ok, I have started out on this project. The order goes in tomorrow for the FLEX, and a TEIN Rear Strut tower bar. I plan on posting up pictures of the install here, and letting you folks know how it feels and rides. For those who don't know I have a '99 Legacy Wagon L (BK). Here are the parts that are on the cars suspension now.

Current Setup
Front Strut Tower Bar -- Whiteline
Front Sway Bar w/urethane bushings -- Whiteline (19X Bar)
Front Alloy End Links -- Whiteline
Rear Adjustable Sway Bar w/urethane bushings -- Whiteline (18/20/22mm) (*Currently set to 18mm)
Rear Alloy End Links -- Whiteline

These are the items that are going to be installed......

New Items
TEIN FLEX Coilovers -- To be delivered by Friday (*'04 GDF WRX Sti Part Number: DSS40-6USS1)
Rear Strut Tower Bar -- TEIN (*PBS29-01000)
Rear Heavy Duty Sway Bar Mounts -- Whiteline
Rear Control Arms w/Group N bushings or pillow ball -- STi

That is it. I will post up the pictures as soon as we do the install.

TEIN Rear Strut Bar Install

Part Number:


Getting Started:



Rear Top Hats:



Installed: *It took a little modification..... it ended up being about 1/8" short.... I would say it is just my BK. lol






Very Pleased with it. I can feel the rear of the car tightened up. I can't wait to get the Coilovers on! Updates to come.....

Coilover/Control Arm/Sway Mount Install:

A few notes first..... lol
*I did the rear contol arms in addition to the coilovers. Not only did I need a massive alignment, but I would not have been able to get it done without air tools. Only the rear control arms needed the air. I did as much as I could without air, just to show it can be done. Doing just the coilovers, it is totally possible without air. More on this later.
*With a lift, watch that the drive shafts don't slide out.... it didn't happen, but they were close without the control arms on there.
*I used Automatic Trans fliud to prep the control arm bolts.
**A ton of thanks to Jerry at Subie Guys, who gave an entire Saturday to help. It would have been impossible without his knowledge, tools, and know how.

To start: Get the car off the ground......I was lucky and was able to get a lift. Made it MUCH easier.

We removed the strut tower bars (front and rear) leaving one nut to hold each. Remove the two large nuts at the base of each strut. Then remove the one nut holding the top. The strut and spring will come out with a little help. Installation of the coilover is just the opposite direction. The rest below with deal with the Swap Mount and Contorl Arms.

For the control arms.....remove the single Jesus bolt at the hub that runs through both rear control arms, and the rear hub. No shit, we used the biggest air hammer that Snap-On offers, and 5-10 with an air chisel. It was a bitch and a half to say the least. In the pictures below you can see the bolt....



Then we removed the last two bolts that held the other end of the control arms to the subframe.

Install is again the reverse of the removal. Not too difficult, but if we did not have air tools, this would have neve happened. The left FINALLY came apart, but the right rear was screwed.... We ended up taking the right rear off with the bolt still solidly in the outer bushing. A little heat.....cough, cough, Oxy torch, cough cough. lol It cought fire, and was just a total mess. Major PITA. Anyway......

Rear HD Sway Mount.......
I really don't know why everything on the car that was the "ease" stuff was the harder part. The coilovers were the easiest part! haha Ok, the right rear was easy, granted I had done that side before..... However, the Whiteline mount had the rear mounting nut for the actual bar miss welded. We just bolted it through with a high grade bolt and nut. The left was not the same, it was much worse. After the forward Mount nut BROKE off under the gas tank filler tub...... yeah...... We just said enough was enough, and welded the front to the car..... lol It is not comming off now!

Those are the main points of the install..... Here are the finished pictures. I will give my impressions at the bottom....












Impressions:
OK, I have to first say WOW! Replacing the original sturts (153xxx miles!) was amazing. We had to cun the brake lines from the original strut bodies. They TEIN are very stiff, and I can see why most people might think the are too stiff. I like them so far. I did not change the ride height initially. The above pictures show what that looks like with the factory adjustments. I was getting rubbing on the rears, so I raised them 1/2". With 80lbs of stuff all the way in the back of the wagon, the rubbed a little. I did not change the pre-load. The fronts are pretty low, but did not really rub. However, after it settled over 36 hours, the are just starting to rub. Tomorrow I will get final pictures of the ride height, and the bottom thread left at the bottom. The plan is to raise the rear about 3/8" and the fronts about 1/2". Hope you guys like the look of Project Sandstone. lol

Impressions 2:
I still LOVE them. The issues that I was mentioning was when I tried to adjust the height, i forgot that I had loosened the retainer for the preload adjustment..... So, the Left rear was set to MAXIMUM preload, and I had to take it back to Traverse to take it out and get it back down. The ride was SO hard. However, now it is good to go. The rears have 1/2" from the bottom of the strut, to the bottom of the mount. Fronts have a little more, 1 1/4". (See picture below, right rear) I ended up raising the car, and in the pictures below it is set to 25" front (Ground to bottom of wheel well) and 24 7/8" rear. It looks great, handles out of this world, and still "looks" stock. The picture below is not the best, makes it look kinda high. When it stops raining, and snowing........ I will get some good ones in the sun. Enjoy.

Impressions 3:
Ok after running these for 90 days I have to say it is a great investment. If you want a real sports ride (willing to give up a little comfort) you will be amazed at how much corning power the ol' under-powered BK can give you. The big news is that I figured out the rubbing that I would get at maximum corning. You may have noticed that my BK still has the rubber fender liners in the rear. The ones that cause the rust on the fender..... lol(rust free so far...) That is all that is rubbing. Tire to rubber liner... barely. So, I have stopped worrying. The fronts are totally fine. Though I did do a hill-billy fender roll on it. Only a slight one, hardly anything really. Even after the suspension settled (only slightly), this makes the BK stupid fast in the corners. With the BFG KDW2's, the damn thing refuses to let go. Like the say... I end up driving faster on the on-ramp than on the freeway.... lol I will get some current pictures up tomorrow.


Initial rub with low setting (no preload, after initial install)

Today