sti struts+springs question

[leggyjosh]

hi all i`ll be looking to upgrade my struts and springs to the sti ones soon as i`m currently running stock struts on my 93 legacy turbo with eibach springs.Was wondering if i could fit the 03/04 sti struts+springs using my 93 top hats.I`m guessing the fronts will be straight swap but only asking due to the rear struts.

thanks from josh

[mike-tracy]

Hi Josh, the STI struts will work fine. The only question is whether the 03-04 STI springs will fit your tophats. If worst comes to worst, you can always reuse your Eibach's with the sti struts.

[keithmoilanen]

Hmmm what about a 91 legacy?

[jamal]

The FRONT top hats between all 90-04 Legacy and 93-08 Imprezas are the same. The upper spring diameters vary so you will have to use the spring perch that corresponds to the struts. The top hat bolts into the chassis, the perch sits just below it.

In the rear, there are some variations of tops, and some of them integrate the perch and top into one piece. The 90-91 has a one piece top that happens to work with 04-07 Impreza springs. The 92-94 tops are two piece, and happen to work with 93-02 impreza springs. The 02-07 Impreza tops unfortunately don't fit into the chassis unless you want to widen out/redrill the holes. Even though the 02-07 Impreza are all the same car there was a change for 04.

The lower spring perches, that are welded onto the struts, are in different places depending on the model/year. So mixing springs and struts can result in funky ride heights.

So the best way to use 04 sti suspension would be to bolt the fronts in complete and use 90-91 rear top hats with the sti strut and spring (you might need to put a washer or two in there to keep the strut from clunking.

05-07 Sti suspension doesn't fit.

if you get older jdm "ver 7" 02-03 bugeye sti suspension, it should go right in with 92-94 rear top hats.

Also, all this sti suspension is going to be 10 years old so the struts probably aren't any good anymore. Thankfully a company called Feal Suspension can re-build and re-valve the stock sti struts for about $500. so keep that in mind.

The other problem is that the sti is a wider car than the Legacy, so the struts are made to accommodate this. The first problem will be the alignment. I used a combination of camber bolts and slotting of the lower holes in the front struts to get things where I wanted. The second problem is that the struts don't exactly want to be where they are on a narrower tracked car so you get a little bit of side load and possible binding in the rear struts.

Using parts from a GC impreza gets you the best fit. Depending on your budget/goals, there may be some new parts that would work better.

[keithmoilanen]

Thanks for the info

[leggyjosh]

thanks for the info looks like i`ll have to use the 02-03 sti then as trying to find the 90-91 top hats here in the u.k will be really hard to find as there rare!!.Thought i`d check first before buying them.

thanks guys

[poonhandler]

Ihave 07 sti struts on my 90 legacy ls but not the fronts the bolt holes don't match up and its a little to close to weld a plate and drill a new hole. On the rear I used my top hats and springs because they are progressive springs. No washers they don't clunk if you have the bolt tight enough. I had clunking, tighten the bolt and it was fine. Ride height in the rear is a lot higher but I'm just gonna get some lowering springs and kyb agx for the front struts.

[xise]

I can confirm on the V7 setup using 93/94 SS top mounts in the rear will make them clunk. Probably needs washers to make them fit properly, and also the GC/BC brake hoses have a different clamp than the GD struts so you could probably use the brake hoses for a GD for a more prefect fit.

[xise]

They were ok for a while bit those washers seem to have worn down and are clunking again

I am trying a new combo entirely, I am going to be using 04 STi springs and trying the 90-91 legacy rear strut mounts. So I should be looking for a spring perch with the top mount built in? I just want to buy the correct top mount, I am tired of messing around with what suspension works and doesn't.