Are spring perches the same as top hats?

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

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astv5l
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Are spring perches the same as top hats?

Post by astv5l »

Getting ready to pick up '02 WRX springs w/ GR2's. Are the spring perches the same as top hats?
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Post by entirelyturbo »

http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/fil ... Sheets.pdf

Page 9 (or 346), the strut diagram. The part labeled #6 is a spring perch/top hat. Yes, those are two widely-used names for the same part.
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scottzg
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Post by scottzg »

on the bbs. we dont always have the right thing named. Top mount/top hat is the same thing, but sometimes people refer to the spring perch as the thing holding the spring in compression.

I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of this.
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astv5l
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Post by astv5l »

Thanks for the responses. I'm looking forward to getting this on the car.
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Post by jamal »

the other thing that gets confusing is that cars have different types of top mounts and perches.

In the front, all Subarus have the same type thing with a top mount that has a bearing and a spring perch. The front upper perches vary according to the spring. The rear is where things start to get a little confusing.

There are two different 90-94 Legacy rear suspension designs, and two different 02-06 Impreza rear designs.

The 90-91 Legacy has a tapered rear spring with an integrated spring perch and top, like this:

Image
thanks for the source image, THAWA

The 92-94 Legacy has straight spring and a separate top and perch, like this:

Image
(This is also identical to the 93-01 Impreza)

The 02-03 Impreza has a straight spring and an integrated top and perch, like this:

Image

The 04-06 Impreza has a tapered spring and an integrated top and perch like this:

Image

The neat thing is that the tapered springs and the straight springs have the same top and bottom diameters so you can switch tops.

A 90-91 Legacy top/perch will fit on an 04+ Impreza spring.
A 92-94 Legacy (and 93-01 Impreza) perch will fit on an 02-03 Impreza spring.
Last edited by jamal on Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
THAWA
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Post by THAWA »

jamal wrote:[Does anyone have a picture of an actual 90-91 top I could use? They look a lot like this, right?]
Image

Image
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Post by jamal »

cool thanks
astv5l
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Post by astv5l »

Great Info.

Sorry for being dense but...

I am picking up complete 02 WRX struts & springs to put on a 93 SS. The struts include the top hats/spring perch for both the front and the rear.

The springs are straight springs on both models but have a different top & perch design. Are they compatible? Will I just switch over from the SS ones to the WRX ones and everything will work ok?
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Post by jamal »

correct. But if they're WRX sedan struts, you'll have less negative camber. Like at most about -0.7 up front and 0.5 degrees positive in the rear.
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