How I swapped WRX Springs/Struts on to my '93 Turbo Legacy.

[syphon]

So I just wanted to write this up, since finding this precise information using a Search is fairly difficult. Nobody seemed to answer all my questions at once, and I had to dig through several threads.

First off, the result. My car handles a bit better with stock WRX suspension. Nothing tremendous, but it's a bit stiffer ride than before and seems to feel a bit more responsive.

As for ride height, it looks almost exactly the same. I suppose there could have been a minute lowering, but nothing noticable to the naked eye (especially since it was dark when I looked). The bonus to this, is that I can put any WRX lowering springs in. With the exception of maybe a Civic or Eclipse, nothing can beat the aftermarket availability for the WRX.

I understand that many people simply want to put WRX springs into their existing struts. I can't help you there. I know for a fact that the fronts wont fit, but rears might. I dont know.

What you need:
1. Struts and Springs from a WRX (or STI I imagine). Make sure to get the corresponding model, Wagon or Sedan (depending on if your Legacy is a wagon or sedan). I bought used Struts/Springs from an '02 WRX I believe. Since tons of WRX guys upgrade their suspension, they have a lot of stock stuff lying around. I paid $120 for all 4 struts+springs. I imagine that any imprezza suspension (Imprezza, WRX, or STI) will fit any Legacy suspension, but I certainly could be wrong.

2. Upper Spring Perchs from a WRX for the front. The front springs on a WRX are tapered, so your old upper spring perch will not fit. I happened to use some from an old GC Imprezza, so I suspect that any imprezza spring perchs will work.

3. A pair of washers for the rear. The WRX strut has a bit more thread at the top of the piston on the strut. If you don't add an extra washer on top of the Top Hat, the Top Hat and Upper Spring Perch will clunk together on bumps.

4. A couple zip ties. The Legacy Strut has a little slot to hold the front brake lines to the strut. The WRX has a corresponding spot, but my brake line didnt fit in there. We zip tied it to the slot instead.

Everything else you need, you can re-use from your existing suspension. All the bolts match up, the Top Hats all match up, and the spring perchs match up in the rear (remember you have to buy new upper spring perchs for the front).


What to do:
1. Jack up car, put on jackstands. Remove tires. Just in case you didn't know, you can jack up the rear at the Rear Differential, and the front can be jacked up at the piece of the CrossMember right behind the oilpan (make sure to place jackstands too).

2.Remove entire Rear Seat. First, pull two bolts front the rear footwell and then remove the seat bottom. Then, remove the 3 bolts holding the seatback down (on the bottom). Then, lift the seatback upwards so it pops free of the hooks, then pull it out. You can now access the top of the rear struts through little holes where the seatback was. This if for a legacy SEDAN, and i'm not sure where the rear struts are on a wagon. Probably easier to get to.

Note: I suppose you should do this before jacking up the car, if you feel safer working inside the car when it's on it's wheels.

3. Starting in the rear, remove the two bolts holding the strut to the hub. You have a choice here. The rear struts have a little tab that holds the brake line in place. You can either sever the brake line and then remove it (doing this means you have to bleed your brakes when you're done) or you can do what I did, and take a hacksaw and cut the tab so the brake line is free. I wasn't planning on re-using my struts, so I didn't worry about cutting this tab in half.

4. After cutting the brake line free and removing the two lower bolts... remove the three top nuts from inside the car (this is what we had to remove the seat for). The entire strut assembly is now free.

5. Going to the front, do the same. Remove the two lower bolts, hacksaw the brake line free, then remove the three upper nuts from under the hood (these ones are much easier to get to than the rear).

6. With all 4 strut assemblies out, go ahead and put the tops onto the WRX struts. Simply compress the spring with a spring compression tool, remove the top nut (you'll have to vice grip the strut piston so it doesn't spin with the nut). Once it's taken apart, move the upper spring perchs and top hats over to the WRX struts... with the following differences.

Front: The WRX spring is tapered, so your existing Legacy Upper Spring perch is too big. I used Perchs from a GC Imprezza, or you can buy stock WRX upper perchs. I cut the rubber ring that sits on top of the spring down to size, then was able to bolt the entire strut assembly back together.

