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The struts on my 93 awd legacy L are pretty much done for, and I decided to get some GR2's. I don't have the money to go out and get new springs and strut tops (they seem to be in decent shape, anyway) or much else, but decided that getting new swaybars would probably be a good thing to do if I want to improve the handling a bit. I'll mostly just be driving around town, and going to the occasional Auto-X. I'm shopping for some 16" subaru wheels, but it might be awhile before I get them.

I'd like to make the car more neutrally balanced, and maybe even give it more of a tendancy to oversteer (I love getting on the gas on a loose surface and having the back kick out a little), so I was thinking of maybe an adjustable rear bar and then maybe a 20mm bar in the front. Then I could try out the rear at different settings and see what I like better. Does that sound okay, or should they be bigger or smaller? I should get endlinks and new bushings for them too, right? How about brands? I see PDM sells quite a bit of whiteline stuff, and that seems pretty good. If/when I get springs, that's probably what I'll get.

Thanks in advance for the advice, everyone.

Neutral balancing comes from good suspension design, not sway-bars. Big sway-bars are a bandaid for poor geometry. Smaller sway bars are good for drivability (i.e. prevent wind movement on the highway, allow slightly lower spring rates to aid ride quality without sacrificing body roll. A really well designed suspension won't need much of a sway-bar.)

That said, a good upgrade would be something like a 20 front and a 21 rear. Up 2 and 3mm (respectively) from the stock setup.

*Off Topic* I have a good friend that lives in Missoula! One of these days (probably not until next spring/summer) I want to go out to visit him. I've always wanted to go out to Montana. I'm thinking about moving out west after school, sort of bum around for a year or so to see how the world works .

well, ok, thanks for the info. I'll keep that in mind. Looks like the whiteline 20mm front and 18-22mm rear bar. Now, what about links and brackets? Those are going to cost a bunch more money, it seems.

Yeah, Missoula's a great place. I go to school in LA, so I'm just here for the summer. It's nice coming back.

Whiteline makes a beef set of endlinks that you should invest in. They really stiffen up the whole setup from what I have heard.

The 18-22 rear bar sounds like a winner. And coupled with a 20 front bar would make it handle a bit flatter in the turns.

Woa dude. Small world. I live in billings and travel to missoula at least 3 times a month!

If you're looking for just a little more help, I'd bet solid end links would be a cheap and effective solution as the stock ones have more play (especially as they age).

Steve

What size is your stock rear bar. I think going to a turbo rear sway bar and endlinks all the way around will do wonders.

Turbo front and rear sways are 18mm.

if you order from pdm, you'll probably wait 17.5 weeks for whiteline merchandise. I know i did.

Or you'll wait 4-5 days, I know i did.

MK

man, you waited less than a week!? is it just the springs that take ages?

That's my guess, anything that's in stock will get shipped fast. Anything that has to be ordered from whiteline... who knows

MK

My order also took 4 days. It was springs too! They had 'em in stock and sent them out the same day. It most certainly has to do with the stock they have on hand.

-Brian

Brat4by4 wrote:What size is your stock rear bar. I think going to a turbo rear sway bar and endlinks all the way around will do wonders.

Turbo front and rear sways are 18mm.

According to the suspension info thread, they're 18 and 16 front and rear respectively.

After seeing that I'll probably need to spend another $200 just for brackets and links, I might be better off looking for some 16" wheels.

Damn. I was thinking that spending 5 or 6 hundred wouldn't be too bad, but this would be closer to $1000 overall. I might just have to take my car for the reliable daily driver that will get me anywhere that it is. I suppose I'll see how it handles when I get my new struts. That might hold me over for awhile. I figure I'll be able to buy a new car in less than two years anyway (STi, of course).

I like the turbo rear bar idea. I plan on going down to the junkyard to get a few interior pieces, maybe I'll be able to find one.

new springs and struts will make all the difference. unless you drive the car very hard or autocross it,you probably wont even notice an issue with having not beefed up swaybars.

