Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

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

Moderators: Helpinators, Moderators

Post Reply
05LGTLtd
In Neutral
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 4:52 pm

Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by 05LGTLtd »

Not sure if this is a possible thing or not. I have a 93 Legacy L FWD wagon. Not much choices for upgrades but here's the situation. I'm limited on what I can spend to make the car track worthy. I need to upgrade as much as possible.

I have a set of FRONT Legacy GT springs off om 2005 Leggy. They are in the 190-200lbs/in range. They Look like they will fit height wise with the stock from struts that came off my car. They seat in the lower spring perch fine. I'm not sure if there is a Top hat top spring perch that will let me use them on my 93 car. Don't have any clue what the final ride height would be either. The 93 wagon rear springs are stiffer than most wrx springs, but I'd be willing to pick up a set of rear wagon springs from a AWD car if I can get them cheap. I can use a set of AGX up front with the 05LGT springs if I can get a strut/spring mount to work with the 93 chassis. I can get GR-2 for the rear which should keep up with the awd springs and not have to change any backing plates or get too involved. That should give me a ~195/170-190 fr/r spring rate and enough dampening to keep up to it. Spring rate and enough travel to let the struts work are more important than dropping the ride height at this point.

I plan on adding a rear sway bar probably a 22mm adjustable and keeping the stock front sway bar.

Any thoughts on this plan?

Any ideas on getting the 2005 front springs to work?????

Thanks
Legacy777
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 27884
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2002 11:37 am
Location: Houston, Tx
Contact:

Re: Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by Legacy777 »

You will likely be causing yourself more headache by mix and matching suspension components. I am speaking from first hand knowledge/experience on my car when I had different struts in the front & rear.

My recommendation would be to get a set of KYB GR2's all the way around, and upgrade the front & rear anti-sway bars. Strut tower braces can help some too, especially on the rear with the wagons.
Josh

surrealmirage.com/subaru
1990 Legacy (AWD, 6MT, & EJ22T Swap)
2020 Outback Limted XT

If you need to get a hold of me please email me rather then pm
05LGTLtd
In Neutral
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 4:52 pm

Re: Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by 05LGTLtd »

Reviving this old thread...

Ok I have found a set of stock STi springs for cheap enough. Has anyone done a spring swap on a FWD legacy?

I know I'll need 90-91 rear tophats or use wrx 04-07 tophats and modify the mounting holes.

Struts are a problem. But still considering the AGX for the front struts and GR-2s on the rear. I wish I could do AGX F/R, but due to the rear FWD lower mounts, that is not going to happen. I don't think I can swap the rear knuckle/mounting points and stay FWD. Due to limitations of the chump series I need to have a $500 car, and AWD leggy's are not $500 cars. so:

According to the suspension thread, the stock rear springs I have are 170lbs/in. STi rear springs are 194lbs/in. That's a 14% increase and the GR2's are supposedly 15-20% stiffer than stock.

I like the STi springs because they are not as low as any of the aftermarket springs, and I'd like to keep some travel in the suspension while increasing the rates front and rear. Also the rear rates are closer to the stock rate than the stock wrx springs. I guess I won't know what the ride height is going to do until I get it all together. Can fab up some rear spacers if I need to, I guess.

Has anyone put wrx or STi springs on a FWD BC/BF/BJ before?
05LGTLtd
In Neutral
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 4:52 pm

Re: Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by 05LGTLtd »

Good news and bad. Springs came today, yeah!

PM'd a vendor about the koni's and they said the rear inserts have been discontiued. :-(

Just sent a message to KoniUSA to verify. But the vendor has been reliable in the past.. So..

Where to now? Can I change the rear hubs to AWD and have everything else work out? I need to stay FWD, unfortunately. What's invovled with swapping the mounting plate. If I take both a FWD rear hub and AWD rear hub to a machine shop can they just swap them for me with the magical press thingy?

Thanks for any advice..
05LGTLtd
In Neutral
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 4:52 pm

Re: Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by 05LGTLtd »

Koni for FWD rear struts are no longer available.

Looks like I have my terminology mixed up in my previous post. Let me start over with what I have and what I want:

I have a 93 legacy FWD, with rear discs.

I have 2006 STi springs I'd like to use with a strut that can handle the spring rate.

Looks like my best bet is KYB AGX's, except they won't bolt up to my rear spindles.

So.... Can you put a FWD rear hub on a AWD Spindle???

Thanks
05LGTLtd
In Neutral
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 4:52 pm

Re: Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by 05LGTLtd »

Looking at the pics here, I'm saying not possible:

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/show ... hp?t=21469

Option of running a stub axle from the AWD half shaft in a AWD rear hub looks like the only way to make it work. Not sure that would pass tech inspection for my purpose.
Legacy777
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 27884
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2002 11:37 am
Location: Houston, Tx
Contact:

Re: Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by Legacy777 »

As you mentioned, it is not possible to put a FWD rear hub on an AWD spindle. The mounting point for the strut is also different between the AWD & FWD. Your best bet is to use adjustable coilovers.
Josh

surrealmirage.com/subaru
1990 Legacy (AWD, 6MT, & EJ22T Swap)
2020 Outback Limted XT

If you need to get a hold of me please email me rather then pm
thenicky0
First Gear
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2013 10:22 pm

Re: Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by thenicky0 »

05LGTLtd wrote:
Option of running a stub axle from the AWD half shaft in a AWD rear hub looks like the only way to make it work.
Just so I understand clearly, this means breaking apart the axle and using the stub/shaft together with the axle nut bolted on to keep the bearing moving?
Legacy777
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 27884
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2002 11:37 am
Location: Houston, Tx
Contact:

Re: Amalgamated 93 suspension, thoughts?

Post by Legacy777 »

Yes, that is correct.
Josh

surrealmirage.com/subaru
1990 Legacy (AWD, 6MT, & EJ22T Swap)
2020 Outback Limted XT

If you need to get a hold of me please email me rather then pm
Post Reply