Rear: The spring perchs all fit up. However, when you put the top nut back onto the strut, you'll have to add a second washer. If you don't, the upper spring perch will clunk against the bottom of the Top Hat.

7. Now that all four strut assemblies are back, go ahead and put them back on the car just like you took the old ones off. The rear will bolt in just fine, and the brake line will attach to the WRX strut tab just fine. The front, however, is too big for the Legacy brake line. I zip tied mine to the tab. The front also has another item of note, and that's the Camber Adjusting bolts.

Note: You'll notice the of the two lower bolts on the FRONT struts, the upper one is oddly tapered near the head. This is because it is used to adjust the front wheel camber. Once both of those bolts are on (but not all the way tightened), spin the upper bolt. Notice how it adjusts the camber of the hub. I don't know of a decent way to make sure your camber is ok, but you'll want to make sure that both sides have the same amount of camber. It's recommended that you get an alignment after doing this, unless you're confident you can get your camber correct.

8. Put your backseat back in, tires back on, and drive away.


If you guys have anything to add or any questions of me, feel free to PM me or something. I'm no expert on suspension, but I'd be happy to help in any way I can.

Hope this writeup helps.

[tris91ricer]

That's a pretty good writeup, nice work.

Did you happen to have all the extra parts, like spring perches and top hats laying around? You only said you scored your struts and springs for $120, but didn't list how you got the other important pieces...
Good idea on the brake lines, too. I know some folks just don't like to bleed their brakes.

[dscoobydoo]

LOL- Gee, isn't that what I posted Months ago- that you can swap, but you have to use the front perches from a WRX, but you can use the rears from the Leg?

Anyway- cool that you actually did it. if you want lowering springs, I have a set - H&R for the 02-03 WRX

Curious as to the drop. You should measure and see.

[nzKAOSnz]

(correct me if im wrong)

For a Wagon -

Pull tops of the rear speakers off
Undo the speakers and the plastic bit they mounted in
voila! the three bolts.




Sticky this?

[syphon]

That's a pretty good writeup, nice work.

Did you happen to have all the extra parts, like spring perches and top hats laying around? You only said you scored your struts and springs for $120, but didn't list how you got the other important pieces...
Good idea on the brake lines, too. I know some folks just don't like to bleed their brakes.

Well, like I said... other than the struts and springs, you only need 2 additional things.

1. Upper Spring Perches for the front
2. Washers for the rear.

My friend happened to have a spare set of upper spring perches off a GC Impreza, and we dug around his garage for some washers for the rear.

My old top-hats from the legacy fit just fine.

LOL- Gee, isn't that what I posted Months ago- that you can swap, but you have to use the front perches from a WRX, but you can use the rears from the Leg?

Anyway- cool that you actually did it. if you want lowering springs, I have a set - H&R for the 02-03 WRX

Curious as to the drop. You should measure and see.

I wrote this thread up because I couldn't find precise information. I searched but found nothing specifically helpful (a few people mentioned some info I needed in other threads) and when I posted a thread asking for help, I just got "do a search".

I did this in hopes that others can find it useful. Buying WRX suspension is very cheap compared to aftermarket suspension, and I assumed a lot of people would want to do this mod.

I'd be down if we sticky'd this thread or added it to the library or whatever.

[92awdwag]

Great post.... i love it, my suspension is shot and my buddie was lookin at selling me some of his aftermarket wrx suspension for $200, called subaru asked , called shops got no replys...... just the subject i was lookin for.


thanks man.... i love subarus

[LegWag]

Will this setup work on a 96 Legacy wagon, too?

I've got one, 5sp, AWD, and I'm looking to get new suspension on the cheap.

Or is the suspension design on the 95-99's different from the 90-94s?

Also, after looking at the suspension faq, I am slightly confused about the rear spring rates on the WRX wagon. The table seems to say that they are the same as the front, 165 or so. Is that right? B/c in that case, the swap wouldn't work well in wagons.

Any advice is much appreciated. Great post.

[syphon]

I'm sorry, but I don't know if the suspension setup changed in '95 when they changed the body style of the Legacy Wagons. Perhaps someone else knows better.

[jake15]

it changed, the 95-99 legacys are like WRX's in the rear, and in the front, but the front is a little bit different. theres a few people on NASIOC who have done this, go look in the legacy forum there.

