fine. And the springs are straight and not tapered. I will know more in a week when my group N GC top hats get here. Then I will take apart everything and let you know what I find regarding the '91 top hat/spring perch combination...
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Post by Seahawk »

OK..just reading through the second page of this post, and now i'm stuck.

I want to put the 04 WRX springs (and front tophats) on my 91 Leg FWD NA Wagon.

What struts do I use?

04 WRX
or something made to fit 90-91 Legacy?
or either?

Looking for a cheap upgrade, no drop (raise if possible).
Daily driver/beater.

And what effect is all of this going to have on my camber?

Thanks from a newbie.
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Post by entirelyturbo »

Changed the title to cover all GD/GG and BC/BF/BJ models with interchangeable springs, not just 04+ Imprezas and 90-91 Legacies
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Bane
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Post by Bane »

okay i apologize for sounding confused... but i am.

i have a 93 ss
i am currently running 02 wrx suspension (struts and springs, with the 93 perches... i think, as this was 2 years ago)

i'm finding the ride getting softer with the more mileage i put on... thinking the car could use a stiffer ride... or the rears are gone (again)

i have the opportunity to purchase 04 sti springs and struts, but after going through these posts, am not clear on whether i can use what i have, will need 90-91 perches, or extra items that i missed.

after reading through a few threads regarding this, i see some are running 04 sti suspension in 90-91's or mixed suspension in later 92-94's

straight out, has anyone run 04 sti springs and struts on a 92-94 legacy turbo? if so what modifactions are needed.
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Post by jamal »

if you search the suspension forum and enter the keywords "04 sti suspension," like 4 threads started by me about this swap come up on the first page of results.

To make it work you either find some 90-91 rear tops or file out the bolt holes in the strut tower. Myself and rally370 opted for the filing of the bolt holes. Also I have no cross camber in the rear so it works. Brat4x4 is using ver7 stuff, which will work with the 92-94 rear tops.

One thing just realized is that it should be possible to get some 02-03 (ver7) sti rear springs and use them on the 04 (ver8) rear struts with the 92-94 tops. I think that with the two different spring perches available you should be able to come up with the right ride height.

It might not be terribly easy to find a set of just ver7 rear springs. But places like jdmpartstx sell the takeoffs fairly often and they would work just as well.
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Post by Arctic Assassian »

So I'm looking for some info to lift my 91 ss at least an inch using subaru takeoff parts. I haven't been able to find anythis yet, and I've read both of the stickied threads here. The one that is not this one, was way to confusing with that chart for my lowly brain to figure out. If anyone could link to a thread, or maybe shine some light on my proposal, I would be much abliged.
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Post by Project_Legacy »

if i remember correctly, i think it was that you could use either outback suspension, or forester. this is just off the top of my head, so someone else can chime in.
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Post by Arctic Assassian »

I was thinking along those lines as well.
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Post by wildacex187 »

are wrx wagon struts and springs ok to use on ss sedans using the wrx sedan method?
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Post by Project_Legacy »

the spring rates for the wagons and sedans are totally different i believe. check out the other sticky post for details.
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