LCA sti/wrx

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luceleaf
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LCA sti/wrx

Post by luceleaf »

the bushings in my LCA ares beat so now that im doing new ball joints hubs and bearings i decided to grab a pair of '04 wrx aluminum LCA. I paid 80 a piece... lots of conflicting info on here about whether or not they are compatible. i know the antiroll/sway bar endlinks will not mate but that can be sourced.
Legacy777
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Re: LCA sti/wrx

Post by Legacy777 »

Did they come from a sedan or wagon?

Also, did they come from a WRX or an STi?

The sedans have a wider track while the wagons don't and would be the best option for fitment compatibility.
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jamal
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Re: LCA sti/wrx

Post by jamal »

The front bushing is a little wider, something like 61mm instead of 58. So you need to change those for them to fit into the subframe mounts. There is a slight handling benefit to using the wider sedan arms, it will increase grip slightly and add negative camber to allow a more performance oriented alignment.

Also, for the wrx sedan, the swaybar is a little wider. So in addition to needing to probably swap to sedan endlinks you will need some spacers. You can also go to a sedan front swaybar, if your car is non-turbo it needs to be from the 02-07 RS sedan, the wrx part won't fit.

And then there are two different sedan control arms. one is the sti high caster version that was on the 04-06 usdm sti. They give something like 5.5 degrees stock. The standard wrx arms and 07 sti got less caster. The high caster arms can also require a different front swaybar.

Personally, I was planning to to go the wider front track using sti arms. I have kartboy endlinks so I can just get some new bushings to fit sedan arms as well as some spacers.
peter@functionauto.com
luceleaf
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Re: LCA sti/wrx

Post by luceleaf »

I purchased them off a guy parting an 02 wrx wagon but he said these were off an 04. I test fit them but have yet to completely install them. I don't see a need to grind them down yet. I wish I knew their exact origin. when I placed them next to my stock 93 nonturbo sedan arms the geometry looks very similar.
luceleaf
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Re: LCA sti/wrx

Post by luceleaf »

update I did have to grind the bushing down about 2mm to fit.
luceleaf
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Re: LCA sti/wrx

Post by luceleaf »

Legacy777 wrote:Did they come from a sedan or wagon?

Also, did they come from a WRX or an STi?

The sedans have a wider track while the wagons don't and would be the best option for fitment compatibility.
Josh, I get what you're saying now and yes the wagon has a more narrow track. I guess I lucked out that they happened to be 2004 and a wagon. finally found the needle in the haystack that is craigzlizt.

now i think i need to upgrade my axles... new ball joints wheel bearings brakes. now the cv seems to be the weak link in my drive train. either better axle or lower the car to improve the suspension geometry. damn fwd subarus.
luceleaf
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Re: LCA sti/wrx

Post by luceleaf »

Anyone going this route. I went with axles for a 2002 impreza with good result. The linear travel for the legacy axle did not mesh with the sti arms. Plus they looked a little beefier.
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