[elwood]

Thanks for the info... it worked out nice for me!




(02 wrx wagon struts, H&R sport springs)

more pics here: http://www.freebmw.net/elwood/pics/94leg/
Jim

[narenji]

while my shop was swapping in a 99 rs 2.5 motor, i had them attempt to install a wrx strut/spring combo on my 91 Legacy L 4wd Wagon. I had wrx sedan AND wagon springs, and told them to fit whatever works better, but the wagon springs probably would be better...

anyhoo, they said they tried their best, but they could only fit forester springs in the rear, but got wrx front struts & springs on. consequence: rear sits VERY high, and has major positive camber... what should i do? i was considering putting in 92-94 kyb gr2s/agx's w/ whiteline springs... or is there a way to salvage the suspension? would the difference btw 90-91 susp and 92-94 susp account for the positive camber in the rear?

here's my pic:

[jamal]

yeah, that's really not good. There may be a way to salvage what you have, though.

A good option at the moment is to buy a set of wagon specific springs (i.e.: whitelines), and struts made for your car. However, WRX wagon springs should work, and seeing as how the shop couldn't get the gauges and all that working properly, either, I would stay away from them. Which shop was this, by the way? If you need a good Subaru shop out in the Pomona area, check out Chaste Auto. I know Jeff fairly well and he knows his shit. They mostly build rally cars. In fact, he had a hand in rally370's cage.

As for the struts, I don't see why there would be so much positive camber with wagon struts. Which are you using? Do you have a set or WRX wagon rear struts? With your stock tops, WRX struts and springs should fit.

If you want to stop by sometime I can take a look at it. I swapped STi suspension into my 93, and what you're doing is pretty similar. It will cost you the refundable deposit on some spring compressors and a case of beer.

[vrg3]

It's the difference between the WRX suspension and our suspension that causes the positive camber.

With my v7 STi suspension (same basic deal as this thread), I installed camber bolts in the rear to regain my negative camber. It seems to have worked fine.

[narenji]

yeah jeff @ chaste knows his stuff, but he's a little abrupt... wasnt as friendly as i'd like... while my car had already gone to garage tuning in laguna hills, ca, he offered to do a full wrx drivetrain swap (motor/trans/fuel tank etc) for $5000 incl labor... too bad i didnt have the cash... anyways, i could take it to him and get his input.

my buddy has some sprint springs that he used to have on his wrx wagon... i'm going to try those on... the struts are wrx sedan struts, the springs are wrx sedan springs in the front, and forester springs in the rear. me thinks the wrx rear springs should've fit, but isnt there an issue btw 90-91 tops and 92-94 strut tops? i've read here that 92-94 cars are bit easier to work with... but i should be able to put in 92-94 stuff if i do the whole thing right (mounts, springs/struts)?

jamal i might take you up on checking out my car...

[THAWA]

I think I remember this from somewhere. Pretty much the place that did the install didn't know what they were doing. You should replace the forester springs with the wrx wagon springs you have. About the springs, all macpherson style subarus from 92-03 use interchangable springs, so there's no reason to use those forester springs. They obviously had perches for the non-tapered springs, and if the springs you had were from an 04-05 impreza they could've used your stock/tapered tops.

[narenji]

you are right. the shop had some issues, becuase this was their first pre-98 RS car that they were working on. anyways, my wagon is a 91, and i understand that changes were made for 92-94 cars (to the bottom spring perches, correct?), but i'm trying to resolve the problem on my 91... i'm considering getting kyb's and whitelines, but should i get 91 specific struts (gr2's only) or can i get 92-94 spec kyb agx and appropriate whiteline springs?

the springs i gave them were 02 sedan/wagon springs (both). i was considering a v7 sti setup b/c the spring rate would be high enough to support the weight, though not as ideal as a v7 sti wagon setup...

i wanted to see if i could sti takeoffs b/c they're cheap and good (enough)... me thinks that the car's positive camber situation is due to the forester springs holding the car so high that it's creating a positive camber situation. when i raise my 05 sti to the point where the wheels are just about to leave the ground, it looks like the car has positive camber because the springs are expanded, pushing the trailing arms down... i think that's the problem i'm having, so i should be able to resolve it with the correct springs, but the stock springs have a 190 rear spring rate, so i need appropriate replacements...