LaureltheQueen wrote:new springs and struts will make all the difference. unless you drive the car very hard or autocross it,you probably wont even notice an issue with having not beefed up swaybars.

How about strut tops? Do you think they'd be needed with just GR2's and whiteline control springs? I plan on autocrossing occasionally, and I'm pretty hard on my car sometimes.

So I did a little more reading, and I think I understand what "bigger sway bars are like a band-aid" means. Thanks for the info, everyone.

I think I've got my setup figured out: The GR2's, a turbo rear bar, and new links, then just keep an eye out for some 16's. So, would those $60/pair steel endlinks, and the rear bar brackets at PDM be about right?

Anyone have a rear turbo bar they want to sell?

*off topic* Missoula Rocks! I used to live in Whitefish back when I was being a ski bum and we'd go down to Missoula every once and a while to party. I had a few friends that went to UofM too.

I stayed in Billings once and it was a trippy town. I came in on I-90 E. and for miles it was petrol chemical plants. It was at night and it was very surreal. The smell from some of the plants made my testicles shrink, I shit you not.

ha, yeah, Missoula is great. Went through Billings the other day, actually- saw the refineries, and then stopped in Butte and went and saw the big pit. Now that I go to school in CA, I've started to realize how great Montana is.

So... bad news everyone; all this probably isn't going to happen. I've been having some tranny problems and got a quote for $2500 for a rebuild today. I can probably get something done for less, but I'm thinking it's new car time. My friend's dad just got a Mustang GT, and I'm thinking about buying his 240sx... and here I've been telling myself that my next car would be a Subaru.

so make your next car a subaru

I paid $1400 for a 70k mi transmission installed.

Steve

evolutionmovement wrote:I paid $1400 for a 70k mi transmission installed.

Steve

It now seems more likely I'll just get a used tranny. That 240 sure is fun to drive, though...

I went to a junkyard yesterday and they had a 170k mile transmission that the guy said worked fine. $175 seemed fair.. My dad's going to look around Spokane when he's there next week. This kind of means I'm probably not getting those struts for awhile, though.

You can't beat $175 for a tranny, it'll at least get you around for a little while, so you can save up and get the non-working one rebuilt.

I've got sort of a new question:

My 93 has no swaybar. I was going to pick one up a few weeks ago but didn't have time (sorry about that scottzg), and look for some droplink style lateral links.

Is there a difference between the swaybars for cars with the drop link and the cars with C-links? I was looking at an Impreza in a junkyard and they looked nearly the same. Also, are the holes for the swaybar mounts already on my car?

I just want to make sure that if I bought some new lateral links, end links, a swaybar, and swaybar mounts, everything would just bolt up. Also, is the bump on the bottom of the spare tire well in the way of an Impreza swaybar?
I was going to pull everything out of an Impreza but I wasn't sure if it would fit, plus the guy gave me some rediculously high price.

Oh, and we found a different transmission. Has ~80k miles.

All the mounts will be there for the sway bar mounts. You'll more then likely need a legacy rear anti-sway bar, the impreza one prob won't fit.

I'm not sure about the sway bars being different for the different style endlinks. I'd have to see a set of stock C endlinks and the bar to determine that.

I am in the same boat and managed to get a package from a Turbo with the 18mm rear bar, lateral links, end linds, and mounts.

The Impreza bar will be too small and won't fit, all in one neat package.

I am 99% sure that late 90's Outback 18mm rear bars are exactly the same as Turbo bars, but never got the chance to prove it. The Outback bar even has the little kink under the spare well for absolutely no reason. The Outback mounts are different, they are taller than the Legacy ones.

Right before I bought the whole package from the Turbo I bought an 18mm Whiteline rear bar, so I will have an extra. I'll pick the stock or the Whiteline and sell the other. I won't have any spares of the other parts.