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I am looking at buying these struts now, but i am planning on just getting a 18mm rear sway bar and use stock springs. I had some crappy struts installed in the front and the rear ones are gone, so im going to do all 4 with these struts. Now my main concern is, will the strut be very stiff when its cold? with these crappy struts i have they are really rough when its cold and the chassis loves to flex, another concern is, how long do these struts typically last, meaning are they pretty much up to OEM standards?

While im doing the job, should i replace the top hat and all bushings with teflon? The car is a daily driver, and i still want a smooth "quiet" ride that can handle exceptionally well.

Thanks, also if possible can someone tell me which rear struts are for my wagon?

ericem wrote:Now my main concern is, will the strut be very stiff when its cold?

Nope

ericem wrote: another concern is, how long do these struts typically last, meaning are they pretty much up to OEM standards?

Yup. Pretty sure KYB makes the OEM Subaru shocks, so yeah they're up to OEM standards My KYB AGX lasted 4 years of rallycrossing, and that's pretty rough!

ok awsome thanks, do you suggest i get new springs? i am looking at the whiteline springs and OEM. Are the whiteline springs more stiff or anything noticeable.

I used stock springs. Gr2/AGX definitely performs well with stock springs. You don't NEED to replace the stock springs unless they are sagging or unless you want the performance improvement of running stiffer springs.

KYB will tell you that you shouldn't use springs with a lot of drop... I forgot the limit I don't have any experience with whiteline but there's lots of info on the board if you search.

rallysam wrote:I used stock springs. Gr2/AGX definitely performs well with stock springs. You don't NEED to replace the stock springs unless they are sagging or unless you want the performance improvement of running stiffer springs.

KYB will tell you that you shouldn't use springs with a lot of drop... I forgot the limit I don't have any experience with whiteline but there's lots of info on the board if you search.

ok thanks, im pretty sure i will go with OEM springs, mine look to be sagging.

ericem wrote:

rallysam wrote:I used stock springs. Gr2/AGX definitely performs well with stock springs. You don't NEED to replace the stock springs unless they are sagging or unless you want the performance improvement of running stiffer springs.

KYB will tell you that you shouldn't use springs with a lot of drop... I forgot the limit I don't have any experience with whiteline but there's lots of info on the board if you search.

ok thanks, im pretty sure i will go with OEM springs, mine look to be sagging.

By just replacing worn struts it will help support the weight of the car like it's supposed to. I doubt it's your springs that are sagging.

Good vs. blown struts won't have any effect on ride height. The springs are what is holding the car up off the strut housing. The strut itself just damps the motion of the car and spring.

For springs I highly recommend whiteline control or oem, and nothing else.

are you sure about that? When I cut the straps that were keeping my agx compressed during shipping, the strut damper extended and punched apart the cardboard box. I know the purpose of struts is the damping action, not the spring action, but maybe the compressed gas does exert some spring force also?

Yeah it takes a few lbs to compress a strut but you can do it by hand and it won't have much of an effect on the ride height.

jamal wrote:Yeah it takes a few lbs to compress a strut but you can do it by hand and it won't have much of an effect on the ride height.

Not trying to argue, but I disagree. I, and others, have gained ride height by simply swapping in new struts. The struts do help to support the weight. I realize it's not nearly as much as the springs but I've seen a difference of about 1"-1.5". The old struts slid in and out just by turning them over so they definatly weren't doing any good.

I have also gained height by doing the struts.

Just because new struts will push up saggy springs doesn't mean they're designed to do that. It'll wear out your new struts faster.

News springs are on there way My dad told me what warrior said, if the spring is weak, just puts more stress on the strut.

A gas filled strut like an AGX will only exert a few pounds of force and would have a very incremental effect on ride height, however, the position of the spring perch can change the height of the car substantially.

I would also say that a strictly race strut like our Advanced Designs at GC have over 20psi of nitrogen, i think its around 30psi but let stick with 20 to be safe, which means there is 80psi pushing up, you would notice this but not 1- 1.5 inches, if your getting that I bet the perches are at different heights from the bottom mounting points

tie size can also change your perception of ride height keep that in mind too