what rear struts fit a 93 FWD wagon?

[jp233]

I'm trying to decipher the options for finding some rear suspension from the junkyard, for my 93 FWD wagon, no ABS. Although the original ones on the car are shot (one of them may be a little tweaked), I am trying not to spend $83-95 each for new ones as this car just needs to be cheap reliable transpo.

I found a set of front KYB GR-2's from a 90-91 FWD car (235063 and 235064), and those are on this wagon now. It does sit a tiny bit high in the nose, so if some AWD wagon springs (or 95-99 Outback?) would work with rear FWD struts to maybe even it out a little bit, that would be cool with me.

I know I definitely need the wagon springs in the rear (and I guess I could re-use mine but if the yard car had less miles I'd rather use those, this 93 wagon has carried engines/transmissions/motorcycles and trailered stuff so the rear suspension is... toast.... it bounces like one of those Lincoln Town Cars with the broken rear air suspension), but the rear struts appear to be different from the AWD cars?

There are a few 95-97 cars in the yards around here, do any of those fit?

Or.... am I hosed and I should just spend the loot for new FWD-specific rear struts.

[jp233]

Went to the junkyard yesterday.

There was a 94 FWD sedan which I would've loved to get the rear struts from, but it was bashed in on the RR door and the strut looked like it was damaged. It also had evidence of rubbing anyways, someone probably had bigger wheels/tires on it.

There was a 97 AWD Outback wagon, but since it appears those struts won't work, I left it.

There was a 90 FWD sedan, 99.9% complete someone had taken the radio cubby and that's it. It was listed as a Cash 4 Clunkers car??????????????? Pretty clean, but with 154k on the clocks I figured the rear struts were probably not that great plus I would've had to rip out the rear seat and all that, and have to swap my wagon springs in anyways.

Looks like the axlestore on ebay is actually only about 20 minutes from my house, so I think I'll just head over there and pick up some new rear struts that are specific to the FWD cars, even though they are el cheapo DTA Ultimas...

[Legacy777]

Only FWD rear struts will work on a FWD car. You can not use AWD rear struts on a FWD rear spindle....it will not physically bolt up.

The fronts can be interchanged between FWD & AWD. Check out my notes regarding the strut differences between the 90-91 & 92-94 MY's

http://surrealmirage.com/subaru/swap/te ... suspension

[jp233]

Yeah, roger that. Just ordered some Ultima struts for the rear, just to get rid of this bouncy thing. I hope they last.

I have a rear sway bar too from a yard car several years ago, but no links to get it on this 93 FWD wagon (it didn't have a rear sway bar from the factory)..... wonder if the C-links from the 97 Outback AWD wagon in the yard would work...

[Legacy777]

To add a rear anti-sway, you need the mounts for the chassis and the lateral links with the brackets so you can use the C-links. If you grab all that stuff, it should bolt right up.

[jp233]

I dug the sway bar out of the trailer the other day, and I do have the 90-91 style end links, so yeah I just need the parts that that they bolt into. I guess if I go back to the yard and the 90 FWD sedan is still there, maybe I can see about getting all the rest of the parts I need.

[Legacy777]

Yeah if they have a 90 FWD, it should have all the stuff you would need.

[jp233]

Sadly, the rear trailing arms of the 90 FWD car in the yard would not come loose... couldn't get the impact gun on them and no dice with as big of a cheater bar as I could get in there. Not allowed to bring jacks so I couldn't buy myself any more clearance, so my only option would be to cut the body up and hammer away until I could get the impact gun on those big bolts.

Instead, I was able to get the entire rear sway bar setup from the 97 Outback AWD wagon (sway bar, C-links, and rear trailing arms w/ the C-link brackets). Unfortunately, I didn't measure my 93 before undertaking that fun job in 90+ degree heat. The 97 trailing arms are each about 2 inches longer than my 93.... so that won't bolt on as it would make ridiculous toe-in if it were even possible. So, is there a kit to mount brackets onto my stock trailing arms? I thought I remember seeing that somewhere, but of course I also wonder if the 97 sway bar is too wide to make that practical/possible either. Might have to do some more measuring and see if it's worth it, or just sell the whole get-up.

Not like this 93 car really needs a sway bar, just thought it'd be a nice add-on to have.

[Legacy777]

There were some pink STi parts that relocated the bracket to the spindle to eliminate the bending force on the lateral link. If you could find something like this, or have something fabricated, that might work.

[jp233]

Yikes. Sounds like this rear sway bar is probably a bridge too far. Maybe if I happen to get back to the yard I can take some other tools with me and some PB Blaster and maybe get the 90 trailing arms, that'd be the easiest thing to do.

(I made another post in the tires forum, but I'll sorta repeat here)

I tried fitting 205/70/15's on this 93 FWD wagon, and they fit in the front, but rub the struts in the rear.

Does anyone have a 90-91 FWD car or rear FWD 90-91 struts sitting around (235071 or 235072) they could measure the height of the lower spring perch? (I had previously measured from the top bolt hole center)

I'm wondering if the rear perches are high enough to just swap the rear struts (again) to make these tires fit, or if I should just find different tires.

[Legacy777]

I'm not quite following what you're wanting to do with the struts. Are you wanting to use 90-91 FWD rear struts on your 93 in a hope that they will provide a little more clearance between the strut & tire?

What is the offset of the wheels?

I know it's ghetto, but others have used a hammer and dented in the strut perch where the wheel rubs to give them a little more room.

[jp233]

You hit the nail on the head. Was wondering if the 90-91 rear FWD struts have more clearance to the spring seat/perch, that would make the difference and not have to either "modify" my brand new strut perches, or try a wheel spacer, or...

they are wheels from a 97 Outback, so a 15x6 wheel and I'm assuming a 55 offset.

The tires barely rubbed, I could still spin them by hand while it was still jacked up, but it was squealing and definitely would be a problem if driven.

[Legacy777]

Well I think if you use a rubber mallet or dead blow hammer, you could probably get enough clearance on the perch without denting it much.

Hopefully, someone will be able to get you some measurements on the 90-91 FWD rear struts.

[jp233]

It was also a little strange at how the Outback wheels didn't seem to like to fit perfectly over the FWD rear hub center, like the stock steelies do. Those steelies pop right on there and fit just right, i.e. no slop and heck the wheel sometimes holds itself on there without having to hold it in place while starting the lug nuts on there. I popped off one of the plastic center caps to see if that was what was causing interference with the hub cover (the FWD car just has this dome cover instead of where an axle nut would be).

Anyways, can anyone get any measurements of the rear struts of a 90-91 FWD car? Something like either the top bolt hole center, to the outer-most portion of the spring seat?

[91Beater]

So, what would it cost to replace all four shocks with new ones on a 91 FWD wagon?

[jp233]

Assuming you just need the struts itself, about $175 of the DTA Ultima's. Renting the spring compressor was free (deposit to rent it, get the loot back when you return it). If you need springs, mounts, etc then it'd be more. ANd obviously that's if you have the tools and don't need anything else (like a rear camber bolt kit, etc).

This might be your bogey if you want a cheap fix: EBAY LINK