GD/GG Impreza (WRX/STi) springs on BC/BF/BJ cars: UPDATED

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

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kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

I know that suspension will fit your car. I can't remember what needs to be done to make it fit though. I think you need the front perches off your struts and the rear top hats off your car or something like that. It's in the stickys. That's how I figured mine out.
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mike-tracy
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Post by mike-tracy »

07Evolved wrote:Just to confirm, last night I tried to install 05 STi struts/shocks on my 91 N/A and they DID NOT fit.

For the front, the top hat fits, but the the distance between the perch holes are 1/2" too long. ( stock being 2.5" and STi being 3") Other than that, they were a good fit.

For the rear, the perch will fit as it is the same measurement as the OEM strut/spring. The top hat will not fit. It looked to be too wide on the back side (center to the car) to be able to fit flush against the body of the car. Also, the distance between the OEM and STi top hat bolts are about 7/16" different.

So, can I switch out my front perches to fit?

I know I can switch out my rear top hats.
Not sure where you read that 05+ STI front struts fit anything but an STI. That's the first year the STI significantly deviated from any other Subaru models suspension-wise, among other things. As you found, the rears fit. If you re-drill the holes on the fronts (a guy I bought suspension from did it), the 05 struts work. Otherwise, you're out of luck.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

Really? I swear I read that 04+ fit our cars?

07Evolved take pictures of what you're talking about.
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kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

mike-tracy wrote: Not sure where you read that 05+ STI front struts fit anything but an STI. That's the first year the STI significantly deviated from any other Subaru models suspension-wise, among other things. As you found, the rears fit. If you re-drill the holes on the fronts (a guy I bought suspension from did it), the 05 struts work. Otherwise, you're out of luck.
What exactly is different between 04 and 05 STI struts?
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mike-tracy
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Post by mike-tracy »

Position of the bolt holes, as 07Evolved found out, and just on the fronts. The rears fit fine, assuming the tophats fit. This change went along with the 05+ STI getting 5x114.3 bolt pattern, but I don't know if that's the reason why.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

kimokalihi wrote:I know that suspension will fit your car. I can't remember what needs to be done to make it fit though. I think you need the front perches off your struts and the rear top hats off your car or something like that. It's in the stickys. That's how I figured mine out.
yes, I think this is exactly what needs to be done. It was only the front perches and the rear top hat that didn't fit. If I changed it out, I'm positive it would work.

However, can you change out the front perches? Is that possible?
07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

mike-tracy wrote:
07Evolved wrote:Just to confirm, last night I tried to install 05 STi struts/shocks on my 91 N/A and they DID NOT fit.

For the front, the top hat fits, but the the distance between the perch holes are 1/2" too long. ( stock being 2.5" and STi being 3") Other than that, they were a good fit.

For the rear, the perch will fit as it is the same measurement as the OEM strut/spring. The top hat will not fit. It looked to be too wide on the back side (center to the car) to be able to fit flush against the body of the car. Also, the distance between the OEM and STi top hat bolts are about 7/16" different.

So, can I switch out my front perches to fit?

I know I can switch out my rear top hats.
Not sure where you read that 05+ STI front struts fit anything but an STI. That's the first year the STI significantly deviated from any other Subaru models suspension-wise, among other things. As you found, the rears fit. If you re-drill the holes on the fronts (a guy I bought suspension from did it), the 05 struts work. Otherwise, you're out of luck.
From the first page..
"With the guidelines above, any 02-07 Impreza spring (RS/TS/OBS/WRX/STi) will work on any 90-94 Legacy.

The front tophats fit perfectly...it is the front perches that are off.

The rear perches are perfect...it is the tophat that is off.
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Post by 07Evolved »

kimokalihi wrote:Really? I swear I read that 04+ fit our cars?

07Evolved take pictures of what you're talking about.
Sorry man, I already put my stock struts/springs back on because it is my DD. If I get the rear tophats switched out and can figure out how to change the front perches...I will take pictures.