[ultrasonic]

With my v7 STi suspension (same basic deal as this thread), I installed camber bolts in the rear to regain my negative camber. It seems to have worked fine.

What is your current camber in the rear on your ver. 7 struts & springs mounted on your Legacy? How much adjustment do you get with the camber bolts?

And, while were on the subject, how do you like that suspension setup in the BC chassis?

[vrg3]

I've got about one degree of negative camber in the rear right now. I could get a little bit more, but not much more. I'm using SPC camber bolts; they look better than some others I've seen because the bolt has an actual cam machined in rather than just a little pin sticking out. I do wish they had finer threads though.

I love the suspension. I got to have some fun with it this past weekend during the backroads cruise after the Shootout and it was really great. Fabulous on the tarmac. On gravel it's a little stiffer than I think would be ideal, but I was limited far more by my skill (or lack thereof) than by the suspension. And it does seem a little underdamped in the high-but-not-very-high frequency range -- I guess this is what people mean when they say STi suspensions are "bouncy."

It raised my car quite a bit at first. As it settled it dropped a little bit, and then I put on 205/45R16 tires which lowered the car a bit more; now the height is fairly normal looking although there's a lot of room in the wheel wells.

[jamal]

And it does seem a little underdamped in the high-but-not-very-high frequency range -- I guess this is what people mean when they say STi suspensions are "bouncy."

I noticed the same thing, especially in the rear. I've seen a lot of people who put 400+ lb/in ground control springs on STi struts, and don't see how that will work well at all.

[narenji]

on my 05 sti, the ride got BETTER with pinks... the oem springs are 200/185 i think, and the jdm pinks are 257/217. the car lost the bounciness and just feels firmer. of course, i could use more firmness on the track/autox, but not bad at all for the investment...

so can i put 92-94 kyb agx's/whiteline springs on my 91? can i use the oem topmounts? thanx,
-naren

[ultrasonic]

And it does seem a little underdamped in the high-but-not-very-high frequency range -- I guess this is what people mean when they say STi suspensions are "bouncy."

I noticed the same thing, especially in the rear. I've seen a lot of people who put 400+ lb/in ground control springs on STi struts, and don't see how that will work well at all.

I think people who have experience with both say that the ver. 8 is bouncier than the ver. 7.

Would you consider the ver. 7 reasonable for a daily driver? I would think so.

If you can get -1 degree on the rear with camber bolts, that sound good to me. Assuming that you will get about -1.5 degrees by maxing out the front camber. Do the ver. 7 struts require the washers in the rear top mounts to eliminate the clunk? It seems I have seen differing reports on that.

Thanks for your comments. I have pretty much decided that I'm doing ver. 7 when I get around to changing the suspension.

[narenji]

i had v7 sedan struts/springs on my 02 wrx, and it was a perfectly fine daily driver. when you put it on your heavier 91 ss, it should ride a bit better, i think. i really want to put some sti takeoffs on my car cause it'll be cheaper than getting kyb agx's and whitelines...

[LaureltheQueen]

no, springs and struts designed for something lighter generally make a heavier car ride worse

[jamal]

If you can get -1 degree on the rear with camber bolts, that sound good to me. Assuming that you will get about -1.5 degrees by maxing out the front camber. Do the ver. 7 struts require the washers in the rear top mounts to eliminate the clunk? It seems I have seen differing reports on that.

Thanks for your comments. I have pretty much decided that I'm doing ver. 7 when I get around to changing the suspension.

The reason for the washer is that the threaded part of the strut is smaller than the stock strut, giving an extra 2mm of play while using stock struts. I believe it's the same for V7. I found a washer at the hardware store that fit very well into my group N tops.

[ultrasonic]

The reason for the washer is that the threaded part of the strut is smaller than the stock strut, giving an extra 2mm of play while using stock struts. I believe it's the same for V7. I found a washer at the hardware store that fit very well into my group N tops.

Yes, I understand why the washer is required, it's just that I have seen some people say that it is only necessary on ver. 8, and others seem to indicate that it's necessary on ver. 7 struts, too. Another thing, if I buy a set of ver. 7 struts and springs that is assembled with tops, will the rear upper spring perch be a separate piece that I can use with Gp. N tops? Or will I have to source the upper spring perch separately?