legacycentral bbs

I'm in the planning stages for a subaru project and have some questions. I want to increase the track on a 90-94 auto legacy. I know that the wider front control arms from the 02 and up wrx sedan will bolt up(need to use wrx crossmember or shim original on the legacy). An so will the wider rear trailing arms. In the front will the longer wrx axles just bolt up an work with the auto trans? The rear I will bolt up axles and matching rear diff from the wrx. I know to keep the trans an diff ratios matching. Will the abs work properly? I don't know if they get the abs signals the same way on the wrx as they did early legacies(thought I read somewhere that subaru changed something with the tone ring sometime in the 90's). How did the early abs system work. If I wanted to switch from 4.11 gearing to say 4.44. Could I use the phase 1 auto trans from a 96-97 outback or legacy gt. It will bolt right up but will that trans have different connectors or more connectors since its on a obd2 car or were the 4eat transmissions the same from 90-97. I know 98-99 wont work cause they changed the connectors on the phase2 legacies auto trans.

Thanks in advance for you help

I would think you'd be able to use the wider front axles. You may just have to deal with male axles vs. female axles. Maybe someone else can comment on that.

Not sure about the ABS, I think if you can swap the ABS sensors so the connectors are the same, it should work. The tone wheels are pretty much the same, they just varied where it was placed, on the hub vs. on the CV axle.

As for the AT, as long as it's a phase 1 4eat the electrical connectors should plug right up. There were some additional sensors added to some of the later phase 1 4eat's, so I'm not sure how the first gen TCU would handle that. It may not care.

From what I recall you can still use the original Legacy hubs/knuckles and keep the OEM ABS components.

It's the WRX sedan struts that are drilled differently to keep the knuckles upright on the widetracks.

So, WRX struts and control arms with the Legacy hub/knuckle should work. (Not counting axles and steering)

also, if you are going through the trouble of going to a wider track, find some 04-06 sti control arms which are aluminum and give you more caster (and take note that most jdm sti arms on e-bay are not the high-caster arms- over there only the spec c got them).

Keeping the legacy uprights, hubs, tone rings, and abs sensors will ensure you don't have any problems. WRX axles, struts, and control arms work just fine with them. In the front, newer cars place the tone ring on the axle instead of the back of the hub. You would have to compare the specs in the service manual to confirm if a newer sensor/tone ring is compatible with your abs but it wouldn't surprise me if they are.

edit: from looking through a couple of FSMs I would assume that going wrx uprights/axles/abs sensors would work just fine aside from the connectors possibly not matching up.

if you go thru my 93ss thread youll see what i did in the front and rear, and what im about to install is on the last page. like said above (and i havent checked yet) are the abs sensor connectors. once i compare everything ill be able to decide which setup to go with. im also still on stock struts and springs.

Thanks for all the info and thanks for the suggestion about the sti arms. If I do this project I will go with the sti arms since they have done a recall on the regular wrx and impreza arms because they apparently rust so bad they have been failing. Plus moving the tire away from the back of the front fender is always a bonus. So if I just use the wider wrx sti arms and axles but keep the legacy struts and hubs, that would be the best chance for the abs to work properly or the way with the least modifications to make it work. I thought all subaru automatic transmissions from 90-04 had the stubs sticking out and used female axles and that they switched in 2005 five to them using male axles, can anybody confirm this?

Not Legacy struts! Only the Legacy hubs/knuckles.

WRX sedan or '04 (only) STI struts. They are drilled properly to keep the camber of the knuckle in check.

Axles are out of my realm (for the moment), but I would think you need WRX sedan axles for the added inch or so.

i used stock axles with my setup.

stock axles are usually ok in the front. in the rear I would be a little worried about pulling the axle out of the diff.

couldn't the camber be fixed with a good set of aftermarket camber bolts if legacy struts where used instead of wrx ones