I guess I should have thought to take pictures last night...sorry guys.
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Post by 07Evolved »

mike-tracy wrote:Position of the bolt holes, as 07Evolved found out, and just on the fronts. The rears fit fine, assuming the tophats fit. This change went along with the 05+ STI getting 5x114.3 bolt pattern, but I don't know if that's the reason why.
This is exactly right. I read somewhere (can't remember) that the 05+ STi beefed up their suspension (thus the 5x114.3 bolt pattern) and they had to upgrade the knuckles, etc and this changed the whole geometry of the struts springs from previous year STi's.
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Post by mike-tracy »

07Evolved wrote:
From the first page..
"With the guidelines above, any 02-07 Impreza spring (RS/TS/OBS/WRX/STi) will work on any 90-94 Legacy.

The front tophats fit perfectly...it is the front perches that are off.

The rear perches are perfect...it is the tophat that is off.
To quote your quote: any 02-07 Impreza SPRING will work on any 90-94 Legacy. I have 05 STI springs all around on my Legacy. Clunks a bit on the back. With my old Impreza I kept adding washers to the rear struts to get it to go away (think 3 per side rear did the trick with my 04 WRX struts/05 STI springs setup).
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
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Post by 07Evolved »

mike-tracy wrote:
07Evolved wrote:
From the first page..
"With the guidelines above, any 02-07 Impreza spring (RS/TS/OBS/WRX/STi) will work on any 90-94 Legacy.

The front tophats fit perfectly...it is the front perches that are off.

The rear perches are perfect...it is the tophat that is off.
To quote your quote: any 02-07 Impreza SPRING will work on any 90-94 Legacy. I have 05 STI springs all around on my Legacy. Clunks a bit on the back. With my old Impreza I kept adding washers to the rear struts to get it to go away (think 3 per side rear did the trick with my 04 WRX struts/05 STI springs setup).
It sucks that they change everything...

I'm sure the 05 STI springs will work, but I need to figure out how to make the whole 05 STi strut/spring setup work. I guess I need to change my rear top hats and my front perches.
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Post by mike-tracy »

Good luck! I'm curious to see what you come up with.
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Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

mike-tracy wrote:Good luck! I'm curious to see what you come up with.
Thanks man! I know I can switch out the tophats for the rears, but can anyone confirm that I can switch the perches for the front?
Brad

1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)

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07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

Top hats won't be a problem to switch, but you can't switch perches can you?
Brad

1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)

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mike-tracy
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Post by mike-tracy »

Here's a link I was trying to find for you last week.
Jamal (used to be on here) used 05 STI struts in his 2nd gen legacy. His way avoided your fitment dilemma for the fronts:

http://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13460

I reused the top perches and top hats when switching struts and springs on my legacy.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

I have to apologize. I think I mislead you. I thought I had read that 04-07 STI struts and springs fit our cars with a simple swap of top hats and the front upper perches but I think I was wrong.

This is from one of the suspension stickies.
With the guidelines above, any 02-07 Impreza spring (RS/TS/OBS/WRX/STi) will work on any 90-94 Legacy.

Any 02-04 Impreza (RS/TS/OBS/WRX/STi) strut will also work. But 05+ struts will not work without modification.
I guess I had read the part about 04-07 STI springs fitting and thought the struts fit too.

I'm not sure what's different about them but I think someone mentioned the geometry has been changed somehow.

Sorry.
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kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

mike-tracy wrote:Here's a link I was trying to find for you last week.
Jamal (used to be on here) used 05 STI struts in his 2nd gen legacy. His way avoided your fitment dilemma for the fronts:

http://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13460

I reused the top perches and top hats when switching struts and springs on my legacy.
Excellent read. I will get some Whiteline ALKs one of these days and I'd love to replace the steering rack bushings and while I'm at it, replace my torn boot lol.
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91 SS EJ20G Engine/Tranny/Diff Swap Build Thread Here
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07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

mike-tracy wrote:Here's a link I was trying to find for you last week.
Jamal (used to be on here) used 05 STI struts in his 2nd gen legacy. His way avoided your fitment dilemma for the fronts:

http://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13460

I reused the top perches and top hats when switching struts and springs on my legacy.
Thank you very much for that link!!

I read it, but I think I am still confused. So, he still just went ahead and drilled out that bottom bolt hole (camber bolt hole) so that it would fit for the front perches for his 05 Struts? If he did, wouldn't that really be unsafe as you would have too large of a whole in the bottom camber bolt hole? I guess I am still confused a bit....

I understand for the rear, I just change the tophats and it will be good to go.
Brad

1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)

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07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

kimokalihi wrote:I have to apologize. I think I mislead you. I thought I had read that 04-07 STI struts and springs fit our cars with a simple swap of top hats and the front upper perches but I think I was wrong.

This is from one of the suspension stickies.
With the guidelines above, any 02-07 Impreza spring (RS/TS/OBS/WRX/STi) will work on any 90-94 Legacy.

Any 02-04 Impreza (RS/TS/OBS/WRX/STi) strut will also work. But 05+ struts will not work without modification.
I guess I had read the part about 04-07 STI springs fitting and thought the struts fit too.

I'm not sure what's different about them but I think someone mentioned the geometry has been changed somehow.

Sorry.
No big deal Kimo...I now understand if I change the rear tophats, it will work perfectly.

But for the front, even after I read the link from above, I'm still a little confused on what he did exactly. My understanding is that he just enlarged the bottom camber bolt hole in the 05 strut to make it fit??
Brad

1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)

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kimokalihi
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Post by kimokalihi »

He didn't drill the hole bigger, he slotted it longer. So he could use camber bolts in both holes, top and bottom. At least that's what I gathered from that. Stock there's only one camber bolt and that's the top one. There's also no camber bolt in the rear so you have to buy aftermarket camber bolts for the rear.
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07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

kimokalihi wrote:He didn't drill the hole bigger, he slotted it longer. So he could use camber bolts in both holes, top and bottom. At least that's what I gathered from that. Stock there's only one camber bolt and that's the top one. There's also no camber bolt in the rear so you have to buy aftermarket camber bolts for the rear.
I'm going to have to call newby on my part....what does "slotting it longer" mean exactly? I'm not familiar with that terminology.

I do understand having to buy the camber bolts to adjust the camber.
Brad

1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)

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07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

The thing is...in that link, Jamal used 04 struts/springs at first that "theoretically" bolt right up to our cars. He only drilled the bottom camber bolt hole to be able to use two camber bolts for this STi suspension setup. And when he got the 05 STi stuff, he just switched out the springs and tophats, but kept his original 04 struts.

Am I wrong on this?

If I'm not, it still doesn't answer how I can use 05 struts. I'm beginning to think I will just have to get 04 struts to bolt right up and then swap over my 05 springs to be able to use on my car.

I guess there really is just NO WAY to use 05 struts at all...
Brad

1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)

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mike-tracy
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Post by mike-tracy »

The way I read it, Jamal used the pistons from the 05-07 on his old 04 strut body. Could have read his article wrong.

But most people don't go that far and end up just using 04 STI parts. As I mentioned earlier, a guy I bought suspension from was using 05 Sti stuff on his 98 Legacy GT, he had drilled out the holes on the front struts a bit.
1992 Legacy SS 5mt, build in progress
Josh Colombo wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2002 10:23 am Wait....I'm confused now.
07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

mike-tracy wrote:The way I read it, Jamal used the pistons from the 05-07 on his old 04 strut body. Could have read his article wrong.

But most people don't go that far and end up just using 04 STI parts. As I mentioned earlier, a guy I bought suspension from was using 05 Sti stuff on his 98 Legacy GT, he had drilled out the holes on the front struts a bit.
That is what I think Jamal did too.

The problem is on how and if I can use my 05 STi strut bodies on the front.
Brad

1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)

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07Evolved
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Post by 07Evolved »

Ok guys...new plan...

I'm looking for a set of 04 WRX or STi struts/springs/etc to use as a complete set or just use the struts to use with my 05 STi springs I have.

From reading the first page and what I have gathered, the 04 WRX or STi strut should bolt up fine front and rear, but I might have to change tophats in the rear. Am I correct on this?

What does everyone think? I think the 05 struts will just cause too much trouble than what they are worth compared to just buying a set of struts that would bolt right up.
Brad

1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)

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